EZL rebuilder?

[ian blackstone]

I tried Beckman and they don't do EZLs
Does anyone know a reliable rebuilder? I am using a used one now and would like to rebuild the original as a spare

 

[bing]

Don't know where you're based but there's this company in the uk. Called them as I urgently needed an EZL but they didn't have one in stock but where happy to look at mine to see if it can be rebuilt which would take around 3weeks. I might send them the old one and keep as a spare just like you're suggesting.

http://www.bba-reman.com/uk/index.aspx

 

[gsxr]

Probably not worth the cost or hassle... and, I've never heard of any rebuilder actually rebuilding the M119.97x EZL's. Note that BBA's website only lists older EZL's, nothing from the M119. I picked up a good used spare.

You can test used EZL's easily enough, there is just enough wire length to place the spare unit on top of the one bolted to the fender, plug it in, and start the engine. You can even go for a test drive, but I wouldn't recommend running the engine for any length of time without having it properly mounted since it uses the fender as a heat sink.

EDIT: Complete testing also requires viewing live data via SDS & HHT-Win to verify all sensors are working correctly, along with clearing fault codes and confirming the codes remain cleared after restarting the engine.

 

[gerryvz]

+1 - you can get non-M119 EZLs rebuilt, but I've never seen them available for our cars. Used or new is about your only choice. Used ones are generally pretty reliable as long as you know it is working properly.

 

[Christian_K]

Hi, the German ECU-Rebuilder "ECU.de" (link: http://ecu.de/mercedes/zündschaltgerät-46/) does it. Price IIRC is around 350€? They can rebuild even our ETAs (Throttlebodies), including worn potentiometer-lines, broken-clutches/gears, wiring, you name it.
Oh and our old expensive (~900€) MAFs too.
Don't ask me how they do that, but i've had them repair my C36AMG ECU (broken ignition amplifiers, etc) recently and asked them about all our 500E stuff. They told me they do all that. My car runs fine again.

They are often featured in magazines which only the repair-shops subscribe too, moaning about dropping quality in all kinds of ECUs the last 20 years, also claiming they have 12.000+ customers world-wide, of which majority are repair-shops and dealers. (link: http://ecu.de/cms/files/artikel_kfz-betrieb.pdf )

 

[jhodg5ck]

+2 on rebuilding...I've seen rebuilt EZL's and they were FUBAR'd

jono

 

[Christian_K]

+2 on rebuilding...I've seen rebuilt EZL's and they were FUBAR'd

jono

Can you go more into details how they were "FUBARd"? And who did repair them?

 

[gerryvz]

Has anyone ever actually received and/or installed a successfully rebuilt EZL? Or just installed a used one?

Cheers,
Gerry

 

[gsxr]

I don't think they are rebuildable. Most likely vendors are selling used replacements. I'm not sure it's possible to open up an EZL without damaging it. Got an old/bad one to experiment with?

 

[NIGHT RAIDER]

Its not an easy job

 

[gerryvz]

I threw out the old/defective one that originally came on my E500.

 

[Stevester 500E]

They are rebuildable, its a delicate procedure. Does the 400e ezl work on 500es?

 

[gerryvz]

Does the 400e ezl work on 500es?

The engine may run, but it's not correct. GSXR has discussed this in the past on this site.

 

[samiam44]

What goes bad in the ezl? If the chip is damaged, it is a paper weight.

 

[fudgitive]

This evening, as a part of my ongoing campaign to stay in the house and away from the bars, I took the time distract myself and partially disassemble an old EZL that I had in a box under the bed. This one had known issues so there was nothing to lose, which was a good thing because I pretty much destroyed it pulling it apart. They are not made to be meddled with me thinks.

There is a removable cover with four mysteriously headed screws which are easy enough to get off, the cover however seemed to be glued in place. Eventually it yielded (alas in two pieces), only to reveal an intimidating diorama of 90's electronics immersed in what appeared to be a tiny sea of primordial goo (it's some type of gel), quite the work of art it is.

I cannot imagine anybody having the patience or skill to repair one of these devices in a cost effective manner, when used ones are so readily available. One thing I would note is that the internal link pins are extremely fragile, to the point where I suspect if one of these modules was dropped on a concrete floor the pins could potentially short out, I always thought they were a solid state item but I will be handling them with a little more care from now on.



Images below….

 

[fudgitive]

Three more images...

 

[Klink]

An 80's design actually, at least as far as their initial appearance on the '84 190s goes. I've opened an couple of defective ones over the years and marveled at the sheer dis-reparability of these gel encapsulated hybrid circuits. I've seen a couple of repair attempts on some Audi traction control ECUs and they looked extremely slapdash and awkward as in "well, this may hold together, or it may not" Not surprisingly, the word on the street was that they had a really high repeat failure rate. Not for the easily discouraged, that's for sure...

 

[Stevester 500E]

I took basic circuit board design way back in college.
I think I would rather be in a 3 hour bible study instead of tinkering with one of these.
And it's a good thing I have a couple of spares, if 400e ezl's work on 500e's . . . .

 

[gsxr]

And it's a good thing I have a couple of spares, if 400e ezl's work on 500e's . . . .

Different timing maps for 4.2L vs 5.0L engines. Some will interchange and allow the engine to run, but will not have the correct ignition maps/curves for the displacement. And, some units will NOT interchange and the engine will run badly, if at all (especially some 5.0 EZL's on 4.2L engines)... I don't know why this is.

 

[Stevester 500E]

Darn . . .
I hope an S500 EZL will work?
Need to hunt one down one down as a "Parts that should be accumulated".

 

[J-Sauce]

The word "work" is up for interpretation. Will the car start and run with a 4.2 EZL? Yes. Will it run right? No. Will you notice the difference? Maybe.

 

[Klink]

Darn . . .
I hope an S500 EZL will work?
Need to hunt one down one down as a "Parts that should be accumulated".

Yes, as long as it's one of the same part numbers that the EPC says will fit your E5E. IRRC, there were a number of software differences including things like different knock sensor interpretations for the open deck blocks relative to the closed deck blocks, etc.

 

[400Eric]

How could we find out more about these software differences between the older ones and newer ones?

 

[Klink]

Yes, as long as it's one of the same part numbers that the EPC says will fit your E5E. IRRC, there were a number of software differences including things like different knock sensor interpretations for the open deck blocks relative to the closed deck blocks, etc.

How could we find out more about these software differences between the older ones and newer ones?

At least as far as the open deck / closed deck differences in the EZL, the Service Information document 01/29A dated July 1994 gives the chassis and engine end numbers for the phase in of the open deck blocks and mentions the EZL changes as a result, so I remembered that correctly. I'll try to think of some other things that may help.

 

[samiam44]

Will a 1995 work on an earlier 500e??