WAIT! Before you install that BCM, here's a copy / paste version of my reply so I don't have to retype everything and possibly forget an important point. Ignore the first paragraph but I would have to figure out how to make it make sense so I just left it alone:
Ok, first of all, roll the driver's window down, hop out of the car, use the power lock button on the door to lock the doors, close the door, then wait for at least a minute. The anti-theft system will arm if you have it. Now reach inside and open the door with the inside handle. If the horn starts blowing and some lights start flashing, you have the anti-theft system. This is real important to know when it comes to replacing the Body Computer or the Engine Computer. If you have the anti-theft system, you can use any computer from the salvage yard, but from then on, that computer will only work on another car that also has the anti-theft system. DO NOT borrow a friend's computer if his car doesn't have the anti-theft system.
Both computers have anti-theft programming that can not be undone. If your car does not have the anti-theft system, you must find a used computer from a donor car that also did not have anti-theft, and that can be impossible to find out from the salvage yard since there's no easy way to tell unless the car was running when it was brought in. Even then, they might not have bothered to find out.
When you install either the Body Computer or the Engine Computer with anti-theft programming into your car without anti-theft, the new computer will teach it to the other one. A Body Computer will teach it to the Engine Computer or a replacement Engine Computer will teach it to the Body Computer. At that point the car will not start because both computers are waiting for the disarm signal that's never coming. Both computers will have to be replaced at the same time. If you just replace one of them, it will immediately learn the anti-theft programming from the other one as soon as the ignition switch is turned on.
If you buy a remanufactured Body Computer from the dealer, it will come without the anti-theft programming. It will work in any car as soon as it is installed and will self-program itself for anti-theft only if the system is on the car, when it learns it from the Engine Computer.
I just wanted to get all of that out of the way in case you do need to replace the Body Computer, (Body Control Module) ( BCM).
Okay, now that you read all of that, it is all irrelevant if your car has the factory anti-theft system. Just remember that any BCM will work but if it doesn't solve the problem, it can only be used on another car with the anti-theft system. If your car does not have anti-theft and you install a BCM already programmed for it, you'll end up needing a new BCM AND Engine Computer, so if you don't know the history of the BCM you bought, don't risk installing it.
Friday, April 29th, 2011 AT 5:33 AM