Passat B7 ECU Replacement Query

**Muzza86** · 15-02-2023,09:47 PM

Hi,

I have a 2012 Passat TDI Estate that is having intermittent electrical faults.
The car sometimes cuts out and shows numerous lights on the dash, including ESC, Battery and power steering. Other times the car wont start at all but shows the same warning lights. The fan even kicked in once when this happened, even though the car was cold.
The car has now been running for 2 weeks with no issues.

The car is currently in a VW specialist garage who have diagnosed the car using VCDS and told me that the ECU has water ingress and that the ECU needs replacing.

I am struggling to understand which part number is required when looking for a replacement ECU.
I called the garage today to ask for the part numbers of my ECU and I believe there are at least 3 part numbers.

VW No - 03L 906 018 PR 360
Bosch No - 0 281 017 946
Other - EDC17C46

I have found used ECU's with the Bosch & other part number, but I am struggling to find one with the exact VW number.

Can I buy a replacement ECU that has the matching Bosch or other part number, or does it have to be the exact VW part number?
Also, how hard is it for someone to code/clone my ECU onto the replacement?

Thanks

**UMEL** · 16-02-2023,09:26 AM

Have you/they thought about sending it to an ECU specialist for testing/repair. That might be worth a try and just might be a cheaper option.

**Muzza86** · 16-02-2023,11:24 AM

Yes this is an option I looked at.
I called a company called ECU Testing yesterday. I can send it to them to get tested, but they said if it requires replacing, they don't have that model in stock, so I would need to pay them to send my faulty ECU back to me.
I was hoping that buying a used ECU would be the faster option, as I need the car for work and am currently hiring a car.
Thanks.

**Crasher** · 16-02-2023,02:59 PM

I can only tell you to be very cautious with that company, they are notorious. A used ECU either needs the immobilser feature removing (so opening it up and making it vulnerable to water ingress) or the immobiliser coding in which requires highly specialised aftermarket equipment or the dealer system ODIS and with GEKO security clearance.