QuestionQUESTION: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Chrysler-Repair-807/P1698-code-related-remote-1.htm
ANSWER: Hi Jon,
As you saw in reading the referenced question, you are showing a code 1698 which means the body controller is not getting data from the transmission computer on the digital data bus. And the 'no bus' may well refer to the cluster not getting digital data, but I would expect that would manifest itself as a malfunctioning of the cluster. About the only things I can suggest are that you check the plugs on the back side of the fuse box under the dash which are plugged into the body computer for the possibility that there has been a short caused by the intrusion of water around the windshield that dripped down onto the plugs. On that back side you will find 10 plugs, five of which go to the body computer. Rather than try to describe which it which I would remove the plugs one at a time and clean the interface and then with a spray can of electronic circuit board clean spray the plug and the socket so as to degrease it and also to evaporate away any moisture.
Then you could also check out the pins on the back of the cluster where the plug socket attaches to the circuit board. Pins 3,4,7,8 on the blue socket are the pins that carry the digital data so you would want to touch the tip of a hot soldering pencil to the solder joints for those pins to assure a good connection.
Those are the approaches I can think of the address these code/message that you are experiencing. Other than that it means doing a readout with a more sophisticated code reader, probably at a dealer, to try and pinpoint where the digital data loss is occurring.
Roland
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QUESTION: Took to dealer, and they are 90% confident that PCM (not TCM) needs to be replaced. Of coarse they also claim there were no codes to read, even though I had them read again at Autozone a few deays ago. Any suggestion on how I can confirm? Where is the PCM and how difficult is to replace?
Thanks.
AnswerHi Jon,
I would not go the pcm replacement route yet. Presumably the dealer erased the code, or you can do it by disconnecting the battery for a minute, so then you can drive it for a while and see if it comes again or not. (Disconnecting the battery will cause a 1684 code so ignore that). The pcm is very accessible in the engine compartment on the left inner fender. The problem is it costs hundreds of dollars and also there will be a chrage for 'programming' it so I would believe it will be somewhere between $600-800 for that job and I presume they will not give you back your money and put the old one back in if the code persists.
More likely it is a wire issue. The manual says to check 2 specific wires for continuty between the TCM and PCM: the violet/dark green pin 43 of the tcm to pin 59 of the pcm
white/dark green pin 4 tcm to pin 60 of the pcm
The pcm is sitting just outboard of the power distribution box, and the tcm is sitting just inboard of that same box and the plugs are accessible and the pins are numbered.
I also mentioned earlier the plugs at the body computer. Another idea to try would be to remove the fuse box and body computer, which are interlocked together electrically as well as mechanically, and slide them apart and clean the terminals that interconnect them which could be compromised due to water getting in the interface, given that this is a convertible which has a propensity to leak around the windshield and drip down on that interface under the dash.
That would be my advice. You haven't told me about how the transmission is functioning. If the code is correct, then it should be in limp mode and refusing to shift out of 2nd gear. The PCM could be bad, but I wouldn't do that until the other possibilities are checked out.
Roland
