sure is hard to know what ya need till ya know what ya already got�� lol.

[cvbox1990]

Ok so I've had this car for 3 years and have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to understand/research/CORRECT,repair all the bad repair jobs,silly fixes,pretty much all the duck tape,electric tape,bad wiring,bypassed NECESSARY things that the god knows how many owner have band aided for the past 26 years,and yet there are some things I have avoided digging into for fear of what I will find.Mainly in regards to what damn PCM is in this thing,what the hell the calibration #s represent,to help be better understand what it is,was,can be.
Well my batterie crapped out yesterday(when I say crapped out I mean jump start,fine,5hrs later,.06vdc on dvom,battery 2 garage 0.00vdc)so anyways I have decided to pull the ecm and get the facts.
My ?s for u all are:does any body know the correct procedure for pcm removal as to not damage any circuitry that is not already so?
Please tell me there is someone on here that knows what the calibration numbers mean/how to decipher?or is it just some ford mechanics way of telling another"hey jim bob we replaced x on xday while drinkin x beers equals xxxxxxdollars lol.any info,advice,knowledge shared would be greatly appreciated,an d hopefully one day I can repay the favor.THANKS

[87gtVIC]

Just disconnect the battery before removing the computer. Tell us what computer code you have.

What the previous owners have done to the car will determine what computer you need/ should use. Many computers can do the same job.

[DerekTheGreat]

Laughed when I read "Jim-bob," thought nobody used that any more. What David said, the ECM lives under the driver's side dash. You can see about where it is if you open the hood and look near the cruise control servo near the firewall. Follow the big wiring harness to the firewall and you'll see a plastic cover with an 8mm or so bolt in it, thats the ECM. May have to remove interior trim that is covering it which will have those stupid plastic retainers that have screw heads but are always stripped. Won't be much holding it in, I forget if other stuff has to be removed, maybe the parking brake stuff..

[87gtVIC]

10mm bolt holding the 60 pin Mass connector on. It's partially under/hidden by the brake booster but right next to the drivers side good hinge a couple inches down

For some reason I have to remove the bracket the puter sit in to actually get it out if the car. Don't think that is normal. Don't have to remove any parking brake stuff under the dash.

[His Royal Ghostliness]

10mm short 1/4"-drive socket, a U-joint, and a long extension are what works best for that connector bolt. Oh and the bolt isn't just a thru-bolt, it's captured on the other side of the connector - meaning it not only pulls the connector in towards the ECM when you tighten it, but upon removal it also pushes the connector out of the ECM socket. So if it turns somewhat hard, that's why, it's doing the connector disconnecting work for you.

Then inside the car, yeah ECM removal is a pain, lotsa junk around that area, but you certainly shouldn't need to mess with the parking brake pedal assembly and such, just sorta move whatever else may be hanging in the way.

[gadget73]

It also helps if you unbolt the cruise servo to move it out of the way. Makes for clearer access to the retaining bolt. There is a plastic clip on the bottom side of the bracket that needs to slide off before the ECM will move over and drop out of the bracket too.


It sounds more like a charging problem than anything else, and the ECM has nothing to do with that. These things are pretty stupid really. The only thing the ECM does is run the engine. The charging system, transmission, and everything else in the electrical system is completely independant. The stock alternator is pretty much a POS and prone to death and fire. The charge harness melts down from a mix of bad design and overloading. The output is on a quick disconnect plug, which develops poor contact and it gets real hot after a while. The fuse links in the area between the alternator and the fender melt and then you get bupkis.

[87gtVIC]

It also helps if you unbolt the cruise servo to move it out of the way. Makes for clearer access to the retaining bolt. There is a plastic clip on the bottom side of the bracket that needs to slide off before the ECM will move over and drop out of the bracket too.

This^ Cruise servos' retainers are 10mm too so might as well remove it.

Though on my car with the silly plastic clip removed from the ecm/bracket I cannot for the life of me remove the ecm. For some ungodly reason I have to remove the bracket the ecm sits in in order to remove it from the vehicle!

[cvbox1990]

hello again fello box lovers,it's nice to hear from real people,I was a member at CV.net but not a whole lot of knowledge shared over there. A guy from another forum refered me here.Asfor the ecm issue its more curiosity really,car runs like a champ check out my other posts that will give u all a better idea of why?as for my charging system it is excellent(for a 2 g) redid all my grounds/power mains when I was going to do my big3 upgrade for my 2 15" power acoustic mofo subs and 5500watt power acoustic bamf amp and 400 watt boss amp on 6x9s door speakers.thats when I discovered I couldn't do big3 on 2g alt wiring(as there is no output terminal)not telling u all nothing u didn't know I can see,lol.The voltage would drop from 12-14v to like 5-7 volts on a hard bass hit,had to port the rear deck as it was trying to lift the whole thing up from pressure off subs.But as far as what I plan when I get all the parts together,any one ever seen a 347tt 5speed box?that's what I'm hoping to have together in the next 2 years or so,will have lots more to come and glad to share it with those who truly appreciate the boxes/fords.thanks again.��

[cvbox1990]

Here's a few picks( if they load right