Hey everyone, I was wondering if I have the death flash on my truck, it's a 96' 1500 4X4 and I looked at the PCM on it, and it does say "Chrysler Authorized Software Update." But the thing that has me wondering is the date of the update. It said "1-17-97." What I read when I searched the forums was that the dates on it were like 2000-01 or so. Does the date matter? Does this mean I have it or that I don't have it? Thanks guys. Any help would be awesome.

 

You have the death flash.

 

Thanks; I knew it. Now, just a chip like superchips will fix the death flash? Or are there any better and/or cheaper ways to fix it? Thanks again audiomechanic!

 

No prob. I've got it too. *mad*

I'm not very knowledgable on chips so I won't be of much help. You can do the CPS mod for free which will basically 'cancel out' the death flash. Won't give you any gains above stock, but it'll return you to factory-stock power (or close to it).

 

Hypertech makes one, better on gas but not as much power as a SuperChips. Also there is SCT which is a lot more money , but really only needed if you plan on doing engine mods too. Now the real question would be, is have you fixed the plenum plate?

 

I THINK superchips can/will fix it, as long as you have one of the SC tunes loaded (obviously). There's no better/cheaper way to fix it as far as I know, other than plugging in another PCM that doesn't have the death flash, which may or may not even be cheaper than the superchips. As far as 'better' ways to fix it, for ease of use/simplicity, and relatively inexpensive for a stock-ish truck the Superchips might be your best bet. Other options would be Hypertech which is pretty much the same damn thing, or sending out the PCM for a reflash which might do more in the way of performance but might also cost more and requires down time while you wait for the PCM to be shipped back to you. So I think you're on the right track.

 

1. Superchips
2. Hypertech
3. SCT

Only go the SCT route if you plan on getting some major mods down the road. Like, cam, Intake manifold, boost, and other things of that nature. SCT is a fully open tuner that allows you to make your own changes. It's not a "canned" tune.

I have not heard of anyone being able to take the deathflash off of their pcm by taking it to a dealer to have it reflashed. I'm sure that it's possible if you were really chummy with a tech guy there, but I wonder if the old Pre update software would still be around or not?

Any of those tuners will rid you of the death flash, but be warned, the new tune might wake up any engine demons that was previously laying asleep.

 

I haven't done anything with the plenum, and I don't plan on doing any major engine mods like the ones that were described. Thank you all very much for the help! Now I just have to pick which way to fix it. The CPS mod is just moving the PCM somwhere else, right? Or am I remembering wrong?

 

The CPS mod is moving the CPS not the PCM. And if you do the mod or buy a tuner, without fixing the plenum if it blown , the motor will ping.

 

+1. That was the reason for the death flash in the first place, to retard the timing to get rid of the ping.

Oil in the intake manifold, which is what a blown plenum gasket will do, will get into the cylinders, which will cause pinging.

Two ways to fix that issue. A new plenum plate and gasket (APS Precision or Hughes Engines for the plate, Felpro for the gasket), or a Hughes Engines intake manifold.