04, FIPK and straight pipe, no other mods.

bought a used Bully Dog from a Friend, and have 2 friends who are Bully Dog Dealers.

One of the Dealers had already did a "free" Flash to it, and I liked it, and I trusted him, so had him do this download, at his house (250 miles away....) over Christmas.

The Bullydog locked up on the download, and flashed "recovery required" but would not recover, tried ~half dozen times.

the downloaded kept locking up with a code Q2x7f or something displayed, I took pictures of the display. had to unplug it to reset.

disconnect both batteries. it's Christmas day, but we drive 45 mins to his shop, and get a Triple Dog, drive 45 minutes home, try it ~half dozen times.

still turns, but won't fire at all.

so we called a few more guys over, and used a block & tackle to get it on trailer, and down to dealer. This is Sunday. They are closed Monday.
so me & wife set there, burning vacation time.

Dealer opens service Tuesday, Mechanic says ECM is bad, requires new one. Service Manager says not under warranty (I told them what I was doing, just to make thier troubleshooting easier)

Said the CUMMINS ECM is a "STAR" part and has to ordered in, take a few days, and cost $1300, and $400 for something else, a little over 1700 total, and it's on my dime.

and then Cummins REQUIRES all ECM's to be returned so they can find the fault.

FWIW, I know BullyDog doesn't owe me anything, since I did not buy it new, but I did call & politely leave my Cell # and state that I was stranded ~250 miles from home. They never called back (cell coverage spotty there, but no message)

I tried to trade it for a Gasser, but the Service Manager got to the New Car Manager, and no joy there.

so, let the bashing begin for my stupidity, but any way I can get an ECM Cheaper?

 

Not sure about a better price but that old ECM is yours wether they like it or not. unless they warranty it you keep it, they don't have any right to take it because you paid for it. Good luck with the ECM.

 

^^^^ good point, keep the ecm, if anyone should get it then it should go to Bullydog soi they can see what they screwed up.

 

What a bummer.......and over Christmas to boot. We have seen that happen several times. In the last thread about it, the common theme was "Never Re-Program On the Weekend" in case you run into problems. Bulldog has a simple fix for that, but it requires them to overnight you another downloader with a special recovery program on it. The recovery program hasn't failed to work yet, but being closed on the weekend, your stuck until they open shop to get one on the way to you. It sucks that you purchased a new ECM. There is only one way to know for sure, but chances are a new ECM wasn't required. It sucks even more that your dealer buddy let you buy a new ECM. Being a Bullydog dealer, he should have known about the recovery program and pointed you in that direction. Since you didn't buy new, you may have had to pay the shipping and a core charge until you sent their recovery downloader back. You would have been out less than $100 in the end.

I would get the old ECM back if you can (they are right, it's yours), contact Bullydog and have them send you a recovery program. Put your old ECM back in (a few screws and two plugs...easy stuff) and run the recovery program. That ECM should be good to go at that point. Then, you can list it on E-Bay or the DTR classifieds and get a good chunk of your money back. People pay big bucks for a good, working ECM for our rigs.

Bullydog really needs to put that recovery program on all their downloaders and make it a menu option.

 

i had a problem close to that before when i couldnt get recovery mode to go. i called bd and told them i need urgent tech support and they put me directly to a rep without holding (the first time i called they made me hold) and i got the problem solved. recovery mode for sure sucks.

 

the ECM is a core charge item , so you can pay the core charge and keep it , just like injectors , there is a core charge for each one.

 

Thats a tough hit to take.
I would keep the old ECM and talk to bully and maybe you can recover the ECM for a spare or for future mods.

As far as I know, the 3rd gen ECM's are no longer Cummins parts. DC writes the ECM's now so that would be why STAR wants it...they want to check the fingerprint the dloader left as well as see if its their fault...and I bet they do not tell you. Get the old ECM if possible.

Scotty

 

before you pay the dealer, call bully dog back, & ask to speak to Justin. here's my thread https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...ad.php?t=66326

 

I have several ECM's laying arround here collecting dust...

If you need one...
Only thing, it will take at least three days for the shipping to get there.
Shot me an PM if you think I can help you.

Marco

 

The ECM is still a Cummins part. That's why its mounted on the engine instead of in the engine compartment or in the cab where it would be much more reliable (less heat, vibratio, corrosion). You can find a 7 digit Cummins part number on it. There is also a DC part number, but if the ECM was a DC only part, there would be no Cummins p/n for it. The same ECM is used on all the other Cummins applications for this engine too (marine, off road, power gen).

I agree that you should be able to keep the old ECM. What was the $400 extra for? If it was the core charge, then you for sure get to keep it. Either way, you should become a little more assertive now that you've spent $1700 and used up some vac time.

You can't just buy another ECM because of the VIN information. You have to have it programmed for your specific truck. Its even worse if you have the thick grey key instead of the thin black key. The grey key has the chip in it that's specific to your vehicle and the information is stored in the engine ECM (along with other modules).

I have already mentioned on here before that the downloaders are detectable with a DRBIII and they are unreliable (like most electronic equipment).

I can't figure out why people use them.

 

That depends....
Could we agree to disagree on this point?

 

So, If I get an ECM from Marco, will it make my truck RUN?

if not, can I install it, and have the dealer reflash it to my VIN, and then my truck will run?

i got the skinny key - no chip.

reason for using the BDDL? not following the board close enough to realize they are causing all these problems.

 

I think you will need the dealer to flash it with your VIN#.

 

http://www.bullydog.com/Contact_Us.php

left them a polite note asking if they could support me since I bought it used.

I would at least like to send it in, to be checked out, before I put it on E-bay and hurt someone else's

 

04, I thought I saw on here that cost on the ecm was something like $500. If the dealership wants $400 for a core charge that's understandable. (I hate core charges but understand them) Sometimes the policy is core required. I know Cummins doesn't like the ECM's floating around. Marco long time no hear, are you still working on reprogramming ECM's. O4 good luck with whichever way you end up going. I'd try the BD recovery downloader for sure. It is definitely the cheapest. Is the code you got for lost power to download. I hear if you don't turn everything off and you get a voltage drop the downloader will crap out. I run my laptop on a digital inverter and man my voltage fluctuates a lot. I think I'd have the batteries on trickle charge or hook up to another battery bank to ensure stability. I'm a risk taker but I can't live without my truck for a day so I think I'm going to pass on a downloader. I tried one of the sample downloads but I think they just juice a couple of parameters for like 20 minutes and then evaporate because mine has had no ills since. I'd like to check to make sure I still have the Canada polar ecm flash. ks