LCM's remanufactured by cardone

[2vmodular]

I've located a press release from cardone that they are now remanufacturing Lighting Control Modules (LCMs) for the ford crown victoria and mercury grand marquis:

http://www.p71interceptor.com/misc/cardoneremanlcm1.pdf
http://www.p71interceptor.com/misc/cardoneremanlcm2.pdf[/URL]

I have not personally tested any of these units. But cardone is very well respected name in the aftermarket automotive parts industry, so quality control should be good.

Those of you living near philadelphia might know people that personally work for cardone too. This company is a very big employer in the area.

Do note that on cardone's webcat, you want to tell the system that you have a 2003-2004 ford crown victoria or 2003-2004 mercury grand marquis. If you tell it that you have a 2003-2004 mercury marauder, you'll get told that lcm's for your car are not avaliable yet. But the crownvic, grandmarq, and marauder all use the same lcm's.

Here's a ford document listing the different engineering changes that went on with these lcm's.

[URL]http://www.p71interceptor.com/nhtsa/0305lcm/INRD-PE08066-37048.xls (http://www.p71interceptor.com/misc/cardoneremanlcm.pdf)

[SC Cheesehead]

I've located a press release from cardone that they are now remanufacturing Lighting Control Modules (LCMs) for the ford crown victoria and mercury grand marquis:

http://www.p71interceptor.com/misc/cardoneremanlcm.pdf

I have not personally tested any of these units. But cardone is very well respected name in the aftermarket automotive parts industry, so quality control should be good.

Those of you living near philadelphia might know people that personally work for cardone too. This company is a very big employer in the area.

Do note that on cardone's webcat, you want to tell the system that you have a 2003-2004 ford crown victoria or 2003-2004 mercury grand marquis. If you tell it that you have a 2003-2004 mercury marauder, you'll get told that lcm's for your car are not avaliable yet. But the crownvic, grandmarq, and marauder all use the same lcm's.

Here's a ford document listing the different engineering changes that went on with these lcm's.

http://www.p71interceptor.com/nhtsa/0305lcm/INRD-PE08066-37048.xls

I wonder what they get for a remanufactured LCM? The major issue everyone has with them is failure of the crappy OEM relay. If the remanufactured LCM uses the same relay, same issue will develop on the remanufactured unit.

IMO, better off going with fastblackmerc's HD relay retrofit, prolly cheaper, too.

[2vmodular]

www.rockauto.com (http://www.rockauto.com) sells lcm's for the 03'-04' crownvic/grandmarq for $184.79 with a $54.00 core fee.

the part # you want for the 03'-04' marauder is: A-1 CARDONE Part # 7371002

the cardone stuff that i've ordered from rockauto has been dropped shipped to me directly from the cardone warehouse in philadelphia.

most of your local independent automotive parts stores should be able to order you cardone components too. the price will be a little higher, but you'll be able to pay with cash and pick the item up in person which is important to some people.

[fastblackmerc]

I just read their info on the LCMs. They say they are tested and are 100% guarantied, but isn't that what the OEM manufacturer did?

It looks like they just replace the failed relay with the same style relay which will eventually fail just the original ones did.

So again... replacing crap with crap, you still have crap.

I couldn't find a price, but I'd venture a guess that it's at least 100 clams.

Good find tho.... instead of getting one out of a junker.

[SC Cheesehead]

I just read their info on the LCMs. They say they are tested and are 100% guarantied, but isn't that what the OEM manufacturer did?

It looks like they just replace the failed relay with the same style relay which will eventually fail just the original ones did.

So again... replacing crap with crap, you still have crap.

I couldn't find a price, but I'd venture a guess that it's at least 100 clams.

Good find tho.... instead of getting one out of a junker.

^^^^^ +1 ^^^^^ and prolly easier than finding one from a junker, ask me how I know.... :rolleyes:

[fastblackmerc]

www.rockauto.com (http://www.rockauto.com) sells lcm's for the 03'-04' crownvic/grandmarq for $184.79 with a $54.00 core fee.

the part # you want for the 03'-04' marauder is: A-1 CARDONE Part # 7371002

the cardone stuff that i've ordered from rockauto has been dropped shipped to me directly from the cardone warehouse in philadelphia.

most of your local independent automotive parts stores should be able to order you cardone components too. the price will be a little higher, but you'll be able to pay with cash and pick the item up in person which is important to some people.
Or I'll replace the OEM style relay with a heavy-duty external relay for less than their core charge.

[2vmodular]

the junkyard stock of lcm's is going to be really low now. cardone presumably purchased a huge number of lcm's from the junkyards to ramp up for the new product launch.

[2vmodular]

you won't be able to do the external relay fix on the scale that cardone can remanufacture lcm's. this company employs thousands of people. and has a huge distribution network to distribute the lcm's and collect rebuildable cores.


Or I'll replace the OEM style relay with a heavy-duty external relay for less than their core charge.

[fastblackmerc]

you won't be able to do the external relay fix on the scale that cardone can remanufacture lcm's. this company employs thousands of people. and has a huge distribution network to distribute the lcm's and collect rebuildable cores.

True, but I bet the relay they are using, if they replace it, is the same as stock. Again, crap out, crap in still equals crap. Those LCMs will fail again and it will be out of the warranty when it fails, just like most of ours were.

I'm not saying I can do the LCMs on the same scale as Cardone can. I'm just trying to help the members and friends here save money and get a reliable repair.

[2vmodular]

with the external relay fix, what are you doing to prevent insulation chaffing with the wires that connect the internal circuit board to the external relay socket?

when you use an internal relay, this is a non-issue. however, the minature internal relays that ford used for the headlights on the 2003+ cars don't seem to handle the high electrical load of the headlights very well.

[Blk Mamba]

fbm's repair is excellent, including the wires wrapped in a protector to prevent chaffing, I couldn't be happier.

[MrBluGruv]

It's not like it moves around much anyways...

Seriously, if you know ANYTHING about soldering, the hardest part of the repair job is getting the damned LCM box out of its holder under the dash. I hadn't touched serious soldering work in almost 2 years and I did it with little trouble. All the pics and testimonies I've seen of FBM's workmanship/mod in general show quite impressive results.

[fastblackmerc]

with the external relay fix, what are you doing to prevent insulation chaffing with the wires that connect the internal circuit board to the external relay socket?

when you use an internal relay, this is a non-issue. however, the minature internal relays that ford used for the headlights on the 2003+ cars don't seem to handle the high electrical load of the headlights very well.

I run the wires out the existing hole in the LCM cover, put a strain relief on the inside so you can't pull the wires out any further and cover the exposed wires outside with black flexible nylon convolute wire loom. With the external relay attached to one of the mounting screws nothing moves.

[fastblackmerc]

fbm's repair is excellent, including the wires wrapped in a protector to prevent chaffing, I couldn't be happier.

Thanks! Glad I could help you out.

[RF Overlord]

For the general population, the fact that Cardone now offers the LCM for a much more reasonable price than the dealer is a good thing. For those of us who hang out here, however, we have FBM and his magic soldering iron, which is a far better deal. :D

[EMAS]

But cardone is very well respected name in the aftermarket automotive parts industry, so quality control should be good.


I have to disagree with you on this, I, many other professional mechanics and serious DIY-ers refer to them as A-1 Crapdone due to the poor reliability of most of their reman products. In fact on another forum I'm active on we were just having a discussion if there was any other source for reman brake boosters because the OP didn't want a Crapdone one and he was the one who used that term first in the thread. Their Master Cyls are the worst, I've know people on that other forum who insist on saving a few $ over a new unit and went through 2, 3, or 4 before the got one that functioned. For the most part I'd take a JY unit over a reamn unit from Cardone. Now if Dorman would just start making new ones. Yes most of their stuff is made in China now but they often re-engineer the problematic portion of the piece they choose to make, to eliminate the common failure point(s).

[MM2004]

Interesting thread.

For a fact, if my LCM craps out, it will be heading Southeast from here to be repaired by FBM.

He's done many of these repairs and not a complaint that I am aware of.

Big savings as well!

;)

Mike.

[SC Cheesehead]

with the external relay fix, what are you doing to prevent insulation chaffing with the wires that connect the internal circuit board to the external relay socket?

when you use an internal relay, this is a non-issue. however, the minature internal relays that ford used for the headlights on the 2003+ cars don't seem to handle the high electrical load of the headlights very well.

Trust me, FBMs fix is the way to go.

He's not in business to compete, he's basically providing a bulletproof fix for a common problem on Marauders as a service to fellow MM owners, and he can do it for less than an aftermarket repair/replacement.

[Zack]

Anyone can solder in a relay with ZERO mechanical knowledge.

[EMAS]

Anyone can solder in a relay with ZERO mechanical knowledge.

I wouldn't say that and at the price he's offering it at which isn't much more than the retail cost you would pay for the parts to do it yourself it's a heck of a deal IMO.

[fastblackmerc]

Anyone can solder in a relay with ZERO mechanical knowledge.

And the right tools.

[Zack]

What is the cost anyways?

I repaired one (the only one ive ever done) for 20 bucks..took me 10 minutes.

[SC Cheesehead]

What is the cost anyways?

I repaired one (the only one ive ever done) for 20 bucks..took me 10 minutes.

He basically just covers the cost of the parts. He sets up the external relay with some HD wiring, and positions it so that if for some reason it ever does fail you can easily access it without having to pull the LCM.

He really is doing this as a service to MM owners and certainly isn't going to get rich off it.

Kinda reminds me of another guy I know that really knows his stuff and is great about helping out MM owners... ;)

[MrBluGruv]

Anyone can solder in a relay with ZERO mechanical knowledge.

I'd have to disagree with you there also.

It may be very simple, but it's far from fool-proof. The solder on that board is more resilient than I used to usually see when I did audio equipment (I hate cheap **** solder that won't flow), and if you don't have the right tools to extract the existing solder once you get it to flow it is an EXTREME pain.

Soldering really is an art. A simple one, maybe yes, but still it take a bit of practice to do well.

[fastblackmerc]

What is the cost anyways?

I repaired one (the only one ive ever done) for 20 bucks..took me 10 minutes.

Soldering iron
Desoldering iron or copper braid
Solder
PCB board reamer
Relay
Socket & wires
Convoluted tube
Zip tie
Wire stripper
Conformal coating spray (to protect the board after you solder in the wires)
Electrical contact spray

Previous experience in desoldering & soldering

Assuming you don't have any of the above, your looking at about $75 - $100 to buy all these things to do one repair??

The reason I'm doing it is that I have the equipment, knowledge & experience. + I can help out my friends here.

BTW... my profit on these is minimal once you factor in trips to the post office. I charge the same amount if shipping to the east coast, west coast or Canada.

[CBT]

The reason I'm doing it is that I have the equipment, knowledge & experience. + I can help out my friends here.

Speaking of that....

[Zack]

Soldering iron
Desoldering iron or copper braid
Solder
PCB board reamer
Relay
Socket & wires
Convoluted tube
Zip tie
Wire stripper
Conformal coating spray (to protect the board after you solder in the wires)
Electrical contact spray

Previous experience in desoldering & soldering

Assuming you don't have any of the above, your looking at about $75 - $100 to buy all these things to do one repair??

The reason I'm doing it is that I have the equipment, knowledge & experience. + I can help out my friends here.



I bought a bag of relays from partsexpress a long time ago so those were next to nothing...came with wiring and pigtails too.

I used a Torx driver and a soldering iron. 10 minutes.

[fastblackmerc]

I bought a bag of relays from partsexpress a long time ago so those were next to nothing...came with wiring and pigtails too.

I used a Torx driver and a soldering iron. 10 minutes.

Like I said if you don't have the tools and parts are you going to go out & buy them?

You may not ever use them again.

[Zack]

Like I said if you don't have the tools and parts are you going to go out & buy them?

You may not ever use them again.

Ok I agree...that was hard for me to do by the way. :coolman:

[fastblackmerc]

Ok I agree...that was hard for me to do by the way. :coolman:

Agreeing with me???

[vkirkend]

I wouldn't say that and at the price he's offering it at which isn't much more than the retail cost you would pay for the parts to do it yourself it's a heck of a deal IMO.


+1 (and then the fight started) just making a joke........

[rocky]

I JUST did the HD relay fix on mine...cost me like 20 bucks and that includes buying a soldering gun lol. Headlights work again :D