Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) ECM Woes......

[Jonz]

Hello all,



Without going into a 20 page report. My truck is cutting out so bad I cannot even drive it. The tech has found that the ECM thinks the truck is going 150mph and is shutting the system down. They have been all over this truck and so far as we can tell the ECM is the cause. STAR says it may be a ground but we are not to confident about that. To my question..... the dealer wants $2200 for a new ECM... ... ACK Anyone know where else I might find one?



Thanks for the advice



Troy:{

 

[pwr2tow]

I don't know of any place but as a last resort you could try the yellow pages under salvage yards. Hopefully someone will know of a place.



If you had a manual truck you could of bought one from cummins for $1,000. 00. I know that doesn't help but I thoght I would put it in this post just in case someone was looking for one with a manual transmission.



Ron

 

[work2muchplay2little]

Why isn't this a warranty repair item?

 

[Mopar-muscle]

whats your tire size and have you corrected the speedo for a larger tire , i'm assuming with your skyjacker kit you have it for bigger tire clearance ??



hey ron , did you try resetting your APPS ???

 

[BV]

Why not Warranty

I 2 am curious why it is not covered under warranty?



If you still need an ECM - Hit the salvage yards or maybe a member like Marco has something modified and available for less.

 

[pwr2tow]

Yep, reset it last night and as far as I can tell it did nothing.



I wasn't going to post this until I had a chance to pull something real heavy just to make sure but since you asked.



Ron

 

[Jonz]

warranty

The ECM is not covered unless you have the extended warranty. Go figure. If you buy a new engine it comes with a new ECM. Tried the warranty route and regardless of my mods its not covered.



Mopar-Muscle... . I had Dodge re-calibrate for the largest tire they can compensate for. Im running 295 75R/16 BFG's. My speed is off 1 mile for every 100. I checked this on a 5000mile cross country trip. The trip computer is off on mpg 3mpg when the computer reads 20mpg.







Troy

 

[WOT]

That seems like A LOT of money. I was quoted $899 for the Torqous Maximus ECM. I find it hard to believe the regular ECM is $2200! I think it would be time for the P7100 conversion!

 

[dan_gilson]

Humm... The ECM is part of the engine and the engine is covered for 5year/100K miles. No a warrenty part just does not sound right. If you are under 70K you might also be under a Federal emissions warrenty.



Have you called Cummins to see how much they sell the part for? They can also replace it for you. Their shop time generally tends to be more expensive that Didge but I have had way better service there.



It sounds like Dodge is just being mor of a pain over warrenty now.

 

[LSMITH]

The ECM is a DC product, NOT Cummins. DC can sing any song they want. I would try a few more dealers to see if one will slip it through. There are some spare ECM's out there, I have one but won't sell it because I am not sure what is going to happen when I upgrade the transmission. Post a wanted add in the classifieds and check the boneyards. No way I would pay over $600 for one. You could buy a Torqus Maximus from Cummins for about $1000, but with your TC reports have not been good, I guess stalling is an issue as the ECM is for manual transmission trucks.

 

[kaffine krazed]

I don't know if you tried this remove your power box and see if that helps. I installed a power max 3 with remote that taps the pump wire and the truck wouldn't go over 90 with it on shut it off and it will go over 110. The problem was the ground on the power box causing a signal to backfeed into the ECM and the ECM was reading it as another pulse on the speed sensor. If removing your power box doesn't fix it cut the speed sensor wire going to the ECM and see if that helps any. Checking the power and ground at the ECM isn't a bad idea if before you buy a new ECM I would also check the power and grounds at the VP44. The ECM is covered under the emssions warrenty.

 

[Roger rodbolt]

Originally posted by kaffine krazed

I don't know if you tried this remove your power box and see if that helps. I installed a power max 3 with remote that taps the pump wire and the truck wouldn't go over 90 with it on shut it off and it will go over 110. The problem was the ground on the power box causing a signal to backfeed into the ECM and the ECM was reading it as another pulse on the speed sensor. If removing your power box doesn't fix it cut the speed sensor wire going to the ECM and see if that helps any. Checking the power and ground at the ECM isn't a bad idea if before you buy a new ECM I would also check the power and grounds at the VP44. The ECM is covered under the emssions warrenty.

Troy,



Kaffine K gave you some excellant advice . Don't scrap that ecm prematurely. Larry

 

[Huff N Puff]

I would test have your speed sensors tested first

Test all speed sensors first in addition to testing any buffers that might exist between the speed sensors and the PCM. THe culprit is possibly the output speed sensor on the trans or your pinion factor is possibly incorrect. Merv

 

[Jonz]

ECM

This problem persistes with and without the box. The odd thing is that is used to do it before. I had the TPS replaced and it ran great for about 3000 miles than started acting up again. It got progressivly worse until you cant drive it. The tech who is working on it is very reliable and competent. He has tested all the sensors and back probed the wiring. He was testing the ground today but did not get to talk to him to see what he had found. The speed wire that feeds the ECM has a clean signal. Data going into the ECM is correct but the data coming out is wrong. STAR says ECM or ground. If I could find an ECM for $600 I would replace it just for the sake of it. This issue is driving me crazy.



Gotta wait until Tuesday to talk to the tech and see what he found.



Thanks for the advice. Its all very appreciated.



Troy

 

[Huff N Puff]

You need to find out how he is checking the signal

The engine PCM gets its speed signal from the Transmission control module. The signal can be clean but the count could be wrong. Something loose in the trans can throw the count of. Make sure the pinion factor matches your truck. Merv

 

[jkern]

spend the $2200 bucks on a good lawyer and get your truck fixed for free, the rental paid for by DC and peice of mind that you won. that is ridicoulus that they won't cover that in warrenty. i would think that it would be a "poor workmanship" problem from the factory if indeed it is a grounding problem. those type are most always covered.

 

[Michael Hughes]

I would think that the ECM would be covered by the "Feferal Emission Warranty" for the 2 years or 24,000 miles or the 8 years or 80,000 miles.



I would also think it would be covered by the 5 year 100,000 mile engine warranty. Kind of hard to run the engine without the ECM.

 

[dan_gilson]

Please pardon my confusion...



If the ECM is Dodge and it gets updated through the OBDII connector. What is the controller called that Cummins updates firmware to through the 3 wire connector that most people tap into for their power chips?

 

[Marco]

I can help you if it is the ECM.

I have several ECM's here. If you want me to, I can help you.

I can reflash your ECM with a high performance file, fix the stalling issue with your transmission, or even repair your ECM it if it needs to.



Oh, yeah, for much much less than 2. 2K.



Marco

 

[Speedo]

The amazing TDR

It seems like every time someone comes up with a problem

there is some else that has a solution, hope I never have a

problem with my ECM but its comforting to know that there

are people like Marco lurking through the forums that can

offer a solution.



Gus