$1300 for ECU

Car is in the shop and they diagnosed an ECU failure since the driver fan won't turn off. They quoted me $1300 for parts and labor. This a reasonable price?

 

150 for labor and 1150 for parts.

 

A quick Google resulted the party only costing 150-300.

Which shop - Subaru or generic? There was a recall / TSB for fans not turning off a LONG time ago. Look for that and the fix. And maybe call your Subaru dealer with that TSB / recall number and see if they can give you a deal..

^^+1

 

I had mine replaced threw the TSB recall. Check to see if the recall is still good and active.

It's at a Subaru dealership in MD. Gotta look for that recall.

 

But that's a normal price for parts? It's like 5-6x the amount I see online.

 

Also where is a good place to look for recalls? The couple I have found require memberships.

https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1215620

 

This details the problem I'm having. My car is within the serial numbers. It's not a recall but a "Service Campaign". Gonna see if they still honor it.

 

Anything else I should be aware of before I ask the dealership about their campaign?

More info here:

 

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/cooling-fan-relay-issue-now-recall-campaign-55332.html

@FJuan Hey I'll take a reimbursement. Thanks for the info!

It's at a Subaru dealership in MD. Gotta look for that recall.

 

But that's a normal price for parts? It's like 5-6x the amount I see online.

 

Also where is a good place to look for recalls? The couple I have found require memberships.

 

 

When the car was still in production that's what the dealership in Springfield charged me and the Cherry Hill one.

Press on them to replace it under TSB/Recall, they did so with mine a few years ago for free, even though this was a second ECU already (they told me that TSB mentions that sometimes ECU has to be replaced twice).

 

THe reason it costs so much is because ECU has to be reprogrammed for your specific BDU and keys too.

Ah interesting.

 

Would it work if you bought the part, replaced it, and then used an access port to reprogram it?

So I called the dealer and Subaru Customer Service, both say no.

 

However, finally found the entire TSB and saw this line "Once the new relay has been installed, there will no longer be a risk of damage to your vehicle’s ECM."

 

The Customer Service rep said the service had already been done in 2007... So why is it happening again? Especially when the service is assured to not repeat the process again.

I got the same response from Subaru when I tried to get a replacement ECU for the same issue. What I ended up doing was buying a used ECU off eBay and getting the eeprom chip from my original ECU swapped over so that the car would still start.

Plan C is to figure out what really died in the ECU, it might just be a power transistor that could be replaced.

 

 

Or at least send the failed ECU to this dude: https://www.youtube.com/user/bigclivedotcom

He would probably have some fun with it!

So I called the dealer and Subaru Customer Service, both say no.

 

However, finally found the entire TSB and saw this line "Once the new relay has been installed, there will no longer be a risk of damage to your vehicle’s ECM."

 

The Customer Service rep said the service had already been done in 2007... So why is it happening again? Especially when the service is assured to not repeat the process again.

 

If the systems match the TSB/Recall I would be polite but stern with them to do the replacement since it matches the original recall still.

 

Mine was odd at first, my fans would always run but only when weather outside was below 50F. Eventually it did start always running the fans even at higher temps but not consistently. This is all with ECU already being replaced once and I would assume relay too (when it was owned by the previous owner).

 

I replaced the relay again myself, just to make sure, still was having the issue so I took it to the dealer. They said that they will charge me $80 diagnostic fee, but if they find the issue to be related to recall they will waive it. Couple hours later they said it was under the recall and replaced the ECU for free.

 

I got the same response from Subaru when I tried to get a replacement ECU for the same issue. What I ended up doing was buying a used ECU off eBay and getting the eeprom chip from my original ECU swapped over so that the car would still start.

 

Oh interesting, do you have any details on which chip it was?

So I called the dealer and Subaru Customer Service, both say no.

 

However, finally found the entire TSB and saw this line "Once the new relay has been installed, there will no longer be a risk of damage to your vehicle’s ECM."

 

The Customer Service rep said the service had already been done in 2007... So why is it happening again? Especially when the service is assured to not repeat the process again.

 

 

If they keep saying no, contact Subaru Corporate. Look for the airbag recall for a contact phone number, and get them to help.

If the systems match the TSB/Recall I would be polite but stern with them to do the replacement since it matches the original recall still.

 

Mine was odd at first, my fans would always run but only when weather outside was below 50F. Eventually it did start always running the fans even at higher temps but not consistently. This is all with ECU already being replaced once and I would assume relay too (when it was owned by the previous owner).

 

I replaced the relay again myself, just to make sure, still was having the issue so I took it to the dealer. They said that they will charge me $80 diagnostic fee, but if they find the issue to be related to recall they will waive it. Couple hours later they said it was under the recall and replaced the ECU for free.

 

 

 

Oh interesting, do you have any details on which chip it was?

 

iirc and from a quick google search. It was the 93C56 eeprom. I took both ECUs to a reputable electronics repair shop and asked them to swap the chips from ECU to ECU. It has been fine ever since. There were a couple diff revs for the ECUs.

 

I bought one ending in E off of eBay and it stopped the fan from being on.

 

PN: 22611AJ17E (05 LGT 5MT)

A quick Google resulted the party only costing 150-300.

 

Subaru dealers do not buy their parts from Google searches.

 

If you have the part number of the ECU they're replacing you can look up MSRP on parts.subaru.com.

 

I bought a power steering line for my 95 Silverado from Amazon for $20. I'm guessing if I took my truck to the Chevy dealer I'd pay about $150 for it.

 

It's not really apples and oranges. . it's more like buying an apple from the overpriced bin at the convenience store vs. buying it from the farmer's market. . . except in this case I'm pretty sure the $150-300 apples you're shopping for have bites taken out of them and may or may not taste like apple (meaning they're used, or at least "refurbished", which is a used ECU with a coat of paint sprayed on it.).