I was referring to the silicone potting used on my ECM circuit boards which is 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick. Not the potting less motherboards used on laptops

Interesting technique, but not applicable to my ECM.

 

I did maybe 3 or 4 minutes of research and found a very detailed thread with photos and exact instructions on a jeep forum. Unfortunately this Dodge forum won't permit to me post a link but if you google for it you too can track it down.

Removing the board and the potting material and then resoldering the pins and resealing the unit is something that I would not recommend for everyone but should be well within the skillset of any moderately experienced electronics technician. I'd do it.

 

Thanks Blackvan.

Good to see others have had similar issues, and fixed it themselves.

It appears their PCM requires a lot more persuading than mine will to access the pins. Mine just pops out from the plastic

I'm definitely going to do this. My potting compound is just silicone.

i also have a practice( original) ECM, and perhaps reflowing the solder will make this one functional again, and then alloro can make fun of me for thinking my chafed shorted transmission wire caused the ecm to fail, when it was this dang connector all along.

I donlt know what they were thinking designing this. the other connector had 60 pins and a bolt in the middle to hold it tight in its receptacle, and all the wires come it from the side where they can be supported, but this 14 way connector has no real locking ability and the wires stick straight out out, and hang, transmitting the weight of the wiring to the circuit board.

Designed to fail.

 

Removed potting from older ECM via mechanical means, not burning it odd with a soldering iron as some do.



The Pin on the top right is loose. I can wiggle the tip 1.5MM or so. The circuit trace for this particular pin is on the other side. But the solder is not broken visibly on this side.

I need to acquire a hotter iron before going further.

I've gotten a bunch of Caig Deoxit products for the actual connector interface.

More updatesto come.

 

I would recommend anybody who thinks they are having ECM or connector issues to get some Caig Deoxit spray and get it on pins and connectors before condemning either.

I first cleaned the contacts on my older ECm with CRC QED electronics cleaner, and used a q tip to buff them out, but they where still grayish white and rough feeling.

I sprayed them with caig deoxit and used q tips again, many q tips, as they turned black as the pins began to shine like oiled chrome and became silky smooth

I thought my 14 way connector was pristine when i reinserted it. I even used Stabilant 22 on pins and sockets before reinstalling for the extra conductivity, but know I know they were still oxidized, and stabilant 22 needs to be reapplied if the connector moves.

I still suspect broken solder on my ECm pins, but I now also know that the pins and sockets could have been cleaner, and that this caig Deoxit spray is miracle electrical contact juice, and every connector, every sensor contact, every switch in my van will be treated with this product, ot the Deoxit gold or Deoxit shield for protecting the contacts long term after deoxidizing them with the deoxit spray.

Edit/Add:
I removed connectors again from quasi functioning ECM, sprayed them with the CRC QED electronics cleaner, again, buffed them again with Q tips soaked in CRC clener.

i then sprayed Caig Deoxit d5 on the 4 mating surfaces and waited a bit. many many q tips and precision applicators turned black as the pins and sockets began to shine.

Applied DeoXit gold afterward

Connectors reseated like butter

Still have my code 53 due to the broken colder at base of pins, but A lot more confidence in the rest of the connectors.

Will be doing every connector, everywhere with this product.

Will resolder pins next year when I return.

 

Honestly, I have been dreading this but so far my remanufactured PCM is holding up. Good to know Caig Deoxit has worked for you. I will make sure to pick some up. Not a big fan of Stabilant. CRC QED has worked ok for me in the past. I normally just use physical oxidation removal and while that works well for me, I realize everyone's situation is a litttle different.

Thank you for posting your results. As I said, I know and dread the day I have to deal with this but the more info we all post regarding our issues, the better position we are in to deal with them.

 

I have one of those fine diamond coated dremel bits which can fit inside of the sockets of my 14 way connector, and the smaller ones could fit in the 0 way connector.

Anyway I did the full physical oxidation removal with these tools and then a CRC flushing afterward, and the Deoxit still removed heaps of oxidation afterward. I was extremely surprised and impressed as the sockets went from rough and silvery to smooth and gleaming as polished and oiled chrome.

I'd bought the Stabilant22 years ago for a RAM card on my older laptop, and it did not help the issue of the card not being recognized. I wonder if the deOxit would have worked.

Anyway the Stabilant22 needs to be reapplied if the connector is moved, so underhood in a vehicle is a Poor fit for this product.
I will be cleaning and treating every single connector with Deoxit and Deoxit gold.

 

I finally got a 140 watt soldering gun, and reflowed the solder on both 14 way connectors on both my older ECM, and my mostly functioning current ECM.

I did the older one first for practice, and plugged it in, and the van started right up. 7 times it started and ran fine, on the 8th attempt the ASD relay started clicking, just as it did 9.5 years ago when I replaced this ECM for my current one.

So it appears my semi famous chafed transmission wire could have caused the failure and it was not the loose pins/broken solder contacts.

So far so good on the newer reflowed ECM. No stalls since, but I am not calling it fixed yet.

I've also used Various Caig DeOxit products on most every connector in my Van. The worst was the connector for the fuel pump back by the fuel tank, and the ground wire back there. The Map and TSP pin and 02 sensor sockets were quite oxidized as well and blackened many a micro q tip after inserting mini pipe cleaners sold for use on teeth.

All of these were completely covered in Dielectric grease but were still heavily oxidized despite it.

Since I acquired the micro q tips:

I used them in the 14 pin connector again and was able to remove even more oxidation from within. I think the DeOxit gold I had left in there for the last 6 weeks had time to really dissolve the rest of the oxidation.

Anyway, anybody perusing this thread for a suspected PCM connector issue first needs to acquire some Caig D5 and clean connector sockets and pins. Despite the liberal use of dielectric grease, oxidation is still occurring and causing high resistance, heating, and perhaps contributing to/causing ECM failure.

Caig Deoxit Gold is not really made for cleaning, but promoting connector longevity, and Deoxit Shield is for protecting long term in corrosive environments.

Here's hoping the ECM gets a more accurate return voltage from the sensors, for better A/F ratio and spark timing, for power and economy, and better numbers on the Smog machine test coming up in a couple months.

 

Just so you know the inside of my 99 dodge ram 1500 5.9l pcm is a paper thin board to connect all the connections to the plugs and then its ran to your cluster behind your odometers and thats the main brain. Just word of though for those saying to place it inside the oven like a laptop. Sorry but the PCM is just paper thin and it would melt. Lol

Like a Xbox and a laptop or any motherboard for a system its about 1/8 thick copper board so its okay. But the PCM, I wouldn't suggest that.

 

just a wild thought...


has anyone seen anyone engineering replacement PCMs using a PC or tablet?


I mean, is there a way we could vir-tual-ize the PCM? Has anyone tried this on any automotive platform yet? I don't see a reason why it couldn't be done