Andy, hang in there buddy, I feel for you.
-------------------------------------------
Steven St.Laurent
Test Engineer
Test Branch, GSD, MCTSSA
MARCORSYSCOM, USMC
760-725-2506 (DSN 365-2506)
Work:mailto:stlaurents@mctssa.usmc.mil
Home:mailto:saint1958@home.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Andy Levy [mailto:andylevy@bigfoot.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 5:26 PM
To: dakota-truck@buffnet.net
Cc: jlevy2@nycap.rr.com
Subject: DML: Yikes! I've been flashed! (long)
I got flashed today against my will, and sadly, it wasn't a woman doing
the flashing.
I took my truck into the dealer this morning for the rear brake line
recall. I asked them to *look into* (those were my words exactly) my
pinging problem ('99 318, y'all know the drill with those). Then to
start my day off a little rosier, they made me wait AN HOUR for their
shuttle service to take me to work. I was leaving the truck there all
day because I thought it would be more convenient (drop-off at 7:45, be
at work by 8:15, then they pick me up in the evening). Had I known I'd
be waiting an hour for the shuttle, I would have made a mid-day
appointment and skipped out of work for an hour. But I did get to crawl
around a 2001 QC for a while during my wait.
Well, they did more than look into the pinging. Looks like they put
about 15-20 miles on the truck (understandable, they had to drive it to
check for ping under accleration & climbing) They checked the intake
manifold leak; no leak there (there goes my excuse to get the MPI).
Then they decided to flash the PCM. They did not ask me about doing it
first; they only "advise" and ask if it's a non-warranty item. Since
I'm under warranty, and it's blessed by the lords of DC, they just went
right ahead and flashed the PCM.
Even worse, when I asked what the flash did, my "service manager" (guy
who takes care of your paperwork, calls when the work is done, etc.)
said "I don't know, I'm not a technician, I don't know what goes on in
that thing, they just plug it in and it's flashed." The attitude he
gave me and tone of voice were not pleasant (I kept myself on an even
keel). Obviously, this conversation was going nowhere. I stated
multiple times that I was rather upset that I was not ASKED before they
did this. I was under the assumption that the PCM flash was the
"last-ditch" attempt when all else failed. Had they consulted me, I
would have delayed the flash until after trying the 180 t-stat.
Then they brought the truck around & the driver walked away. I popped
the hood, and found that they hadn't tried the spark plug wire reroute
TSB. At this point, it wasn't worth trying to argue with them, so I
just drove off (will try the reroute myself). At the light, the truck
seemed to idle a LOT quieter. So I was optimistic. Then I got on the
highway and, seeing it was clear, punched the throttle and held till my
exit. Got to about 75, and the whole time, what do I hear?
PingpingpingpingpingPINGPING!
Is there any chance that the flash I got *isn't* the 4-degree timing
retard one? Performance and mileage differences have yet to be seen,
obviously. Is there any way to "un-flash" these things? IOW, if the
dealer has an original program from an identical truck, can they restore
it? At best, they took the ping down from about a 7 to a 4 (out of 10
on the loud scale)
-- -andyhttp://home.twcny.rr.com/andylevy/ --- andylevy@bigfoot.com ------------------------------------------------------------- "We like AMD. The enemy of our enemy is our friend." --- Jonathan Schwartz Sun senior vice president -------------------------------------------------------------
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