Curt026

I purchased an ecm from goecm.com a month or so ago. So far all is well but I do not have many miles on it yet. Truck doesn't get driven much. It's to early to tell how it will pan out in the long run, but my experience with them has been very positive compared to horror stories you read from other places. I did find a site where some people had posted bad reviews and crying about stuff, but every one of the complaints was answered by the company rep and then followed up with an endorsing post from the complainant for what it's worth. Hopefully everything works out for you. I know the feeling of what you're going through trying to weed through the endless BS that is auto electronics repair.

What am I missing gents? The pulse is labeled ecm voltage and it does seem to be accurate to when I fluke the battery or the alternator directly. Doesn't seem to be any voltage drop throughout the entire system. Or are you guys just brainstorming the way the old quadzillas worked?

I'm sure poor grounding doesn't help, but I don't honestly know. I believe I also read somewhere that your batteries also filter out ac noise so that is another reason it is imperative to keep your batteries in good health. I'm not the expert on that though. As for the quadzilla, when it freezes the screen will lock up and truck goes to stock power. It remains like that until you turn the key off and restart. I noticed that it also seemed to say 12.9 or 13.0 for ecm voltage when it froze and would happen more frequent and faster on hotter days so I attributed it to a voltage issue. This is unit is from about 6-8 months prior to quadzilla going out of business back in the day. Looking on their website now I think I may send it in for a new board and get the iquad for my phone. Then remove the pulse and put my gauge cluster on the pillar since I plan on putting a new dash in. Darn thing was uncracked until a year or two ago when I installed the gauges up there. It wasn't 3-4 months later and it was cracking. I hate myself for that but what are you going to do

Not just saying it but it was the first thing I intended to do. I had the meter out and reaching down and couldn't pull the darn cap off the back of the alternator to probe it and had barely any light and was worried I'd was going to stick one of the leads in the fan. I know bad excuse but it will be done first thing tomorrow morning. I'm interested in the diodes if they fit the Bosch alternator. I still have my original that im planning on taking into work and restoring. I'm a tech at Eaton and restore low and medium voltage circuit breakers. I'm talking take them down to nothing and make them exactly what they left the assembly line looking like. Really interesting job for guys like us but I just started in June after doing flooring my whole life. So I'm learning the electrical world, but it's a lot to take in all at once. Anyways what I meant to say is restoring this thing at work shouldn't be to bad. At least it will look nice if nothing else haha

Alternator showed back up on Wednesday. Pretty fast turnaround. According to the paper that was in the box it says they replaced the rectifier. No other info on it as far as what the old one or the new one tested at. But they covered it under warranty and shipped it back no charge eventhough it was 6 months out of their warranty timeframe. Unfortunately I was to excited last night and did not test ac voltage again after install which leads me to the next part. ECM came in yesterday. Got everything installed last night and started and ran the truck for an hour with zero hiccups. No codes and I ran through everything I could think of while driving to be sure. Cruise control works. Scanned after I shut it down and no codes were present. Anything else I should check that I'm missing? I plan on taking it for a good long drive tomorrow to be sure all is well and then send in the old one so I can get my core refunded. Time will tell on how it holds up but so far so good from goecm.com Still have the low charging going on for some reason. Was hovering around 13.3 to 13.6 so I'm changing the batteries next. One seemed to be finicky while charging and both had a cell or two with what looked like the plates flaking a bit. Saw some black on the edges of the plates. I'd like to that everyone who helped and maybe this can be a source of info for someone down the road if they can weed through all my long and ridiculous posts! Thanks again

I can't remember if I saw that article or not. I don't remember it, but I wish I did. Place I'm dealing with wanted 600 or 650 to rebuild my old one. They claimed they didn't need my vin number either and the what ifs have been running through my mind ever since then. Hopefully it shows up tomorrow and all is well. I'll be calling up that auto computer exchange if not, but I'm sure at this point it will be one heck of a fight trying to get my money back. I need to stay off the internet for awhile.... To the original poster I think the best way to feel all these companies out is to just arm yourself with as much info as possible about your specific issue and then call around and ask questions. It will be very apparent over the phone who knows what they are talking about and who will tell you anything for your money. I called three companies from Florida and didn't get a great feeling on them so maybe that's why I somehow overlooked this auto computer exchange? Past experience from others in this area is gold. Just be sure the ecm is for sure your problem before buying something because it will be a very sour experience for you and the company if that's not your issue.

Going by your part number it looks like you have an '01. I just went through the same thing for my '02. They quoted me 2500 bucks plus programming and said there was only one left in Memphis at the time. I ended up going the "aftermarket" route and ordered one from goecm.com Not to impressed with them thus far but if it shows up and works and I get my core refunded then I have nothing to complain about. You may want to check out RAEdiesel.com as well. They don't charge a core upfront and seem to be a legit company. One year warranty as opposed to lifetime with the other but what good is a warranty if it fails 6 times or you have to fight them on it. I stressed about the whole thing for a couple weeks and after finally realizing I didn't have much choice in the matter I gave in and finally bought one. I feel your pain in trying to weed through what seems to be an extremely shady industry of car electronics.

Ordered the ecm from goecm.com it was between there and that Rae place someone else mentioned. Couldn't find as much info online about them as I could go ecm but I now I'm sitting here second guessing myself on not buying from them. Goecm didn't need my vin number he said but the order would be processed tomorrownsince I called right at closing and if the tech needed it he would contact me. The lifetime warranty sold me but who knows. Edit: cummins service manager said he would only be able to hook up to the ecm and make sure it communicates. He said it will probably will based on my description and there is no way for him to see if something is wrong until it fails. Unfortunately it happens 10-15 minutes after the truck is fired up for the first time.

Thanks for the link to that other site. Looks like a promising company. My luck id do a p pump swap and then shortly down the road the ecm decides to totally die. Then I'd have to buy one anyways. 2500 bucks is a reman too. Not even new. I have a feeling by the way the guy talked on the phone yesterday that if I go down there and have them test it and it's bad that just maybe they might be able to find a way to get account pricing on it or at least better than 2500. Still though I can't imagine it being a grand or more less than that but who knows.

Very good info. Thank you for the reply. Well everything checks out then. Just very tripped out by the open loop or 75 ohms reading when I switched the multimeter leads around from pin 1 to ground. I just keep trying to find any excuse possible to not have to go through the heartache of getting an ecm. I've shied away from diesel system services because of the no returns and and one year warranty. That and I just can't help but believe I'd be paying more for the exact same thing I'd get elsewhere. If they did it in house then yeah sure. Goecm seems to have the most positive reviews I've seen so far. Lifetime warranty on their units or I can even send mine in for repair for what I'd expect to be considerably less than the 800 they charge for a refurbed unit.

You're telling me...man what I wouldn't give to be able to do that. Decided to run through all the 1689 tests again. Everything checked out as I moved down the list, very little resistance, until I got to the last one. Checking ohms from pin 1 on the vp connector to battery ground I cannot get anything. Just shows open loop. I don't remember having this before when I tested last week. From battery ground to pin 6 I have continuity but nothing from 1 to ground. What am I missing? That's with batteries connected and disconnected. Im pretty certain that's the test I tried right before I disconnected ecm just prior to running through all these tests again and I had a reading of greater than 5 ohms. *plugging the ecm back in to check yeah continuity from ground to pin 6 with batteries hooked up. Nothing with batteries unhooked. Still open loop from vp 1 to ground with ecm unplugged/plugged in and batteries hooked up/unhooked. Does this mean there is a wire broken? Or am I screwing this up Man this is weird. I get open loop with black lead on battery ground and red on pin 1. But I can touch pin 1 to other stuff and get a ring. Switch leads around so black is on pin 1 and red to ground and instantly get a ring and -70 ohms. Wtf? Black on ground and red on pin 6 and it rings instantly. I've moved wires all around trying to find a short or something but it's dead silent. I'll stop posting so much. I'm tired of myself at this point. Hopefully she's back on the road soon

Parts guy from cummins called me back today and informed me that his computer wasn't up to date when he was looking for stock yesterday. (I called another cummins place). Apparently there is an ecm for my truck. 2500 bucks and would need programmed. Ouch. He talked with a tech there that owns a vp truck and I was instructed to call back in the morning to talk with the service guy about scheduling an appointment and they can test my ecm. I'm worried though that since the problem only appears for the first time about 10-15 minutes after the truck is started that it may test good? Is there anyway possible that the pump is going bad and when it stalls the truck some kind of memory or something is still telling the ecm that it's on so therefore the ecm isn't rebooting right away? I am seriously worrying myself almost to the point of insanity over buying an ecm and it being something else. Does the delayed wts light always point to bad ecm no matter the cause of what it took to get it to do that? It is only ever delayed after it shuts off from 1689 code. What a mess If I Hotwire the pump and it still dies then that means it's the pump and if it doesn't then that would be ecm, right?

See I've been away from the forums to long. A lot has been learned since I was last active. Well my I'm sure my neighbors hate me at this point. Got home and started it up on fresh charged batteries and went inside. 12 minutes later I heard it hiccup just like it did when the cam sensor started dying and shortly later went out a couple years ago. Then two minutes after that it died. I was down at the truck again at that point. I cycled the key off and back on and the wts light immediately came on. Ok. So check the codes, 1689. Start it up and a couple minutes later it died again. Cycled the key and nothing. Did it two more times and nothing. Let it sit the third time with key on for about 20 seconds still nothing. Read the codes, 1689 again. Cycled the key and it started just like it should and then died again about a minute later. It's driving me mad. I'd rather replace the pump or throw a new cam sensor at it but the delayed wts is what is telling all though I believe. But to be clear I've never cycled the key on and sat there long enough for the wts light to kick on. Idk if it ever would. I just cycle the key back off and on again and it either works or it doesn't. Man I really don't want to buy an ecm for this thing.....

You may want to just pull out the map sensor and inspect it. I'm sure it's probably dirty if it's never been cleaned and the comp box has been on for awhile. Or at worst replace it which used to be between 80-100 bucks I believe but that was a few years ago. A co worker of mine did find a spot on the board where there appears to be a missing diode but I can't tell if there was ever meant to be one there or not. In the second picture at the top middle/left there is a string of 7 or 8 small diodes. Third one from the left is missing. Unfortunately I haven't been home yet so I can't confirm the problem has been fixed just yet. I am nervous and excited at the same time. Still cannot believe I went through all of this without pulling the box first. I knew better and for some reason I was thinking I did at the time. What an adventure this has been.

The thing is this whole time I kept thinking that pulling the quad off was one of the first things I did. But the more I think about it I don't believe I actuwlly did. I planned on it and then without thinking I was excited to try it after putting on the new ground cables that I plugged everything back in and started it up. I brought the quad with me to work so I'm going to open it up if it isn't to hard and have a look This is a 4K adrenaline. Yeah I know.... I thought I had different plans for the truck and I had a regular adrenaline fry itself on me under warranty. So they were kind enough to send me back a 4K module instead of a regular one. Tuned around it's issues the best I could and didn't have any problems daily driving it because I pretty much drive like a grandpa. I'll be darned if I see anything obviously wrong with it though. Then again I don't exactly know what I'm looking for either besides burned components.

Well the saga continues....I just couldn't sleep laying here thinking about it was some sort of a sign that he didn't get my card info to pay for that ecm tonight. One thing I believe that I didn't try up until this point was to unplug the quadzilla. It's a long shot but I couldn't sleep until I tried cause I won't have time before I leave for work in the morning. So I go down to the truck at almost midnight and pull off the belt because the alternator is on it's way to Tennessee and then plug the ecm back in and hook up the batteries. I simply unplugged the adrenaline at its harness connection and fired up the truck. I'll be darned if it didn't sit there an idle not skipping a beat for 20 minutes. So I plugged in the scanner and cleared the codes and the restarted. Only code that came back was the map sensor 0237 because I didn't unplug the adrenaline harness. So now it's one more day of waiting and wondering. Everyone said how rare it is for the ecm to crap out and being it was only giving me one or two codes I just couldn't rest without exhausting all my options. I am praying that this is the actual problem. I've had problems with this thing freezing and just not working but I kept thinking it was a voltage problem because of the truck not charging above 13.2 when it was hot outside. It always seemed to freeze at 12.9. So it's getting the alternator rebuilt, new batteries, and praying it's just this crazy adrenaline and it didn't kill anything else. It would be such a blessing if that is the problem and the ecm isn't fried. JKidd bought quadzilla, right? Looks like I'll be giving him a call tomorrow to pick his brain and get this thing fixed or replaced cause I can't go back to a stock truck after driving it this way for 7-8 years. Keep your fingers crossed for me

Tonight's update... after trying get something through Cummins on Friday and Saturday to no avail I called up the place I mentioned before. Their website is dieselecmusa.com but their storefront shop is diesel system services in El Cajon California. The guy that I spoke to for about half an hour seemed like a respectful guy but you can only tell so much through a phone. He wasn't in a hurry to take my money and is actually calling me back in the morning after he speaks with the place who builds them. He will give me the lead time and then take my money unless someone shares a horrific story on here about them. He said the company he gets them from is the same place that the dealership and cummins had their contracts through. I forget most of what he said during that time so those may not have been his exact words so I don't want to put stuff in his mouth. But basically whoever this company is that he gets them from only deals with contracts and even he cannot get most other computers because they are in contract with someone else. The computers for our trucks are no longer under contract. Just makes you wonder who the company is... I'm going to put my faith in the fact that not everyone can be a liar and give him quite a bit more money than what other places are charging based on if what he says is true about the product I will gettung back then it is worth it. I pray it turns out good because we really don't have any other trustworthy options it seems.

Thank you for the help on that. So if I understand you correctly when they bench this thing at full load 1 volt or slightly more is or should be acceptable when I get it home and bolt it back on the truck and do our method of measuring it at an idle? I'm just worried I'm going to waste my time and money sending it down there for them to try and tell me there's nothing wrong with it. It's 5 months out of warranty so I'm hoping they make it right and take my money and move on.

I was getting the voltage reading from the pulse monitor which measures ecm voltage. Even when the grids ran it was just for a split second and didn't pull it down below 11 volts. It was showing 59 on the overhead temp. Unfortunately it's undriveable in its current state. When I tried that test last night and it quit running I sat there for about a minute and cycled the key on and off a couple of times waiting longer in between each cycle and the ecm still hadn't rebooted to give me the lift pump circuit or the wts light. It's getting slower and slower each team. I was hoping that the ac voltage hadn't already killed it and I'd be good to go after fixing the alternator but I'm afraid it's to late. I've had the batteries on trickle charge since last night. Well one last night and then I switched to the other one before leaving for work this morning. Going to give it one more chance when I get home today but I think I'm just delaying the inevitable at this point. I could swear I checked ac current when I bought this alternator but maybe not. Really disappointed in what I was thinking would be something that I wouldn't have to worry about. I found the box for the alternator last night, and my old one inside it too, and of course I bought it 2 years and 5 months ago and their warranty is 2 years. I'm waiting to hear back from mechman to see what they say about being able to guarantee me this thing is rebult and comes back with absolutely no more than 40 mVAC.

I just got home and unhooked the signal wires to the alternator. Started the truck up and the grids were cycling but voltage was only around 11.8-12.0 because batteries need charged. Truck still shut off after a few minutes. Any chance the ecm needs charging voltage to run right? I'm ordering an ecm tomorrow unless there is a chance that it's doing it because of the low voltage now. Either way I'm going to paranoid the rest of the time I own this truck at this point. Might be time to get rid of the old girl after I hopefully get it fixed.

Well I am an idiot. Calling up mechman now to see what I have to go through to get this thing rebuilt. It only has 10k miles on it but it's probably a little over 2 years old which is what their warranty is. Holding off on ECM until I get this taken care of. Praying it's the only problem. Truck starts and runs fine the first start of the day for about 10 minutes. I may just be that lucky that this is my only problem. Thank you for catching my mistake Mike.

Really? I thought that 86 mVAC was a good number? Wouldn't that be .086 VAC? Now I have go on the search again....dripley thank you for all your help. I will try to call cummins and see what they tell me. Never dreamed this would be such a process but I have to do what I have to do. Replacing the ecm is a last resort but I have pretty much exhausted all my resources and myself for that matter while working on this thing in all my free time for the last week.

IM surprised it hasn't been asked already, and for that matter the lack of response in general, but I just checked the ac voltage. Measured at alternator post and grounded to alternator I have 085.9 mVAC. I paid the money for what is supposed to be the best and USA made alternator a couple years ago from mechman so I'm excited to see that number still. This company claims they rebuild the entire ecm and not just the damaged component. And then they also test it for vibration and hot and cold as well. Can anyone confirm that it's even possible to rebuild the entire ecm for these things? I want as much info as possible before calling them tomorrow to feel them out so I know what questions to ask and how to spot a fraud. They have an eBay account and a website that sound legit. Only negative thing I've seen so far is they reviewed their own eBay ad which is pretty cheesy but still a lot less sketchy than all the other websites and ads I could find. I would love a recommendation from someone with past experience. I will continue to update this thread all the way to the end even if there are no one else because nobody ever updates the fix and when searching stuff from years ago it's so difficult to get an exact answer. I can't find any other documentation on the exact problems I am experiencing.

Well I finally got all the new grounds installed and everything put back together. When I started the truck I noticed my voltage went right to 13.8 and stayed there except for when the grids cycled on and off. That is the highest I have seen it charge since noticing the low charge issue. It was no colder than it has been and I replaced the temp sensor before the "ecm issue" with no change. Truck ran for 10 minutes and then cut out again. I was able to connect my reader and it spit out 1689 again and the cam sensor code was not present. Then something funny happened with the reader where it acted like it was not connecting and would cut in and out. I can't tell if it's a connection/reader issue or a computer issue as to why it keeps cutting in and out. Kind of odd timing for something like that to happen. So I'm going to run through the 1689 test one more time and see if I can get the right readings and then start calling around for an ecm tomorrow. I am going to call diesel system services first as their ad and website seem the most legit that I have found but if anyone has any first hand experience with another place I would love to hear your recommendation. I still cannot get a clear answer as to whether it's possible for the pcm or ecm for that matter to send a bad enough signal to the alternator to produce a lower charge than normal. Oh and I also replaced the 140a fuse as well. Should have done that separately to see if it made the difference or not. I cannot find any sign of bad wiring anywhere. Last note is I have had my grids unplugged at the battery for about 2 years and they are now hooked back up. I can't see that making a difference but who knows. The computer also seemed to take longer and longer to "reset" and kick on the wts light. It took noticeably longer for that happen than it previously was.

I mean I'm literally replacing all the negative battery connections. The drivers side was able to be wiggled back and forth and and pulled off. It's not hard to damage the stock clamps especially after 15-16 years. I have all new 2/0 dlo locomotive cable going to the engine and number 6 on all other connections. I spliced the two grounds on the passenger side with disconnects, leaving the disconnects in place. I have no intention of running any other grounds besides what the factory had. Just new and heavier duty. I guess the plan is to get those all on and put the truck all back together this evening and see what happens.