Citroen berlingo 1.9d 2004 ecu failure

[Northern Monkey]

Hi.
I'm hoping for some help/advice..
About a month ago my van broke down, went out in it running fine, switched it off and then it wouldn't start, turning over but wouldn't start. 
Called the RAC who were useless, towed me home at least. 
Then I paid for a mobile mechanic to come out, £50 pretty much down the drain considering he then told me he knows nothing about diesels, some mechanic eh!
He sprayed easy start in it and it sort of tried to fire, so he said I need a new fuel pump. 
Not convinced by his lack of knowledge and having paid £50 for a squirt of easy start I decided to tow it to a local diesel specialist.  
He's plugged it in to his diagnostic software and it came up with 'ecu failure/failed' 
So I sent my ecu off to a company that would replace it with a second hand one and reprogram off my old ecu.
Now the problem is the eeprom chip has failed/blank so they can't reprogram the replacement.  
Originally the guy I spoke to was very helpful and said he'd read on a forum that he may be able to bypass the immobiliser in the ecu with a file, but wasn't sure if the file was the right one.
He told me the name of the forum and said if I wanted to have a read and get back to him.
I told him I was a member of that forum so I'd post and ask if anyone had the right file. 
After a week I had no responses to my post so rang back the ecu company today and got a very rude response. 
Spoke to a women who said "what do you expect us to do without a file" 
I mentioned the guy who I spoke to who said he had a file we could try but couldn't guarantee it would work.
She rudely dismissed this.
I've now told her to just return my ecu, pushed by her.
Anyway now I'm stuck.
From what I've read I've got 2 options.
The first one is scrap it, which I don't really want to do cos I'm broke and cannot afford a replacement.  
The second option is to buy a second hand ecu from ebay and replace the stop solenoid in the fuel pump (Lucas pump) 
This is where I'm unsure. 
If I buy a second hand ecu and replace or bypass the stop solenoid will the van start/work? 
Or would I still have to have the ecu reprogrammed?  
Any help would be greatly appreciated. 
Thanks

[Sol]

A replacement ECU off a breaker won't work mate, no point in wasting time or money on that option. More to it than the stop solenoid.

Ok so here's what I would do, contact HDi Tuning UK and send them a picture of the full label on your own ECU, they can either send you a fully working replacement with the immobilizer bypassed and it just slots in, about £200 or they may be able to recover the info from yours.

https://hdi-tuning.co.uk/

[Northern Monkey]

A replacement ECU off a breaker won't work mate, no point in wasting time or money on that option. More to it than the stop solenoid.

Ok so here's what I would do, contact HDi Tuning UK  and send them a picture of the full label on your own ECU, they can either send you a fully working replacement with the immobilizer bypassed and it just slots in, about £200 or they may be able to recover the info from yours.

https://hdi-tuning.co.uk/

Thanks! 
Glad I found that out before spending hours getting at the stop solenoid.  
So if I bought a second hand ecu all I need to do is get the immobiliser bypassed? 
Would it run and would everything work with my bsi? 
Theres second hand ecu's on ebay for £15 so I may be able to find someone to just bypass the ecu abit cheaper. 
I'm skint at the minute 
I will give hdi tuning a ring to see what they have to say. 
Thanks again.

[Sol]

There's a line in the ECU code which asks the BSI for authorisation to start, if the key didn't match then that gets refused. The ECU needs that line removed in the code and it would work. Also needs programming with your VIN from your car.

Not everyone can do them but most ECU places now can do it. HDi Tuning will unlock your own or another ECU but they still charge a good few quid to do so. I'd imagine no one will do it for £50 put it that way. And a second hand ECU needs to be the exact same part numbers and model codes on the sticker from your one, or there is no point trying to get it unlocked.

[Northern Monkey]

---

There's a line in the ECU code which asks the BSI for authorisation to start, if the key didn't match then that gets refused. The ECU needs that line removed in the code and it would work. Also needs programming with your VIN from your car.

Not everyone can do them but most ECU places now can do it. HDi Tuning will unlock your own or another ECU but they still charge a good few quid to do so. I'd imagine no one will do it for £50 put it that way. And a second hand ECU needs to be the exact same part numbers and model codes on the sticker from your one, or there is no point trying to get it unlocked.

https://ibb.co/WB9RnJC
The only numbers that are different on my ECU and the eBay one are the bottom left one and the date of manufacture.
Don’t suppose you know if you can get the immobiliser details from the bsi?
Also if I went the immobiliser delete route would I still need to swap the stop solenoid?
Thanks

[Sol]

The immobilizer pin is encrypted in the BSI within a little EPROM chip. You're getting into dark territory there where you need specific and not readily available to the public software to get the rom and decrypt the contents.

The BSI checks the key, if the immo transponder matches, then it would authorise the ECU to start. However in the transaction, the VIN is checked and if it doesn't match, no dice. The ones HDi Tuning sell have been doctored to remove the authorisation line of code from the rom and to fix the VIN check.

If there is authorised start, then you won't have to mess with any solenoid. The stop solenoid isn't encoded in any way. The ECU just won't enable it if start authorisation is refused. Why did you think swapping it would be needed? Not sure where that came from.

I think you're still going to need to spend a couple of hundred quid to get out of this situation and even then you can't prove the ECU is actually faulty by yourself.

Email Steve Lewis at HDi Tuning and send the picture you posted, he will tell you what options you have.

remap@hdi-tuning.co.uk

Steve may have an unlocked one in stock for £150, you neve know.

[cancunia]

+1 for contacting HDi Tuning. Steve will be able to advise if he's able to help.

AFAIK, the immo on the 1.9D is fairly easy to bypass as it only affects the stop solenoid on the mechanical fuel pump. Not for discussion here, but some further reading will give some clues.

[Sol]

Why not then, bypass the stop solenoid with a switch and then see if it starts.

Thanks for the insight @cancunia, I only had one 1.9D and it ran like a Swiss watch.

[Northern Monkey]

Why not then, bypass the stop solenoid with a switch and then see if it starts.

Thanks for the insight @cancunia, I only had one 1.9D and it ran like a Swiss watch.

Mine ran like a Swiss watch till it didn't 
I have bought a replacement ecu off Ebay as it was only £15 delivered.  
For £15 it's a no brainer and I can always re list it if I don't need it. 
I'm not sure if mine is completely dead or if it's just the eeprom chip that's failed. 
So my plan is to replace the stop solenoid, only £8, just a ball ache of a job cutting the armour away. 
Then try both ecu's.
If it doesn't start then I can pay the £200, might be a bit less now i have a replacement ecu. 
Thanks

[Northern Monkey]

+1 for contacting HDi Tuning. Steve will be able to advise if he's able to help.

AFAIK, the immo on the 1.9D is fairly easy to bypass as it only affects the stop solenoid on the mechanical fuel pump. Not for discussion here, but some further reading will give some clues.

I've read up on swapping the stop solenoid.
Sounds like the hardest part is removing the armour. 
A 3 inch cut off wheel or a dremel should make the job a little less stressful 
Thanks