Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting PCM

Last week my 98 SVT 'tour was stalling, spuddering, missing, ect... It got so bad that eventually the car was undriveable. So, I took it to the Ford dealership in my town. My service adviser told me that the PCM was "fried out." Anyway, I had it replaced and picked up the car today. The car no longer misses, and studders, but it seems underpowered. It no longer opens up at 4000 rpms like it used to.

I called SVT and spoke with Mark. He said he was not sure if there is a different part # for the PCM on the CSVT. However, it may be calibrated differently. He asked me to look at the PCM and look for any numbers on it. Unfortunately, my PCM has no numbers at all.

Then, I checked my Haynes manual (which is not specific to SVT). It said that the PCM has to relearn the car's values.

Question#1: What is the part # for a PCM for a 98 SVT Contour?

Question#2: Is there a specific PCM for the 98 SVT Contour?

Question#3: How much does a job like this usually cost?

Question#4: Has anyone had this problem before; does what Mark or the Haynes manual said make any sense?

I love my CSVT but I have had sooo many problems in the past year that I am begining to second guess everything that goes on with the car. I also, have been screwed by so many mechanics, and delt with so many incompotent mechanics that I am paranoid and stressed.

BTW, I did search.

Thanks for your help!!

Well the good news is that there is only one code for your 98 SVT. It's RJL1. It's possible they flashed it with a normal run of the mill contour program that was designed for 87 octane. The dealer should have written on the front support what the new calibration is and the date. I believe it's required. The bad news is that the only way I could tell is if you sent me the ECU to read and compare it with the correct calibration. If it is wrong then you need to have the dealer reflash it. Both the SVT and the SE use the same strategy so it would run on either one and a scanner won't help you tell them apart.

You other option is to order a chip for it but that is the more expensive route and I'm sure not your favorite. The benefit is at least you will know it's the correct code and you'd get some gains out of it.HTH

thanks for the help