2002 Stratus 2.7L

My daughters car was working fine until the battery went dead (wasn't around for the replacement but her friends took a new Interstate battery and replaced it with a walmart battery). After that was replaced she took a trip out of town and it went dead again. Towed to a Firestone where they had to replace the alternator belt. Shortly after (or so she says) the check engine light came on. I had the codes pulled and one was the P0601 (I think) for the PCM and the other one said to check for a short. I had the battery and alternator tested and both are fine so I am leaning toward PCM. Something else that preceeded all of this is the hard start. A few months ago you could just turn the key and it started right up. 3 months of my daughter driving and it started taking a few more seconds to crank and when it starts it sounds like it does not want to start. Once running, it's fine. I don't know if these are related issues or not but wondering if a bad PCM would cause the starting issue before throwing the check engine light. It started the starting problem a few months before the check engine light came on.

Thanks for any help with this. I am about to have the car at my house and start throwing parts at it and would like to try and save a few bucks.

Ref: Check Engine Light
P0601
PCM

 

Im having the same issues with the starting, could you listen to how long you fuel pump primes for? Just pull the back seat down and place ear on the car trunk floor and have somone turn the key, (dont crank).

Check my thread, this site is of no help.

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/dodge-s...ng-issues.html

 

Well.....I guess I will start with the PCM since one of the 2 codes is for that. Anyone know a good place to get a quality PCM?

 

Ok, where to get a PCM? I have not found any post nor any resource online that has a good quality source for a new PCM. Price range from $159-$400 and dealer wants over $600. Any ideas? There is a place here in Houston called Auto Comp Technologies...anyone heard of that?

 

As of today my problem still persists. I'm also thinking the PCM but have not really tried to fix it. Was kinda waiting on some definite answeres so money is ni

 

As of today my problem still persists. I'm also thinking the PCM but have not really tried to fix it. Was kinda waiting on some definite answeres so money is not wasted. I got a couple things in mind that. Can cause it, first. Bad PCM, bad spark plugs, clogged fuel filter. Go to your local junk yard for a PCM. If I find an extra here i could sell it and ship it to you for a 100

 

Also a faulty. Crank or cam sensor would also cause starting issues. As you can see it gets expensive quick lol.

 

I don't beleive the battery testers because they test for voltage, not amps which actually starts the car.

Voltage is just the potential electrical difference between to points.
Amps is the the amount of electrons flowing from point A to point B.

My money is a weak battery and possibly a slow electrical draw when the car is off. You can check for the draw with a multimeter.

 

You sayin the code could be caused by a bad battery?

 

I'll keep that in mind. Going to take the battery out and have it tested properly.