03 ECM Recall

[BCrawford]

Has anyone heard anything on what the 03 ECM recall did to the Truck. I have just purchased a beautiful 03 3500 4x4. I bought it from a good friend of mine, he said in March 03 the dealer wanted it back to fix a recall issue. The sticker on the front of the engine compartment says ECM recall. My friend swears the mileage and power both went down.

Also as a side note I must eat some crow, as this is my first Dodge and CTD for that matter. I have been a die hard chevy fan my entire life, including the duramax. All I can say is PLEASE... ... ... . no comparison,, the best way to describe the difference is like driving a mini truck type suspension/power vs a MAC truck. I cannot believe the Chevys can sell. The front suspension alone is like night and day difference. I have always owned 2500 and 3500 trucks for my business. The sad part is the only reason I switched is becouse of some problems with one of my 04 3500 chev crews but thats another story.

Thanks

Bryan

 

[Badunit]

The only ECM recall I know of had to do with the cruise control. Apparently it wouldn't turn off correctly under certain circumstances. I had the recall done and it didn't affect mileage - I had been tracking it from the day I got it and there was no change. I don't think it had any affect on power either but that one is harder to determine objectively without a dyno so I can't be 100% sure it had no effect.

 

[Bertram65]

Has anyone heard anything on what the 03 ECM recall did to the Truck. I have just purchased a beautiful 03 3500 4x4. I bought it from a good friend of mine, he said in March 03 the dealer wanted it back to fix a recall issue. The sticker on the front of the engine compartment says ECM recall. My friend swears the mileage and power both went down.

Also as a side note I must eat some crow, as this is my first Dodge and CTD for that matter. I have been a die hard chevy fan my entire life, including the duramax. All I can say is PLEASE... ... ... . no comparison,, the best way to describe the difference is like driving a mini truck type suspension/power vs a MAC truck. I cannot believe the Chevys can sell. The front suspension alone is like night and day difference. I have always owned 2500 and 3500 trucks for my business. The sad part is the only reason I switched is becouse of some problems with one of my 04 3500 chev crews but thats another story.

Thanks

Bryan

There was a recall for the '03s that addressed a connector issue on the ECM, I do not think it had anything to do with the programing itself. I still have the paper at home somewhere, I have not taken it back to be done.

 

[mberry]

Welcome BCrawford! Now please tell us the other story.

 

[JHMiller]

Yup and ya ain't neva gonna get it back from Dodge

You should read my "2003 ecm reflash blues". I'm trying to wait for the Edge/Attitude but must do something soon. I tote and have got to have the torque back, it's a Dog now. However, I have total gas records and I'm down about 1mpg, it's 5% on a 21 mpg truck, at $2. 48/ gallon, it makes a difference to me. But according to Dodge, "everything's within parameters".

I know that cruise control issues with me were caused by a thumb across both the cancel and resume/acc buttons at the same time, never happened with brake pedal cancel. I have not been able to cause the issue since the reflash but why all the power reduction for the 6 speed, something ain't right here. Sure would like to have back what I purchased.

 

[Boonieman]

I had the reflash done for mine for the cruise control issue last summer. I log and hand calculate my fuel mileage and have since the truck was new, and at least on my truck there was no change whatsoever in the mileage. Of course I've read on here that other's mileage was affected and there's no reason to doubt that, so it sounds like a roll of the dice. I've got 48,000 on the truck and I average 19. 6 mpg (hand calculated) over a 12 month period. I've got the 6 speed and 4:10 gears.

 

[JThiessen]

THere's two different things being talked about here.

1) RECALL of 03's to have ECM connectors sealed correctly - it was a corrosion issue and would not have involved a reflash

2) TSB (ie. , voluntary) reflash... . I havent had this one so I dont know the perf/mpg issues involved

 

[JHMiller]

Voluntary reflash

TJ, I sure wish I'd had known it was voluntary, mine was done under a "Safety Recall" with no return. Actually the reflash was for the cruise control issue but a dash check light was what initiated the trip to the dealer, it turned out to be a high trans temp code, was idleing up and down dale in 4th, might not have been enough cooling??

Anyway what I got was not voluntary nor appreciated.

 

[Badunit]

The cruise control reflash was a recall. It was not "voluntary" unless you consider it voluntary to get a safety problem, which was bad enough to generate a recall, fixed. I suppose it could have been ignored, just as a bald tire, worn out brakes, a sticking throttle cable or any other safety problem could be ignored. I don't understand why it affected power and mileage on some trucks. Maybe they slipped in some other changes while they were at it. Maybe some trucks had a different original program version and the rest of us already had a lower-power version and just didn't know it.