Cat 3126 ECM questions.

[John White]

What is the going cost to flash a replacement ecm when replacing it? (on cat 3126) Does it have to be done by Cat? It is on a KW and KW said they would have to send it to cat. Is there a battery inside the ecm that goes bad? Can the back cover be taken off the ecm. Is there anyone that can rebuild it cheaper than a used one?

 

[crane operator]

So are you buying a new ecm, or wanting to repair yours? I guess your last sentence makes it sound like you want to rebuild rather than new?

Anyways, I had suspicions on a ecm in a m11 cummins, and I sent it off to one of the repair guys on the internet. Just google "repair 3126 ecm" and several will pop up. The guy I used had youtube videos of his repair shop, and if I remember right it was around $500.

I think it was around a week turnaround, and he sent a letter with it that "this ecm had some bad solder connections, but I don't think the ecm is your problem". I had sent a explanation of my issues and he was right, I actually had a wiring harness issue in the head. It was way cheaper than the cummins man, who wanted over $2,000 for a new ecm.

So if you want to repair yours, pick one of the guys on the internet and send it off. I think what most do is pop it open, check all the solder joints in the board and look for bad spots. They may have a test bed they hook them up to, or a actual engine, depending on the repair place. Good luck.

 

[Nige]

Is there a battery inside the ecm that goes bad?

No battery in an ECM.

What is the going cost to flash a replacement ecm when replacing it? Does it have to be done by Cat?

If you buy a new or Reman ECM from Cat they ought to flash it for free IMO, or at least for a nominal cost. Officially it has to be done by Cat because they are the only ones who have access to the flash files and only the dealer version of ET has the facility to install them, customer ET does not.

If you are talking about taking a used ECM of the same Part Number as yours from another engine and flashing it with the appropriate software for your engine it's a no-can-do via a dealership. Cat won't supply passwords for the re-rate. Years ago we could get them over the phone but nowadays it's a flat no. (*Other options not involving a dealership may be available.)

Second CO's comment regarding sending the ECM out to someone who specializes in their repair.

 

[crane operator]

If you buy a new or Reman ECM from Cat they ought to flash it for free IMO,

When I was looking at a new ecm for my cummins m11, it was $2,500-3,000 (I think) for the ecm from cummins. PLUS another $400 or so for cummins to flash it to my M11 specs, on the bench from their computer to the ecm. That's why I sent mine off.

 

[Nige]

Back in my days at the dealership (and this was Cat not Cummins) the parts guys would've brought the new ECM to the technical office and it would've been flashed FOC. Especially if it was for a good customer. Now if the flash was done in the field by the Service Dept as part of a diagnostic/repair job then labour would be charged by the hour at standard tech rates. Flashing and configuring the OP's ECM shouldn't take more than about 15 minutes.

 

[John White]

Back in my days at the dealership (and this was Cat not Cummins) the parts guys would've brought the new ECM to the technical office and it would've been flashed FOC. Especially if it was for a good customer. Now if the flash was done in the field by the Service Dept as part of a diagnostic/repair job then labour would be charged by the hour at standard tech rates. Flashing and configuring the OP's ECM shouldn't take more than about 15 minutes.

Thanks: you always come to the rescue. I had a another ecm off same engine, and year, Everything worked fine as far as running, speedo and tach was off by alot and electric fan would not kick off. Took it to Cat, flashed it. $340.