QuestionOk, here goes. A couple of months ago, my 1994 325is BMW died. A professional European Motors repair shop determined that it was caused by leaves entering the "screen thingy" (my words) below the windshield and clogging the "drain thingy" which in turn made the computer compartment fill with water, thus killing the computer. I had the computer replaced with a used computer, and then it worked fine for a month or two, when I washed my car again (by hand) one day and the same thing happened. Thankfully, the computer was warrantied. Of course, the labor was not!!
So, now having no money to find the leak, my father and I are needing to work on it ourselves to somehow find the problem and repair it cheaply.
And, just so you know, I had the windshield replaced about a year before this happened, and the windshield repair guy did not put a new gasket or whatever around the glass, but left the old one. I have had him come out to check the windshield, but he says that it cannot be the problem.
Can you help me ASAP, before the rainy season, and before I need to wash my car again?!! Thanks so much.
AnswerHi there,
One of the ways to remedy the situation would be to bag the ECU (the computer thingy) by enclosing it in a strong plastic (needless to say, waterproof) bag and cable tie-ing it at the harness end. The real way to fix it would be to determine where the water is coming from. Just because there are no leaves and junk in the valance by the bottom of the screen does not mean that there is no blockage. You need to make sure that the water drain pipe is clear and that the seal on the bulkhead wall (where the ECU sits behind) is doing its job of keeping the water out. you might need to spend a bit of time stripping down the front valance/scuttle and clearing out any debris that has accumulated. You can remove the ECU still on the harness and clean out that area too. You might want to do this once a year, certainly after autumn.
Good luck
Ps..Use the bag anyway.
Regards
Rob
