I experienced it first hand today at Rick Hendrick Chevrolet. I took my 07 with 57K miles in for the ignition switch recall. The check engine light had been on for a while and according to the code it was the ECM. It ran fine, but I was resigned to buying a new computer soon in order to pass emissions.

They called to say it was ready and oh, by the way, we replaced your ECM under warranty and turned out the check engine light. The service writer told me it has an 8 year/80,000 mile warranty.

Wow! I am a happy guy today, that would have been an expensive repair.

 

That is the Federal Emissions Warranty, and yes I've heard of it.

What "code it was the ECM"? There is a number, not a name.

ECM stands for Engine Control Module, right?

 

You're referring to the 96mo./80000mi. federal emission, catalytic converter and PCM warranty. It would be the PCM (powertrain control module) that was replaced.

 

Hey TAK,

I'm happy to hear that your vehicle concerns were taken care of and you left a happy customer. If you would like me to send your dealership a compliment for their service, just send me a PM with the info :).

Patsy G
Chevrolet Customer Care

 

According to my repair order, it was the ECM. Tech writes "...check engine light stays on, found internal memory fault in ECM causing code P0604". I don't know enough about modern computer-equipped vehicles to dispute or agree with your PCM reference. If that is the same as the ECM, works for me.

 

To the best of my knowledge, ECM stands for Engine control module. The code was P0604. I am well familiar with that code now. I have been trying everything in order to clear it, almost bought an ECM to install myself - whew!

 

Sure, feel free, that would be nice. It was Rick Hendrick Chevy in Buford, GA.

 

Remember that the Federal mandate requires the vehicle to remain emission compliant for 8 years or 80,000 miles. ANYTHING that makes the engine run rich during that time has to be repaired at no charge to the owner.

 

Good to know. All I had was a check engine light that would not turn off no matter what I did. The car ran well like it always did. I thought I had messed up when I replaced the battery like I always have in the past, removed the old one and installed the new one. I had people telling me no, you can't do that to a car with a computer. The light was on within minutes of installing the new battery. That was probably just a coincidence.

 

I guess it's possible to cause a voltage spike or something if you were to short the cables under the right circumstances. That may be one of the reasons 2008's had a programming problem after jump starts.

Curious.