Okay so I'm also looking into trying to check my pcm out. I was wondering if anyone has any idea or suggestions on how to check the PCM out to see if it is functioning correctly? I know where its located and how to get to it, but is there any specifics on how to make sure its okay?

Thanks again for everyone's help. n_n

 

Plug a code reader into it and makes sure it communicates. That's about it unless you're tracing a specific code/problem. Automotive ECMs seem to be quite sturdy. I've never had an ECM failure in European or NA cars in over 40 years of driving.

 

I know that my code reader will communicate with the PCM, but I was wondering if there is another way to test the PCM for any failure. A few people that I've took the car to have told me that when they hook up some reader, which works while the car is on and running, that they see a lot more codes than what a simple code reader gets from the PCM. I don't know what the diagnostic reader he had was called, but it hooked up the same as a code reader at an auto parts store does. It actively communicated with the PCM rather than pulling codes while the car is in the accessory mode like code readers do.

Is there any kind of voltage checks or anything of the sort that could help me identify a bad PCM? Or would it have to be hooked up to a computer to run a diagnostic?

 

What is wrong that makes you suspect a bad PCM? It is rare for a PCM to be bad, but it does happen. There isn’t really a test for the entire PCM. Only tests for specific inputs & outputs of the PCM. PCMs have multiple power and ground sources. So without a wiring diagram it would be fairly hard to determine what each wire is doing.

Good luck...

 

Like I said, when I had someone hooked up a diagnostic tool (which I don't remember what he called it), it was giving him a bunch of other issues that a simple code reader cannot get from the PCM.

I just had my DPFE sensor replaced after 6 years since I had it replaced the first time for the code P0401. That code went away after the DPFE was replaced, then the O2 sensors started to put out codes: P0136, P0171, P0174 which went away after the car had it's transmission fixed since the exhaust had to be taken off. Now I'm getting the P1131 and P1151. Soon as my hubby gets his money back from pre-college expenses, we're planning on changing out all 4 O2s and seeing if that alleviates the problem. If not then we're thinking it may be my PCM.

The Ford dealership in Dayton, Tennessee, where I had my car taken when it would not start, told me that my Instrument Cluster, Ignition Switch (which we had just replaced so I know it wasn't bad), the PCM, and a wire leading from the Ignition Switch to the PCM were all bad and had to be replaced. I spent over $2500 and still had the issue where after the car would die or I would shut it down completely while getting gas, I'd try to start it again and wouldn't hear anything trying to start. All I'd hear is a humming noise coming from the PCM. Since we cleaned the connectors in front of it, it hasn't died or not wanted to start since then. I think I may have gotten screwed over by them and was given a bad PCM, since I had never had the O2 sensor codes nor had my door light and chime to let you know the door is ajar stay active at times before that little excursion.

What sucks is that I can't prove it though that it was their fault, otherwise I would have taken legal action to get it rectified. I should have had it towed to another dealership in Chattanooga, but didn't have the money to do so. My family has always had bad luck with the one in Dayton. They even told them that there was nothing wrong with their car even though it was throwing codes left and right, as well as acting up, then a few weeks later it catches fire and gets totaled.

Hm....., so there isn't a comm port connector that I can buy which hooks my laptop up to the system and a program that interacts with the pcm for pc that I could use while my laptop is hooked up to the system to check stuff?

As far as testing specific inputs and outputs of the PCM, we can do that next weekend since I do have a shop electrical manual for the car (which I bought through ebay), so we should be able to determine what each wire is doing. My husband knows a bit about electrical stuff. More than I do so I let him at that kind of work.

Thanks again. n_n