Amazon has hassle free returns if it has any issues
amazon link for your specific pcm just click
The sellers that sell via Amazon must be fulfilled by the seller if their programming the VIN in. I've gotten stuck with bad parts before(metal impeller Gates water pump, with a massive dent in the impeller), as they made returning it near impossible.
It seems that the suggestion most often given to getting a PCM is to go to a u-pull yard and get one. A member of this group, Waterluver, offered (still does?) reprogramming/check out services.
I got one from Autozone years ago, didn't work. Returned it and finally found one, new old stock, from a jeep dealership. With the scarcity of serviceable old ones, and given they are by most standards nearing their electronic EOL, I am glad I parted with my vehicle....then again, the rust was so bad it would not pass inspection.
Unfortunately, there aren't any U-pull yards within 100miles of me. Last summer I needed a transmission, and had absolutely no luck finding one. I ended up putting in the 250k+ mile one from a very rotted out parts '01 WJ thats been sitting for 8+yrs. The alternative was a junkyard pull off Ebay who's return policy made it cheaper to eat a bad part than return it.
I've got 2 spares, one from an '04 Freedom edition that I know has a different part number, but is the one I tested with but didn't attempt to start the engine. It has a steel back plate and it's heavily rusted. The original has a cast aluminum housing with a apparently stainless backplate. The other spare is still sitting in an '01 Laredo but it's been parked for the better park of a decade, and the previous owner told me he had computer issued with it stemming from a hole in the case but some RTV on the hole "fixed it."
I was hoping just to order one from a website somewhere and drop it in.
Waterluver is the guy who can reprogram a used (junk yard) pcm.
He does fast turnarounds.
The reason I asked your year is I have a known good 4.0 but a 1999.
Most likely different
Ron
I've got an '04 that I knows a different part number, and an '01 which had a hole in its case when parked 8+yrs ago. Sourcing a used unit is the real issue, as getting used parts around here is near impossible.
Anyone that needs help with a pcm replacement feel free to send me a message here, until fall I'm in the shop Monday through Wednesday every week and running my dealer route the rest of the week on top of running my charter business on the Great Lakes on weekends so I'm a very busy guy and don't have as much time to read over the general forum until the off season.
If you can't get a pm to me on account of being new here, just send me an alert by typing
@Waterluvr anywhere in a forum post and we will get you whatever help you need to get back on the road again.
Sounds like your not super far from me. I'm on the St. Lawrence near Canton/Potsdam/Massena in NY.
My big issue is timeframe, as I'm costing my parents much extra in gas by borrowing the car I've driving when the Jeeps down. Thumper was down 4 months last summer(trans swap, fuel tank skid replacement, framerail rust repairs), and a month this summer(Engine dropped a piston skirt.) This issues already on 3+weeks, as it took 2 just to track the PCI bus issue to the PCM.
I've got a "ran when parked" PCM from an '04 Freedom edition I parted out years ago. That WJ was a dealer trade in that supposedly ran when traded in, but the dealer sold it to a guy that parted out vehicles without a title as they didn't think it was worth sending to auction. I initially paid $50 for the steering box, then $400 more for it to be dropped off at my house where I could strip everything I wanted off, minus body panels and axles. As I ran the transmission for ~5yrs, and currently running the engine, as well as cooking my bad back; I'd say I've gotten my moneys worth.
The other complicated part is that Thumper is a mix of different Jeeps at this point. The engine I just installed was from the '04, the current transmission is out of the '01. Insturment cluster is from the '01, and reads 5k high, as apparently the mileage is stored in the instrument cluster and the mileage difference between the 2 WJ's was about 5k(I wrote exact numbers on the back of the cluster I installed), and Heated power seats from the '04 replaced the original unheated power drivers/manual passengers. Rear axle is out of a ? WJ(not that the rear axle has any modules that would impact the PCM), that a coworker had "repossessed" from someone he'd sold it to(he was kind of a dealer for the "part out guy" but isn't anymore) and they didn't pay; for $40.
I also plan on doing a SKIM delete in the process of swapping it, as I've only ever had 1 chipped key, and the key lives in the Jeep any time I'm at work(recycling plant, as we process ****tons of randomness every day; my phones been dropped on the floor, scooped up by my skidsteer sent through 4 conveyors and though a trash compactor and somehow survived(I've decided that phones immortal, I usually kill a phone every 6 months. I've hatred this one from day 1 as it's super slow, and it's lasted 3+yrs.)
