Alex07

Hey guys,

I'm new to the forum (I'm in bigcoupe and bimmerforums) but I'm posting this for my brother. He has an 07 civic coupe (1.8 engine ) automatic and has around 130k.

His starter went out a couple of days ago and he found a replacement. He sent it to a mechanic to replace it, when he came back the mechanic told him that the car made electric shortcut. The entire harness that goes to the ECU melted (the car literally caught on fire). My brother was wondering if this event could have also fried the ECU or made any harm to it? I've been searching through the forums but nothing similar to this. Not sure what caused it.

Now, one of my concern is: When the mechanic pulled out the starter, it was from Japan and the one we installed was assembled in the U.S. The car says it was built here in the U.S, so Im wondering why it had the Japanese starter and not the U.S. Could this actually be the source of the problem and why it started? Has anyone encountered something similar?

If the ECU ends up being damaged as well, does anyone know an estimate of how much the entire process will cost if you do DIY?

Highly appreciate the input guys,

Thanks!

ezone

Sounds like his mechanic screwed up, probably didn't disconnect the battery, and roasted the harness.

IMO that shop now owes your brother an operable car.
They should be able to determine if the PCM is damaged after they replace the burned engine wiring harness, and then take care of any PCM issue themselves too.

I'm sure any legitimate shop has garagekeepers insurance to handle accidents such as this.

Alex07

That's what I told my brother as well, he was there the whole time. He said he did disconnected the battery. What sucks it's that is an indy mechanic, and he does small jobs in his house.

We'll see. But just to make things clear: just get the harness first, then if it doesn't work buy the ECU?

cheers

ezone

It didn't short out and burn while the battery was disconnected.

Next questions would be, at what point did it catch fire, and what is the root cause? (If the mechanic knows he caused it, he probably would never tell you the true story.....admitting guilt would cost him a lot of money)


Obvious issues first: Wiring.

Is the PCM (ecu) physically damaged enough to compromise the integrity of its electronics?

Alex07

The way he said was that after he put the starter, he went to test drive it for 2 min around the block. Once he parked it, he went inside and once he came out, he saw the smoke coming out of the car.

We just went to talk to him, he agreed for us to call our insurance company and let them take care of it. We warned him that it could potentially harm him,(we offered for him to pay so we can take it to the dealer so they can get it fixed there) but he said to do it anyways. I think he probably has gone through this before so who knows.

ezone

YOUR insurance? What about his insurance?

I've never had to deal with anything like this myself. I'd like to know what your insurance rep says.