ErikJeanna

iTrader: (2)

OK, I think I know what the problem is with my truck. I did something INCREDIBLY stupid yesterday after work. My battery was basically drained during Halloween this year (running props). I went to start my truck yesterday after work and it wouldn't turn over. My wife had called and said the babies were sleeping, to pick up my oldest at high school when I got home. So, I just had a long day at work, my battery is almost dead, I have to run to Sears to swap it out, pick up my daughter at school and then get home ASAP to help my wife out with babies... I was kind of flustered. Being in a rush, I hooked the cables up to my brother's G35, then up to my battery. I hooked the positive and then the negative. I noticed a spark when hooking the negative, but no big deal right? Turn the key, car wouldn't even click anymore. Look at the cables... turns out I accidentally swapped the polarities. Grabbed the (now hot) cables... switched them up right quick and then started my truck no problem. My brother's car still works fine btw. Go to Sears to have the battery checked, turns out the positive terminal was loose. Tightened it. Battery works fine, truck starts fine. However, the truck is now acting weird... doing that whole pulling/tugging thing when accelerating. I call my buddy who is a mechanic… he mentions that I probably fried my ECM when the polarities were reversed. Great! I call Toyota, give them my VIN and they come up with a part number for a new ECM. The price… $966.44 + tax. Ouch. Expensive mistake because I was in a rush and not paying attention. I check eBay… they have a working ECM from a salvaged 4Runner (with the same part number that Toyota gave me) for $25 + shipping.

My question… could I get away with buying this used ECM? Would everything work fine again? Also, where is the ECM located in my 98 4Runner and how hard is it to install?

Help.

SpikeStrip

Well, 25 bux + ship is pretty cheap for an ECM, if it's guaranteed to work, but can't you take the old one out first and have it tested ?? I had one of mine tested at the Toyo dealer (parts dept), but that was 10 years ago .... Also, wouldn't you be throwing some CEL's if it were bad?

Good luck.

ErikJeanna

iTrader: (2)

For some reason, the CEL isn't even showing up. I am probably going to have it checked on Monday (soonest my buddy can look at it), but it sounds like the ECM is the problem.

SpikeStrip

Just as a shot in the dark, I'd remove the neg battery cable (or EFI fuse) and let the car sit for a few hours, to reset everything... You may have tweaked settings by reversing the polarity, but the ECM is still ok... Hey, it's free and worth a try; it's solved more than one gremlin in my '99 4R .

S.

ErikJeanna

iTrader: (2)

I remeoved the negative cable earlier to reset everything... only for like 30 seconds though. My buddy also had me push down on my brake pedal while the cable was off. Don't know why, but I don't think it hurt anything. I will try the EFI Fuse... like you said, it can't hurt. I mean, all of my stereo settings are rest as it is right! HAHAHA. Thanks.

Greedy

I would check your coil packs as well. Those are a somewhat common problem of misfires on our motors. Do you have an FSM? They are pretty easy to test and not too much to replace.

ErikJeanna

iTrader: (2)

This didn't work by the way... oh well. I'm having it looked at on Monday morning.

SpikeStrip

Oh well, hope it's something simpler than the ECM... But if you can get one cheap from ebay, that'd be cool.

Good luck and let us know what the fix is.

S.

rimpainter.com

The ECU is located behind the glove compartment BTW.