Rebuilt on a New Circuit Board: Water-Damaged Bosch 0281 011 746 From a Mercedes Sprinter

After diagnosis, the customer found a bad burning smell coming from the ECU of their Mercedes Sprinter and suspected that the unit, Bosch 0281 011 746, had burnt out. On testing, we could not get communication with it, and the unit was severely water damaged. We replaced its circuit board and many components, so effectively a new unit was built for this customer, and it was tested and is fully working.

The unit is a Bosch EDC15C6, a diesel engine ECU type covered on our page about EDC15C6 engine ECUs in Mercedes-Benz diesels. Everything below belongs to this one unit, and a second ECU sharing its number could have quite another fault.

A breakdown, a failed restart, then a burning smell

The ECU came to us for repair after the Sprinter broke down and failed to re-start. Following diagnosis, the customer found the burning smell and suspected a burnt-out unit.

That suspicion belonged to the customer and was formed before the ECU reached us. On another vehicle, a breakdown, a no-restart or a burning smell could trace back to something other than the engine ECU; only testing the unit settles whether it is at fault.

No communication and severe water damage on testing

Engine ECUs come to us through the post, from every part of the UK, and each one is logged, visually inspected and electrically tested. This Bosch unit gave us no communication when we tested it. It was also severely water damaged.

Under our process, chargeable work waits for the sender’s agreement, which they give once they have our findings and a price.

A new circuit board, many new components and a code-swap

The repair had to go further than individual parts. We replaced the PCB, the unit’s printed circuit board, together with many components. Our engineers carry out board-level work like this under a microscope, with temperature-controlled rework equipment.

We also did a code-swap, carrying the original unit’s coding across to the rebuilt one. With the board renewed and many components new, the ECU was rebuilt for this customer as a repair of their unit.

The unit was then tested and is fully working. Final testing is the point at which any repair here counts as complete. Our warranty on a repair spans 24 months, covers only the specific work carried out, and belongs to the sender alone.

Looking up 0281 011 746

0281 011 746 appears on record against a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, and A 611 153 10 91 is listed with it as the Mercedes number. If you are looking up either number, it shows what the number is listed against, but not whether an ECU is faulty; testing settles that.

To ask for a quote, go to the contact page, where the Repair Form sits. Other Mercedes-Benz engine ECUs are reached from the Mercedes-Benz make hub, and for engine ECUs more broadly, see What We Repair, where more engine ECU types are described.