HeyYou - Thanks for the idea. I called a couple local salvage yards. Both did not have one, but said if I found one it must be reprogrammed. They referrred me to a local guy who reprograms them for $125. The used I've seen (ebay, etc) are $109 - $250. By the time I get a non-programmed one and get it programed, its $250-$300+

Magnethead recommended Solo PCM above. I see they have an A+ rating with BBB. They're $250. I'm thinking I'll go that route.

 

Give it a shot. Let us know how it turns out. I would love to have a company that I could actually recommend......

 

We're off to a much better start. Solo PCM gave me a tracking number today. That is order day + 1. Its even already in progress. UPS says delivery Monday.
Contrast that with Flaship One: Order + 4 days they sent a questionable excuse. Order + 7 days they sent a tracking #, Order + 12 days defective ECU arrived.

Flagship One didn't have an account manager contact me yesterday or today as they said. If they suddenly started communicating that might lead to a situation where I'm supposed to return the old one under their return policy (restocking fee, non-refundable programing fee, etc). At this point, I'm much better off if they continue to promise stuff and never follow through. That should make it clear and easy for Discover to simply reverse the entire charge.
I think I'll keep reaching out to Flagship occasionally to generate more chat transcripts to send to Discover card.

 

Flagship One update: Yesterday they emailed me an RMA form. You may recall, they had previously told me it was impossible to get an RMA form before filling out the warranty paperwork. I still haven't gotten the warranty paperwork. I chatted with them today. I was told I can't get a refund without filling out the RMA form. So I filled out the RMA form. Now they're supposed to contact me in 24-48 hours. I told them I've disputed the charge with the credit card company.

Solo PCM Update: It arrived today. I was cautiously optomistic, but the Solo PCM good vibes didn't last. Their ECU gives code P0152, which is 02 sensor high voltage. I checked the wires to the 02 sensors, nothing is melted or broken.

So this evening I cycled through reinstalling all 3 ECUs to confirm the symptoms of each has not changed. It hasn't. The status is:
Original ECU: alternator does not charge, and trouble code P1495, no other codes
Flagship ECU: alternator does charge, and trouble code P0601, no other codes
Solo ECU: alternator does charge, and trouble code p0152, no other codes

From my googling, p0152 can be due to the ECU, though its rare. But since I get it consistently with only one of three ECUs, and never get it with the other two, I'm assuming its an ECU problem. If someone disagrees, please speak up.

Tomorrow I get to find out how Solo PCM's service after the sale is.

 

ugh. That sucks.

 

Just got off the phone with Solo PCM. I'm optomistic this will turn out ok.

On my first attempt to call, I got a rushed comment about putting me on hold, and then they apparently forgot about me being on hold (I waited ~45 minutes to hang up and try again). The second time I called (right after hanging up), the call went great. I'll happily look past getting left on hold since the guy was so helpful when I got to talk to him.

I explained the situation, and told them that P0152 only appears with their ECU, not the other two I have. He didn't give me any pushback on blaming their ECU for the problem (note how different that was from Flagship saying the ECU internal error code was likely my wiring harness).

They require I send in my old core get their lifetime warranty. Their ECU came with a return shipping label to send in my core. So I asked if I could use their return shipping label to return their defective ECU and get a working one before I sent in my core. He said that's fine. He suggested I include a note explaining the situation, and he looked up my order and put a note on the order.

He appologized for me having the trouble and said they'd try to get me taken care of as quick as they can.

So with a 5 minute conversation we're on our way to getting a replacement, and I'm not even paying return shipping.

 

The difference between two businesses. I would recommend Solo to anyone based on how they handle customer complaints, while Flagship would enjoy my free Platinum advertising service from now until a week after the Second Coming.

 

The second ECU from Solo finally came yesterday. It has a different code P0356. I called this morning. He was appologetic. He said it would take a day or two to get one in, and they'd have it to me by Friday or Monday. They're shipping it to me without me sending the one I have back (yet).
This is getting very irritating. But at least Solo is polite and trying to deal with it.

I've chatted with Flagship One another time or two since my last post. They just tell me the account manager is busy and will contact when they can, within a day or two. Of course, they have never contacted me. I've submitted additional chat histories to Discover card, so I assume when they get around to finalizing the charge reversal there will be no issue.

 

The third ECU from Solo came the end of last week, it behaves like the first one they sent me.
I did some more research and figured out what's going on.

I believe the first and third ECU from Solo were totally functional hardware-wise, but were configured for a California truck with the California emissions package. The 02 sensor code they trip is for bank 2, sensor 1. Only California trucks have four 02 sensors. My truck has only 2, which are referred to as bank 1, sensor 1, and bank 1, sensor 2. So those two ECUs are complaining about something that doesn't exist.

I called them a few minutes ago, the tech agreed that's the issue. They're out of my ECU, and it takes a while to locate them (this last ECU took 2 weeks to get, but they sent it second day air, so they're rushing to deal with it, they are just having delays getting units from their supplier). They agreed the fastest route is for me to send back the one I have and let them reprogram it. I also believe it is functional other than the emissions strategy setting, so I'd rather not roll the dice another unit from their supplier.

So: The ECU from Flagship One, and one of the three units from Solo have hardware issues causing unexplained trouble codes. Two of the three units from Solo appear to be fine hardware wise, but just have an issue with this setting.

Flagship operates like a scam. Don't expect truthful information. Once they have your money expect them to say whatever it takes to make you go away, but don't expect any service. And don't expect to get any issues fixed.
Solo is curteous and helpful. All this shipping back and forth has been at no cost to me. They could be faster, and its easy to say they should have known better than to let this happen. But with the hundreds of types of vehicles and countless model years, its not a surprise. If I ever need an ECU again, I will go to them from the start.

If anyone buys an ECU, make a point to tell them if it is a California truck. Even if they don't ask!

 

pre-00, more 48 state trucks existed than 50 state

01+, 50 state trucks are most common, 48 state trucks i would consider "rare". And that's what you have, is a rare truck, being 48-state 2002.