You'll know on Tuesday when the new ECM arrives.

 

In my humble opinion there's no reason not to give a junkyard SMEC (computer) a try. Would cost a lot less if you can find one, probably around $75. There is an excellent place in Dexter ME called Littlefield's that has lots of great Dodge parts, and I've personally purchased stuff (including an ECU) from them and it saved me lots of money. Their number is 207-924-6616. If you match the exact part number of your computer to the used computer you'll have no problems.

 

Just picked up ECM from autozone. Thanks for that post Rusty. But I had no ride to get to a local Junk yard and had no clue of any other way. It only cost me 220 new. So not too bad.

Problem is one of the plastic screw mounts on the plastic housing of the ECM was barely hanging on. So instead of sending it back and waiting another 5 or more days and getting a ride again, they gave me some plastic epoxy which seems to be pretty good. Dried very fast. Not sure how long I should wait to install it. I'll give it a few hours and test another plastic sample to see how hard it is to break apart.

I got another quick question before I put this in. Do I just install it, plug n play type thing? Or are there any checks I need to do after I mount it and plug in harness? I have negative cable disconnected on battery. I'll do a code check too with ignition just to see what happens. I'm hoping for the best. temperature shouldn't be a problem today. It's close to 50, so I won't know about that situation for a day or so.

 

I'm screwed!!!

New computer makes no difference for newest symtom of van won't start. Could something have fried with bad computer?

Van just turns over trying to get compression. I get all kinds of vacumm hissing and a rich smoke if I keep cranking out of TB. I'll check for spark and fuel pressure again. But this symptom is different than when the weather is too cold. Before there was no spark or pressure. This is the latest problem I have when I thought heating up ECM too long and barely making it home then after I unpluged the ECM with negative cable connected and I thought I fried it. Since it would no longer start anymore.

Could it be possible I have a bad ECM? It was damage. The plastic anchor on it cranked and I noticed a small crank in the plastic vent. Very small, didn't look too bad. And I wouldn't think the I'd have the same symptoms if it were a bad ECM. Frustrated at this point. No ride sucks. Do I need to reset ECM? Or could the cat have gone bad that quickly causing the 2 symptoms I talk about? Stalling out for a day then not starting at all?

Tommorrow morning I try to start it. If it's cold enough and I get no spark sound and no fuel pressure at rail. It probably wasn't ECM. If I get the same sound I'm hearing now like it wants to start but choking real bad then I may think ECM was part of the original problem.

I hate to cut off catylic converter unless I know that's the reason. Any way of checking for a bad cat or bypassing it for now?

 

Another thought. With both ECM's I get code 12-55. Would a bad ECM throw out codes?

 

Do you ever catch a break?

 

Sometimes yes, sometimes no, it could go either way. It depends on what's wrong with the ECM.

 

Sounds like a timing/misfire issue, have you been playing around with the distributor? Yes the new ECM could be no good. It did come through broken, that means it got banged around pretty good. Any chance they sent you the wrong ECM, such as one for a V6 instead of a V8?

Usually a plugged cat or exhaust will not prevent starting, it will cause stalling, so I think you're okay there.

If you reinstall the original ECM, does it act differently or the same as the new one?

 

As far as timing issue goes. I can say when I put back everything together from doing the plenum repair I cut the set of 3 wires that come from distributor (I believe it's called the crankshaft position sensor or camshaft position sensor. I forget which one.) It's the plate with wires that lie on top of the distributor before rotor and cap go on. So I soldered them back together and I had no problem for a a good week with van running the same, actually better after the plenum repair. I changed all plugs wires etc for tune up at the time also. So I had no problems for the whole week. It was still somewhat warm then. By the end of week is when weather changed and the same old problem happened as last winter and this year when temp dropped. So unless heat caused the solder to melt I doubt that would be the issue. But I'll go back and check it. Along with checking for plenum failure ( I used felpro kit not hughes) But I doubt it's plenum as I've been told I had intake leak for 4 or more years now. But not to worry at the time back then. When I did plenum gasket I use felpro gasket with copper RTV on both sides of Intake manifold and plenum plate.

I did have plastic vacuum line break problems which I had no choice at the time due to lack of a ride. So I used a tight larger rubber hose that fit over the breaks and spliced them together with hose and then used good old duck tape to help secure added hose to both sides of plastic vacuum hoses. So I'l also have to check them too. I looked at them and they look the same visually as they did when the plenum was finished and all ran excellent. But I'll have to remove temporary fix and check that out too. But my gut tells me it's not that. This happened to quick and directly after I removed old ECM without removing negative cable from battery. But at the same time I find it strange to have same symptoms with both ECM's too. Computers don't usually act the same when there's a problem. I am familiar with PC computers but not cars.

I no longer have original ECM. Gave it back as a core refund. But when it was connected the same exact problem existed.

I did have a clogged EGR path in the intake manifold when I did the plenum repair. I remove lots of suet from the end of the passage way where I'm pretty sure the EGR lead to in the manifold. But I couldn't get access to the whole passage way. It was already completely clogged so I cleaned out as much as I could get access to with wire and such. But again if it were that clogged I don't see what I did doing anything but helping out the situation. Once I get time, I need to get some work done. Had to borrow a car, I'll try to eliminate each problem I had with plenum repair. And I'll check for any new oil in the TB. If all else fails I may have to get it towed to a station and eat it. But I'm stubborn and persistent that way. Don't want to give in and charge more than the grand I already put out for all the repairs I've done. My gut tells me it's just one of those things when a 175000 mile vehicle in need of a bunch of repairs. And colder weather has helped things come about.

 

Not supposed to use any sealer on that plenum plate, it tends to not hold. I hope it hasn't sprung a leak.