Need to vent

I will begin by saying that although I would prefer to get a SCT Tuner from Sean, I do not currently have that kinda spare cash and seems like every time I get close to having what I need to make the purchase, something more pressing comes up. So recently when I found a Superchips 3815 eBay for under $100 I couldn't pass up the chance. I had been researching tuners for a while and knew that from my research that others had the 3815 and it worked with the 2nd gen Rams. So last week I find the auction and win, within 2 days I have received the tuner and although the box had been opened, which I was aware of at the time, the tuner appears to be dang near brand new. I am extremely happy with my find and connect it to my truck only to receive some errors. Unfortunately I do not recall what those were today, yet find that the current software version on the tuner is extremely old (2006) and I download the updates. I again attempt to flash my truck and now the tuner will recognize my VIN and appears to begin the flash, yet stops and gives an error of "vehicle file is not stock" and error code of E-43. Now this truck has been in my family since it was driven off the factory floor and I am the second owner. Never has it been flashed except from the factory with the "death flash". I again go to google and find that a few others with 2nd gens and this model tuner have experienced this, although what appears to be rarely and Superchips has resolved the issue through software updates. I found this out through the Superchips Forum. So I create a user account to post my issues, yet never receive the activation email so cannot post on the forum. As this is this past Saturday, I don't expect to be able to contact abstinence directly and I find an email address for the forum site admin and email him with my issue. Fast forward to today, as yesterday was a holiday I didn't expect to get contacted yesterday. After I do not get a response to my email by around 1030 pm CST, I decide to call tech support. First off, and this is my opinion, but I find it extremely unprofessional when tech support answers the phone and doesn't provide you with their name. I worked tech support for 10 years before beginning my current and final profession so I think I have a little insight into that profession. Moving on I explain to the tech my issue and am stopped once I mention that I have a 3815 and informed that the model tuner I have isn't compatible with my truck. I explain that I have seen many listings online that dispute that, yet the tech again tells me that the 3815 is only for the 2004-2006 Hemis. I now am extremely disappointed in my luck of finding this tuner and hang up. I again email the forum admin, explaining what I had just learned from tech support and finally receive an email response that the tuner will work with my truck. He also provides me with a password to log into the forum. With this I log in and copy and paste my email that I originally sent on Saturday. I later receive a response that it is not normal for the tuner to not recognize a true stock tune and the quickest way to resolve this would be to have my truck reflashed. Or if I'm patient and accept the responsibility superchips can help me with this yet it could take about a week. I guess to create an update that my tuner can get around this error.

Ok I apologize that this is so long, but trust me when I say I paraphrased a lot. Anyway I am by no means bashing superchips at this point, I am merely stating facts and truly hope this gets resolved. I just do not understand why my stock tune is not being recognized as stock. I also do not understand why the tech I spoke with doesn't even know whether the products he is supporting will work on a specific vehicle or not. Now before you say I should have gone with Sean, yes I am aware and eventually will , but less than $100 is much better than $395 right now and I have minor mods that should benefit from the Superchips.

This is really just allowing me to vent, yet any input is welcome. I am just going to give this time and see what superchips comes up with and see if it gets resolved. Otherwise I have just wasted $100.


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Damn. Sorry to hear of this. The SC tuners that I know of that work with these trucks are the 3715 and 3865.

And FYI, ALL 00.5 and 01 Rams had the Deathflash from the factory.

Just a quick update, I am currently in the process with superchips to work through this issue . Hopefully it will get resolved. I will post updates.


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Sorry to hear about your issues. Hope all is well soon

Hope you got your issue worked out. I just got a Superchips 3842 (the newer model) and had the exact same issue you did. I knew my tuner was fresh from the date on the box, so I didn't update it first- mistake. It tuned my truck just fine, but then it would not recognize the VIN and tried to act like it was tuning my truck for the first time when I tried to change tunes. I was getting the dreaded E-43 'non stock tune' code- well, I know that, this tuner installed it! I made one call to SC and got somebody that was not totally up on things, but the second and subsequent calls I dealt with 'Sam' who got it squared away. End result was they wrote a program for the tuner to force the truck back to stock, I could then reuse the tuner as normal. I was told up front that it could take up to a week for the process, but I got a call at 8AM the next day from Sam telling me my update was ready! Happy with SC so far, it does make a difference and I think you'll be pleased once you get by the early glitches.

I'm still working with SC trying to get my issues resolved. I have been getting daily emails regarding trying updates and I will definitely say that beyond the first tech I spoke with I have been getting great service. They sent me a program that was to force a stock flash, but I ended up getting a different error. I am waiting now for them to confirm what was written was correct. I am staying positive at this point and hope for a happy ending soon.


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Ok so it looks like I will have to replace my PCM, SC has tried everything they can to no avail. I'm disappointed, but not in the service I have received since the initial phone call.


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How are they sure it's a PCM issue? Sounds fishy to me...

They ended up sending me a flash to "force" my PCM to be back to stock, or at least allow the tuner to recognize it as stock. This locked the tuner as if I had saved the stock tune from my PCM. When I connected the tuner at that point it would go through the process to return the PCM to stock, then at 100% it would kick out a completely different error than I was receiving before. It recognizes my PCM and my VIN, but just will not complete any process to my PCM. They have since sent me another update to return the tuner to its original state. I think I will probably try cleaning all connections at my PCM before hand, but I do believe SC made a valiant effort. I may even let a buddy of mine try it on his 5.9L DAK to confirm that it's not the tuner once and for all, but was holding out on him. LOL I'm by far not giving up, I want to feel my truck without torque management If that means, in the end, getting a replacement PCM, I'll go there.

Yeah, try it on his Dak...I find it kinda hard to believe that the PCM is junk. No CELs or anything?

Yeah I've actually had a CEL for several years (p0601) I'm sure that's the problem, but I was sure hoping that since I have no other symptoms from the cel other than the light, that it wouldn't cause any problems. Shows how smart I am...


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Internal Controller Failure (M) - Internal controller module fault condition (check sum) detected.



Yup, you're hosed.

Yeah like I said, had the error for sometime with no other problems. Have heard that some have been able to get flee flashed at dealer and issue resolved, but also heard that it required a replacement. I've also heard that some replacements ended up having same error, so have been just living with it. Guess those days are over....


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The way I look at it, at least with a new PCM, you won't get left somewhere.

True story....


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kpd12 said:

True story....


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