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I just got this 99 Dodge Cummins QCSB 4x4 Laramie SLT with an auto transmission on November 24th, and I drove 640 miles round trip that day to trade my 99 GMC Sierra SLT 3 door lifted short box 4x4 for it. The 320 mile drive home was harsh with shitty 305/70R16 tires, worn out steering stabilizer shock, and cruise control not working.

 

I did find out that the pickup has a Redhead steering box, BD Diesel Performance adjustable track bar setup, aftermarket boxed trailering arms, and a Skyjacker lift in it.

 

It had no CEL or any other lights warning lights light up on the test drive at the car dealer's or on the drive home. The only light that stays on, is the seat belt light blinks when starting the pickup, and then after a bit when the seat belt is buckled, the light stays lit up solid.

 

The next day it had the ABS and brake lights both come on at the same time, but the brakes were still functioning great without any issues. Shut the pickup down and the lights would be off until some random time later that they would come back on again. I replaced the rear ABS/VSS sensor as that is usually the cheap and easy part to replace, but that didn't fix it. The pickup had 3 worn out Falken Wild Peak A/T tires, and then 1 BFG M & S tire with more tread than the other Falken tires on the rear. I figured that since the BFG had more tread and was taller than the Falken tire on the other end of the rearend, that maybe that tire was essentially rotating a tad bit slower since it was taller than the worn out Falken tire, which would make that axle spin slower  compared to the opposite axle shaft. I replaced the tires with a brand new set of 285/75R16 Continental Terra Troopers, and now the ABS/brake lights only come on once in a while now.

 

I started getting the dead pedal on it and just replaced the APPS with a brand new Timbo APPS and it hasn't had a dead pedal since. Last week I put in two new matching batteries in the pickup and cleaned all the terminals very well.

 

The pickup has a delay boot up for the ECM with the WTS light and triggering the lift pump to start the engine. Sometimes the delay is 10-15 seconds and sometimes it's less than 10 seconds waiting for the WTS to come on.

 

I haven't had much time yet to check the clock spring to see if it's bad yet to fix the cruise control not working, but I plan on checking that here fairly soon.

 

The engine seems to have a very slight noticeable intermittent flutter at idle at times, but it is not synchronous as in it does not happen every 10 seconds. I don't notice it when driving at any speed down the road though.

 

The 47RE is completely painted gold with a blue pan, so I'm assuming that someone has been into the transmission at some point in time, but it doesn't have one issue when heavy acceleration or WOT use - the trans will shift from 1st to 2nd and then when it shifts from 2nd to 3rd, it immediately revs up 300 to 500 more rpm and then it shifts into 3rd, and then it will shift to OD. It does not slip at all when it does the weird shift from 2nd to 3rd and then like it shifts back to 2nd momentarily and then shifts to 3rd again. The trans fluid is up and looks fairly clean and does not look or smell burnt. The trans has a slight torque converter shudder in OD under slight acceleration, but doesn't do it under hard acceleration, so is this a mainline fluid pressure issue causing this, and which part in the trans needs to be replaced to fix this?

 

My good friend that is the IT guy and also works in the R & D Department at Diamond Eye Manufacturing hooked his Pegasys comprehensive scanner tool to it this evening, and this is what we got from the ECM/PCM;

 

1. Trans code # 1694

2. ABS codes # 37, 75, 78, 81 (pickup only has rear ABS) - does the tire size being taller than stock which makes the speedo off by 4 mph, cause these codes?

3. PCM module hardware malfunction or "Communication Failure or no Controller Available error.

 

At one point it seemed like his Pegasys scanner could not get any real time data from the system either, so should I be looking for a 99 Dodge Cummins auto trans PCM now? If so, does anyone here have a 99 auto trans PCM for a decent price? What PCM part number do I need to be looking for?

 

I bought a 99 Cummins ECM from him (ESN # 56602445, P/N 3942336, S/N 2153549, D/C 06/16/99, ECM Code J90269.05) for $50 but haven't had time to swap it into the pickup yet. I know the ECM has been changed before I got the pickup because the VIN on it does not match the VIN of the pickup. The pickup VIN is 1B7KF2369XJ553768 and the ECM VIN is 1B7KC2368XJ503078. The only real difference between the two is that the ECM VIN is from a 2wd pickup and not a 4x4.

 

I can't wait for @Chris O. to get his custom DRBIII tool available, because it seems as I will need one of them to help me get these things fixed on my pickup.

 

Thanks,

 

Doug

Edited by 99_Cummins_4x4

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  • Mine stayed on for years. Figured it was the seat belt latch or the wiring at same. Just swapped in a new set of seats and the light is out. It could just be a loose wire.

  • Mopar1973Man
    Mopar1973Man

    Correction.   My local dodge stealer claims they don't have the properly trained personnel so the cant do chit...   Dodge DRBIII tool can do it but the person operating the tool ha

  • It depends on the options as I said. If a controller that has security but does not see it on the truck...it will shut it down after it writes it to the cluster. Most emissions testing facilities get

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8 minutes ago, 99_Cummins_4x4 said:

Could the ABS codes that I've been getting, is because my tires are 285/75R16 and not the stock 245/75R16 tires, which makes my speedo 4 mph slow?

No I don't think so, as long as they are all same size shouldn't matter. It's got something to do with one of the sensors not reading correctly, be my guess. 

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There's only the rear ABS sensor in the rear diff (already installed a new sensor) and my pickup only has rear anti-lock brakes.

Edited by 99_Cummins_4x4

  • 3 weeks later...
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I installed a new clock spring and now my cruise control can turn on and off via the steering wheel switch, but it will not set the cruise control at any speed, even with no brake or ABS lights not being on. I just checked the vacuum line to the cruise control servo, and the line is good because my mity vac did not lose any vacuum when I pumped it up for testing.

 

So would this be a cruise control servo issue  or maybe the "set" position on the steering wheel switch?

 

 

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Can a dealership reflash/program the PCM with a different VIN

 

I found a PCM that's # 56040199AC and my current PCM is # 56040199AD.

 

Edited by 99_Cummins_4x4

Quote

Can a dealership reflash/program the PCM with a different VIN

Call your local dealership

My local dodge stealer claims they dont have the right equipment so the cant do chit

 

 

 

.

Edited by GSP7

  • Owner
14 minutes ago, GSP7 said:

My local dodge stealer claims they dont have the right equipment so the cant do chit

 

1

 

Correction.

 

My local dodge stealer claims they don't have the properly trained personnel so the cant do chit...

 

Dodge DRBIII tool can do it but the person operating the tool has to be able to think outside the box. I've seen the same thing said about flashing high idle on these trucks. There is lot that can be programmed and reprogrammed but the operator has to be 5% smarter than the tool they are operating.

Edited by Mopar1973Man

32 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

 

Correction.

 

My local dodge stealer claims they don't have the properly trained personnel so the cant do chit...

 

 

 

50 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

 

Correction.

 

My local dodge stealer claims they don't have the properly trained personnel so the cant do chit...

 

Dodge DRBIII tool can do it but the person operating the tool has to be able to think outside the box. I've seen the same thing said about flashing high idle on these trucks. There is lot that can be programmed and reprogrammed but the operator has to be 5% smarter than the tool they are operating.

 

No the DRB III cannot do what the op is asking. It has never been able to.

  • Owner

It can flash a VIN only if the PCM is new... Been there done that when I lost the PCM on the 1996 Dodge. As for changing the VIN number no once its flashed it can't be change unless you replace the PCM which I thought he was doing... My Bad... Need more coffee.

Edited by Mopar1973Man

Just now, Mopar1973Man said:

It can flash a VIN only if the PCM is new... Been there done that when I lost the PCM on the 1996 Dodge. As for changing the VIN number no once its flashed it can't be change unless you replace the PCM which I thought he was doing... My Bad... Need more coffee.

 

Now I agree. If anyone has a way to wipe the controller it can be updated to the correct vin. Even on a dealership level they do not have this ability. 

So I got a question, let's say I have an early 02 6spd 4x4, and pcm is from an 01 6spd 4x4 different vin, will they swap around? 

And same for ecm? 

Ecm yes and if it does get mad the ecm is easily corrected with flash. There is more to it with the pcm. All options between the trucks have to match. Think security.

23 minutes ago, jlbayes said:

All options between the trucks have to match

So if options match but vins don't it will still work fine? 

It should. You will get no promises from me on that one. Some trucks care more than others. Mine being one that cared.

It depends on the options as I said. If a controller that has security but does not see it on the truck...it will shut it down after it writes it to the cluster. Most emissions testing facilities get pissy about the mismatch as well.