1997 Chrysler Town and Country Odometer change when body co

LINDAKOT

MEMBER
1997 CHRYSLER TOWN AND COUNTRY
6 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
148,000 MILES

I recently had my body control module replaced - the engine would start then die. When I picked up the vehicle it had about 2500 more miles on the odometer than I think it should have. The shop says that replacing the module would not affect the odometer. I found some references on the web that indicated that the body control module stores the odometer mileage and putting in a used one could mess up the odometer. Could the failure or replacement of the body control module have caused the odometer to change? Could it mean that they installed a used one ($690 for the part)? Is there another explanation of what could have caused the odometer to change (the vehicle was towed 5 miles to the shop.)

4 Replies

SERVICE WRITER

MECHANIC
9,123 POSTS

I believe the odometer is only a display and the data comes from the BCM.I'll check into that tommorrow as I can not verify it at this moment.

But. Who Towed it? The same garage or an independent company? You may be able to verify the mileage at the time through the towing company. You can also estimate it based on the last oil change.

The BCM would have to be programmed if I remember right so the VIN matches to the PCM.

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Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 AT 8:58 PM

SERVICE WRITER

MECHANIC
9,123 POSTS

I was correct, I talked to the Dealer parts department to confirm. The vin has to match the pcm and bcm or they won't work together. The bcm is programmed and the Mileage is entered into the bcm. Then it is displayed on the odometer.

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Thursday, January 8th, 2009 AT 7:25 AM

LINDAKOT

MEMBER
3 POSTS

The repair techs are telling me that the BCM has nothing to do with the mileage and that they can't program the BCM (From my research, I thought the service dept had to send the old BCM with the mileage and the new BCM would be preprogrammed with the mileage before being sent to the service dept to install.) If they won't work together if the VIN on the PCM does not match the BCM, would the van even run? Are you saying the BCM can be programmed by the service techs or that it should have been programmed when they received it? Where would the mileage my odometer is showing have come from if it wasn't programmed (could it be a used BCM?) I have a mileage reading from when I purchased new tires on 12/8/08 of 146702 and it was towed on 12/31 (they did not record the mileage.) It had 150431 when I picked it up from servicing. I generally put on about 12500 miles per year. Is there any way to get the mileage fixed? Sorry to ask so many questions!

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Thursday, January 8th, 2009 AT 2:05 PM

SERVICE WRITER

MECHANIC
9,123 POSTS

The BCM gives the miliage to display as I understand it. You can verify this by calling the dealer parts department.

IF I were to order a bcm through dealer or aftermarket, it would have to be programed. It would require the VIN and mileage to do so. IF the VIN doesn't match from the pcm to the BCM, the truck would start and stall as the fuel would be stopped. There are two ways of replacing the BCM. Either yours is removed and sent in to be rebuilt along with the needed info or one is rebuilt and programmed with your info. Service techs do not program these, the rebuilder does.

It is possible they gave the wrong mileage when it was reprogrammed is my guess or they installed a used bcm and pcm. Someone made a mistake it sounds to me. Who? Is the question. According to your figures your drove about 1000/wk. Or someone screwed up.

The BCM and PCM would need to be reflashed to change the milieage. But I doubt anyone would be willing to do that due to liability of odometer tampering.

I hope that clears things up, if not feel free to ask.

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Thursday, January 8th, 2009 AT 5:32 PM