'06 Dakota quad cab 4.7L 4x4: pcm issues

113 Views 6 Replies 2 Participants Last post by Captain_Caveman, 3 d ago

Captain_Caveman

Discussion Starter · 6 d ago

Im buying the truck from my best friend, shes tired of the issues with it but i love the truck. 139500+ miles. In May of '20 she started having problems with it running a tad rough, transmission shifting issues, trans temp warning light coming on, hard starts. I checked the codes, forget what the exact code was, but it referenced cam position sensor. I replaced the sensor on passenger bank, engine was fine after that, but transmission issues remained. She took it to a dodge dealer here in s/e georgia in July of '20 and they told her pcm was bad, $1300 and 7 weeks later, everything was fine again. Trans issues were gone, and it ran and shifted perfectly again. No issues whatsoever until jan of '22. Same issues as last time. Dodge dealer said pcm was bad, warranty on the original repair by them was only 1 year, she didnt have another $1300 to throw at it, i did some research, found one from car computer exchange with a lifetime warranty, $400. I did a little more research on vehicle specifics, read the paperwork and instructions from car computer exhchange to compare before touching the truck. Disconnected the negative, the positive, and let the truck sit for an hour for static charge to dissapate. Removed air cleaner assembly to access pcm, found dealer tech had only reinstalled one of the three bolts that hold the pcm down. Ok, pissed. Disconnect the pcm connections one at a time, remove pcm, install new with new bolts, connect wiring harness. Wait the 20mins, conmect positive, negative, let sit for a minute, truck starts right up, all issues once again resolved. No problems until dec '22. All the same issues slowly start creeping back in: transmission issues, check engine light, hard starts, etc. Try to check codes, scanner and truck wont talk to each other. I need to check the fuse to the obd-ii port, and the pins to find the issue there, but pretty much certain the pcm is bad, yet again, regardless.

Doing some research, and came across this article:

Before Changing Your 2006 Dodge Dakota PCM Read This! - Flagship One Blog

Your 2006 Dodge Dakota PCM may also be damaged by other factors, including liquid leaks, poor shifts, failed self-diagnostic cycle and a

www.fs1inc.com

Now, ill sum up and say the article claims fluid leaks, blown exh manifold bolts, carbon dioxide build-up, bad fuel, cam position sensor, oil viscosity, all can lead to pcm failure on the 06 dakota, and says theyre known for pcm/electrical issues.

Does anyone have any experience with any of these issues on these dakotas? Theres a slight oil leak near the crank pulley- no others locations, no other fluid leaks. Fuel system cleaner (ive used berrymans b12, royal purple, and liqui-moly jectron in her the last 2 years), new die hard gold 65-2 battery with fresh terminals, cleaned grounds, regular oil changes with penzoil 5w30, everything that should be done regularly to prevent issues. I am trying to get some input and ideas beyond checking the wiring harness, etc. Im pretty much stumped on this one. I have never seen nor heard of a vehicle of any kind going thru pcm's like this.

Any thoughts would be most appreciated. Next step is to have someone else go thru the harness and check for anything i may have missed.

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immattj

· #2 · 5 d ago

Captain_Caveman said:
Now, ill sum up and say the article claims fluid leaks, blown exh manifold bolts, carbon dioxide build-up, bad fuel, cam position sensor, oil viscosity, all can lead to pcm failure on the 06 dakota, and says theyre known for pcm/electrical issues.

Does anyone have any experience with any of these issues on these dakotas? Theres a slight oil leak near the crank pulley- no others locations, no other fluid leaks. Fuel system cleaner (ive used berrymans b12, royal purple, and liqui-moly jectron in her the last 2 years), new die hard gold 65-2 battery with fresh terminals, cleaned grounds, regular oil changes with penzoil 5w30, everything that should be done regularly to prevent issues. I am trying to get some input and ideas beyond checking the wiring harness, etc. Im pretty much stumped on this one. I have never seen nor heard of a vehicle of any kind going thru pcm's like this.

Any thoughts would be most appreciated. Next step is to have someone else go thru the harness and check for anything i may have missed.

Sorry that I don't have any real constructive input to offer.
I can tell you that I have read a whole lot of posts on this & another Dakota site regarding to buggy computers & problems related to suspected buggy computers; however, most of the posts I pay the closest attention to are on the Gen2s.
I've read a few theories about the PCM failures; someone once said that they were related to where the PCMs are positioned in the engine compartment & heat being an issue but I'm not sure I see that, someone else said that they mostly had questionable solder joints going on. . . .

My own '03 Dak suffered a PCM failure back in (I think it was) '18 with 60 some K on her, & at the time I thought that was rather premature. Of all of the potential causes that you listed from that article, my Dakota had/has none of them.

After my troubleshooting pointed at the PCM I did some research to help me decide what to do, & I remember watching a Youtube in which the Youtuber was saying that he had had so much bad experience with reman Dakota PCMs he didn't trust them at all & he felt that the remans were mostly coming from Dakotas that had been scrapped & the people selling them were simply doing the most cursory & rudimentary checks on them & then selling & shipping them as remans . . . I don't personally know if there is any truth to any of that.

I did elect to send my PCM out for diagnosis & repair. The facility I sent it to told me they found a broken solder joint on a pin & they told me they also replaced a coimponent in the coil driver circuit, & I seem to remember it being a transistor, but I cannot be absolute positive about that. They charged me about $100 and change (I could check the actual receipt) & did claim a lifetime warranty on the work that they performed & I haven't yet needed to see if that will hold up.

It also seems possible, after reading your OP, that your current problems might be happening somewhere else on your bus system. My '03 is on the PCI Bus, but that ended in (I think) '04, & I think your '06 would be on the CAN Bus system.

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Captain_Caveman

Discussion Starter · #3 · 5 d ago

To he honest, i wouldnt be surprised if thats true about the reman pcm's. Ive seen some shady things done in my time as a tech. The replacement that i installed actually came from a compamy called car computer exchange, lifetime warrant with it. They have pretty good reviews online, and ive actually seen them mentioned by other posters in dakota forums, so im hoping this turns out to be a good buy when i contact them about the warranty. Also, i agree with you about the heat-theory. Doesnt really add up as the pcm is mounted on the passenger side firewall about a foot from the engine and exhaust manifold, tho anythings possible i suppose. As far as your thought on the issue being somewhere else on the bus, thats where im completely stumped. I build desktop pc's for fun, and im pretty decet with hardware, and some software, but when it comes to how things run in a vehicle and electrical, i never did have a very good grasp of that. Just not the same. Never got around to learning/training on that stuff, and im definitely at a disadvantage when it comes to issues like this. Dont suppose youd happen to have any thoughts on that end?

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immattj

· #4 · 5 d ago

Captain_Caveman said:
Also, i agree with you about the heat-theory. Doesnt really add up as the pcm is mounted on the passenger side firewall about a foot from the engine and exhaust manifold, tho anythings possible i suppose. As far as your thought on the issue being somewhere else on the bus, thats where im completely stumped. I build desktop pc's for fun, and im pretty decet with hardware, and some software, but when it comes to how things run in a vehicle and electrical, i never did have a very good grasp of that. Just not the same. Never got around to learning/training on that stuff, and im definitely at a disadvantage when it comes to issues like this. Dont suppose youd happen to have any thoughts on that end?

That's exactly what I was thinking about PCM failures related to heat.

Will Car Computer Exchange's warranty help you out with whjat you've got going right now?

As far as the bus systems go, my Dak is on the PCI Bus and I find that to be a bit of a mystery. Fortunately for me, mine hasn't had any issues with the PCI bus, so the only experience I have with it is getting into my FSM when someone posts a problem they are having that reads as if it is PCI Bus related. I do know that the sensors, themselves, are not part of the bus, so the CEL doesn't seem bus related, but the fact that your scanner isn't communicating with your truck sort of sounds like a glitch in the bus. I also know that a PCM failure doesn't have to generate a CEL.

As I typed previously, I think your '06 is on the CAN Bus, & if you use that ("CAN Bus") as a search engine up in the search block at the top of the page, maybe you'll be able to dredge up some old posts that offer insight on that system.

Here is a post I was looking for that you might find interesting to read through. It's from a Gen2 owner, but as I remember he was getting frustrated over repeated PCM failures in his Dakota. Maybe there will be some ideas or thoughts or links within the thread that you might find helpful or interesting.

02 Dakota PCM

I am new here, so please bear with me. We have a 2002 5.9l quadcab. We bought it used 2 years ago. Love the truck, Power for me, small enough for the wife. Her daily driver. 2years ago, about 4 months after we brought it, the PCM crashed. Had it rebuilt, all good. Now, almost 2 years to...

www.dakota-durango.com

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Captain_Caveman

Discussion Starter · #5 · 5 d ago

Hoping the warranty holds up, gonna try to find a potential cause for this before i contact them tho. Hopefully figure something out soon. Im hoping to diagnose and resolve the comms issue soon, and see what codes shes throwing. But the cel is on, and has been since the issues began to arise again. Will definitely look further into what youre saying tho to see if there are answers there. Gonna read thru that post, and see what others i can find tho. Maybe something will come of it. Heres hoping anyway lol definitely appreciate the response tho brother, always nice to have a fresh set of eyes on a problem!

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Captain_Caveman

Discussion Starter · #6 · 3 d ago

Update and additional thoughts:

Should have mentioned that when the weather is warmer, the worse the shift characteristics of the trans get: cooler= better, ie, less problems. Engine also stops acting like its bouncing off the rev limiter at or above 3000rpm. Even tho shes nowhere near rev limit. When shes acting up, the trans will seem to try to take off in 3rd, moving the shifter to 3 or 2, she will engage 1st gear. At 3k rpm, or 56mph, she will sometimes shudder like the engine is hitting the rev limiter. Back off the throttle a hair, she stops doing it. Will sometimes take approx 7 seconds cranking to start engine.

Based on other posts here and elsewhere, the problem seems to be an issue with 2 things:

Poor soldering inside pcm, and corrosion onbthe pins between wiring harness and pcm. Multiple posts explaining this, and how a good cleaning of the pins, etc, resolves the issue and prevents reoccurence.

Going to start there with her and see how it goes.

Question is: can anyone possibmy explain this temperature/ performance phenomenon going on with her? I just don't have the electrical/ electronic knowledge to explain this myself, and how temp may or may not affect voltage/signal passthru in the wiring between pcm and sensors etc.

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Captain_Caveman

Discussion Starter · #7 · 3 d ago

immattj said:
That's exactly what I was thinking about PCM failures related to heat.

Will Car Computer Exchange's warranty help you out with whjat you've got going right now?

As far as the bus systems go, my Dak is on the PCI Bus and I find that to be a bit of a mystery. Fortunately for me, mine hasn't had any issues with the PCI bus, so the only experience I have with it is getting into my FSM when someone posts a problem they are having that reads as if it is PCI Bus related. I do know that the sensors, themselves, are not part of the bus, so the CEL doesn't seem bus related, but the fact that your scanner isn't communicating with your truck sort of sounds like a glitch in the bus. I also know that a PCM failure doesn't have to generate a CEL.

As I typed previously, I think your '06 is on the CAN Bus, & if you use that ("CAN Bus") as a search engine up in the search block at the top of the page, maybe you'll be able to dredge up some old posts that offer insight on that system.

Here is a post I was looking for that you might find interesting to read through. It's from a Gen2 owner, but as I remember he was getting frustrated over repeated PCM failures in his Dakota. Maybe there will be some ideas or thoughts or links within the thread that you might find helpful or interesting.

02 Dakota PCM

I am new here, so please bear with me. We have a 2002 5.9l quadcab. We bought it used 2 years ago. Love the truck, Power for me, small enough for the wife. Her daily driver. 2years ago, about 4 months after we brought it, the PCM crashed. Had it rebuilt, all good. Now, almost 2 years to...

www.dakota-durango.com

Many, many thanks for the input brother. Think ive got her figured out now. Just need to do some work to her when i get my hand out of this freaking splint lol but your advice was a godsend! Take care my friend

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