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View Full Version : Transmission/PCM woes



8Pistons
01-29-2004, 12:32 PM
This is my sad story:

I was experiencing IAC problems (car wouldn't start when cold), so I took car to dealership. The saw a checksum error on PCM due to dyno tune, so replaced the PCM. Now the sad news...there equipment for reflash was down so they reprogrammed by hand. At this point, I was experiencing problems in overdrive, torque converter wouldn't lock up - rpm's would climb and I would have to let foot off accelerator to correct problem. The car worked fine w/ overdrive off.

I took car to Jerry for performance reflash, and he suspected problem was mechanical. I had the transmission looked at, and there were several problems. 1st, the band was worn for 4th gear, many of the gears were burned/blackened, and a part (don't remember what it is called) that is pressed in place and made of brass, had unseated, throwing brass shavings all over the place.

So, I had everything replaced and put in upgraded parts. When reinstalled, it was still not locking up the torque converter. Jerry totally cleared the chip and reflashed from scratch, which finally fixed the problem.

Moral of the story - sometimes free warrantee work isn't free. I took it in for IAC which they didn't even catch, they replaced a working part with another part that they programmed wrong, which in turn cause transmission damage.

I will never take my car to the dealer again if any type of diagnostics have to be performed.

Ross
01-30-2004, 08:06 AM
I wish I had Jerry/Lidio/Dennis in my part of the world... :(

Dr Caleb
01-30-2004, 09:37 AM
I wish I had Jerry/Lidio/Dennis in my part of the world... :(

Ditto. My confidence in my dealer is zero.

But they sure wanted me to fill out the Ford questionairre fast and in their favour as soon as I got it! :fire:

Marauderman
01-30-2004, 09:43 AM
Seems like this is a case for martyo and his friends to handle!!!!!! I sure would talk with a lawer about it cause you know the dealer is not going to say they did anything wrong...............Tom

8Pistons
02-06-2004, 01:28 PM
I forgot to mention re: transmission that the pressed brass piece that came unseated is unusual. Jerry mentioned he had never seen this happen before, hopefully it is not common to '03's (and if it is, it is fixed with the '04). Also, the stub shaft was slightly twisted and had to be replaced.

I want to also thank bbockstanz (I think this is correct) for the great work he did on the xmission as well. All the guys at Dyno Dave's (in Michigan) are straight shooters that deal very fairly with their customers. Dave knocked off some $$ for pain and suffering, since I had a rental car for two weeks while the work was being done. They will also talk to you at length about any mods you might be interested in and know the car inside and out. They have my confidence and will get any future work.