# 2006 Jetta 2.5 ECM Dead?



## ABjetta (Jun 27, 2012)

Hi Everyone, 
New to the forum, and I've tried doing some searching on my issue, and found answers to pieces of it only. Here's the problem I'm having: yesterday, my CEL and EPC lights came on. Seems like the car is in limp mode as the throttle is limited at 3k RPM now. I plugged in my scan tool (not VAG COM unfortunately) and pulled the following codes: P2185 - Engine Coolant Temp Sensor High, P0606 - ECM/PCM Processor, and P0342 - Camshaft Position Sensor A Circuit Low. 

The car feels like it has a slight misfire at 2k RPM, but idles smoothly. The car cranks longer when starting, and both cooling fans are running at max speed when the car is on. If it makes any difference, I had the flex pipe replaced yesterday since mine was shot. I did notice the day before too that my power windows were acting funny, as in going down but not up. 

I'm going to take it to a shop but thought I'd get your input first so that I don't get royally screwed-over when I take it in. 

Thanks in advance for your input.


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## GTACanuck (Feb 20, 2009)

The P0606 & P0342 is what is turning your EPC light on and keeping you in limp mode. My recommendation to you would be to locate the wiring to that sensor and make sure it is dry at the connector and all the wires are in tact. 

Have you tried clearing the code and seeing if it stays on? I washed my motor bay a few weeks back and I got the same code as well as a crank position sensor error. I let it sit for 4 hours, dried everything out with some compressed air, cleared the codes and everything was fine after that. 

Dont know what to say about the P2185 code, but that is what is causing your fans to be on 100% power. 

As for your windows, thats bizzare. Maybe disconnecting the battery for a minute and retraining them will work. If you do not know how to retrain them, here are the steps. 

1. Disconnect Battery 
2. After a minute or so, reconnect 
3. Roll down drivers side window by keeping the button pressed the whole time. 
4. Roll up drivers side window by keeping the button pushed up the whole time. 
5. Test automatic up and down function on drivers side window. If passes, repeat steps 3-5 for all other windows. 

If this does not work for the windows, you will need to scan via VAGCOM and diagnose the modules for the windows. 

Hope this helps and please let us know how it goes. The fact that all this happened in such a short period of time is concerning


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## ABjetta (Jun 27, 2012)

Thanks for the quick reply. I cleared the codes twice and they came back both times. It has been raining a lot here for the past few weeks, so maybe the moisture is having an affect. I may let the car sit for a few days in the garage and see if any of the codes go away. 

Yeah, the windows were a wierd one. Thanks for the steps; next time they do that, I may try the reset.


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## GTACanuck (Feb 20, 2009)

YVW, and welcome to the forums! Let us know how it goes :thumbup:


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## ABjetta (Jun 27, 2012)

Thought I'd give an update. I let the car sit yesterday in the garage, and started it up last night. The CEL and EPC lights are still on and the engine cranks for about 5 sec before firing up. I noticed a new light is on now - the battery light. I haven't had any issues with the battery or alternator up to now. Could all these things be related? I'm going to take it to a shop next week for them to start looking at.


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## LampyB (Apr 2, 2007)

it could be that the ECU encountered moisture and isn't working properly anymore. because you have so many different problem areas it seems as though they're all centrally connected...meaning if the ECU's bad everything else is going to go awol because the brain of the car isn't functioning properly, or correctly telling everything else what to do. 

sounds like you should definitely take it in, there's too much going on to pinpoint it to a single area.


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## LampyB (Apr 2, 2007)

ps. please let us know how it goes afterward!


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## GTACanuck (Feb 20, 2009)

LampyB said:


> it could be that the ECU encountered moisture and isn't working properly anymore. because you have so many different problem areas it seems as though they're all centrally connected...meaning if the ECU's bad everything else is going to go awol because the brain of the car isn't functioning properly, or correctly telling everything else what to do.
> 
> sounds like you should definitely take it in, there's too much going on to pinpoint it to a single area.


I am going to side with Lampy on this. Please let us know what the shop says, we hope everything turns out well for ya bud


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## ABjetta (Jun 27, 2012)

Thanks Lampy and GTACanuck. I have it booked in for the beginning of August, since I'm travelling next month and wont be needing the car. I will post the outcome though so it's up here for future reference.


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## ABjetta (Jun 27, 2012)

I dropped the car off at the dealer last Friday so that they could look at it while I'm away. They did a continuity test and determined that the ECU has lost communication with various modules. They are not sure what caused it to fail, but have determined that the ECU is in fact dead. Supposedly, it takes about 10 days to get the ECU as it's back-ordered. No big deal since I'm out of town anyway. Thought I'd share an update. I just wish they could tell me what in fact killed it.


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## GTACanuck (Feb 20, 2009)

ABjetta said:


> I dropped the car off at the dealer last Friday so that they could look at it while I'm away. They did a continuity test and determined that the ECU has lost communication with various modules. They are not sure what caused it to fail, but have determined that the ECU is in fact dead. Supposedly, it takes about 10 days to get the ECU as it's back-ordered. No big deal since I'm out of town anyway. Thought I'd share an update. I just wish they could tell me what in fact killed it.


Thats crazy man.. How much is a new ECU? Considered getting one from a wreckers?


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## ABjetta (Jun 27, 2012)

The ECU was $647, according to the work order. For that price, I'd rather just get the new one than trying to look for one used and making sure it would work on the car. All of the diagnosis and final installation (at $140/hr) came to $420. It's upsetting shelling out that much money on it, but this has been the first major repair since new, so I guess I can't complain.

Thanks for all your input.


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