Best place to buy a PCM

[C Body Bob]

I need to get my work van inspected & the check engine light is on. I disconnected the battery & drove it 70 miles. Cut it off & restated & the light came back on immediately. So I put my code reader on it & have a P0601 code. That looks to be either a weak battery which is not too old or a PCM. I’ll charge the battery & check it again but I got a feeling I need a PCM. Rock Auto wants $400 bucks. Van runs great but I can’t get an nspevtion because of this stupid code. I use it daily for work & don’t have time for this crap.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

Connections.

 

[Davea Lux]

I need to get my work van inspected & the check engine light is on. I disconnected the battery & drove it 70 miles. Cut it off & restated & the light came back on immediately. So I put my code reader on it & have a P0601 code. That looks to be either a weak battery which is not too old or a PCM. I’ll charge the battery & check it again but I got a feeling I need a PCM. Rock Auto wants $400 bucks. Van runs great but I can’t get an nspevtion because of this stupid code. I use it daily for work & don’t have time for this crap.

Try www.aesmodules.com I had them rebuild the one in my son's '05 Neon and it has worked fine every since.

Dave

 

[Davea Lux]

Before deciding to junk your PCM, there are a couple of other things you can try. Unhook the negative battery cable. Then remove the terminals from the PCM unit and check all of the pins for corrosion. The P0601 code is a memory check sum error on the self diagnostic that the PCM runs on itself as the key is turned on. Corroded terminals can cause high resistance or low voltage to the unit which in turn can cause a check sum error. If you are in an area that uses road salt, also check the PCM to be sure it has a good ground from the case to the body of the vehicle.

Dave

 

[C Body Bob]

Before deciding to junk your PCM, there are a couple of other things you can try. Unhook the negative battery cable. Then remove the terminals from the PCM unit and check all of the pins for corrosion. The P0601 code is a memory check sum error on the self diagnostic that the PCM runs on itself as the key is turned on. Corroded terminals can cause high resistance or low voltage to the unit which in turn can cause a check sum error. If you are in an area that uses road salt, also check the PCM to be sure it has a good ground from the case to the body of the vehicle.

Dave

Ok I’ll check that.

 

[CBODY67]

Clean the battery terminals, too. A very minor layer of gunk there can decrease alternator output by about 10%, which might be part of the problem, too.

CBODY67

 

[67Monaco]

Connections.

Move.

 

[jct]

Get some from the junk yards

 

[Davea Lux]

Get some from the junk yards

Most modern PCMs have the vehicle VIN number recorded internally on hard memory. If you switch PCM units, then the vehicle will display the wrong VIN on the test equipment and it will still fail for "inconsistent data". They do this to prevent theft. With the proper equipment, the VIN can be reprogrammed, but this is not something you can do in your garage. Rebuilders have the right equipment and will request the VIN to program it prior to shipping an exchange unit.

Dave

 

[CBODY67]

Most modern PCMs have the vehicle VIN number recorded internally on hard memory. If you switch PCM units, then the vehicle will display the wrong VIN on the test equipment and it will still fail for "inconsistent data". They do this to prevent theft. With the proper equipment, the VIN can be reprogrammed, but this is not something you can do in your garage. Rebuilders have the right equipment and will request the VIN to program it prior to shipping an exchange unit.

Dave

The OEM items, from the dealer, are "blank" and need the VIN ID flashed into them, too. The rebuilders do that too, for non-NCD customers (i.e., when selling to auto supply chains that carry their products).. There are some mobile electronics services that might be able to do that, too. In many cases, the vehicle mileage is stored in there, too. The newer ones also store other things in there, too, like "tuner reprograms" installed and removed and when.

CBODY67

 

[C Body Bob]

Ok I checked the battery. It was reading 12 volts so I charged it at 2 amps for 4 hours. I also checked the harness connections & they looked good. Cleared the lite & code. Light came back on so I’m going to look a PCM. I spent 4 hours at the shop Friday & then messed with it today. I don’t have time to chase my tail on this one.

 

[1970FuryConv]

I had the battery warning light and check engine light come on in my 2001 Sebring. Had to have the battery recharged at Advance because my home charger couldn't bring charge up enough to satisfy the PCM. So far, no lights after Advance recharged. Only took an hour. And it was free. Apparently, PCMs are very sensitive about any overnight voltage drop at the battery.

 

[65sporty]

If you locate one with the same part number at a salvage yard chances are it will run and you can drive it to the Dealer to be reflashed to your van. The other way is drive it there and have them install it then reflash it. The reflash will put in the latest and greatest software for your VIN number.

 

[Davea Lux]

That would be an option. When I asked about that for my son's Neon, the dealer wanted about $700 for a new PCM and another $250 to program it, they did say that if I installed a salvage yard PCM, they would flash and program it for $250 but could not warranty that the process would be successful on a used unit. That is dealer speak for "we are going to try very hard on this".
I bought the rebuilt unit for about $275 which included the proper programming. That price did not include shipping.

Dave

 

[C Body Bob]

I stopped by a couple of parts stores & no one could get one. Advance Auto countermand even called A1 Cardone & they won’t even R&R so I stopped at Autozone & the guy there called someone & came back & said he can get one flashed for $204 plus core. He needs my vin, mileage & original part # from old PCM. So if that’s true that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to get my neighbor Steve to scan the OBD2 with his code reader first. He has a nice Snap On one that reads more detail than my pocket scanner. If his says P0601 & nothing else I guess I’ll buy that one. Also going to call the shop that does my inspections & make sure that’s all I need. It was showing an emmisions code & we suspected the gas cap. He put vasoline on the Seal & I think that one cleared out. I can’t pull it up on my scan tool. Again I spent an hour on this today. 4 on Friday. On a perfectly good running vehicle. I’m not ruining the environment! This is ridiculous!

 

[C Body Bob]

Steve scanned it & it pulled up the same P0601 code & had on there the PCM fault in memory. It also had several incompletes & listed those. So when I unhooked the plugs for the PCM the other day I haven’t driven it enough to let it do a complete reread & since the memory fault code is bad it has those incompletes. I’ve driven it 70 miles. So Steve said to buy the new PCM & go from there & I think that’s my only option

 

[stubs300]

Bob, What are you workin on? The PCM took a dump in my 94 Caravan a few years ago, I scored one from Pick & Pull, cost about $60 IIRC? Fixed me right up. This was after spending over $500 for a shop to remove my engine harness, cause that's what they said was the problem, it wasn't! I also snagged the harness from the same van as the PCM, just to CYA myself. This headache took over a month to figure out before getting back on the road. Good Luck

 

[C Body Bob]

Bob, What are you workin on? The PCM took a dump in my 94 Caravan a few years ago, I scored one from Pick & Pull, cost about $60 IIRC? Fixed me right up. This was after spending over $500 for a shop to remove my engine harness, cause that's what they said was the problem, it wasn't! I also snagged the harness from the same van as the PCM, just to CYA myself. This headache took over a month to figure out before getting back on the road. Good Luck

03 Grand Caravan 3.3

 

[C Body Bob]

I ordered the PCM from Autozone today. Turned out to be the $300 one. Never fails. So hopefully I can pic it up soon & see if that fixes this

 

[stubs300]

Mine is a 94 Caravan w/a 3.3 as well. Good Luck