Protecting ECU from Water Damage?

There are a couple of products that give you a water resistant coating on the board itself.. as well as clean water damage corrosion. It does work as long as nothing is burnt out on the PCB.
Definitely not a waterproof case however,.,, but It is hydrophobic coating applied directly to the PCB.

I'll be offering it as a service along with the Chips I am selling.


Other than that, their use to be a company in England that sold an extension harness for the Engine wiring to ECU, it was about 2' Long if I remember correctly with the idea being you mounted it to the roll cage. This was for the trials trucks.. But I have not seen that in a long time.

other than that I'd bring a 2nd ECU... and swap it in if needed.. take the submerged one apart and let it dry out... They are pretty robust.
they have issues when corrosion sets into the contacts on the PCB

I guess the focus on protecting the ECU from water should be (in the '95) waterproofing the under seat compartment, as it also houses the critical relays for fuel pump and EFI as well as the stereo amp, so lots of electrically vulnerable parts in there..

So where are people sourcing known good 14cux ECUs, and what should you expect to pay for one? Just calling auto dismantlers? Assuming '94-'95 D1 as well as early RR ECUs would all be viable spares?

When I was vehicle certification for Drive the Globe, any ECU controlled vehicle (Defender, Range Rover) would be required to carry a spare ECU, unless our parts sponsor (Typically Rovers North) provided one in the spare parts kit we would drag along.

J!m said:

When I was vehicle certification for Drive the Globe, any ECU controlled vehicle (Defender, Range Rover) would be required to carry a spare ECU, unless our parts sponsor (Typically Rovers North) provided one in the spare parts kit we would drag along.

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That's great...

Until the second water crossing 😂

Hopefully they learn from the first...

USUALLY I can tell the yahoos from the serious folks. I don't "make up" stuff. When I suggest it, there's a valid reason. We don't/can't strand the convoy for something like this, as one is flown in via DHL from RN (assuming they have stock) over two to three days or wherever. It's not been needed on any expedition I've been on, but it should be seriously considered.

Back to the board waterproofing: I have a can of spray made for the purpose around somewhere. It can be found online I'm sure. But may God have mercy on your soul if you need to do any repairs to that board later. The stuff is nasty and difficult to completely remove for clean soldering. But it does help keep stuff dry (and also warmer FYI).

IIRC someone long ago made an ECU relocation kit for the 94s and 95s.

Would be great to see that reappear but I understand there's a limited market

I don't think the connectors are anything unobntainium or anything... a home-brew one should be possible.

I’m going to offer a water resistant MIL spec coating for the PCB board in the ecu…

Not water proof but until I can design a new waterproof case, probably the best we can do for now. But it will stop corrosion which is what bricks most of them.