OK lets talk about PCM upgrades.

I took my car in to the dealer for some warranty work and they said that there was a new PCM upgrade for it. I have a 2002 Protégé 5 and they said that they have been upgrading all the Protégé 5's and Sedans that have been in their shop. I could not find any information on the net about upgrade for the P5 or Sedans but the dealer told me if was for adjusting the timing during a cold start up that will allow the car to run smoother until it warms up and remove that slight pinning sound when you get until the car warms up. To be honest I never had a problem with any of those things. The update was done anyway and I don’t hear, feel or see one difference.

One thing that stills bothers me is that the service manager was not very convincing when describing the upgrade to me after it had been done. Is there more involved in this upgrade? If anybody has any further information on the PCM updates please post it.

 

what he's talking about is the VCTS cold-start-up noise. I didn't know there was an ecu flash for this but now that you mention it I do remember hearing something about it a while back.

Maybe Mark will have some info for us.

 

I'm not really sure if I've ever seen a 2005 Protege' but I did find a flash file note in the system. It has absolutly nothing to do with the noise at start-up. If you have an 03 you may be hearing the butterflys in the VTCS rattling. I'll search later for any other refash info.

2001 2.0L INCORRECT WDS PCM CALIBRATION UPDATES
Applicable Models

# 2001 - Protege VIN Range: 000000 - ZZZZZZ;
# 2002 - Protege VIN Range: 000000 - ZZZZZZ;
Symptoms

# 620 DOES NOT TURN OFF/WARNING LIGHT
# 640 IMPROPER OPERATION
MTOL - 3741 Dealer Repair Information

When checking for the latest PCM calibration available using WDS
B17 or later, WDS screen INCORRECTLY shows that "A later calibration
is available 2ALU-12A650-AC File name: QKAA9A0" or 2ALU-12A650-BC file
name "QKMA9B0" on a 2001 Protege.

When checking for the latest PCM calibration available using WDS
B17 or later, WDS screen INCORRECTLY shows that "A later calibration
is available 2ALU-12A650-AC File name: QKAA9A0" or 2ALU-12A650-BC file
name "QKMA9B0". Do you want to reprogram now? Yes or No?

FOR 2001 MODEL
PRESS NO. DO NOT REPROGRAM THE PCM WITH THIS CALIBRATION.

For 2002 MODEL
PRESS YES.

Return to the Main Screen and proceed with other diagnostics.
This calibration is not for 2001 Protege but is for the 2002 model.
It is for the .020" evaporative monitor leak detection strategy.
If the reflash is performed accidentally, it will not cause any problems
such as false MIL illumination or DTC's to be set on the 2001 model.

The incorrect model identification for this calibration will be
corrected on B19 version software.

 

very good Mark. I think he just made a typo on the year. What exactly does this pcm upgrade do? It doesn't mention in the tsb you posted?

 

It states in the last paragraph it changes the .020" leak test strategy. All emission related.

This was to cut down on the amount of P0455/P0456 codes.

 

Sorry it should read a 2002 not a 2005

ENGLISH PLEASE!!! lol

 

My bad,

I guess I need to start some general information threads.

I'll get right on it.

 

I was looking at this site and got some info.

http://web2.airmail.net/theman/protegefaq/tsb/

It looks like they could have done these

#1 01-028/03 2001-2003 Protege, MP3, MAZDASPEED - MIL ILLUMINATION (P0507)

#2 01-004/03 2001-2003 Protege, 2002-2003 Protege5 - RATTLING NOISE AT 1000-3000 RPM COLD ENGINE

Now the question is after they describe the problem they don’t say what exactly was changed to fix it. I’m just curious if timing or other related items were changed and would they have any effect on the cars overall performance. I will say again that I feel no difference in the way the car runs but it is interesting to just know.

 

i know timing or performance wasn't messed with any...