We recently purchased a 2002 F350 7.3 PSD.

Yesterday, the OD light began blinking. No real big deal. Here's the problem. We just found out the PCM was programmed. OK, great... but by what! The tuner did not come with the truck. And before you ask, no we can't contact the previous owner (2nd owner and a repo after 6K miles). Heck they stole most of the mods including the air box, grill gaurd, satellite radio. Typical.

The question I have is this. Since we do not have the tuner, is there any way to reset the PCM to stock without the original tuner. Or is it possible to use something like a Diablo product (which we plan to buy anyway) to reset the PCM to stock.

I've already ordered a new PCM. But maybe we won't have to use it. Any help would be great.

Rod

 

You should be able to have it flashed at the dealer. No new pcm needed. Then do any mod you want. Does it have any factory warranty left?

 

Thanks, Fis Teck.

No warranty. As you can imagine, we can't really solve any REAL errors until the PCM is back to factory.

Dealers around here (Tulsa, OK) are none responsive or take forever. This is my daily driver and ranch truck. It seams to be a balance... pay for a new PCM at around $400, or pay the dealer $??? plus the down time. Heck even I can swap the PCM (I think).

Who ever tuned it before, set the waste gate open as well. Man this beast can make some power. Not sure I could live with stock now.

I'll check with the dealers here to see if they can flash the PCM, and how long it will be in the shop before I continue. May not be as bad as I think.

Thanks for your advise.

BTW: I've had both the Edge w/Attitude or Diablo Predator. I'll research in the forum.

Rod

 

I would call the dealer also for a reflash. Set an appointment for it and it should not take any longer than 15 to 20 minutes. The PCM is super easy to take out. I did a flip chip change out in 15 minutes yesterday on my truck. You should not have to change it out.

 

If your planning on adding a chip, it will overide the pcm.

 

Rod, Welcome to FTE.

A dealer reflash will return your stock programming. I don't see why the dealer would give you the run around for something so simple. There is no other way to reset it without the original programmer, nor will any other programmer load until it's reset.

Like twildman said, if you opt for a chip instead of a programmer it will overwrite the stock or aftermarket programming.

 

I also noticed you said you plan on purchasing a Diablo Predator, I certainly hope you install some guages or already have them if your planning on running that.

 

Ah yes gages. I am looking into that at this very moment. Any recommendations?

The truck once had gages, but they snatched those too. $#%&!

This is a real learning experience. Never thought that someone would have tuned the truck, and then kept the tuner. But, hey the truck was a great deal so I can't complain. At least the wife agrees and already knows, once we install the stock PCM she'll miss the power.

BTW: I am hooked! This site is great.

 

Well I have the Isspro EV marine guages. Love them.

They are whitefaced/blue numbers and pointer and light up blue at night.

The regular Isspro EV's with the green light, black faced white numbers and red pointers are almost a perfect match with the instrument panel.

There is a guy in Cowetta named Justin, that can prolly hook ya up with some guages. Let me know and I can get his number for ya.

 

Thanks guys.

I really don't like the idea of changing out the PCM, when it could be flashed. Odd thing is I understand the EEPROM and PCM issue more than I do the truck itself. I'm an old gearhead with computer knowledge (danger! danger!). So tunning the PCM makes complete since to me. We're swapping the PCM this morning and starting from scratch. I've opted to keep the old PCM and send it off to DP Tuner, once I've added a few more engine and tranny mods. This I've learned here in this forum.

My personally feeling is that since the truck was scavenged of many of its mods by its last owner (who never paid a payment), there's no telling how it was driven or what tune was uploaded to the PCM. My gut tells me to head back to stock first, resolve any mechanical issues (if any) then continue with the mods.

We own a gas F250 and just finding a dealer that (get this) understands the GEM is like extracting molars with a pair of pilers. I have quickly come to the conclusion that simply reading codes is only part of the answer. Mechanics needs to understand the source of that code and what it really means. The shop that checked out this F350 PSD before we bought it, read the code and told us the waste gate was stuck open and that a turbo was in order since. Big deal! New modified Turbo at the very least I thought. It was the tune, not the waste gate.

Lesson learned... check all used vehicles even with moderate mods and identify if the PCM has been tuned!

I'll post back once we're back to a stock PCM and let you know how much we hate its lack of power. Hopefully, you'll see my sig with added gages and a programmer (for now).

 

The new PCM is in. Only one error code. And for the life of me I can't remember the code right this moment (darned memory!). Any way it looks like we'll be replacing the solenoid pack. Could have been worse I guess.

To the best we can figure it, the previous tune was in the 100+ HP range, with waste gate set wide open. Couldn't tell you if it smoked the tires, I was too busy pealing my lips off the side of my face to notice.

Smokin' the stock tranny with "race" tunes is real fear. I just realized this fear. Looks like we'll be adding some fundamental goodies to the tranny soon too. Any suggestions? My goal is some power, but I need a work horse not a street racer. OK part time work horse ;-)

 

Look at factory tech on the web. They have some good mods. Have fun moding your truck. I installed BD prformance programer. It uses the Edge Evolution programer box to install BD's program. This has worked out for me, plus the AIS upgrade air filter by Donaldson, trans & exhaust temp gauges, 4inch turbo back exhaust. I run the programer on tow witch is 80 hp. I think Factory Tech valve body is my next mod. P.S. I have also installed a deep trans pan{2 extra quarts} and a extra trans cooler.

 

How many miles is on your truck?

 

Fis,

Thanks for the info. The solenoid pack was toast. We've now replaced it and we'll see how she runs.

The tranny is a stock towing package with cooler, so upgrades are in order. I bought the truck with a Banks monster exhaust already installed. As I said they snatched the air intake. I replaced the missing intake with a Volant, and stock sensors.

I think my next steps are as follows, in this order: Full set of gauges, torque converter and tranny upgrades, performance programmer, turbo upgrades, then maybe the engine itself but I really don't see the need. I have not settled on specific brands, or the configuration yet. More research is needed. My goal is to mod the truck for function... function as a truck. To me this means putting the power produced on the ground in a reliable consistent manner. In this forum I see there are basically two type of PSD tuners: those who want pure power just for the show, and those who need power for a reason. I think I fall into this last group.

I will look up your recommendations. Thanks.

 

Claydr54,

135K on truck.