All Models (Programming Pcm): Description

WARNING: This page does not describe the selected car, but rather 26 other vehicles, including the 1999 Mercury Villager, 1999 Mercury Tracer, 1999 Mercury Sable, 1999 Mercury Mystique, and 1999 Mercury Mountaineer. However, it is still accessible from the selected car via links, so may be relevant.

Flash Electronically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) is contained in an Integrated Circuit (IC) inside of Powertrain Control Module (PCM). The EEPROM contains the vehicle strategy and any calibration information specific to vehicle. The IC is reprogrammable, and at times it may become necessary to reprogram or reflash the entire contents. This is usually due to an after-production strategy change or the Vehicle Identification (VID) area has been previously reprogrammed and has reached its limit. The VID block can be tailored to accommodate various hardware changes made since vehicle production. This procedure can only be performed using Ford's Service Bay Technical System (SBTS) or equivalent.

A replacement PCM will have a label stating PROGRAMMING REQUIRED. This indicates that it is necessary to retrieve VID data from the original PCM before removing PCM from vehicle. This procedure can be performed using New Generation Star (007-00500) tester or equivalent. See FLASH VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION (VID) BLOCK PROCEDURE. If original PCM is nonfunctional, it will be necessary to manually reprogram VID block. This procedure can only be performed using Ford's Service Bay Technical System (SBTS) or equivalent.

NOTE: If using a generic scan tool, follow scan tool manufacturer's instructions to perform FLASH VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION (VID) BLOCK PROCEDURE.