Buying a rebuilt / refurbished PCM

Maintenance/Repairs
21

Nevada…we approached the dealer as the yard told us to… All we were asking for was a code reflash… We wished to rent their computer to load some code… At least that is how I thought about it. One of the guys dictated they whys behind why the would not or could not. But to say I am demanding this or that…well…I guess, sort of. I want a code reload and nothing else…and am willing to pay for it. Seems its a bit of give and take to me. But now I understand.

Yes perhaps I was in the wrong…asking for a simple code reflash…I dunno… Im more upset I was made to or put in that situation.

How could the PCM have had the correct VIN ? Because the yard demanded I provide the VIN…she told me she must have the VIN and give it to the programmer…WHY? I didnt know…however was it possible the programmer was going to load this info into the refurbed PCM in my mind…you bet it was possible…not knowing the detailed info about what you can and cannot load onto these things…I dont WANT TO KNOW What is possible to load onto them. I paid so I wouldnt have to load or become a PCM technician.

You bet it was possible in my mind. Now I know or think the computer that does the code loads uses and needs the VIN for licensing rights or which codes it allows to utilize via VIN etc? Keep in mind…I didnt want to be exposed to this level of Minutia …I wanted a refurbed PCM…with the detailed info I provided…to be entered in…wherever it was applicable. I was told I was buying a REFURB reprogrammed PCM…GOOD ENUF FOR ME… I didnt care if its origin was the salvage yard so long as the thing passed muster and was viable. I didnt know the problems with that theory…again…I didnt want to be exposed to that level of detail. I was offered PLUG N PLAY… I PAID for Plug n PLAY…what else would you worry about…when you are told…Plug n Play… You shouldnt think beyond that. I didnt… I do now.

The yard told me…that she was using a programmer rebuilder and that they need all this info. Did I ponder for 5 days the why’s of all that ? No i didnt…I figured it would be used as needed. It wasnt… WHY? The yard probably lied to me… SHE LIED…and it got me into a world of xxxx. I know more about this now than I did before.

If you think it is demanding when you ask an establishment to do XYZ and nothing else…and you have cash and are paying the fee for the reflash as dictated by the service guy for that service… Then I guess I demanded it. They offered a service over the phone with a price attached… I said DO IT Im not sure where we diverge here… I know NOW that i was basically asking for something wrong or technically illegal…but that hasnt stopped thousands of shops from doing what was asked for a price.

Again…I should not have been exposed to that level of detailed Minutiae on this. Ben Franklin should have taken care of that…I was lied to…and nothing was taken care of.
I cant really state it better than that. I was misled…CLEARLY. I didnt know at the time. You also suggested a Lax attitude about my work… Like I bought a salvage yard PCM and installed it in the lot and asked my customer to drive 100 miles on suspect equipment and then wanted or demanded that others to clean up my mess.

I ensure you this was NOT the case, believe this.

I was duped… I learned. But dont suggest willful negligence on my part…I simply dont operate that way. Why would you think I did? Maybe rookies do, teens do, people with little knowledge or money or training do… I DONT. There was no Moustache twisting on my part of hatching a diabolical plan to include a salvage yard, a PCM remanufacturer, a dealership and a customer…I spend my time in more productive ways than that…I assure you, I do

I believe others should use a reputable rebuilder refurber company for this, because they offer the service… what is entailed? I dont care…thats what my Benny Frank is supposed to take care of there. I used a middle man, was ensured it was cool… I learned otherwise… Wait till I go back to the yard and repeat what she told me about what I purchased. She is in for a lesson…or a brow beating because I was lied to…very clearly. I am determined to remain cool though when discussing. I want my money back…not a kick in the arse and a dog on my leg.

Go to the refurb companies and you should be just fine…till the Dodge mounting location Cooks the new unit…and you wind up looking for another new PCM.

Blackbird

22

I hear you on THAT KMC ! I think you are correct there…or at least there should be a pretty iron clad warranty on the ONE item that is responsible for running the engine…and rest of the vehicle…and cannot be done without. WHen its in its designed location…with no abuse or tampering…as was the case here… they should stand behind it…absolutely!

Honestly in my experience engine ECU’s…PCM’s…dont often fail…or I dont see them fail too often. Its been known to happen, dont get me wrong but in troubleshooting, I promise I look to suspect the ECU dead LAST unless a code suggests otherwise. Because like I said…its not that common…unless you get a code suggesting this…or no activity whatsoever…like Blackout conditions or something?

In the case above…the original PCM as Dodge calls it…FAILED outright, unabused, in its location…never touched or looked at incorrectly while in normal day to day use as it was intended to function. When Hot the truck would shut down and immediately restart…eventually it threw a code. I read the code and it was something like P0660 or something ominous like that. I looked that up and the internet told me there was no recourse but to replace the unit. YIKES…Really?

WHY? Why do these PCM’s fail ? Im not sure but one guess from me in this instance… would be heat exposure…I could be wrong. But they mounted the unit under the hood on the firewall…and trust me…the unit IS HOT TO THE TOUCH ! Hot enough that you pull your hand away.

How about mounting it in the cabin ? Like most all other Mfg’s ? It solves several issues like heat, Dirt, vibration and moisture exposure. IMHO…Maybe Mopar should have said…sorry…This should not occur. But they never even came close, they are well aware of the failure rate of this unit…and were more than happy to jump on the opportunity to sell the new and expensive unit. This cost alone would JUNK most of the aging vehicles it was mounted into. Looking it up on the net…there is an OCEAN of failed PCM’s from this generation of truck…so its now well well known.

I promise you that Honda and Toyota do NOT see a similar failure rate for their ECU’s on their vehicles…it would simply be unacceptable to their buyers. If they did have that issue? Their customers would demand covered replacement…and to be honest…I think Toyota and Honda would feel obliged. They stand behind their machines and are proud of their loyalty and reliability image they have. Or maybe they would not…but I like to think they would.

Other car companies…honestly seem to protect their computers better. Like I said, in the cabin, out of the rain, the heat, dirt, vibration…so I think they take some precautions bec honestly…isnt that an obvious concession to make for a delicate computer like that? Are they delicate? They do seem ruggedized a bit…and Ive seen them handle obvious negligence before and survive inexplicably. I have never had a bad engine ECU on a Honda Yet…the separate trans computers have died…but I never got a code stating that the only recourse was ECU replacement.

Who knows…quality control maybe? Better location? More robust design? Could be many things… But…dont mount the ECU on the roof OR underneath the car it just doesn’t seem appropriate does it? In the case of these trucks…I dont think their location was a good idea. WhY they did this? It was NOT a space issue… as I could camp out under those hoods with the engine…plenty of room…plenty. I will never know…but if I bought a computer to run my new engine in the new vehicle that I personally built…I PROMISE…I wouldn’t mount it to the Exhaust Manifold, on the roof, under the car, in the fuel tank, or next to moving parts… Extreme examples I know…I’m intentionally being Bluntly obvious to draw attention to the poor mount location in my opinion… YOU may like your ECU mounted to the Exhaust Manifold…I dunno

AGAIN…all above my pay grade. I just try to repair these things when trouble arises. If you look it up…you will see an entire cottage industry out there just to try and support the massive failure numbers in those Dodge trucks… Maybe 94-04 I think thereabouts? I wouldnt be happy if my ECU just up n died on my VW…thru no fault of my own under normal operation. Perhaps Mopar remedied whatever caused those failures for future vehicles…it would be the smart move I promise. No company wants that as a Black Cloud failure looming. Yeah those cars are great until the ECU blows up for no reason of your doing…just normal operation makes them fail…OH GREAT… PASS. Something was wrong with these vehicle PCM…I think it was the mounting locale personally. I’m absolutely certain that Mopar looked into it.

Blackbird

23

As far as I am concerned. I learned things I did not need to learn. The money I paid went to other people…to make sure all the details were sorted. So that I did not need a computer programming and licensing crash course of what is and is not possible to load onto a Mopar PCM unit. Thats why I paid others…to handle that crap. I dont want a computer engineering degree when I am trying to solve a relatively simple fried computer issue.

Sometimes in the heat of trying to solve a problem quickly…they money goes into the wrong hands. Happened to me here…may happen again someday. I hope the yard takes it back and gives me my cash back. I called her and told her over the phone what happened…she seemed to get very busy at that time and had to jump on the other line and would call me back. Im still waiting…what 5 months later.

We shall see… I will politely remind her what I was promised…all the info I was asked…nay…forced to provide…for reasons unknown to me. The money I spent. The trouble generated…and the outcome and cost to the customer/friend. Hopefully…she will be as cool as she seemed when the cash was flowing from my hand into hers… Lets see how cool she is when it needs to flow the other way.

I deserve my money back on all levels.

Blackbird

24

@“Honda Blackbird” , The company I dealt with advertised that if supplied with my vin # & mileage that they could & would sell me a PCM for my vehicle that would be plug & play . No additional programming or flashing necessary . As I stated before , for an extra $100.00 or my original PCM as a core , I would receive a lifetime warranty on the PCM & any future work it might need would be free . Like you , I had no reason to believe otherwise & except for the 1 pin for # 4 injector the PCM appeared to work .
I posed the same question about buying from one of these companies on a couple jeep forums as I did here & had replies that people had good luck dealing with this or that company . There is also horror stories like yours . I think in your situation having to end up getting a dealer involved sunk your boat . If they can’t vacuum your wallet they don’t want anything to do with you .
I’m going to try another one { with a lifetime warranty } from a different company . Where I goofed last time is that I could have returned it within 14 days for a full refund for any reason & I also had 14 days to return my original for a core . I should have waited longer before returning my core & then returned only the one I bought . Live & learn .

25

I’m just a little curious here, how does the PCM know the VIN of the vehicle it is being installed in, does it have eyes? I could see it if it was matched to the BCM, but some of the early OBDII vehicles didn’t have a BCM.

26

This problem reinforces my prediction that for the most part there won’t be many cars added to the classics genre in coming years.

But on the other hand some future Geek at Edelbrock might come up with a “One Size Fits All” PCM that will splice in and be easily programmed to suit whatever automobile it’s installed in.

27

what needs to be done is that Mopar should be made to stand behind their wares ,a PCM should warranted forever ,if there was no tampering .When the OP said ,Jeep 05 ,thats all I needed to hear .

??? Nothing should be warranteed for ever. Where on earth did that idea come from? There is a pretty darn iron-clad warranty on that PCM. Federally mandated 8 years or 80,000 miles. Pretty darn good if you ask me.

Something as simple as a PCM replacement and everyone is up in arms over this.

I see failures at multiple levels here.

#1. When the car was first diagnosed as needing a PCM the course of action should have been to have the PCM sent out for repair or rebuild, or the installation of a proper PCM from the dealer or aftermarket source. Instead the wrong part was installed.

#2. When Blackbird installed the used/wrong/broken part, the car would have immediately thrown check engine light, ABS warning light, and stored instrument cluster codes. Now I’m not sure of the chain of events at the install, but it should have been obvious from the get-go that something was wrong with the replacement part. At that time, when it was obvious that the VIN in the PCM did not match the VIN on the car, the old PCM should have been put back in and we should have started over.

#3. Instead of Blackbird subletting the truck for finishing the repair, he sent the customer away and let him try to fix it. If the car had been sublet by Blackbird to another shop, there would have been clearer communication and probably less trouble.

#4. Was the customer not retaining his rebuildable core and then accusing the dealer of confiscating it and obviously miscommunicating a number of other things to all other parties involved.

I’m not trying to be snarky or belligerent here @“Honda Blackbird” , just recounting events as I see it as a disinterested third party.

28

What about all of the parts houses that sell PCMs for this vehicle and state they need to be reflashed?

29

I wouldn’t trust them to work correctly

30

Just thinking out loud here . I have a friend that has a computer shop . He sells new computers & refurbished ones & also does computer repair . I’m talking about home computers . He can replace failed components , install programs , uninstall programs & even wipe one clean & install whatever he wants on one .
It seems to me a person with the knowledge & equipment could do the same with a vehicles computer . Possibly not but I don’t see why not .

31

@Sloepoke

Such a person could perform electrical repairs on a pcm . . . repair bad solder joints, replace resistors, etc.

But such a person would not be equipped to update/alter programming, change the vin number, etc.

automotive electrical is generally 12V

What about home computers . . . I’m sure there’s a transformer or power supply that steps it down from 120VAC . . . but steps it down to what exactly?

32

What about all of the parts houses that sell PCMs for this vehicle and state they need to be reflashed?

They are referring to entering the VIN and EMR mileage, not a true program flash. The VIN can be entered with a mid level scan tool, to download the software you need a dealer level scan tool and be connected to Chrysler. A remanufactured computer without software wouldn’t be much good for the customer.

This is what Standard Motor Products states;

Latest OEM calibrations installed in all programmable modules.

This Jeep uses a JTEC controller, some other models use a NGC controller. A new replacement NGC controller comes without specific vehicle calibration software, the vehicle won’t start until the software is loaded. This allows the warehouse to stock only a few part numbers for dozens of applications. The problem with this is few non dealers have the capability to prepare these computers for use.

33

@db4690
Being a curious type person I had to look . The laptop I’m on right now has a step-down transformer that says output is 19 V . It didn’t say ac or dc . The laptop runs on batteries when unplugged from the wall so I wouldn’t be surprised if it runs off dc . I assume it could have an inverter that changes the dc battery voltage to ac .
I understand my friend with the computer business wouldn’t likely have the knowledge or equipment to program automotive computers but presumably those companies that advertise that they can & will do . If my original pcm totally fried & I had to buy a new one I assume someone somewhere would be able to program it with my vin # & whatever it took to make it work in my vehicle .
Don’t know if it’s true or not but a couple people in the jeep forums stated that dealers had told them that brand new pcm’s like the one I need are no longer available & all they now sold was refurbished ones .
I’m certainly not trying to be confrontational , just trying to make logical sense of all this pcm mess .

34

I have a Snap on Solus Edge . . . those of you in the business will know this is not the top of the line Verus, for example, but it is in fact the middle of the road scanner, as far as snap on goes

I’m quite certain it has no capability of overwrititing any kind of vin

However, it might be able to enter a vin into a brand new PCM which has never been married to a vehicle. But I’m extremely skeptical about that

I’m also skeptical about being able to enter any kind of mileage

I will remain skeptical, until I am in a position, where I am for some reason forced to try to do these things

35

Here’s what these people say they can do . One site of many .
http://www.autocomputerperformance.com/chryslerdodgejeep.html

36

While I am tiring of the blame game ASE does have a point… However many of those points were negated by the guy with the truck…needing it everyday for construction duties. He was literally frantic. I told him that to PROPERLY do this… We simply call a company that does these computers, supply them with all the info needed…and probably send them the original…or something along those lines. He said he simply could not do that and a lot of money would be lost in his business or work because he needed THAT vehicle for whatever the reason.

I said the only thing I can think of trying is to use a PCM from another vehicle to either use permanently or as a stop gap measure. He told me he needed me to help him in any way… I explained that it should be simple however…trust me…I said it could get complicated.

Then the Yard entered the picture… WHen she explained to me that she has a refurb or programmer guy who takes her units and does whatever…she offers her customers these units and has never once had a return or problem. She asked all the right questions etc…and made me believe it was plug and play.

GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME… What happened afterward was the aftermath of the lies she told to me…which then affected my buddy. Did I know the correct way to do this? YES… At the time and with the pressure placed…this seemed as likely as anything to work. Everything else occured because I involved Him…and then the dealer…all at the behest of the Yard… ALL WRONG THINGS TO DO… Of course I saw all of that as a sxxt situation…that I basically caused…because I was misled in the beginning.

So the answers for ASE’e “Failure List” are as follows

#1When the car was first diagnosed as needing a PCM the course of action should have been to have the PCM sent out for repair or rebuild, or the installation of a proper PCM from the dealer or aftermarket source. Instead the wrong part was installed. ---- BRILLIANT…Honestly I never would have thought of that…seriously? I couldnt agree more with what SHOULD HAVE BEEN Done. That wasnt in the forecast at the customers behest…knowing this would cause probs. He was in the mindset of "Dude…just do SOMETHING’ mode

#2 … It was IMMEDIATELY obvious something was wrong…with all lights mentioned blazing proudly. I knew right away…“here we go” Called the yard…and she proceeded to lie to me further…She was 100 miles away…in Philly. Now What ? Do what she says, down the vehicle and strand him…hope the reflash does what she says ? With the info asked of me…none of this should have happened… NONE OF IT

#3 Subletting… My install of this Plug n PLay unit…took literally… I duuno…2.5 minutes? The lady at yard told us to take it to the dealership. So I called the dealership and explained IN DETAIL all the prior events…and told them what the PCM seller told us was the course of action… Service mgr said…yeah bring it down we will flash it for you at a 150 dollar cost… Hey…sounds good buddy…see you soon. WTF did we know or care…supposedly this is what we had to do… A problem SURE… but a solution only 1 hour and $150 away from guy having truck to complete his jobs for money? While in desperate need of the truck. What would any of us have done ??

#4… The dealer… They knew exactly what occured… they knew what they were going to do and said they would program the PCM… COOL ! They also knew the PCM came from another but similar year make n model (What Yard told us anyway)… Knowing all of this PRIOR to the truck arriving…why make a stink about loading code to this unit… thats all that was to be done…whats the problem? I guess they found a problem or two… The VIN was now a huge bone of contention ALL of a sudden… If this was an issue…why not tell us NO WE CANNOT FLASH YOUR SALVAGE YARD PCM ? Would have solved a few issues right at the get go…NO?
Then…they proceeded to say we cant flash this unit…primarily for VIN issues… Well…why didnt you say so when I described this whole problem…IN PAINFUL DETAIL ??? Why would they do that??? AND THEY DID DO THAT… I made it crystal clear on the phone…you can do this right? SURE…No PROBLEM…$150… COOL… Lets do it…

Then they suddenly declare they cannot…for reasons I dont give a shite about nor really want to know… GREAT… They sell him a new PCM FLASH THAT UNIT…as well as Encode the VIN to the new unit… TAKE the salvage yard PCM as a core and charge him upwards of 1200… The entire situation the guy was trying to avoid for obvious reasons! Dealer KNEW THIS

ALL of this was preventable. I knew the correct course of action. However the info I was given…the assurances promised…were ALL sxxt. My fault? Hardly. I didnt claim to know all about this BS…so I relied on others to tell me…n sell me…what would get us out of this Jam.

If you think the dealer did nothing wrong, after the lengthy conversation we had on the phone…with GREAT PAINS to tell them every detail…and they still said…sure bud…bring it in and we will flash that unit…AND THEN they turn around and suddenly make up reasons why they suddenly cannot…AND then proceed to say that they must sell him a brand new unit AND take his Salvage Yard Refurb PCM as the CORE…AND Charge him 250 to get that Core BACK…

If you think that is Kosher…then I am glad I dont go to dealers for anything…because THAT is Horse sxxt. Sorry…it just IS. The whole situation was crap because I was Lied to outright…the problems that ensued afterward were all the aftermath of these lies. But I still feel the Dealer was just…not in the right either. Granted…I shouldnt have asked for any of this…because it not the right way to do it… I knew this… But the situation dictated…to do whatever we could to salvage this entire crap situation… We went for it…then the dealer did a PRESTO CHANGEO on us…out of nowhere… when they could have said… NO we wont flash your PCM and CANNOT Flash your PCM…because of the VIN discrepancy… THAT should have died right there on the Phone.

If it had died right there… He would have used the PCM as is…Until a time when it was easier or more feasable to wait for the PROPER Rebuilt PCM to arrive.

Basicall ALL of these issues occured from PEOPLE LYING TO ME… WHY ? I dunno…is that what I should suspect everywhere I go? “This PCM is Plug n PLAY”… AWESOME !!!
“YES…we can flash your PCM with the correct code for $150” AWESOME !!! (Nevermind the fact that I should never have had to ask for this reflash)…COOL DO IT !!!

Did I know the proper and guaranteed way to go about this? You bet I did…those companies are all over the place…but they all take time… Time my buddy didnt have or want to give… I told him all the trouble we could get into…and the fact that I cannot personally get us out of…when it comes to code loading, VIN encoding, PCM interfacing etc…and all the other stuff I dont have the tools to have a handle on…because I dont want to have a handle on it… this is what we pay others for!

Crappy situation…but the blame game begins and ends at the person who told me the unit was plug n play…and then also that it needs to be Reflashed…all that was BS. So was it also BS that the dealer invited us in…for $150…to reflash the PCM “No Problemo buddy bring it on in” Another stinking load of crap…or so it turned into. Why not just tell me NO we wont do that ?

Funny I learned my lesson…that I should listen to myself and not be rushed or forced into a less than proper path…esp with computers involved. TRUST ME…I WAS LIED TO…MANY TIMES The rest is just the resultant mayhem.

Blackbird

1 Like
37

I hope we can put this to bed… People LIE…take money…and problems arise.

If I wasnt told what I was told…absolutely none of this would have occured. Trust me on this. But dont go saying that I was knowingly negligent. Throwing a junkyard Ecu in the vehicle in the parking lot and praying the dealership clean up the mess. I dont play games like that and if I completely eFF up? I SAY…OH NO… I EFFED UP MAN. I dont hide it, while twisting my mustache enjoying the resultant mayhem that ensues… Wtf…

I shouldn’t have taken on the challenge with the parameters given, number one…and I still say…it begins and ends at the Yard… Plug n Play. WTF ?

Everything else after Plug N Play was just us trying to do ANYTHING to save the day…Ridiculous.

This PCM/ ECU issue…is a NON issue… You just call ANY of the companies that rebuilds or even improves them… Answer a few questions…Pay…and hopefully… You just Plug n Play… Not to hard to figure out…known this all along.

None of you ever had a sxxx storm of problems because someone sold you something that didnt work as advertized ? Nobody ever lied to you and took money ? Nobody told you one thing on the phone only to realize a new reality when onsite ? None of you ever wasted money or spent it in the wrong direction because you thought it was the very last thing to do to get yourself out of some mess? Then find yourself STILL in that mess ? Wow…Really? My hat is off to you if not.

Yard LIED… Dealer, while trying to be helpful also maybe not lied…but certainly wasnt forthcoming or really competent in the discussion of what was, what was wanted, what was possible…etc Why didnt they say…NO…forget it…dont come we cannot help you…because the unit is from a yard. Simple enough…no?

I promise you…I BURIED the guy in details in a mutual easy discussion with Service Mgr PRIOR to the appointment for Reflash… We were on the phone for 45 min Me asking questions like…is this possible? Should I do this? Am I asking for something I shouldn’t? etc…trust me…Im thorough. Me and the Service Mgr had a normal free conversation, ALL prior to the appointment… Why wasnt I told…it wasnt possible and u need a brand new one? They could have told me ALL sorts of stuff…at least I would know that dems the facts… Instead…“Sure bring it in and we will flash it”

Im not THAT retarded guys

Blackbird

38

It hasn’t been that long since I was in the market for a new laptop . Best Buy was advertising a nice laptop at a sale price . I called the store nearest me & asked if they had them in stock . After a brief pause they said they had a full case of I believe it was 24 & a few in another case .
I hung up & drove 40 miles to the store , went in & asked for the particular laptop I had just called about . The salesperson went & looked & came back & told me they didn’t have any . I then told him I had just called & was told they had several . He got his back up & said I’m not the one that told you that .
About that time another salesman wandered over & asked what the problem was . I told him & he said let me go check . He came back with one & said they had more . I suppose if the second salesperson hadn’t come over I would have left the store with me & the first salesperson both angry . This kind of crap happens way too often .
I have also called ahead & was told what I needed was in stock & when I got there they really didn’t have it . Incompetent people will tell you anything , it makes one wonder how they hold down a job .

39

Yes indeed…I would agree… This sort of thing is all too common. You saw the trouble I got into with all that in my long winded posts above…LOL

Sometimes people say stuff just to sell something and be rid of it. Sometimes it is intentional deception…other times it is nefarious in nature.

The worst is the Bait n Switch which while reading your post I thought you were getting into there for a moment. “Oh yes we have 24 in stock right now” you get there…and Oops… I dont know who told you that sir but…we have zero… HOWEVER we do have this model… Which is usually more expensive…or has a better commission level.

Happens all the time. The trouble it causes and the resultant crap that occurs as you try to save the situation can make the ordeal really much worse or much longer… Which is what I ran into a bit above as well. HAHA… Whatever…

Sometimes we must rely on others to be knowledgeable about a certain something because…I we are not…and have no interest at the moment of becoming so… Thats where money comes in…No? What really sucks is when people just keep telling you the wrong thing and you dont have the time or where with all to educate yourself. If someone tells you something is Plug n Play… What do you think the installation instructions would entail ?

Things like this will continue…so long as people are involved…of this I am certain. Best you can do is roll with the punches and try not to have a lot of collateral damage.

Blackbird

40

@Sloepoke

Here’s what I do . . .

I call the store and ask if they have item number such and such in stock

If/when they say yes, I ask if they can physically see the part or lay a hand on it

It almost always works. They say hold on, and they come back a minute or so later. Half the time, they say “I’m sorry. The computer says we have it in stock, but I’m looking at a bare shelf.”

If they don’t have it, I thank them for their time and make sure to say “You saved me a trip for nothing”

If they did physically see it or lay a hand on it, I also thank them and say “I’ll be right over.” They often offer to lay it on the counter, so the transaction will go smoothly, when I arrive. When I show up, I say “I just called about item such and such” . . . that way they’ll get the guy I was talking to, and he’ll get his cut, if that’s the way the store operates