Finally found a computer module for my old truck. It’s been down since January. Found a great mechanic locally who diagnosed it, but he couldn’t help find the part. First I sent the one in that was in the truck to get fixed, but the company couldn’t fix it. Then I started looking at outfits that dealt in ECM’s and found a lot of outfits with poor ratings and customer service. Normally I don’t mind just buying a random part and figure it will work – the computer for the truck is $800 and up, so you really want to know it’s coming from an honest, reputable company. Which I hope I have.
I got the computer yesterday and installed it this morning. It’s as easy as changing the air filter. 3 bolts hold it to the firewall, and then 3 wire harnesses plug into the computer. A five minute job.
Then came the moment of truth. I hooked up the batteries again, then climbed in and turned on the key. Everything lit up on the dash board like it’s supposed to! The truck started, and the tachometer and alternator were again working. So far so good. I started up the road and immediately noticed I had full power like a big diesel truck should. The only problem: it wouldn’t shift out of first gear! And, the speedometer wasn’t working.
I called my mechanic and asked him to look at it. He said it was probably the transmission speed sensor or something, but couldn’t look at it for a week. I scheduled an appointment, then looked up the sensor location on You Tube. Then I crawled under the truck and there it was. Unplugged! I’m sure my mechanic probably unplugged it when he was troubleshooting the computer, and just forgot to plug it back in.
I plugged it in, and now had all my gears and the speedometer. Happy day. I texted the mechanic to let him know what happened and that I could cancel my appointment. Now to get Brian’s outboard on the boat.
Jeff and Andrew helped me ease the old Yamaha 115 off, then I pulled out all the cables. I got the 135 Merc on myself, and started pulling the cables. Just have the fuel and oil hookups left and then a test fire and hopefully a test run after that.