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Following Anders' lead, I want to share some issues I had with a customer's '05 9-3SS Linear last week.
I'm sure all you dealer techs have experienced this more, but those of us at independent shops are just starting to run into potential module failures with the programmable units in our customer's cars as they are coming in off CPO and factory warranty more and more by the day.
This car came in mid last week having died on the owner while driving it - we found the battery completely drained, and a bad cell in the battery, put in a fresh battery, keyed it on, and started right up, alternator charged fine, no fault codes set, so sent them on their way with only the cost of a new battery.
The car was towed the next day, having died on the owner while she was driving it again, but this time all the lights on the dash stayed lit. When it arrived it fired right up, but had error code P0601 set in T8, which is 'INTERNAL FAULT IN MODULE' - reading up on it seemed to say it was a memory bank fault, and if this code is set the procedure is to replace and re-program the module.
The P0601 code is a set-only-while-fault-criteria-are-met code, so as soon as I let the car run for a minute when it came off the truck it erased the code and did not reset, and I could not get the car to re-produce the symptom during test drive or while idling in my shop.
The owner and I were concerned that the battery problem had damaged the ECU, and they didn't want to risk having the problem show up again and the car die without warning.
This is where it gets hairy: We have a pretty good relationship with Elite Foreign Auto parts for spares, so I went over with my Tech2 and laptop with WIS subscription to divorce a few ECU's and CIM's so I would have a divorced one to use.
I was able to divorce two ECU's, one from an '03 Linear with a B207E and one from an '04 Aero with a B207R. EPC shows the same part number compatibility for all 4-cyl 2003-2006 9-3SS's, the difference is just the programming, which I apparently mistook to think that any of them could be mated to whichever configuration car and then SPS programmed to behave themselves, which is the impression I got from reading up on the programming procedures in TIS.
1) Tried to mate one of the ECU's to an '06 ARC:
Module adds correctly, will start the engine but idles very poorly, and smells like it's running waaay off mixture. Re-program using SPS for '06 B207R config file by VIN number, programming goes all the way through to 100%, then loses contact with the car, I get a 'PROGRAMMING FAILED' message, and then the module will not communicate with the car, comes up as 'MISSING' in bus config, and won't contact in 'ENGINE' section. I can still 'REMOVE' and 'ADD' but it still doesn't communicate. I program it again, same thing, goes all the way through to 100% and gives an error.
2) I take this same ECU which appears to be locked up and remove it from the '06, and put it in an '05 Linear.
Do the 'ADD' and SPS program it for the '05 VIN number, and programming goes all the way through to the end, finishes the add, and comes up correctly in the bus config (looks like the ECU compatibility might only be 2003-2005 ???)
The engine starts, doesn't seem to run correctly, running very lean (since the B207R software expects higher flow injectors), and throws a code for the exhaust gas temp sensor short, so it looks like it still has the B207R run maps stored despite SPS programming, so SPS doesn't update the actual engine run files.
Remove module.
3) Put '03 Linear module in '05 Linear.
Runs correctly, adds fine, but now I have an error code for short in the secondary air injection pump, since the '03 Linear software expects it, but was removed from the system for 2004+ models.
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I had a chance to chat with one of our local dealership techs at length about the sorts of things I was doing, he confirmed I did all the programming and prep for SPS correctly (I tried giving the Tech2 security access before requesting programming, before loading the file from WIS, and after loading the file from WIS, all gave same result), and said he was having similar problems mating mostly TCM transmission control modules.
I had my Tech2 running the most recent 144.0 software version. SPS version at top of programming interface shows version 2.059 and has for some time, is there a way to update just the SPS flashing portion? It doesn't seem to change with the last 2-3 Tech2 software updates.
Originally the modules were supposed to ship blank and be flashed for each car in the vehicle, to cut down on the parts needed to be stocked, but in actuality a large portion of the time flashing the TCM would lock up the module same as I experienced with the first T8 programming attempt. He'd never tried programming any used modules, they hadn't had to try to do it at his dealer yet.
He told me that now T8 and TCM replacement modules would come pre-programmed from the factory by VIN with the right config files already loaded, so it was plug-and-play for the tech.
He also advised me to try to avoid SPS programming when possible, since he hadn't figured out even with the help of the SAAB Tech Line why programming some modules would fry them.
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So that's the info, hopefully those of us farther down the service chain can help come up with ways to make use of the large supply of used modules becoming available since that is looking to be a sensitive area of maintaining the Sport Sedans which fall behind in their recommended maintenance schedule.
Best,
Drew
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