1989 2.3l Valve Cover

Appreciate the help.
Seems to be holding up the little I have been able to drive it. I'm dealing with a bunch of other issues. Think I got a bad starter and a bad ECM. Would yall know the difference between these 2 ECMs? Description is the same on both except one says Remaned with Federal Emmission OEM #E8TF-CUA and the other is OEM #E8TF-CTA.

vristang said:

Well, why do you suspect the ecu?

Did those both come up for the same application? same year, make, model, engine, trans, etc?

Click to expand...

Yeah, they both came up for exact fits on my car. 2.3l auto.

Reason I think ecu is one issue of at least 2:

I've replaced the ignition switch, tfi module, distributor cap, lines and plugs, ignition coil, battery, battery ground, sanded grounds, removed bass system.
Problem started when the car is warm it slow cranks and won't start. Sometimes causes smoke to come from hood. Dies while driving. Sometimes won't crank when cold now. It's a slow grind kind of crank if I hold it but that causes over heating and probably what melted my ground terminal 2 days ago.
My radio starts to short out too.
90% sure starter is one issue.

No, stator has not been changed but the distributor looks fairly new. I think the previous owner may have changed it at some point. Since sanding the grounds the dying while driving seems to have stopped. I'm going to buy new ground lines today and bring the starter in to be tested.

I forgot to mention that the thing that seemed to have set all this off was when I accidently hit my start button when the car was running.