sidebar: you know the referee has been chomping at the bit to respond since 9/22.....just needed enough time to pass before springing in.

 

The final chapter is in. $75 and four days later I had the computer back in my hands. I went out to the truck, plugged it in, connected the battery and she fired right up.

Don't need to have the truck towed to a dealership for a PCM flash. I knew inherently the thought of having to get the dealership flash a pcm with the truck present was not logical. My thought was, so Ford has to wait till the truck is fully built on the assembly line to program the PCM? I don't think so.

There is a 'but' to this story. The equipment to do stand-alone PCM flashes is expensive. Not every dealership invests in the hardware in order to do stand-alone flashes. Also, the unit which can do stand-alone flashes is portable, so if a valued Ford customer is stranded 673 miles from the nearest dealerships It is not necessary to pay a tow truck and driver for 673 miles. Could you image how expensive?