What will cause the ECU to shut down?

[mbrakke]

Recently I ran my car (4 cylinder road racing sedan) on a rainy weekend and it would start, run at lower RPM, but shut off around 7000 rpm. Turning the power off and back on would allow it to restart. No fault codes in ECU.
What issues will cause the ECU to shut down?
I have assumed water got somewhere it should not have been but want to look at all possibilities.

[stevieturbo]

Recently I ran my car (4 cylinder road racing sedan) on a rainy weekend and it would start, run at lower RPM, but shut off around 7000 rpm. Turning the power off and back on would allow it to restart. No fault codes in ECU.
What issues will cause the ECU to shut down?
I have assumed water got somewhere it should not have been but want to look at all possibilities.

If the you are saying engine is running, how is the ecu shutting down ?

Or are you saying the engine dies completely at 7000rpm ?

And how are you determining the ecu is shutting down...vs simply the engine cutting off ?

[mbrakke]

I assume if the engine stops running suddenly the ECU is not functioning. The SDL3 is still recording so the car still has power. What else would cause the engine to stop suddenly other than an ECU shut down?

[greenamex2]

I had a similar problem with another make of ECU once. Turned out to be the ECU overheating because some idiot mounted it next to the exhaust.

Got any data logging?

[stevieturbo]

I assume if the engine stops running suddenly the ECU is not functioning. The SDL3 is still recording so the car still has power. What else would cause the engine to stop suddenly other than an ECU shut down?

Many many things.

power to coils, power to fuel system, power to blah blah, important sensor wiring issue etc etc etc

You're making a huge assumption based on no evidence which will never help to diagnose the problem.

When you're connected to the ecu via laptop...does it shutdown ? As green says, have you any datalogs ?

[mbrakke]

The engine builder, who set up the Motec, and I have both reviewed the data logs. No faulty sensors. No other clues.

[mbrakke]

Regarding the possibility of the ECU overheating that is not possible as it is far from the exhaust or other source of heat, and has run perfectly on days that were 35 degrees F hotter than the day it gave me difficulty.

[greenamex2]

The engine builder, who set up the Motec, and I have both reviewed the data logs. No faulty sensors. No other clues.

Post them?

[Sean]

Post them?

What he said
Have you run this car in similar wet conditions previously?

[greenamex2]

Another thought -

On two separate vehicles I have had in issue in wet conditions with water getting in to the crank sensor connector.

On the car this would cause a misfire about a certain RPM.

On the bike it would just stop.

Might be worth looking at. Again, data logging should show something like this.