Bricked PCMs......what to do

[wbt]

I am probably not the only one who has messed a tune up, flash it on a car and caused a condition where HP Tuners had issues talking with the PCM. This past weekend I was working on a Roush M6 car, messed up some tables in the tune, flashed it on the car and upon write complete, all the lights in the cluster came on, PATS light was flashing, and there was a constant ticking noise. I tried to flash a known good file back on the car and received the attached error:

PCM locked.JPG

I then connected different hardware to the car and got:

IMG_20150501_235122.jpg

So what do you do when you get yourself in this situation? I got out of it by selecting a known good file to flash onto the car. You receive a write error and the dash will go dark. Allow a few seconds to pass and re-try the write, before the cluster lights back up and starts the clicking noise. Once I got a known good tune back onto the car I could write another file as one normally would.

Hope this helps if you find yourself in this situation.

[David Borden]

Until that last paragraph, I was really bummed for you... Nice work getting it fixed! I wonder if there is a built in recovery mode you found.

[wbt]

Until that last paragraph, I was really bummed for you... Nice work getting it fixed! I wonder if there is a built in recovery mode you found.

Thanks and I am not sure. I did a lot of searching after I got myself into this predicament to no avail. There is literally no information available on the mentioned errors.

[ElecTech]

I've had one fail a couple times like that, but I usually just hit Write again without cycling the key first. I think it is difficult to permanently kill most of the Ford ECU's.
Most people panic when it fails and start cycling ignitions and things and I think that causes more issues than just selecting "Write" again.

[Eric@HPTuners]

It's really hard to kill a Ford PCM. Not saying it isn't possible, but personally I do not know of one that has happened since I have been here.

Sometimes when the PCM seems dead, disconnect the battery, let it sit a few minutes, connect it back, and try again.

[ElecTech]

And to clarify, mine were on a Green Oak ECU, not on a Copperhead.

[csa0890]

Had this happen when I flashed my first PCM using 2.25 on a Copperhead. I read the stock file saved it, made my changes saved as and when I wrote it I got the same error as the OP. I just about had a heart attack. I did the same method but I had to shut the ignition off and open the door and when I tried it again it allowed me to write back to stock. After that I wrote the modified tune and it took it.

When I tried to reconnect after the failed write I could not get it to work at all until I shut off the ignition and tried again.

Any ETA on when support for these PCMs will be out of Beta?

[MikeOD]

I've got a 2011 Coyote I'm plugged into right now, flashes to 75% then skips to 100%, says complete, won't start.

I tried rewriting the file and it did the same thing. With the stock file as well.

Anybody have any ideas to help?

[MikeOD]

I hit write again then hit abort when it started. Waited for the dash to reset where the gauges bounce, hit write again and it seems OK.

[MikeOD]

Yup that fixed it. Not sure what went wrong. I tried to get an info log but all it said (below the normal info about my computer and licenses) was that it couldn't connect to the car...so I don't understand how it was able to write abort and write again... But it worked and didn't brick it.

[Eric@HPTuners]

Thats the random write failure that happens... sometimes you have to just wait 20 mins or so and try again to solve it.

[wbt]

I am positive I was the cause of my issue. I haven't troubleshot it down to the exact table but I am sure I messed up some inverse TQ table.

[MikeOD]

Does the random write failure happen with just the copperhead? With other software too?

[Eric@HPTuners]

Does the random write failure happen with just the copperhead? With other software too?

Yes

[MikeOD]

Long as it's not making me paperweights I don't mind lol...kinda sucks when the owner of the car is sitting there, and freaking out at you about how you just broke their cars computer...oh well. I looked like a hero when it took a complete flash and fired right back up again.

[Fling]

This happened quite a few times on a 2012 Mustang i was working on. Glad to hear i'm not the only one who experienced this. Sometimes had to re-flash 4 times before it would take it.

[VitViper]

This is a constant ongoing issue on my 2014 GT. Will fail over and over and over. Every time it happens I lose all motivation to do anything with the car... or it's time for a real ECU.

[ZeroAviation]

This is a constant ongoing issue on my 2014 GT. Will fail over and over and over. Every time it happens I lose all motivation to do anything with the car... or it's time for a real ECU.

How is it failing? Are you confident in the state of your battery?

[VitViper]

How is it failing? Are you confident in the state of your battery?

Obviously the write fails.. 74.2%, stuck and immediately to 100%. Car won't start and dash is a Christmas tree.

There's nothing wrong with the battery. It's a 14 purchased brand new in 14 and this has been an ongoing problem. Putting a charger on the battery changes nothing, anyone who said it did just happens to be a coincidence as the ecu eventually takes the flash after a while of frustration and wasted time.

[wbt]

Obviously the write fails.. 74.2%, stuck and immediately to 100%. Car won't start and dash is a Christmas tree.

There's nothing wrong with the battery. It's a 14 purchased brand new in 14 and this has been an ongoing problem. Putting a charger on the battery changes nothing, anyone who said it did just happens to be a coincidence as the ecu eventually takes the flash after a while of frustration and wasted time.

Does this happen when loading the stock tune?