Hey guys, I need a little help here....

Several of you have posted that your PCM was reflashed. Some stated that it helped with throttle response. Other said it unlocked some power. My service department claims that there are no "updated" reflashes in existance. Have you guys been lying to me?............. I should add that my Lariat Scab w/ the 5.4L was built on Nov. 13th and has never been in for service.

Since day one, my truck has had poor throttle response and lately I've been getting some fluctuation/surging at part thottle. If there's a fix, or even the possibility of an improvement, I'm there.

I would like to take it in to have a few other issues addressed as well and am looking to arm myself with any info I can get on a reflash. What better place than here to get some?

Thanks........

 

I was about to start a new thread asking the same question about the reflash of the PCM.

How should we go about asking the service dept. to reflash. Are there any docs. on PCM flash revisions/dates, what's changed between revisions etc.....???

Thanks!

 

I had my truck in for this very problem and they said Ford knows about this problem and it is under invettigation. They also said that as soon as they have the software update they will give me a call.

 

There have been 2 calibration updates that I know of since I got m truck.
I picked my truck up the first week of October and knew up front that there was an issue with the in-dash out side temp display refresh rate. I informed he dealership that they needed to get the latest calibration from the internal Ford website to get the fix as at the time, it was not available on the latest WDS release. (B28 at the time) It was news to them as, at the time, mine was only the second or third truck delivered with a half dozen or so inventory trucks.

I had it back there for the trans issue and the rotten egg issue that I spoke about in another post and at that time they reflashed it again using a web release as I know that the new cal was not on the B29 CD (B29.010?) It helped with the smell and also helped with off the line feel/overall performance. I had remarked at the time that it actually felt more reponsive althoght I can't really say for sure that this was one of the fixes included or not. You may need to ask the dealership if they are working off of the latest web release or if they are just working off of the CD release for WDS. I know that there are instances where they just are not aware that there is a new calibration release as it is usually included in the WDS CD update. It has been my experience in the past that there are usually a few of these web release updates on the new model vehicles as issues become known.
The tech hotline should be telling them the same thing.....

Another thing to keep in mind is that there usually is not, if any, notes tagged to the new calibrations to specifically tell the techs what has been fixed or changed. The need to reflash is symtom driven or directed by the hotline althogh it is usually the first thing they will try. It's just a matter of making sure they are reflashing with the latest and greatest.

I hope this helps!!

 

Clem, I just read your response on the other thread, I was laghing pretty hard about it. I know what you mean about the dealership attitudes with customers that come in armed with a little info :-)
The EATC issue is on OASIS, there is a TSB out on that. As far as the reflashes go, there are SSM's (Special Service Messages) out for other driveability issues that tell them specifically to do a reflash. I wonder if they know what they are doing?? Maybe they think they are still the masters of all information LOL!
The internet can be a wonderful thing

 

Thanks LK, that info is tremendously helpful. You do have to be careful about what you say at the service department, but throwing out terms like TSB and SSM gets their attention.

What gets me is that the service advisor just blurted out that no PCM updates even existed. He skipped right over the traditional head scratching.

With the help and info I get here, I feel so much more prepared to do battle with Ford Service. You guys rock!

 

No problem Clem, keep us informed as to how things turn out!

 

You can spend $9.95 at motorcraft.com for a short term subscription to the TSB's or you can see a summary on NHTSA for free.

Here is the website: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/tsb/

Problem with the NHSTA site is it doesn't tell you specific resolutions like reflash the ECM, but at least you can see the various problems.