Common electronic module failures

[BB]

My 91 has been super reliable for the longest time, but within only the past 2 years I've experienced a rash of electronic module failures. This includes....

1. Main relay
2. Turn signal cancel module (inside steering column)
3. Climate control unit
4. Fan control module (causes A/C to stop working)

It's ironic that a company like Tesla likes to suggest their cars are more reliable because it's "a computer on wheels" without an internal combustion engine, yet on a 25 year old car it's the electronics that are proving to be most trouble prone and not the engine!

I am wondering if it's worthwhile to proactively replace other electronic modules in my car? My understanding is that decades of constant vibration causes the solder joints on the boards in these units to eventually develop stress cracks and fail. Since I've experienced so many board failures in such a short time I fully expect there to be more failures of this type within the next few years.

What additional electronic modules have others seen fail the most frequently?

 

[robbiedawg]

speaker amps (which briank fixes) and ignition switch are other common electrical failures. i'm not sure if these are modules,but in the same ballpark.i had these done proactively when the car was nearing 20 years old.

 

[tof]

OEM head units and they are hard to find used in working condition. Also hard to find someone who will work on them. Cap leaks. Same issue as the CCU and the Bose speaker amps.

I expect some advances in component design and materials engineering will mean that a 20 year old Tesla will be more reliable than some of the components in the NSX, but only time will tell.

 

[BB]

I expect some advances in component design and materials engineering will mean that a 20 year old Tesla will be more reliable than some of the components in the NSX, but only time will tell.

Tesla does not possess anywhere near the same level of accumulated longevity experience as Honda, plus it's obvious they take more risks than Honda ever would. There was a story in the WSJ earlier this year about how when Model S production was starting up a key supplier in China had not yet delivered some required USB cables causing the production line to come to a halt. An irate Elon Musk ordered the production team to go to Fry's Electronics to buy extra cables! Can you see Honda sourcing parts in this manner? Does Honda even use Chinese parts in their cars?

Consumer Reports ranks the Model S as having slightly below average reliability. And if you read the Tesla forums you will find that stories of entire engines, main touch screens, instrument pod screens, and electric door handles being replaced under warranty are not difficult to find. Lots of failures on relatively NEW electronics. This does not bode well for longevity. I suspect these will be expensive cars to maintain when they're 20+ years old.

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speaker amps (which briank fixes) and ignition switch are other common electrical failures. i'm not sure if these are modules,but in the same ballpark.i had these done proactively when the car was nearing 20 years old.

I've already proactively replaced my ignition switch. When the automatic turn signal cancel stopped working in my car I assumed something mechanical had broken. I was shocked to discover that a computer board inside the steering column cover was responsible for the malfunction! What other small electronic modules are lurking in the car that I'm unaware of?

Here's a list of small electronic modules I could find in the parts list that I have not replaced....

35154-SL0-A01 CONTROLLER ASSY., ILLUMINATION
38330-SL0-003 CONTROL UNIT, RETRACTABLE HEADLIGHT
38370-SL0-A01 CONTROL UNIT, POWER WINDOW
39930-SP0-A01 SENSOR, ACCELERATION (discontinued, what is this?)
38380-SL0-A03 CONTROL UNIT, AUTO DOOR LOCK
38600-SL0-A02 CONTROL UNIT, INTEGRATED
38300-SL0-013 RELAY ASSY., TURN SIGNAL AND HAZARD
39797-SE0-003 RELAY ASSY., POWER (4P) (056700-7330) (DENSO)
30700-SL0-N11 RESISTOR ASSY
16717-PR7-A01 RESISTOR ASSY., FUEL PUMP (196171-008)

 

[NSXGB]

Unfortunately I think you can add the SRS system to the list. I believe there has been at least one known failure in the UK already.

 

[BB]

After searching the forums for stories of small electronic module failures, I found these ones to be the most common (listed in order from most common to least common)....

39400-SL0-003 main relay
39797-SE0-003 fuel pump relay
35285-SL0-A01 turn signal cancel unit
37735-PR7-A01 radiator fan control unit
38600-SL0-A02 integrated control unit

Obviously there are other systems that have reported failures like main ECU, ABS, SRS. But I am not considering proactively replacing those since the cost is prohibitive. And it does seem like the major control units are higher quality since the # of reported failures with them is smaller. (Although the CCU is the obvious exception to the rule).

 

[robbiedawg]

After searching the forums for stories of small electronic module failures, I found these ones to be the most common (listed in order from most common to least common)....

39400-SL0-003 main relay
39797-SE0-003 fuel pump relay
35285-SL0-A01 turn signal cancel unit
37735-PR7-A01 radiator fan control unit
38600-SL0-A02 integrated control unit

Obviously there are other systems that have reported failures like main ECU, ABS, SRS. But I am not considering proactively replacing those since the cost is prohibitive. And it does seem like the major control units are higher quality since the # of reported failures with them is smaller. (Although the CCU is the obvious exception to the rule).

good work.i know the main relay is relatively cheap,having bought one for about $75. do you know about how much the others cost?

 

[goldNSX]

The NSX has quite a lot of electronic modules which can fail as it was ahead of it's time then. I would add the igniter unit and the ignition coils. Plus it has quite a lot of modules with big electrolytic caps in it and these fail after 10-20 years. So don't be surprised if you have to revise all the modules on a NSX which is more than 20 years old. This is simply maintainence. Some people have put plenty of money into tuning their car, so the revision of the electronics is only a fraction of the costs of usual maintainence as you don't have to go with new modules if you can handle a soldering unit.

I've checked my 2000 Honda Hybrid (people shit in their pants even more with 15 years old hybrids for their repairs) for the same failures but saw that they used smaller and I guess better caps. So I don't have to revise all the electronics on it.

Even more: I would distinguish between a fully electronic revised and a 'virgin' NSX on the market and would deduct 1-2 grand of the price for the later one.

The good thing about the NSX is that you only have to revise them every 15 years or so and now a lot of people go through it.

Tesla: badmouthing the gas engine is only marketing blablabla. Let's wait another 5-10 years and see how many Teslas are stranded with bad batteries and noone willing to pay for new ones.