Check engine light came on about two months ago. p0112. long story short. replaced the iat sensor, did nothing, so I brought it in for a check up, and lo and behold "you need a whole new processor" for 385.00, and oh ya, it will be 300 to put in. so much for modern tech. as I sit here typing on a 800 dollar computer that only operates at a "26%" efficiency. so, now that I have vented, I am going to pay the money, trash the computer and get back my 72 pinto, "with the wood panel sides". and rebel against all these damn computers.

 

HI!... If they have to replace your PCM, why are they charging you $300(U.S) to install it? Do it yourself man!!!!!!!! Geez to take your old PCM out and install the new one takes like 15 minutes TOPS!!!!!!!! Shoot I can get my PCM out in less then 5 minutes. Sounds like their ripping you off to me.

 

that has to be the first trashed PCM I have read about, although I have not read every post on the side personally.

The code for the P0112 is :
( EDIT to correct DTC number, as P0112 not P0102 )

DTC
P0112 - Intake Air Temperature (IAT) Circuit Low Input

Description
Indicates the sensor signal is less than Self-Test minimum. The IAT sensor minimum is 0.2 volts or 121øC (250øF).

Possible Causes
Grounded circuit in harness
Damaged sensor
Improper harness connection
Damaged PCM

Diagnostic Aides
IAT V PID reading less than 0.2 volts with key ON and engine OFF or during any engine operating mode indicates a hard fault.


So with the section from the manual done, It is on the list of poss problems. I do recall of one case where Ford claimed that the chip trashed the PCM, but I do not recall the outcome, and the PCM he got to have tested, he was unsure if it really was the one from his truck.

The reason I bring this up, it the labor on it seems slightly on the high side, and I am always suspect of someone that wants to charge 300.00 to replace something that should take less then 30 min....

I don't want to inflame you further on this ( speaking of which, watch out for that gas tank ) but I would be a little suspect of a 300.00 labor charge to do this, and with the PCM beign last on the list, it seems as if you are getting hammered.

No flame intended, it just does not pass the sniff test.

 

Oh, I know! After changing the plugs in my truck, I have a check engine light...AND NOTHING IS WRONG....It COULD have been an accident my dad got into not too long ago...Maybe it like fried something? I don't know...

 

what year is you truck? judging from the code it must be at least 96 or newer. if it has PATS (found on 97 & up f150's) you cant simply change computers because it wont start without additional programming with wds or ngs (unless there is something new out there, if so please respond)

 

Another thing is that the PCM should have an 8yr/80,000 mile warranty.

"Under the Emissions Defect Warranty for passenger cars and light duty trucks (vehicles with a GVWR of 8,500 pounds or less), Ford Motor Company also provides coverage, including labor and diagnosis, for 8 years or 80,000 miles (whichever occurs first) for these emissions parts: catalytic converter; compuvalve; electronic emissions control unit (PCM); onboard emissions diagnostic device; and vehicle communication link (VCL) module."

You may want to look into that. I think that the dealer may have misbehaved here. Sounds to me like the MAF was dirty and just needed to be cleaned.

Sounds fishy.

 

Dewey, AjRagno has put you on the right trail. I found out some of this the hardway with a Volvo PCM. I would check with Ford about getting it replaced first. If you do end up replacing it on your dime, it is definately a ten minute DIY job. All the folks on this site that have installed chips have pulled their computers to install them.
Rick

 

jefflaws said that the PATS info is in the cluster.
To be specific in the module that the cluster ( gauges ) plugs into.
I thought the same thing myself last year, and this is what I took away from jeff's post on it.

AjRagno,

Good catch, I completly forgot about that, I read it some time ago, and it fell out of my head while I was sleeping.
Maybe dealers hope people do what I did, and get away with it.
Letter time !

 

It would be wise to read the lattest version of tsb 98-1-10(updated several times) 97 and 98 f150 you can do it yourself pats location (in pats module) 99 and up in (hec module) REQUIRES ngs and green service card from dealer. This might save someone a wrecker bill

 

The F-150 wasn't equipped with PATS until 1999. His profile says he has 1997 so, this isn't going to be an issue here.

 

I had to have my PCM replaced under warranty and it took them over 3 hours! It is not as simple as just removing the thing and putting a new one in.

According to my dealer, on 99 and up models the PATS code is always in a different place (for security reasons) and you need the old PCM and Keys to get the code to load into the new PCM

So yes it should only take a 1/2 hour to remove and re-instal the PCM hardware, BUT getting the code in and getting the truck to start are a totally different story!

Before I would let them do the work I would ask them for thier diagnostic proccess in writting as how they came to determine it was the PCM that was bad.

Even good dealerships have a hard time doing a proper diagnosis before doing the work. And bad dealers don't even do it.

I once took and old Subaru to a dealer for a no start condition and they told me they wanted to tear the engine down to determine what was wrong. I asked them what they checked and one of the things they siad was they checked to make sure the engine was getting fuel. And I asked them how they did that and they said they looked in to the throttle body and saw that it was wet! (it was throttle body injected) I asked if they checked the PSI of the fuel to the injector. He looked at me like I was nuts.
To make a really long story short all it was was a loose rotor under the distributor cap!!

The moral of the story is ALWAYS get a diagnosis in writing before alowing any work that you have to pay for be done!

Sorry the the long post/rant.

 

Ok, can someone clarify this for me, now I seem to have something screwed...yet again.

I initally thought that the PATS info was in the PCM ( last year when I knew no better ).
I took away from one of jefflaws posts that the PATS info is in the module on the cluster, now it seems by this statement by a dealer that the PATS info can be floating around somewhere else besides the module on the cluster ( grain of salt on this..)

I just want to try to get it correct, as I have quoted what I thought jefflaws said, but now it seems as if I got it wrong.

I hate it when I think I know something, and I have it wrong, and then spread it around, kind of the grape vine thing, cut your finger, and by time the next day rolls around you lost your hand in a fight to the death with a tiger on a city street

I do know that reprogramming the PATS info is not a do it yourself thing ( starting from scratch, not just adding keys to the system ).

Any help on correcting my stupidity here ? My feeble old mind is confused now for sure ( my sister...my daughter...my sister... )

 

ok, here goes, this is going to be a long one...
code p0112 in my chilton manual is not maf, it is "Intake Air Temperature Circuit Low Input", that is why I started and replaced the "iat" sensor.
Ford dealership cannot pin down why they want to replace the pcm.
"we just go down the list, that the ford diagnostic book tells us"
"We went down the list, and checked everything, and at the end of the list reads "replace pcm"----so that's why they want to replace my computer, because they can't find anything else wrong.
They don't want me to drive it until the new computer goes in, I told them I have been fighting this check engine light for two months, give me my truck.
They can't give me a reason why the truck would put out code p0112, if the computer was bad. I asked "why wouldn't it put out a computer code?" and I had a tech, and the manager just standing there looking at their shoes......
After I picked the truck up Saturday afternoon, I have put on 100 miles, mostly highway, and some four wheeling, three trips to home depot.....no check engine light.....
There is no way I am going to let them put in a new computer without a written statement as to their reasoning. good call guys.


By the way, 97 f-150, approaching 200,000 miles, no piston slap, some wind noise around the doors, plain jane xl trim, 5 speed, fog/driving lights, and my most proud accomplishment---using the stock fog light switch for my new back-up lights....
As always, thanks for the advice. I'll keep you posted.

 

correction on my part, 97-98 expedition have pats not f150. I had to reread my tsb after the post by AjRagno. He was correct. Now that we know it is 97 it states (tsb 98-1-10) no special action required for pcm replacement

 

CRAP !!

In my infinite wisdom, I put in the wrong DTC number when searching the manual ( DOH ! ) .
Thank you for correcting me on that, and I am going to edit my previous post for the next guy who gets this code.
As for what I suggested...toss it the trash can like you did.

Maybe the harness was loose, I don't know. Seems strange that what they called a failed PCM, has misteriously dissapeared.

Thanks again for catching that one for me, and good luck with the CEL. So far so good.