quinnfiske

Glad you got it to run. My guess your "new" DME will be OK. Check all the connectors you fooled with and clean off any ground you can find. I even ran a ground wire from the engine to a strut tower nut just for good measure.

MY83944

Sounds like a plan!

Thank you

MY83944

Well, the DME I bought on eBay arrived - the car runs like sheit with it installed - Use Scott's DME, runs great - My eBay DME, runs like crap and I mean so bad it would not be road worthy.

Hopefully the eBay seller will make it right, we'll see.

I have to wait to see what happens with that before I can do anything else ...

User 41221

What year DME was it?

Regards,

MY83944

I dunno, same part number as my old one.

The seller wants to file a claim with UPS as he says it was good.

Been down that route before, they say it was not packaged properly, turns into a pissing battle and that sucks.

The seller has almost 1000 transactions and no negative feedback, so this is a bad deal for me as I do not want to post negative feedback and then have him do the same to my perfect score as well.

110067411513 was the eBay item number. Sounded good, oh well. . . .

The seller wanted me to call him, I am not into making long distance calls at my expense, especially right now.

Just another fitting chapter ....

There was another person in Shawnee that said they had an extra DME - I'm hoping they still have it. His name is Doug and he lives near you. I replied to his PM on the wrenching society web site, hope he still has it.

At least we know your DME is still good, I am just glad for that.

I'll try and get it back to you soon Scott,

Thanks!

User 41221

Steve,

Don't sweat it, thats my spare for the track car so I am not in a huge hurry to get it back. What I REALLY want is for you to drive your car and fall in love with it again! Take your time. Heck, we've been trading emails for about 10 years now, its not like I am worried you are gonna skip out on me!

I know Doug and would suggest that you make a deal with him that you get to plug his DME into your car and make sure it works before you conclude the transaction. Not saying anything negative about Doug, I just want to make sure you both are happy at the end.

Did the DME that you got from ebay get shipped in an anti-static bag? I've seen more than one DME go "poof!" when the shipper wrapped it in regular ol plastic and stuffed it in a box.

Regards,

quinnfiske

Good point about the anti-static packaging. The electronics industry uses plastic sleeves that are conductive so they will not allow a charge to build up. Regular bubble wrap acts like a capacitor and can discharge, frying integrated circuits. Hard to say if that is what happened, but I have heard of brand new units from Porsche that were DOA.

MY83944

The DME arrived in bubble wrap.

I spoke to the seller today, he wanted to know what ruined my old DME because he knows the one he sent me was good.

He asked me to clean the terminals on my plug in, even after I explained Scott's DME worked fine. He also said if the DME was bad, the car would not run at all.

Well, I will clean some terminals, on the DME he sent me, and try it again.

He did say I could send it back to him and he would refund my money, after he gets it back.

Whatever, you know -

Ohmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

User 41221

The seller ruined it when he shipped it in bubble wrap. I'll put money on it. And he's wrong, you can damage the DME and still have the car run with it, depending on which circuits are affected.

Regards,

MY83944

Thanks Scott, I feel a little better.

MY83944

Well, I cleaned the terminals and - it still did not work.

Runs great with the other DME in place ....

Sending it back tomorrow, hope for a prompt refund.

gtroth

Bad practice to ignore static, to be sure...but there's not too much cmos on an old DME, is there? Might not be as sensitive to static as you think.

Shipping vibrations, on the other hand, can be horrendous, especially on ancient cold solder joints. And if the package is small enough to be thrown, it will be.

MY83944

The DME was packed pretty well in those horrible styrofoam peanuts.

But I could easily see it being tossed and it was not protected as well on the sides as it was from the top -

Oh well, it's off on another trip back to it's owner . . .

MY83944

Oh, I mentioned the packaging as a possible culprit -

HI STEVE, THE PACKAGING IS NOT THE PROBLEM I HAVE SENT MANY OF THESE THE SAME WAY WITH NO PROBLEM, THE ONLY THING I CAN THINK OF IF IT HAD GOT DAMAGE IT WAS DROPED,OR YOUR CAR DAMAGED IT IN SOME WAY AS WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR ORIGINAL UNIT,AS I STATED I TESTED IT IN A CAR AND IT WORKED FINE, EITHER THESE WORK OR DONT WORK AND WHEN THEY GO BAD 9 OUT OF 10 TIMES THE O-2 SENSOR MICRO CHIP IN THESE GO BAD AND WOULD CAUSE THE CAR TO GO INTO DEFAULT MOD, CAR WILL STILL RUN.EITHER YOU HAVE A BAD DME RELAY,FUEL PUMP/COMPUTER RELAY OR YOU HAVE A 1 BAD FUEL INJECTOR,THAT WOULD CAUSE THE CAR TO MISS OR NOT RUN ALL 4 CYCLINDERS,1 OTHER THING YOU COULD CHECK IS THE O-2 SENSOR IT SELF,EVERY 20,000 MILES IT HAS TO BE REPLACED, A BAD O-2 SENSOR WILL CAUSE THE CAR TO RUN ERATIC,IDLE RPM FLUCTIATE ALL OVER THE PLACE. THE CAR WILL NOT START IF IT IS BAD,SO I TALKED TO MY ASE PORSCHE MECHANIC WHO WORKS AT SHOP IN PHOENIX AZ, WHO I WILL HAVE YOU SHIP THIS COMPUTER TO AND IF HE SAYS ITS BAD.
Cont:

Next email:
I WILL REFUND YOU, IF HE SAYS ITS GOOD THEN I WILL HAVE HIM SEND IT BACK TO YOU. KEEP IN MIND I AM VERY REASONABLE AND I HAVE 100% FEEDBACK. I WILL DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR YOU AND ME IF IT DID GET DROPED BY UPS,I WILL REFUND YOU OR SEND YOU ANOTHER UNIT.IF IT APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN OPEN UP I WILL NOT REFUND YOU,GENNERALY I DONT OFFER RETURNS,OR REFUNDS WITH ELECTRICAL ITEM AS ANYBODY DOES IN THIS INDUSTRY.SO IF YOU ARE OK WITH SENDING IT TO MY MECHANIC LETS MOVE FORWARD I WILL CALL YOU WITH THE ADDRESS. let me know Dave

My Replies:
Wow, this is heading downhill quickly.
My car runs fine with a computer I borrowed. I can install the computer you sold me in my car and it runs like crap, when I put the known good computer in my car it runs great. I have to return the borrowed computer as it is for the gentleman who loaned it to me's SCCA race car.
I explained to you in another email what fried my old DME, these issues were corrected prior to the installation of the loaner DME. The 944 DME is famous for cold solder issues that have nothing to do with electronic issues. Also, the car can run with a bad DME, it all depends on what circuit was effected.
I have already mailed the DME you sold me back to the address on the package you shipped it to me in. It is coming via USPS Priority Mail. You can track it on line using confirmation number 0306 1070 0004 5772 xxxx.
Please advise asap upon receipt what your intentions are so we can put this behind us.
Steve

I did not open the unit, but I can assure you, someone had. The screws were removed at some point, and not by me. And you should know that, you inspected it prior to shipment.
You do whatever you want and feel if fair.
I order a DME from you and when I installed it to replace a known good DME it did not work.
If you feel it is my fault, do not credit me, fine, whatever, this is not my first rodeo.
I also have 100% perfect feedback, for whatever that is worth.
You sold me a defective DME, that is the bottom line from where I am at.
You should have it back in a few days, please decide what you want to do when you recieve it, if it takes more than a reasonable amount of time, we can just post feedback and move on with life.
Steve

The other emails between us have been entertaining as well . . . . .This is my first bad experience on eBay . . .

Legoland951

I have no idea who the seller you are talking about but if I were to ever list a DME on ebay in the future, I will ONLY guarantee it if its picked up in person so I can demo it for this exact reason. Some dealers will not guarantee new electronic components if you don't have it installed by their mechanic. I sold a couple out of the recycler and had people pick up in person as its a local publication in the past. I ALWAYS insist they hear the engine running with that DME at my place. When it leaves my sight, the guarantee ends and I always make that very clear. One instance, the working 951 DME from a running wreck failed to start my 88 turbo. I am not sure if its due to the DME coming out from an 86 car but I gave him another DME that did start the car.

What is the part number? Is it the 01 DME part number?