That's a great idea. Today's electronics and programmable controllers could reduce it to at least 1/4 the size, and maybe allow you to mount it inside the cabin behind the radio or somewhere cooler. Unfortunately, there are so many variations of the PCM (for whatever reason) it would take a real genius to do that, and sadly, these old tubs are being retired every day. I would, however, make a small contribution (crowd sourcing?) to anyone seriously working on that concept. You still have the corroded connector problem to solve.

 

Yeah, that would be neat, but I doubt it could be done in a cost effective manner. Getting it out from underhood would be wise.

I'd enjoy a programmable voltage regulator, Mine seems to choose anywhere from 13.7v to 14.9v when charging a depleted battery which wants 14.7v. I know i could bypass the internal VR and add an external adjustable one and have the illuminated Check engine light, but I can't pass smog with a CEL illuminated.

Still Stall free/hiccup free 5 days after reflowing/adding the solder. Engine running very smooth, even during warm up.

 

nice idea...and glad to here the van is running smooth

 

One youtube, some people have been somewhat successful hacking into PCMs and reverse gathering of the programing. Needless to say, it was for the generic controls. It seems that the OEs have two or three layers of systems. The deeper the coding, the more secure it is. The OE don't want people to sabotage other peoples vehicle for revenge or blood money. The liability would be so high.

The one youtube video does show a company that typically clones PCMs and does resell. Most they can get, but then have to write their own code to deal with the short falls.

 

Just wanted to report that I've suffered no more stalls or Hiccups since reflowing the solder on the 14 way connector at the circuit board.

The engine is running extremely smoothly, and noticeable smoother than before. I've Cleaned all the sensor connectors with Caig DeOxit D5 spray and protected them with Caig gold or Caig Shield.

Next payday, I'm getting my original ECM rebuilt so I have a back up.

The Caig products are simply magical electrical juice. I urge anybody reading this thread because of a suspected ECM/PCM issue to acquire some and treat their engine computer connectors with them, and any other connector they come across.

I'll never again undo any connector anywhere without some Caig product to apply for deoxidizing/cleaning/protecting, and enhancing.

Voltages to and back from the sensors needs to be accurate, and bad connections throw out A/F ratio and spark timing somewhat due to voltage drop.

 

landyacht318: So you started this thread on 07-01-2010, 09:31 PM?

And you come back 4.5 years later to update it to share what you have learned in the interim?

And as I write this, your last update on this thread was 01-29-2015, 03:35 AM?

You sir, are a hero.

You sir, are a Great American helping your fellow Americans and no doubt others by sharing your experience.

I have been diagnosing a "no canbus" no start situation and various sensor "open relay" trouble codes in my wife's 2000 Dodge Dakota 4x4 4.7L gasoline engine. And have gone through 5 defective replacement PCMs since.

I just sprayed some CRC contact cleaner into the three female plugs and on the bright brass shiny pins on the replacement PCM which I just received earlier this week, let them dry for a half hour -- and when put back together the engine started immediately.

It was "no canbus" no start one-half hour earlier.

Now I think that the problem or one of the problems has been the female plug on the harness where it connects to the PCM and that I may owe an apology to the replacement PCM provider who graciously kept sending me new replacements under warranty.

I will order the mini Q-Tips and the Caig DeOxit D5 spray and the Caig Gold and the Caig Shield you recommend and clean every exterior plug on my wife's 2000 Dodge and on my 1995 Bronco and on my 2002 E350.

Thank you.

 

I didn't start this thread, but I did contribute to it 5 years ago with some advice I shake my head at now.

The CRC QED cleaner is good for flushing out old dielectric grease, but some physical removal might be needed too, to get the old ugly hardened grease inside the sockets. Try a sewing needle with the eyelet inside the socket to assist mechanical grease removal.

This grease seems to form a clear flakey crystally substance when the pin/socket connection is weak and gets hot and possible arcs between pin and socket wall.

Really get a strong light and a magnifying glass and get a look into the sockets. There are two protruding arms which are supposed to grasp the pin tightly. These get weak, and get weaker every insertion removal cycle. I used a sewing needle to assist in old grease removal along with the CRC, and also to rebend these tangs inward to exert more pressure on the pins.

Afterward when I used the Caig deoxit and the precision swabs on the interior of these sockets, they turned black with oxidation, despite a thorough cleaning with CRC.

I am at over 2 months stall free driving, after reflowing the solder on my circuit board. I shake my head at my former reluctance to do this task myself. The trick is a good clean surface and a good soldering gun so one does not need to keep the iron on the board for too long..

If you can grasp the Pins on the computer with some tweezers, and they move visibly more than 0.5MM when torqued, your ecm/pcm likely also has broken solder contacts on circuit board. These take a while to redisplay their true intermittent nature after a connector reseating.

And connector reseating is part of the issue of why the solder contacts break.

The Caig products are also lubricants, reducing the stress on insertion and removal.

I've opened up many a connector since my last post in this thread, and the amount of oxidation and crustiness inside the contacts of many of them are horrid, despite being encased in dielectric grease. Whats worse, is one cannot see how bad the contacts are, because of all the grease.

I got one can of D5 DeOxit that is no good. No oily pink residue after the solvent evaporates. The pink residue is the magic juice, so if your can does not have this, contact them.

One can also buy the d100 in the bottles with the brush applicators instead of the sprays. After application, give it time to work before coming back and assisting oxidation removal with precision swabs.

Drug stores sell the mini bottle brushes in the tooth care aisle that are great for getting inside connectors, assisting grease removal and spreading Deoxit evenly inside while abrading the oxidation as well.

 

landyatch318: Thanks for the detailed recommendations. That is what I need to do this job. On Monday I just sprayed the QD Electrical Cleaner in the female side of the PCM connectors and the trouble code and "no canbus" no start condition disappeared. But today, Friday a check engine light came back so a thorough cleaning is required. I am waiting for ebay.com to deliver the DeOxit products.


In the interim, could you recommend a soldering iron/gun appropriate for soldering circuit boards?

 

I am not sure of the pin sizes on your ECM' printed circuit board.

Mine, on the 14 pin connector, were quite large, and I bought a 100/140 watt Weller soldering gun as I was warned my 40 watt iron might overheat the traces on the PCB from prolonged exposure.

The 140 watt gun on the 100 watt setting allowed solder liquefaction and the addition of more solder in under a second and after having removed the potting and cleaned the PCB as best as possible, the actual resoldering job took 35 seconds, and could have been done in half that time

On some of those Jeep forums BlackVan referred to, it looks like accessing the inside of later model PCM is a chore in and of itself, where as mine was easy to open, and resolder for that matter, but if my 60 pin connector needed resoldering, I fear that would prove much more difficult. With the traces so much closer together and having no practice on such small PCB's.

So hope that a thorough Caig cleaning of the Sockets on the connector side reveal the spring loaded arms so you can pry them inward for more pressure, and the Caig thoroughly dissolves oxidation and enhances the conductivity.

An actual swab small enough to get inside the sockets can insure a thorough cleaning.

 

Ordered:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171023369312?rmvSB=true