Chrysler Repair: Body control module, neon glow, body control module

Question
Roland,
 We have a 96 Seabring wich we took to a reputable service center for service when we arrived to pick up the car the key would not work in the ignition switch. After further diagnostics they decided that the body control module is bad. We got the car to start and on the way home we made one stop. Now the the key will insert and turn to the start position and the cluster lights will come on but that is all. Here is my question I can get a BCM from a junk yard for a hundred dollars Where is the BCM located in the car and would I need to re-program this module to work in my car. Is there anything else that might cause this car to do this ? Thanks George

Answer
Hi George,
No, the body control module is not programmable, so as long as it had the same part number it would not likely be different, as far as I know. It is usually located to the right of the passenger's right shin, above the panel on the cowl which is called the kick panel.
But I would question whether the BCM would be involved in preventing the starter motor from energizing. It does have a wire going to it that tells it whether the trans is in park/neutral positions or not, but I don't believe it actually controls the starter relay.
So my thought is that this is a standard situation of the starter motor not responding to the ignition key. There are several paths that need to be working to get the starter motor to spin:
The thick red wire from the + post of the battery has to be firmly attached to the starter motor, but don't check that out without first disconnecting the - post of the battery to take it out, becasue that red wire is always hot so if you accidentally jump a tool to any metal surface when you are checking that the red wire is tight you will get a huge current and instant burn of your hand.
Then you need a voltmeter or simple 12V neon glow lamp to determine if the voltage to operate the rest of the circuit is present or not.
There is a starter motor relay located under the hood in the rectangular power distribution center near the battery. First thing to do is try the ignition key and see if the relay clicks when you try the starter position with the key. If you do, then you know the ignition switch and the relay coil and the park/neutral safety switch is o.k. The question then becomes is the relay sending 12v to the the other smaller brown wire at the starter motor. So you would remove the connector for the brown wire at the starter motor and test to see if it gets 12V when the key is turned. If it does, then there is something wrong with the starter motor (either the motor or its solenoid switch). You would have to remove the motor and have it tested.
If 12V doesn't appear at the end of the brown wire, then the relay's internal points are bad, even though it clicks. You would replace the relay (oops, see below where I tell you one other thing you have to check: that there is 12v getting to pin 87 (or in fact any pin in the relay socket as there is only one such pin) ALL THE TIME. If so then the relay is bad and needs to be replaced.
If the starter relay doesn't click, then you need to test whether the ignition switch is working and also whether the park/neutral safety switch is working. Remove the relay and examine whether it is numbered as to the 4 contacts. Find the one that has an "81" on it if possible. That is the one whose socket pin should get 12V when you try the ignition switch. If it doesn't then the ignition switch is bad. If it does then you either have a problem with the relay or the park neutral safety switch in the automatic transmission (try slightly repositoning the shift lever to see if you can get it to work). Testing the switch or the relay requires an ohmmeter. So let me know if you have that capability and I'll tell you how to do that. Also check to verify that the socket for pin 87 of the relay socket has 12V on it all the time. The other two sockets are for the brown wire and the other goes to the park/neutral safety switch and those would not have voltage on them if you pulled the relay out of the socket. So basically the test at the relay socket is: can you find a pin with 12V all the time, and can you find one that gets 12v when you try the ignition switch. If there is not a pin with 12v all the time then there is a 20 amp fuse in the power center that is blown or loose so check those fuses.
So, those are some ideas to try. I am sorry to disagree with the shop, but I don't see any way for the BCM to prevent the starter motor from working.
Roland