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Superchip knocked out of PCM, car now won't start, looking for ideas...

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99Mystique ATX

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
Aug 30, 2003
Messages
2,008
Location
Penfield, NY
Here's the story, was on my way home from a trip, and my buddy accidentally knocked my superchip out of my PCM. The car instantly died and will no longer start.

I've checked all the fuses, pulled and reseated the PCM, unhooked the battery for a while. I also tried it with and without the chip and with the chip on different tunes.

When the key is out, the pats light blinks normally, when you put it in the run position the pats light doesn't light up at all...

I'm gonna start digging through the ford cd to see if I can figure it out, i'm thinking the PCM is probably toast but i'm still diagnosing it...

Any ideas?
 
Does your CEL come on when you turn the key to "on" but not start?
If so, you have power to the PCM.

You said your PATS doesn't come on at all, with the key on.. this is normal, with the exception of a 1 second "prove out" light. When you turn the key on, it should stay solid for one second (testing the PATS module) then go out completely and until the car is turned off.

So, if you have PCM power (CEL test light) but no PATS test.. I'd start looking at the PCM, or the PATS module, or power to either, etc.
 
I can't remember if the CEL comes on or not. I'll check that in the morning...

As for the "prove out" light, nope, when you switch the key from accessory to run, the light goes from blinking to just off, it doesn't stay on for the normal "test", just stops blinking...

Looks like i've got a bit of troubleshooting to do in the morning. I think I may have access to borrow a good PCM and a chip from a key out of a running car so if everything seems ok I can verify that the PCM is toast. But i've got some more troubleshooting to do before I check that.

Also, since the car is a 2000, is all of the pats information in the pcm or is there still some form of external box that I should be checking for?
 
if a chip comes out of the pcm when the ignition is on the pats system in shirt has the keys erased from it. you will have to have the car towed to a dealer to have the keys "re-programmed" to the PCM.

fyi this happened to another member years ago and that is what happened, he had/has a 2k also ...
 
I'm thinking that's it... I checked it this morning, CEL and all other lights come on normally. So, the PCM does have power. The pats light still does the same thing where when you switch it from accessory to run it just stops blinking and shuts right off. There is no "prove out" or test light like there normally would be.

I'm thinking I may call up a dealership to see what they get to reprogram the keys to the PCM...
 
there are also locksmiths who can come to your site and program the PCM for your PATS as well.. Perhaps its an option to avoid a tow charge.. they may be slightly higher to come to you, but factor in the tow and the time spent at the dealer, etc, plus gas to drive home and you may come out ahead with a locksmith.
 
from scratch? no....
an early 98:
with 1 key you can add a 2nd and 3rd.

for a late98 +:
with 2 keys you can add a third yourself.


Either would require dealer/locksmith/specialty work to add the first.
 
Well, i've got a buddy whose sister has an 00 SVT Contour. I think he'd be willing to let me swap the pcm and one of the chips into my keys to try it to make sure thats the issue.

Or at this point would you not bother trying that and just go to the dealership and have them reprogram the pcm/keys?

EDIT: Lookin around on car-part.com i've found a few SVT PCM's at junkyards so I may be making some calls on Monday trying to find one....
 
Bring the car to the dealer, they need to hook up to cars pcm to rework the pats and then reprogram the keys. The pcm isn't fried or shouldn't be, this happened to me a long time ago with my chip(which is why I junked it and went with a tune). I had to get the car towed after my chip fell out with key in the ignition but my car was still under warranty and I played stupid and they didn'y ? it but they couldn't figure out why the pats was almost basically wiped from the pcm, I think they flashed to or did something to my pcm and reprogramed my keys and I was fine.

I later found out this was problem back in the chip hay day with pats cars, don't even have the key near the ignition when fooling with it.
 
Well, I grabbed a used PCM out of the junkyard. When you turn the ignition on, the pats light now blinks rapidly, indicating a bad pats code. So, my other PCM may still be good and just need to be reflashed but by the time a dealership got done with diagnosing it, in the long run cheaper for me to just use the new PCM.

Plus, I scored a B&M out of the SVT for $25... :D
 
99Mystique ATX said:
Well, I grabbed a used PCM out of the junkyard. When you turn the ignition on, the pats light now blinks rapidly, indicating a bad pats code. So, my other PCM may still be good and just need to be reflashed but by the time a dealership got done with diagnosing it, in the long run cheaper for me to just use the new PCM.

Plus, I scored a B&M out of the SVT for $25... :D
Click to expand...

Good find there. As far as the key goes, I had to do this a few weeks ago when I swapped my PCMs to test one in my other car. You're either going to need the ignition out and keys from the car that your pcm came out of, or to have new keys made matching your ignition and coded to the new PATS module, so you're still pretty much back at square one. What you could do to test the new PCM is go to the store, have a non-chipped key cut to match your ignition, hold the key from the other car that the PCM came from to the PATS antenna next the the ignition on the column, and start the car. Cost my like $0.67 for the key. I did that a few weeks ago when I swapped the PCM from one of my cars to the other to test it. I'm not sure if that helps or not, but it sounds like one way or the other, you need a new ignition or to have keys reprogrammed. I think with your new PCM's keys and a chipless key, you could trick the car into reprogramming your old keys to match the new PCM though.
 
99Mystique ATX said:
Well, I grabbed a used PCM out of the junkyard. When you turn the ignition on, the pats light now blinks rapidly, indicating a bad pats code. So, my other PCM may still be good and just need to be reflashed but by the time a dealership got done with diagnosing it, in the long run cheaper for me to just use the new PCM.

Plus, I scored a B&M out of the SVT for $25... :D
Click to expand...

the light is flashing because that pcm you got doesn't recognize your keys. you have no choice put to take it to a dealer and have them reprogram the keys to either pcm.

just make sure its the same code or code series pcm otherwise its not going to run right.
 
Already got all that covered. ;)

I knew why the light was flashing, i was glad to see that it worked. Gives me confidence in the PCM I picked up. I will be taking it to my dealer hookup to have my keys reprogrammed tomorrow morning...

Plus, the guy wouldn't give me the one key he had for the car, he said he'd sell it with the entire steering column and I was like nope...
 
Yea, I know... I told him that too and he's like i'm not gonna sell you the key and key cylinder without the column... It's what, 2 screws for the cover a 10mm bolt and unhook the PATS wiring and you're set...

Guy knew the car was worth something but he didn't have a clue other than that...

On a side note, got the keys programmed today and she's running again!
 
cool.. now either ditch the supercheap and get a tune on the factory PCM or DON'T KNOCK IT OUT AGAIN!!

lol

glad you got it running, again!
 
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