Re-man Lean Burn Control Modules

[prowler]

I'm looking into replacing my ECM. Not many companies handle these anymore. Prices all over as well. From $100 to $400 !! Seems like Cardone and Blue Streak Electronics are the two that pop up the most, but there's a couple of vendors I'd never heard of that work on these but they are the really high priced ones.
I'm not sure exactly what they do when fixing these, just find the bad part and replace or really go through them and replace all known failure parts. Hate wasting money but would rather spend on a reman from a vendor that knows from the past what usually fails in these units and gets replaced as well.

 

[AMC Diplomat]

I've picked up 2 so far for under $20 each. Standard used to stock them, I forget the Standard part numbers. You have to figure out the right interchange number for your computer based on the year.

From what I've seen, having them apart, is it looks like someone checks the circuit board and does a terrible job re-potting.

The one I'm running now still had the factory potting and someone just laid a thick layer of potting over it, which separated from the original potting and made a hard jello mess inside. I pulled it all out and threw it away. I suppose it could have disrupted something in there.

 

[Mikes5thAve]

I don't know how they do those things, years ago I saw something else like that being rebuilt. They replaced the failure prone parts lile certain capacitors and a voltage transformer whether it needed it or not, re soldered certain spots then tested it and replaced whatever else wasn't working if it had problems.
The service manual has a pretty simple way of testing them, I'd run through that before replacing it to make sure you're not doing it for no reason.

 

[prowler]

Update on ECM's. There are only two companies that the auto stores sell regarding re-man ECM's. BSE(blue streak electronics) and Cardone. These ARE the only two companies aside from a couple of independent shops that might have one. Cardone is more expensive than the BSE units. Cardone is on car now and working great although it's 15 years old.
I had gone to ORieleys Auto and ordered a BSE. Took about a week, mounted it a week later. Car started but ECM performed like it was in a limp mode. Terrible performance. So,....back to OR's and ordered another one. About a week later that arrived. Following weekend took it out of box and had my hands covered with the interior potting media as it was mixed incorrectly and hadn't cured resulting in it seeping out of the top and bottom plastic housing. Opened it up to check and it was all over the place, runny and sticky. I could see what looked like some replacement electronic parts. Left top off for a week hoping the air would eventually cure/harden,......sort of did. I plugged this unit in, car stared and sounded OK. It will be my back up in case the Cardone fails. The Cardone units weren't available as they said they had none in stock. The independents shops wanted near $500!! These are going to get harder to find.