Hello VolvoG's
What's this I hear that the 503 or 510 ECU's in B23's were crappy..I thought these were the bulletproof one's !!(I have a rebuilt 561 for my 89 B230). Do I need to start looking for a rebuilt one for the 83 as well??
What are the "good"numbers to replace the 503/510??
GIA,
el Raidman

Senor raidman,

Just my 2 cents worth, mind it's been a difficult holiday with difficult family members living a way different lifestyle (i.e. they live on big bucks, "beat" on their machinery, rely on "professional" mechanics and have no problem w/$300/mo. car note.)

Seems to me that well constructed items with few moving parts (as in the Bosch FI computers in the 2 83 240s i've owned) should be, in amerikanese, "bulletproof". Just went up to the attic, have a LH jetronic computer, no ending in 503 and an AMM from the same '83 242. Both parts have exact same nos. as what's on my present '83 245.

My father worked for IBM back in the 60s when computers took up entire rooms and needed a/c units the size of a semi trailer. Things had come a long way by '83; my ladyfriend's '81 244 w/ a "simple" computer for the lambda system only works a-1 as well.

I suspect that all these so called failures of the brains in the FI systems were due to neglect,as in the AMM got too hot because of the pre heater flap getting stuck closed or because some fatso sat in the passenger's seat wearing big galoshes and gave that nice German computer a kick in just the right spot sending a voltage spike or some such. Or perhaps something as simple as crossed wiring under the hood, performed under condition of a breakdown when nearest mechanic was trained on '72 Novas?

There is an '83 242 in a nearby boneyard (not a fact to be snuffed at here in the rust belt, stuff >10 yrs old gets crushed) your post makes me want to run over there so I can buy the comp. for 5 bucks, test it for "GOODNESS", then peddle it for 100 bucks or more. Time are tough here in NE OH, esp. for repairing rust damage in 2 240s in 15 degree weather.

Francisco

Sounds like I should buy the 85 244 in the bone yard just to get the alloy wheels, ECU and ignition box. The yard wants 300 bucks for it. What do you guys think about that price? I got an 80 model the kid is driving around while I try to fix the ECU. It runs when warmed up, just a little lean... I hope I found a bad power transister and can replace it...

Yes, a lot of B23s went to the yard because of the owners befuddlement over the high cost for an AMM, that then turned out to need the ECU. Thanks to greedy or just dumb dealers and mechanics who make the wrong call and then try to re-stick people for the other part. The typical failure mode was "failure to adjust mixture". Now, the demand is down and so is the cost but you should grab a known good 002 AMM and an ECU for the shelf, in my opinion. I don't have them, since I do not have a B23 to test them in and many of the units from a salvage yard are the reason the car is there.

510. It is the later version used to replace the 503s, I believe. But in my opinion the 503 is not noticeably inferior in any way, to the extent you would want to replace it just because it is the earlier version. I heard a rumor the 510 has some minor changes to handle the introduction of the heated oxygen sensor into some of the last 84s made. Effect would be done in first 3 minutes.
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Art Benstein near Baltimore