Are all 6.0L PCM's the exact same?

[Evil Eye]

Hey guys,
Got to talking to someone over the weekend and we stumbled across a question where neither of us knew the answer. (I thought for sure that lightning was gonna strike! ) The way I understand it is that the 7.3 PCM has a different base code that is flashed that way from the factory similar to the 6.0L strategy. I understand that the 7.3 guys will trade out their PCM's in order to get a different base code, which allows the tuner to take advantage of different parameters in the base code. So based on this line of reasoning, does the SCT flash tuner overwrite the base code on the 6.0L PCM, which in turn would indicate that all 6.0L PCM's are exactly the same.....

OR

Are the 6.0L PCM's manufactured in such a way that the base code (strategy) allows certain parameters to be updated in the custom tuning, but that each PCM is locked to that strategy. Meaning that an 03 PCM would be functionally different than an 07 PCM.

PS. I should mention that I am aware that you can flash the PCM to update the strategy or roll it back. BUT are there some year PCM's that won't work with other vehicles?

[Evil Eye]

Bump... Bump, bump...

[Evil Eye]

Nothing?

[Evil Eye]

Anyone know the answer to this?

[sinner6.0L]

nope, don't know the answer to that one. I suppose I could ask my parts guy to run the number but I know I'm going to get a bunch of weird looks about it

my guess is they're all the same just like the reman ficms

[TexasKingRanch]

I believe 03-04 are different from 05,06,07 but don't quote me on that.
(03 and early 04 are 7 pin if I understand correctly), late 04 and on is 4 pin.

[dazdillenger]

The pcm's are indeed different. Try sticking a 2005 pcm in a 2003, Lots of things won't work correctly. The 05-up have a strategy that simulates a misfire due to low fuel level, the 03-04 does not. The pcm's are coded just as the 7.3's are. The 6.0 stores the vin inside the pcm as well (starting in 05). The 03 pcm will run an 05, and vice versa, but you will end up with a CEL.

As for 7 pin vs 4 pin, that's referring to the FICM, not the PCM.

[dazdillenger]

I needed a pcm for my truck a while back-For a while I was searching for a truck with the same trim level, but ended up finding one for an XL model, 2wd whereas I have an xlt 4x4 with esof. I was concerned it wouldn't function properly, particularly the esof, but It plugged in and worked without issue.

I can also say that the 6.0 excursion PCM is different as well as the excursion is equipped with PATS, while the superduty is not. As far as them being identical electronically, I don't know. I'm fairly sure you can re-flash the pcm to a different calibration entirely, but I don't believe the SCT does that-I believe it just alters parts of the calibration. ALSO, the 06 pcm uses the information center for all sorts of oddities-even more so than my 05 does. I have no idea what would happen if you installed a 2006 pcm in an older truck without the information center.

If you really care, I have several PCM's (03, 04, 05, and 06) along with all the trucks that they belong to. I could try a chinese firedrill for see what happened while hooked up to my scanner-see what codes were set.

[TexasKingRanch]

Guess I should read threads before replying.

[Evil Eye]

Originally Posted by dazdillenger

I needed a pcm for my truck a while back-For a while I was searching for a truck with the same trim level, but ended up finding one for an XL model, 2wd whereas I have an xlt 4x4 with esof. I was concerned it wouldn't function properly, particularly the esof, but It plugged in and worked without issue.

I can also say that the 6.0 excursion PCM is different as well as the excursion is equipped with PATS, while the superduty is not. As far as them being identical electronically, I don't know. I'm fairly sure you can re-flash the pcm to a different calibration entirely, but I don't believe the SCT does that-I believe it just alters parts of the calibration. ALSO, the 06 pcm uses the information center for all sorts of oddities-even more so than my 05 does. I have no idea what would happen if you installed a 2006 pcm in an older truck without the information center.

If you really care, I have several PCM's (03, 04, 05, and 06) along with all the trucks that they belong to. I could try a chinese firedrill for see what happened while hooked up to my scanner-see what codes were set.

Thank you for the information. I had noticed through reading a BUNCH of posts from several forums that the plugs were slightly different between the 03-04 and the later years but nothing as definitive as your post. Like you, I had suspected that the PCM's could be reflashed to a different strategy, but since the strategies were different between the years, I was wondering if that was purely software or if there were hardware changes as well.

I'm more than a bit curious because I have been experiencing some issues that don't seem to be common among other tuned trucks, but have given me similar symptoms regardless of the custom tuning. I would venture a guess that it might be PCM related, although I don't have anything definitive (like DTC's) to suggest that.