P0610 - faulty PCM
 

Hi,

So I've had a P0610 off and on during the winter here, got it checked at the dealer recently and it's the PCM that needs to be replaced. Now that part was insanely expensive from the European parts service, postponement expensive.

So my question is, can I get one on Ebay or do I need more parts to use it on my car? (provided the dealer wants to do it if I get the part externally) I tried asking the online mazda shop but got no reply.

(my car is a North American 04 model, MT)

See post #2 in this thread:
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tro...c-p0610-62049/
Ensure that your dealer has followed all those diagnostic steps.

any used PCM will work, assume it's the same type of PCM, and it's not locked

then u just need to use IDS and As-Bulit Data to do the flash

Getting it to work with the rest of the cars electronics is the hard (and expensive) part, and that takes a dealer or the IDS software.

The part numbers I see on Ebay seem very different from the actual replacement part numbers. But basically any MT from the same model year should work as long as my dealer reprograms it? Or will I only be safe by getting a replacement part?

I had the same problem. There are parts in there that are cold sensitive.

Long story is here https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tro...-610-a-256168/

short version, I bought a used one (LKQ through ebay), sent it to Circuit Board Medics, they rebuilt it (I got a warranty), I sent them mine to copy security data from, I ended up with a rebuilt one, with a warranty, that had my data in it. I also have the old one as a backup for warm days. Not sure what shipping to and from Norway does to the overall equation. My local dealers were a PITA. They wanted $200 just to try, with no guarantee on anything.

Thanks, weird that I haven't found these topics earlier when I searched a lot for this CEL. I have experienced exactly the same stuff, cruise control not working when CEL first appears and such. I had it down to bad soldering myself, my brother always says that when they changed to environmentally friendly soldering there were a few hits and misses :D (dunno if that's true though, but this car is starting to make me feel like it)

I don't know if I'm comfortable shipping my PCM and money overseas, and I guess the dealer's work fees aren't that horrible in my case compared to the option. As I see it I could either get some Fedex 2-3 day service, which is expensive back and forth to the circuit board medics or just buy a used PCM and hope the dealer can reflash it to fit my car.

I understand. A tough choice. But, it gives you an option. Options are cool. In my case, dealer really did not want to do the work, and told me I had to pay no matter what. If you would, let us know what happens.

I need a new PCM now (P0610). Were you able to buy any old PCM off ebay to send to Circuit Board Medics? I'm thinking about going a similar route but I don't want to have immobilizer issues, incompatibility issues, etc. There seems to be about 7 different part #'s for 2004 PCM's to add to the confusion.

I meant to post this link in your other thread ...

@ smutter

I am happy. Issue is you need to have a live PCM so they can read the security data. If live, contact them. I sent them mine, had the ebay one (LKQ with a warranty) sent to them, had them re-build it, then copy the data and send both back.

Worked for me.

P0610 - faulty PCM
 

What do you mean by "live"? My car still runs but I think most of the weird issues I'm having all stem from the P0610 pcm. Are you saying you just sent them your pcm and another for the info to be copied over?

live means working, if your PCM is locked up or not functioning then you're SOL

they save the flash, make the repair, then reflash to ensure immobilizer etc.

he had a second used PCM flashed just in case for a backup (see Post#6)

Ah, so if the dealer is unable to reconfigure your PCM its unlikely one of these repair places will be able to salvage it either?

Sorry, guess my memory was off

He had the info from his original pcm copied into onto the 'used' one, but also had his original repaired as a backup. Both have the same configuration now so in theory he can swap them without issue, except the original will throw the 610 CEL.

In general most dealerships are not very adept at this process. Mazda finally released detailed info on how to do the software side, but they still seem to struggle. I'd expect a pcm specialist to be more familiar with making it happen correctly. This assumes your pcm still works.

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tro...3/#post4677794



.

Contacted Circuit Board Medics, at first they said they don't do RX8 PCM's. When I told them "I know a guy" who sent a used PCM along with the bad one and had the info copied over they seemed to remember 04Green's transaction. They then agreed to do it for only $125 compared to the dealers $1200 for a new one, not a bad deal if it works.

So looking through ebay I see lots of options. Wondering if any 04 PCM will work. I have a N3H6-18-881K. I've found a couple that match part#'s but some I've seen for much less with same part # except the last letter is a J,M,H etc. I'd like to hear what 04Green got, or if anyone knows if all 04 PCM's are compatible in my situation.

Ok, after another hour of searching I found this thread that may or may not have my answer: https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tec...-169465/page2/

This is the basically it:

Assuming you have a 2004 w/ manual transmission, here is how the PCM’s look from my perspective:
*Note the 4 different "groups" that seem to interchange with each other.


N3Z2-18-881A (Built before VIN 100485) (Interchanges with 881B, C, D, E, F)
N3Z2-18-881B (VIN 100486 thru 100628) (Interchanges with 881C, D, E, F)
N3Z2-18-881C (VIN 100629 thru 101416) (Interchanges with 881D, E, F)
N3Z2-18-881D (VIN 101417 thru 104128) (Interchanges with 881E, F)
N3Z2-18-881E (After VIN 104129) (Interchanges with 881F)
N3Z2-18-881F

N3H6-18-881J (Interchanges with 881, 881A, B, D, E)
N3ZD-18-881 (Interchanges with 881J, 881A, B, D, E)
N3ZD-18-881A (Interchanges with 881, 881J, B, D, E)
N3ZD-18-881B (Interchanges with 881, 881A, J, D, E)
N3ZD-18-881D (Interchanges with 881, 881A, B, J, E)

N3Z2-18-881E (Interchanges with 881F, G, H)
N3Z2-18-881F (Interchanges with 881E, G, H)
N3Z2-18-881G (Interchanges with 881E, F, H)
N3Z2-18-881H (Interchanges with 881E, F, G)

N3Z2-18-881J (Interchanges with K)
N3Z2-18-881K (Interchanges with J)

Unfortunately for me N3H6-18-881K isn't listed but I'm beginning to think any "N3H6" PCM will work.

Team, thanks for filling in. I have been way.

Smutter, He got it right. That is what I did.

For the ECU, I would contact the vendor, tell them what you have, and get them to commit. I use LKQ for mine. And, have used them for several things. You can contact them at LKQ Onlike, or something like that.

Found a PCM with the same part# off a part out here, gonna give it a try before handing the wallet over to the dealer.

They did good by me. I am interested in how it works out. The more people who use them, the more likely it is they will pick up the line. This may not be important to the folks near the 3 decent dealerships in the world, but the rest of us need a decent resource.

I suggest you ask them if they will re-build the used one. I am not sure how much they want, but as we were going through the engineering process, that seemed to make a difference. All the coils and injectors are driven by power amplifiers in the ECU. New ones there seemed to make a difference in how the car ran outside of the basic ECU reset.

I flashed quite a lot of ECUs since last time, it's easier than you expected, for this to work they just need to run a few wires (high/low can bus, power, gnd, etc), well of course you need the right tools and those tools aint cheap (as long as it's not some china clone)

Update: After installing the "refreshed" PCM, car runs as it did before but no more P0610. Was finally able to get the DSC and ABS lights to go off also. Had a little miscommunication with Circuit Board Medics though, I was under the impression they were going to flash over the important data to the "new" PCM I sent along with the bad one AND repair said bad one as well, so I'd end up with two identical and functional PCM's. I only received the reflashed one not my original so I have to call and see what happened there. Anyway, it worked, and only cost me $275 instead of $1200 for a new one through the dealer.