I have finally come to the conclusion that my PCM is going bad. I can get it for 150 at carquest, but doesn't it have to be programmed by Ford?

 

For what?

 

Anyway. 97/98, the PCM is plug and play. 99+ you'll have to get your key matched to the PCM (PATS). They shouldn't charge more than a 1/2 hour labor.

 

So a 97 dosent have to be programmed? Mine is a 97 with 4.6

 

Nope, - plug and play.

Since your getting it from Carquest, it should have the updates. There's updates to air fuel ratios. Overall, you should see better economy with your 97...so they say.

What kind of troubles were you having?

 

As of 2 years ago any PCM from aftermarket vendors has to be programmed by ford. Fed emission mandates a Calibration label be applied to the vehicle for replacement. I had to have my PCM replaced because of a bad injector driver. I bought the PCM from Carquest and it had to be programmed.

 

Huh, I wonder what's up with that then. Purchased one from here, -

http://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-ENGINE-COMPUTER-1998-FORD-TRUCK-PROGRAMMED-FLASHED-F85F-12A650-AAB-5-4L-JLD1-/360651410796?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item53f87fcd6c&vxp=mtr
For my 98 last week and it fired right up. No problems so far, haven't drove it yet tho. However, it took forever to get here...a couple weeks. I called them to see what the deal was and they said the first one they attempted the update on didn't work therefore THAT PCM was bad. They sent another to the programmer (I'm guessing that would be Ford) and there was no problem that time, - said my PCM was now on the way to me.

That's just what they told me.

When it arrived, there were numbers/letters written with a paint marker and another set of numbers tapped to it with packing tape lol.

Anyway yea, everything is good so far. Apparently they can do everything through the mail... for the 97/98 anyway.

EDIT: That wasn't the exact one I needed. I needed the aac JLD2, that's a aab JLD1. But that the place.

 

Yeah they are sending out programmed units. If the OP just went to a parts store like Carquest/Napa for a quality replacement they will not come programmed.

 

Ahh, - good to know. But, if that's the case, he's going to pay more to have it programmed. I paid 150 for everything. He's paying 150 for a blank PCM.

From Ford Tech, - it shouldn't cost more that .05 hrs to update a PCM. Those updates come from Ford Motor (up loads). For newer vehicle lines anyway. I'm thinking it may be the same for his PCM. What's a 1/2 hour of labor nowadays ? 50 ?

 

Thanks for all the info guys im sorry i havent really had time to get on here lately. Im not 100 % sure if the pcm is my trouble im just guessing at this point. Ive got a bad miss at around 2500 rpm and up. Its very weak, ive replaced pretty much everything else that i can think of so this is my next guess. Oh and its showing 62 error codes when i hook it to a reader