problems finding pcm

[chloe]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this and hope some one can give me some advice. It seems as if all of you love your cougars as much as I do. About 3 weeks ago my car would not start after about 2 weeks of hesitations while driving. I was told by the dealer it was a bad pcm and it needed to be replaced. They went on to tell me this part was obsolete. My car is a 2002 so how is this possible. Well, after I called the corporate office in Detroit they suddenly located a part. Imagine that! It was no longer deemed obsolete. The part was supposed be at the dealer by Friday the 21st of March. Finally on monday they call to tell me the part will not be shipped until April 15th. Apparently the manufacturer does not make the part. It comes from an outside vendor. I think they are giving me the run around.

Has anyone else had problems with their pcm and if so what did you do?

Oh yeah, the dealer told me there was not a dealer in the country that had one and they had nobody to rebuild them.

Have you ever heard of a part for a 6 year old car being obsolete?

Thanks!

Shari

[ov3n]

Hello!

They no longer make the cougar, so parts for it (even new ones) are getting pretty hard to come by..

You may want to email Bill Jenkins, parts@teamfordparts.com and see if he can locate you a PCM. He can generally get better pricing than local dealers can.

The dealer is probably waiting for a refurb pcm to become available... Ford is switching to a newer style of computer, so I am not surprised the old one is going to be hard to come by.

[chloe]

Thanks for the response to my pcm issue. I just spoke to a person at the corporate office and someone is going to get back to me. In the meantime I will contact the person you mentioned. I'm curious to see what the difference in price is. The dealer quoted me 485.00 for the part.

Thanks again!

Shari

[branchedout]

I don't know how mechanically inclined you are, but you could theoretically get one from a junk yard (have to be careful from what car you take it) and have the dealer install and program it to work on your car. Though if it didn't work, it obviously wouldn't be covered under warranty. Might save some money doing it that way, too.

[Gorman]

yeah screw the stealership...take the four letter code from your ecu...look on ebay...find one with same code and the master key...should still be cheaper than that. Maybe these people can guide you to someone..eBay Motors: Mercury Cougar Remanufactured Ecu Pcm 12 Month Warranty (item 320212148757 end time Apr-25-08 07:05:26 PDT) (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mercury-Cougar-Remanufactured-Ecu-Pcm-12-Month-Warranty_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2e l1247QQcategoryZ33596QQihZ011QQitemZ320212148757QQ rdZ1QQsspagenameZWD1V...G)...or this..eBay Motors: ENGINE COMPUTER ECU ECM 2002 COUGAR 32948 MI (item 260215695499 end time Mar-28-08 12:59:24 PDT) (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ENGINE-COMPUTER-ECU-ECM-2002-COUGAR-32948-MI_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33596QQihZ016QQitemZ 260215695499QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW...G).

[AndrewM6097]

are you 100% sure its your pcm? Just because a dealer tells you it is, doesnt mean they are correct. Describe the problems you're having a little better an search around on the forums for some other possible solutions. Good luck!

[chloe]

Hi,

The problems I had leading up to this were hesitations. A mechanic friend looked at the car and none of my plugs were firing. The distributor coil was replaced and still nothing. I had the car towed to the dealership and they did a diagnostic and told me it was the pcm.

Let me backtrack a little. the car was hesitating while idling and driving. I stopped at the gas station and when I tried to start the car it would not start. It would turn over but it would not start. Similar to being out of gas.

So far the dealer is the only person in town who can tell me what it is. So they say. I really don't trust them though.

Anyway, Thanks to everyone who has offered advice. It is much appreciated.

[Gorman]

..there is something to look into. Electronic components either work or they don't. If something seems to be intermittent..maybe you should check your connections. If the stealership say it is the pcm.. maybe you should get an electronics technician to check the pcb inside the pcm for dry joints etc. Also check the plug for security....G.

[aircougar1]

Hi,

The problems I had leading up to this were hesitations. A mechanic friend looked at the car and none of my plugs were firing. The distributor coil was replaced and still nothing. I had the car towed to the dealership and they did a diagnostic and told me it was the pcm.

Let me backtrack a little. the car was hesitating while idling and driving. I stopped at the gas station and when I tried to start the car it would not start. It would turn over but it would not start. Similar to being out of gas.

So far the dealer is the only person in town who can tell me what it is. So they say. I really don't trust them though.

Anyway, Thanks to everyone who has offered advice. It is much appreciated.


There is a 3 PLUG connection on the front of the 1-2-3 cylinder bank's valve cover... it is where the injector harness meets the main harness. MAKE SURE that the connections are VERY tight and are snapped in properly! I had one connector come loose, and it would turn over, but not fire up!

That is my guess. Good Luck!

[LostRacer]

And Welcome to NECO :)