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Edge Evolution fry my PCM or just a bad starter?

3K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  GELong 
#1 ·
Sometimes I should leave well enough alone...

Sunday morning, I decided to plug in the display/control head to the Edge Evolution tuner on the 2001 Excursion 7.3L Ltd 4X4 I inheritted from my brother after he passed away last year. It had been unplugged for months, even years, but the programming tune remained in effect. A couple of months ago, I tried to plug it in but got nowhere- stuck in a "connecting to bridge" or "updating, do not turn off" screens. As I didn't have the time to mess with it then, I just set it aside, left unplugged.

Having all day to fiddle with it Sunday, I tried plugging it in and this time, the display fired right up and appeared to work normally, displaying RPM, EGT, Boost PSI and MPH. Fantastic! I don't know why it works now but I'll take the easy win. Now all I have to do is put the unit back in its dash pod. And therein began my problem.

I unplugged the cable from the back of the display to reroute it through the pod, plugged it back in, buttoned everything down along the A-pillar and then went to start the Ex back up. But when I went to turn the key, instead of the display firing right up as it previously had just done, it reverted back to "connecting to bridge" and hung there. %&(#%^! I started to pull the pod back off the dash and just then, the screen advanced to "Initializing... Leave key in Start Position. Do not turn off." which I obliged, and waited. And waited. And waited. After several minutes, I finally realized there was a bad connection between the cable and the back of the display so I jiggled the pod again. The controller immediately fired right back up to the expected display screen. Great! Back in business.

At that point, I proceeded to start the engine but the starter dragged like it had a dead battery. ***?! Could leaving the key in the on position for several minutes kill the battery?! I didn't think so but to rule it out, I disconnected both batteries and put them on my bench charger all afternoon until they registered fully charged (upon initial connection, they each measured 12.1 volts). I reinstalled/connected both batteries, went to try to start it back up again and no go. The starter continued to drag.While it sounded a little stronger than before, it still dragged like a sick dog and the Ex wouldn't turn over.

I called Edge Products this morning and spoke to a tech there. After explaining the situation, he didn't seem to think it was the PCM since at no time was it trying to reprogram. But he wouldn't definitively rule it out. Further, the only DTC I get is P1000 which makes sense since I had both batteries removed most of the afternoon. The PATS light wasn't blinking either. What do you guys think? Did I somehow fry the PCM? Or could I have somehow cooked the starter/solenoid/relay by leaving the key on too long?

Up until yesterday morning, the Ex had been running beautifully, having just driven it 80 miles on each of the two days before.

Thanks for any knowledge and/or experiences you can share.
 
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#2 ·
You need to have the batteries Load Tested. Even a bad battery will read 12V until you put a load on it. I would also pull the starter and have it tested. You could just replace the starter instead of testing it. Also make sure all of your connections are cleaned and tight. That can make trucks start hard.
 
#3 ·
If you had them on the bench until fully charged, 12.1 volts is not enough! Load tested or not, most of the graphs are showing 12.1 as the battery only having a 50% charge.
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the various replies. When it was all said and done, it turned out to be the new starter (that was purchased and installed just last October) had gone bad. I replaced it with a new one and she now fires right up like a cat jumping out of scalding water.
 
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