PCM problems

[lafittejeep]

New to this Forum, I have a 05 Wrangler unlimited 4.0 Auto. My jeep will crank right up not problems. After driving around and hour or so the engine just sputters and dies. Brought it to 3 shops including the local Jeep dealership and everyone points to the PCM. All have said that their scanners show the tranny temp over 600 degrees which is pretty much impossible considering nothing is smoking. All believe the transmission control module located in the PCM is the problem. My question is anyone out their ever have a similar problem? Has anyone sent out to get their PCM rebuilt, refurbished or replaced and who did you purchase it from? The last question has anyone out there have a good ending? Thanks

 

[fourpointzero]

Noted that another fellow Jeeper on Instagram had a major failure with his 06’s PCM. I suggest you ‘direct message’ him on IG (@idratherbejeeping) to see if he can offer you some sound advice. Best of wishes!

Link is as follows:

https://www.instagram.com/idratherbejeeping



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ac_]

I think that is an excellent question, and it sounds like you are like me. Replacing the PCM will be the last thing I do. Meaning I wont do it to see if it fixes an issue. I will know that it is bad before I replace it. Like you I have heard a lot of war stories of having my PCM reflashed or replaced. I haven't had to do it yet, so I don't have any advice for you, but I think you are doing the right thing by asking. In the end if I knew it was bad, I would probably have to do it, and see what happens, but again it wouldn't be the first thing I tried.

That said, is it possible that the wire could be pinched or open that tells the PCM the temp of the trans? There should be some ohm reading of the wire and an ohm reading of the switch. That would suck if you replaced the PCM only to find out there was a short in the switch?

Good luck and keep us posted. This is really interesting.

 

[skrelnik]

New to this Forum, I have a 05 Wrangler unlimited 4.0 Auto. My jeep will crank right up not problems. After driving around and hour or so the engine just sputters and dies. Brought it to 3 shops including the local Jeep dealership and everyone points to the PCM. All have said that their scanners show the tranny temp over 600 degrees which is pretty much impossible considering nothing is smoking. All believe the transmission control module located in the PCM is the problem. My question is anyone out their ever have a similar problem? Has anyone sent out to get their PCM rebuilt, refurbished or replaced and who did you purchase it from? The last question has anyone out there have a good ending? Thanks

This is a common problem in the 2005-06 years since the TCM and ECU from the 2004 and older models were combined into a PCM.

I would highly NOT recommend sending your unit out to be repaired by a third party company. You should have the dealership replace it with a remanufactured one ( new ones are not available) and if it fails again it will be warrantied and you can bring it back to the dealership to fix/replace.

Check out this link. Old Pueblo will walk you through his experiences.

https://bit.ly/2Q7h6vj

 

[Chris]

You should have the dealership replace it with a remanufactured one

I've heard a number of times that dealerships won't even touch these TJs anymore because Mopar no longer makes parts for them. Not sure if this is true, but I've heard it a number of times.

 

[TJScott]

I've heard a number of times that dealerships won't even touch these TJs anymore because Mopar no longer makes parts for them. Not sure if this is true, but I've heard it a number of times.

Our local dealership won’t touch my TJ based on 10 years old or mileage of 100k. I’m not at 100k, but I’m over 10 years old. Pretty crummy policy in my opinion as it doesn’t serve the customer or brand. Indicating they have no faith in the product. I turned them into Jeep corporate, but heard nothing back.


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[Chris]

Our local dealership won’t touch my TJ based on 10 years old or mileage of 100k. I’m not at 100k, but I’m over 10 years old. Pretty crummy policy in my opinion as it doesn’t serve the customer or brand. Indicating they have no faith in the product. I turned them into Jeep corporate, but heard nothing back.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There are federal laws that state something along the lines of auto manufactures must continue to provide OE parts and provide service for vehicles for at least 10 years after they cease production of that model / generation.

Being as though the TJ is will outside of those 10 years, it's not surprising that dealerships don't work on them anymore. Dealerships are required to use OE parts (not aftermarket replacement parts), and since most OE parts for the TJ have been discontinued, dealers can't even get the parts they would need to fix them.

It's pretty crappy and forces us to be a lot more intuitive than we would otherwise have to be, that's for sure. But, I guess that's one of the quirks of owning an old vehicle. I know I for one don't want to play the "Keeping up with the Jones'" game that most people play when they always have to have the newest model of vehicle.

 

[LukesfirstJeep]

Knock on wood, I don't have a PCM problem, but I have read that it is common. I have the same as you, an 05 LJ with auto.

I have bookmarked several vendors that offer PCM repair, with lifetime warranty. I don't know how good the are, but reading one vendors ad it listed causes for PCM failure. Their suggestions were;

IMPORTANT NOTES WHEN WORKING ON THESE VEHICLES OR OWNING THESE VEHICLES:


Jeep Wrangler PCM are notorious for failure specifically for the years 2005-06. The symptoms range from O2 Oxygen Sensor codes to Transmission Codes and Shifting issues to No Start No Communication. The causes are one or more of the following and not addressing this issues may cause more headaches and more money being spent. If you don't fix your problem, you will damage your computer again.


The main causes are Harness short and short to ground failures. The transmission harness is also being melted and causing recurring damage to the PCM. Look for the areas the harness(es) are mounted at the brackets. This is often a place where vibration after many years, will affect the wiring insulation and eventually can cause low or loss of voltage or even open shorts and melting and can wreak havoc upon your entire electrical system including but not limited to your PCM. Low voltage can adversely affect the PCM to the point of partial or full failure.


The Battery Alternator and or charging system. Be sure the battery terminals and cables are not corroded or shorting.

The part about harness shorts got my attention. I just replaced the valve cover gasket and noticed the main harness runs over the valve cover. This would be the first place I look if I had a PCM problem. I wonder if those who have gotten a replacement or repaired PCM, and their problem wasn't solved, was the result of a break in the harness.

 

[Kendra75_2006LJR]

Www.wranglerfix.com

 

[scottgraham]

Www.wranglerfix.com

Two year old thread, but good response none-the-less.

 

[AndyG]

For starters, I don't want a dealer touching anything of mine anyway.

@Wranglerfix is the answer.

Yes, these get fixed all the time. It's not as serious as people let on.

Tires are 800-1200.00 dollars, and replaced every 35-45,000 miles, we shop, brag and take pics, then cringe about a 1 time fix to make it driveable.

965,945 were made, there are tons of parts, and nothing on these is of obscure design. They are tough machines. Every mechanical thing on earth tears up at some point.

 

[krumps]

For starters, I don't want a dealer touching anything of mine anyway.

@Wranglerfix is the answer.

Yes, these get fixed all the time. It's not as serious as people let on.

Tires are 800-1200.00 dollars, and replaced every 35-45,000 miles, we shop, brag and take pics, then cringe about a 1 time fix to make it driveable.

965,945 were made, there are tons of parts, and nothing on these is of obscure design. They are tough machines. Every mechanical thing on earth tears up at some point.

+1 for @Wranglerfix

Currently have approx. 1k miles w/ my replacement PCM from them. Still shifting buttery smooth!
Mark was great to work with, especially when the first PCM I received was not working properly (engine would crank, then immediately die). After some troubleshooting over the phone, he shipped a 2nd PCM that has been flawless since installation. Looking forward to many more miles on my TJ!

 

[1515art]

I put in a wrangler fix PCM in just about a year ago today, been working perfect so far. Before that I shelled out $1000 for a “remanufactured” one from FS1 total waste of money, the wrangler fix was not yet available at the time.

 

[orrindunsworth]

Question: is the wrangler fix ecu just for auto transmission or do they have a manual transmission ecu?

 

[orrindunsworth]

Question: is the wrangler fix ecu just for auto transmission or do they have a manual transmission ecu?

I mean ecm sorry.

 

[dbbd1]

Question: is the wrangler fix ecu just for auto transmission or do they have a manual transmission ecu?

Yes, both.