can you tell me what the faults would be if the ecu
had a bad earth and where would be the best
PART OF THE CAR TO EARTH IT ON also could i just
change for another or would they have to be some settings done

andrew littlefair, July 2008

Where is the ecu located on a 2005 corsa c 1.0litre

John h, January 2017

I have just been quoted £688 and thats with 20% off
from Vauxhall Dealership to replace ECU unit. The car
was losing power and lights flashing on dash board.
Then car completely died and wouldn't start; diagnostic test saying is EMS unit.
Total rip off? I'll never buy another Corsa again

angry corsa owner, February 2014

I know this topic is five years old but I have to add my two cents. Why on earth would anybody buy a Corsa B or C. If your ECU committing suicide isn't enough (or a bad earth... whatever) then you have the blandness and boringness of a vehicle created by a manufacturer that has always tried to out do Ford. The Fiesta has been the number one selling hatch pretty much since it came on the seen in the late 70s. You see more Fiestas on the roads than Corsas. And you see more Focus' on the road than Vectras. Take the Vaux Tigra, it may have came before the Puma but the Puma sold more between 99-02 (it was a MK5 Fiesta underneath) than Vaux EVER sold of their Tigra. Why? Because it drives better, looks better, is far more reliable, much better to look at and at least it isn't furnished like an old man's smoking room. Talking of the comparison between a smoking room and the Tigra, the only thing I could think of which would make the Tigra more bearable is a glass of brandy and a Cohiba to smoke.

David Gilmore, August 2013

i had major problems with a 1,0 corsa an to cut a ;ong dtry vrry short the eartg screw torx bit mount on he ecu was loose tightened it and it runs like newpaul

paul, October 2011

weres the ecu on corsa 1999

peter, May 2011

ecu faults and engine managment faults are very commen on these corsa b and c my advise unless you know what your doing just get rid of the car and never ever ever get a corsa again even any vaxhall eco tec they are know as limberg engine (fuel saving) hence the ECUs and EMS sytems are designed like this basicly poor design faults i have had sevrel people in the motor trade with 120 years expearainace between them (befour you all start i say "between them not each") they all agree one of them even worked a main dealer vauxhall for 6.5 years.

adin, February 2011

The ECU on the Corsa C has an external earth to one of its mounting bolts, this is a known weakness as is the main earth cable from batter to engine block. Get a new pair of earth cables and run them directly from the battery earth to both the block and ECU earth points will cure a number of problems that otherwise will prove expensive to almost cure.

Steve, January 2009

i hate the immobiliser ecu on vauxhall corsas

vince, September 2008

A bad earth on your engine ECU could present numerous faults - fairly typical is a MAF sensor or Oxygen sensor fault. The ECU doesn't nescessarily earth direct through the unit to the engine block and may utilise a number of harness connector pins that lead to an earth external of the unit. Be careful if testing earths as the ECU also switches various sensors to earth, so it's not like a permanent earth and may lead to confusion. If you have a fault that indicates a lost earth, then most prob that ECU is at fault.

Replacing an ECU on a Corsa (depending on yr) means that the original ECU has to be reset (links with immobiliser etc) and then a new unit reprogrammed. A secondhand unit cannot be used unless the unit is reset before being removed from the donor vehicle - note that contrary to a number of posts found all over the net, disconnecting the battery does not reset the ECU so far as to enable a swap. It means that it loses the learn values only. You'll prob need dealer to 'flash' your replacement ECU (don't know of any other diagnostic tool that can do this).

I know these things as I am having the same issue on a Corsa C (2003) with the Z10XEP engine. Just for info', if your engine code is as above then note that most things are VERY expensive! New ECU-£277 + VAT!!!

Damn Corsa!, July 2008