I’ve sank about $1000 recently into my car on repairs that probably werent even necessary. Now, with my second mechanic I’m looking at another $1000 for what was probably the issue all along, which is needing to replace the pcm. I believe he said there was a bad ground that couldn’t be repaired. So my question is, what options do I have? I’ve looked at websites that sell refurbished, reprogrammed pcm’s but I’m skeptical due to mixed reviews and all. I’ve read some places about putting in a used pcm without reprogramming. Is this possible? What’s the best route to go without sinking another $1000 into this car?
I’ve done this a couple of times with great success. One was for a Nissan Sentra and the other was for a Toyota Corolla. I went to the salvage yard and pulled them off the same year Sentra and Corolla. I paid $50 for the Sentra and $100 for the Corolla. They worked perfectly and I used the bad PCM’s for target practice with my Smith & Wesson 40 cal. pistol. I figure if the car was wrecked then it had to be running so the PCM had to be a good one.
Sure sounds like good logic to men, Missileman.
Missileman, thanks for the reply. So you didn’t experience any issues with it not being programmed to your vehicle?
The secret is to get the exact same PCM as yours…Same model year, same engine and transmission…
One resource to consider is the companies that fix problematic electronics modules like pcms, ecms, etc. I’ve never had to do that, but one company that does this that others have said some good things about is called “Module Master” or something like that. Sometimes just phoning them up, since this is the type of problem the techs there deal with every day, they can offer you some guidance as to what is the best option to solve your exact problem.
A 2005 may not matter, but more recent vehicles may also have the VIN stored in there. So a reprogram may be essential for everything to work right and also if the car is resold.