Zed Head said:

It's not very common but the ECU can go bad. I had a spare that I tried out just to make sure that it was good (it wasn't), it ran well for about one mile, then started cutting out and running very rich. Then it killed the engine and only started a couple more times, dying quickly each time after it started. I put the original "same part number" ECU back in and the engine was right back to where it was before I put the funky ECU in.

I've also read at least two accounts of a sudden "running very rich" problem being solved by banging on the ECU or wiggling the ECU plug.

As I said, uncommon, but a possibility to consider.

That's what I want to here, the uncommon answers. Sometimes it helps

Seems I have a short in the ECU

Actually the short appears to be in the connector at the ECU.

Fixed the short in the ECU but still not quite right. Much better though. Just ordered a new harness for the coolant temp sensor and thermo-time. I think the wire is corroded.

  garretthes said:

Seems I have a short in the ECU

Thanks for putting that video up. I've read the stories in the past but had a hard time comprehending what I was reading.

Sounded like you were taking a few frustrations out on the ECU the way you beat on it. Or maybe it was just the recorder.

Maybe I was hitting the ECU a little harder than it needed

The new harness for the coolant temp sensor and thermo-time definitely helped. It runs much smoother and stable with no smoking. The exhaust smells right. It still has a miss though. I'm leaning towards a bad injector. I wish they weren't so expensive I would just replace them all and be done with it.

Update:

The miss was a fouled plug. Replaced the culprit and it runs pretty good until I put it under load at higher rpm's. Then it seems to miss a little. I'm thinking the other 5 plugs might need to be replaced as well now that the fuel mix is correct.

The good news is my daughter has been able to drive it a lot. I still need to replace the thermostat as it appears to be stuck open. The temp gauge almost gets to the 1st normal line. I'm guessing this is causing it to run a little rich still.

The car failed emissions as well. This was no surprise as it was missing. The CAT has been hollowed out though. I'm thinking I will need to put a good CAT on it to pass emissions.