diablo chip and PCM
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From: Texas
diablo chip and PCM
Recently I was towing through New Mexico and had some problems. When the Ford House there got through with my F-350 V-10 it had a new PCM. The service manager felt the Diablo Chip had fried the computer.
Has anyone here had problems with the chips ruining the PCM?
Has anyone here had problems with the chips ruining the PCM?
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From: Phoenix
What kind of problems were you having and did the dealer do anything else? Did you get PCM DTC codes? I don't think Ken Payne would agree that a chip would fry a computer. From an early failure standpoint, if by some fluke that a chip was assembled incorrectly and somehow made it through QC, it would probably fail immediately upon instal. How long was it running in your truck before the New Mexico trip?
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From: Texas
I had the chip for close to four years. It was defaulting the transmission to second gear even after they replaced the TR sensor. They pulled the chip to test out the PCM and then it went dead and wouldn't communicate anything.
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From: Phoenix
Sorry - going to need Ken or someone with more experience on this one. It makes no sense to me. Maybe if the battery was still connected they could have shorted something out when pulling the chip. Maybe when they pulled the chip they did not disconnect the battery and KAM, learned corrections, caused some errors. I'm really only speculating here.
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From: Texas
That's what I'm trying to figure out. I don't see why it would fail after that many years, however, I still don't know why something was sending false signals to the tranny all of a sudden.
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From: Enjoying the real world.
This one is easy:
You left the chip in the truck when it went to the dealership, against the advice of the documentation that came with the chip. The dealer tech reads the computer codes and gets a P0603 code, which indicates a faulty computer under normal circumstances but is supposed to be there with a chip installed. So, because he's clueless about chips and P0603 codes so he pulls the chip while the key is still in the ignition (afterall, he had the keys in so he could read the codes). The computer fries and likely the chip as well.
Yeah, a chip can fry a computer and visa versa. Pull the chip out with power in the computer (keys in the ignition) and BLAM...... you fry something. This is not the fault of the chip, its the ignorance of the person pulling the chip. Try yanking the video card out of your computer with the power on and see what happens. Do you blame the video card or the person who pulled it?
Out of several thousand chips sold I've only had 1 verifiable case of a chip frying a computer without an external cause, and it did it shortly after installation. With computer parts, faults usually show up very quickly.
You left the chip in the truck when it went to the dealership, against the advice of the documentation that came with the chip. The dealer tech reads the computer codes and gets a P0603 code, which indicates a faulty computer under normal circumstances but is supposed to be there with a chip installed. So, because he's clueless about chips and P0603 codes so he pulls the chip while the key is still in the ignition (afterall, he had the keys in so he could read the codes). The computer fries and likely the chip as well.
Yeah, a chip can fry a computer and visa versa. Pull the chip out with power in the computer (keys in the ignition) and BLAM...... you fry something. This is not the fault of the chip, its the ignorance of the person pulling the chip. Try yanking the video card out of your computer with the power on and see what happens. Do you blame the video card or the person who pulled it?
Out of several thousand chips sold I've only had 1 verifiable case of a chip frying a computer without an external cause, and it did it shortly after installation. With computer parts, faults usually show up very quickly.
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From: Phoenix
Thanks Ken. What you say about the codes and resultant diagnosis makes sense.
TBAX46. Was the truck still under warranty? What did the dealer say when they saw it, besides it fried the computer ?
TBAX46. Was the truck still under warranty? What did the dealer say when they saw it, besides it fried the computer ?
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From: Texas
Ken,
Thanks for the information. I didn't have any documentation with the chip so I didn't know what to do. Everything you said makes sense. In short, the computer and the chip were both fried when the mechanic pulled it.
The only question I still have is what caused the messages to the transmission to go to second gear. Even after they replaced the TR sensor, it still downshifted to second.
Any ideas of what caused this in the first place? Was it a case of the computer going bad anyway?
I hope someone has an idea on this. I want to make sure I'm not doing something wrong.
The truck is a 2000 V-10, so it isn't under any warranty. I just had to swallow the repair. I just don't want to get caught out in the boonies again with something like this.
Thanks for the information. I didn't have any documentation with the chip so I didn't know what to do. Everything you said makes sense. In short, the computer and the chip were both fried when the mechanic pulled it.
The only question I still have is what caused the messages to the transmission to go to second gear. Even after they replaced the TR sensor, it still downshifted to second.
Any ideas of what caused this in the first place? Was it a case of the computer going bad anyway?
I hope someone has an idea on this. I want to make sure I'm not doing something wrong.
The truck is a 2000 V-10, so it isn't under any warranty. I just had to swallow the repair. I just don't want to get caught out in the boonies again with something like this.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Jan 1997
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From: Enjoying the real world.
Generally when computers go bad they either work or they don't. Failures such as you described can happen from faulty sensors and/or wiring to the computer, but generally not in the computer itself.
Think of it like your PC. If the printer stops working, and the software in the computer hasn't changed that either the printer, the printer cable, or the cable port on the computer is bad, but not the computer itself.
Think of it like your PC. If the printer stops working, and the software in the computer hasn't changed that either the printer, the printer cable, or the cable port on the computer is bad, but not the computer itself.
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