Vehicle manufactures have separate sites for dealers and private subscription. The Chrysler site is called “Tech Authority”. For $1800. per year you can have full access to service manuals, diagnostic procedures, bulletins and module flash update software. This would only be practical for fleet companies or specialty repair shops. There is a 3-day and 30-day subscriptions available.
Unless I’m WAY off base, those pass-thru devices do NOT have the ability to change the vin stored on the pcm
Those devices can load updated software, which often fixes some strange symptoms and can get rid of pesky mils and bogus codes, due to software which is too sensitive
I flashed MANY pcms and other modules when I was at the dealer, using the factory tool
And there was no way to overwrite an existing vin stored on a module
A brand new pcm which has never been married to a vehicle is obviously a different story
this might not be place for this but yall seem to know a good deal bout PCM sorry for grammar
i got a 03 s-10 4.3 crew cab 4×4 it started runnin really bad didnt have time to check it out drive it like that for a week till i could look at it found that the spark plug wire had burnt thru and was shorting out on motor put a wire i had from before on it ran fine for a day then started bearly running cant drive it will still start wont go over 3k rpm its throwing MAF, crank shaft/ cam shaft sensors codes replaced all 3 still same thing my question is could it be the PCM has shorted out…any help would so appreciated more than u could ever know
You could try a new ignition coil.
would that make the mass air flow and crankshaft /camshaft sensors not get power
You have confirmed these sensors are not getting power? (This was not mentioned previously.)
If they dont want to fool with it they wont .had a woman in a place that made hydraulic hose assemblies tell me they didnt have o rings(I found that very dubious-I attribute it to LA ) have had similar experiences at other vendors and even at doctors offices,the aides and nurses where up front watching soap operas and the dr told me they were busy and I had to participate in my own treatment(hows that ) service lacks ,in some establishments .Sometimes when the manager has designs on the help they can get by with most anything ,I would wish to live in an honest universe .
I found your post about the PCM and was wondering if you could share the contact info for the person of who to send in the PCM and have it fixed. You mentioned he is in WA state and that is where I am located. Appreciate it.
I haven’t seen posts for @CarGuyPaul for quite a while. Click on his avatar and send him a private message.
Aussie Automotive Electronics
Contact Information
4755 Deer Park Rd.
Port Angeles, WA 98362-8284
(360) 457-8646
3 Likes
Thanks so much.
Cheers and stay healthy!
Bud sorry to say but what were you thinking regardless of what the little girl at the front desk tells you?? Every single vehicle no matter if it’s the same year, model, transmission, engine size etc have different VIN numbers? You took a PCM module from a junkyard with the same vehicle as yours and plugged into your truck and then went to a licensed dealership to have the module reprogrammed to your VIN when the current one in yours doesn’t match your VIN. They’re a legit government owned/funded business or whatever, they don’t know where you got the PCM from and even if they did it would be sketchy to bypass the programming process to just switch the current VIN in it to yours? Lol. There could be serious legal issues from doing something like that for them—like someone potentially filing a report to the police department for a PCM stolen etc and after doing an investigation finding out that the dealership bypassed necessary protocols to reprogram a PCM that wasn’t programmed at all to your VIN but to a different VIN. There’s certain things they can do and certain things they can’t do. They can program a brand new PCM with no VIN associated to it at all to your VIN, yes. They can’t just reprogram a pcm with a different vin then yours to your vehicle vin lol. That’s just silly to even think that would be aloud from a reputable legitimate dealership. It’s almost criminal. Because they don’t know where you got it from unless you showed some sort of receipt etc and even then they still won’t flash it probably. Too risky.
Regardless, every pcm that’s already in a vehicle is programmed to THAT vin. Even if it’s the identical make and model etc. Buying a pcm from the junk yard and thinking it has your VIN number in it is impossible.
Ya it was plug and play for the vehicle it had the VIN programmed to hahahaha.
It’s a learning lesson. I just went through hell as well with buying a PCM from flagship one that costed me 1189$ plus 156$ duty fees and 40 days delivery( I asked to have the order cancelled and refunded 8 days in), company completely ignores my emails, online chat, phone calls, it arrives…I install it, it’s throwing the same sort of codes from my original pcm that’s bad…only difference is my original is throwing two signal circuit codes for the 02 sensor and the refurbished from flagship one is throwing all heater circuit codes. Long story short— I didn’t think it was possible that a new pcm could be bad so I spent the past 7 months replacing the catalytic converter, engine wiring harness looked over multiple times for shorts, replaced new 02 sensors with a different brand, mechanic told me valve cover gasket is bad causing oil contamination and to have it replaced before he could do rewiring etc — tells me after I paid him to do it that it’s not wiring that it’s 02 sensors hahahah. Spent close to 2000$ On mechanic fees and parts. Finally thought for sure that it’s a short in the wiring harness to the pcm that no mechanic could figure out electrical so studied a lot about how to check for shortages/grounds and bought 300$ in gadgets to find the problem. Finally was recommended trying my 6th mechanic and after showing me 5 pages of detailed voltage graphs to 02 sensors, everything checking out OK with all the wiring it was the PCM that flagship one sent me after all. It’s defective. They ignored my demand after day 8 placing the order to cancel and refund my money— to then sending it regardless. They purposely waited past the 30 days to ship it to me so they could use it against me in not being able to get a refund. Placed the order June 2, 2020, asked for a cancellation and refund June 10, 2020. The computer arrived July 11, 2020 DEFECTIVE!!! Now I’m dealing with them and going through the BBB to get answers because they do not answer you after you place the order for a PCM. They defrauded me out of 1189$ for a pcm that it looks like I can’t get refund on, only a store credit or exchange after I have proof via emails, online chats, to cancel the order. It’s a scheme that they have. Flagship one INC in New York City. Look at the reviews online— whatever you do do
NOT ever place an order with this company you’ll be very sorry. They conned me with the scheme they have in place and thousands of others. It looks like the only way to see any of my money for the defective pcm they sent me is through a civil lawsuit against them. Now I ordered a brand new mopar pcm for 1000$ Unprogrammed which I got today and it will be programmed by Chrysler probably sometime this week— as soon as I hear back from them.
Learning lesson. Read reviews before buying anything from a company. Be sure to spend the extra dollar to have a reputable mechanic/technician diagnose a problem. Even though I replaced the pcm I didn’t think for a second it could be defective and neither did 5 licensed mechanics—but they never did any of the required testing to know for sure, they guessed what could cause the 02 problem and I took their advice. Out of about 3000$ in the past year over a bad decision I made in ordering a refurbished pcm from flagship one. Not including gas money iv spent(with the problem I’m using 3 times as much gas to drive because the fuel/oxygen ratio is way off, running rich), stress involved, etc.
Live in learn. Sometimes through trial and error unfortunately. That’s life I guess. Just have to put it behind you and learn from it to not let it happen again.