# dsm gurus please step in...
**URL:** https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dsm-gurus-please-step-in/157276
**Category:** NYSpeed Automotive
**Created:** [July 1, 2010, 6:01am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dsm-gurus-please-step-in/157276 "2010-07-01T06:01:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@94excivic](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/94excivic)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2010, 6:01am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dsm-gurus-please-step-in/157276/1 "2010-07-01T06:01:52Z")
so i am having some dsm issues…:rolleyes:
car is a 1991 tsi awd.
-86k.manual trans.
car sometimes starts,sometimes doesnt.
cranks great…but sometimes just wont turn over…other times it will start and sit at 2k idle…other times 1.5k…other times idles normal(around 1k)…tried doing some research…possibly isc?
i just cant figure it out.
any help…or ways to diagnose this problem would be helpful!
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### Author:  [@Jskrapper](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Jskrapper)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2010, 7:49am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dsm-gurus-please-step-in/157276/2 "2010-07-01T07:49:38Z")
“Cranks” and “turns over” are the same thing, so I assume you mean sometimes it wont fire?
Next time it cranks and cranks, but doesn’t fire, check your tach and see if it bumps a little with the starter cranking. That will be your first big clue.
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### Author:  [@94excivic](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/94excivic)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2010, 8:52am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dsm-gurus-please-step-in/157276/3 "2010-07-01T08:52:36Z")
right…like it almost starts…it feels like its out of gas…but its not.it just sometimes wont fire up…sometimes it does.so confusing!
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### Author:  [@Carnut](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Carnut)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2010, 10:26am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dsm-gurus-please-step-in/157276/4 "2010-07-01T10:26:40Z")
Remove your ECU, remove the cover and smell it. If it smells like dead fish, it probably has a capacitor or two leaking.
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### Author:  [@94excivic](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/94excivic)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2010, 10:38am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dsm-gurus-please-step-in/157276/5 "2010-07-01T10:38:01Z")
Il give that a try.thanks.
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### Author:  [@94excivic](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/94excivic)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2010, 10:20am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dsm-gurus-please-step-in/157276/6 "2010-07-02T10:20:44Z")
well im pretty sure its the ecu.it doesnt smell quite right.no visible damage though.
it was starting/idling good yeterday…but il prob. replace it.
was thinking about doing the evo 8 ecu swap…anyone have any experience…or heard of that swap for that matter?
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### Author:  [@upstateclipse](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/upstateclipse)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2010, 10:31am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dsm-gurus-please-step-in/157276/7 "2010-07-02T10:31:44Z")
I have done the swap in a couple 2g dsms it is fairly time consuming but not too hard. There are a couple good write ups on dsmtuners about it. As for your ecu, capacitors leaking should be visible. There are only 3 capacitors on the board- they are round cylinder shaped components.
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### Author:  [@94excivic](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/94excivic)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2010, 11:04am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dsm-gurus-please-step-in/157276/8 "2010-07-02T11:04:48Z")
whats my best option?
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### Author:  [@Carbonfiberhooded](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Carbonfiberhooded)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dsm-gurus-please-step-in/157276/9 "2010-07-02T15:04:14Z")
Buy a used one and swap it in or get it repaired. There’s a really good guy out in Chicago that is awesome with repairing them and has a bench test rig setup to make sure everything works before he sends them back out.
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### Author:  [@Detective\_Coating](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Detective_Coating)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dsm-gurus-please-step-in/157276/10 "2010-07-02T16:34:14Z")
> [@Carbonfiberhooded](#):
>
> Buy a used one and swap it in or get it repaired. There’s a really good guy out in Chicago that is awesome with repairing them and has a bench test rig setup to make sure everything works before he sends them back out.
[Steve P](http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/members/steve-164.html)
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### Author:  [@Carnut](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Carnut)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dsm-gurus-please-step-in/157276/11 "2010-07-02T16:59:35Z")
> [@95TSIAWD$](#):
>
> [Steve P](http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/members/steve-164.html)
This guy
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### Author:  [@nytalonTSi](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/nytalonTSi)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dsm-gurus-please-step-in/157276/12 "2010-07-02T21:09:30Z")
> [@95TSIAWD$](#):
>
> [Steve P](http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/members/steve-164.html)
Yup this guy is good, he guided me with my isc/ecu issue before.
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### Author:  [@94excivic](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/94excivic)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2010, 6:29am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dsm-gurus-please-step-in/157276/13 "2010-07-03T06:29:19Z")
so…where do i find this guy? lol.
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### Author:  [@Carnut](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Carnut)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2010, 8:28am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dsm-gurus-please-step-in/157276/14 "2010-07-03T08:28:42Z")
A google search revealed this.
[http://simon.chi.il.us/ECU/ECURepair.html](http://simon.chi.il.us/ECU/ECURepair.html)
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### Author:  [@deebo](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/deebo)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2010, 8:59am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dsm-gurus-please-step-in/157276/15 "2010-07-03T08:59:04Z")
i told you gary has 2 eprom ecu’s with dsmlink 2 or 3. man up and shh
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### Author:  [@Detective\_Coating](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Detective_Coating)
#### Post date: [July 4, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dsm-gurus-please-step-in/157276/16 "2010-07-04T14:28:53Z")
> [@94excivic](#):
>
> so…where do i find this guy? lol.
Ummm, in the hyperlink I posted with his name…
For those that don’t know how to click his name you can click this one since it’s much larger. [http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/members/steve-164.html](http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/members/steve-164.html)
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### Author:  [@jt76](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/jt76)
#### Post date: [July 4, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dsm-gurus-please-step-in/157276/17 "2010-07-04T14:48:21Z")
you bought another dsm? ugh
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### Author:  [@94excivic](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/94excivic)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2010, 2:58am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dsm-gurus-please-step-in/157276/18 "2010-07-05T02:58:57Z")
> [@95TSIAWD$](#):
>
> Ummm, in the hyperlink I posted with his name…
>
> For those that don’t know how to click his name you can click this one since it’s much larger. [http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/members/steve-164.html](http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/members/steve-164.html)
it doesnt show the link…unless i put my cursor over his name…which i didnt do at the time…MY BAD.
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### Author:  [@See4Ways](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/See4Ways)
#### Post date: [July 12, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/dsm-gurus-please-step-in/157276/19 "2010-07-12T15:23:41Z")
burch prolly has like 5 of these sitting on his kitchen table…pm him or call = problem solved…
get this running so we can run : )