robert1989

Is there a difference?

I recently purchased an online tune from someone the pcm came out of a F body.

From my understanding they are not the same operating system. While attempting to install the pcm and do the relearn I keep getting warnings flashing across the screen.

My old pcm only has the 1635 code still works and has none of these codes when i switch back to it.

NSFW

What year is your car?
What PCM do you have?
What is the operating system ID on the old PCM, and what is the OS ID in the new PCM?

(For example my 2002 has a 12200411 pcm running 12593358.)

I'd lean toward sending the PCM back with your old OSID and asking the tuner to send it back with the right OS on it. But there is a chance that you have the right OS and it's just not configured for your car's sensors, actuators, other modules, etc. Which would still mean sending it back for a reflash, you just need to be certain what the problem is so they can fix it.

​​​

tblu92

Depending on the year of the F Body ECM they are mostly "cable throttles" where as ALL Corvettes are drive by wire
They will NOT interchage However you on some later models you can have a tuner convert them to Drive by wire
There are also many many tables in a C5 ECM that are different than on an F body ECM To me this is a waste of time and effort to try and use an F-body WCM on a C5
WHY do you think you need a F body ECM ???

JakeRobb

I know it’s been five years, but I came across this thread while trying to learn more about the PCM differences between LS1 F-bodies and C5 Corvettes. I’m sorry, but there’s a lot wrong/misleading about the post above this one, and I’d like to clear things up for the next person who lands here from Google.

First, a nitpick: GM calls it a Powertrain Control Module (PCM), not an ECM.

All LS1 F-bodies (1998-2002) are drive-by-cable. No F-body prior to 2010 was ever DBW from the factory! (And yes, 2010-present Camaros are still “f-bodies” — check the VIN!)

For any given model year, LS1 F-bodies and LS1/LS6 Corvettes all used the same PCM hardware:

’97-98 Corvettes and ‘98 F-bodies used the 16238212
‘99-00 Corvettes and F-bodies used the 09354896
‘01-03 Corvettes and ‘01-02 F-bodies used the 12200411

The same three PCM models were also used on Gen3 V8 as well as 4.3L V6 trucks and SUVs.

Collectively, these PCMs are known as P01. I call this a “family designation.” There may be a more official name, but I’ve yet to encounter it.

The three different hardware units are interchangeable, but depending on the vehicle (year, model, and transmission), the pinout varies a bit, and software might be different. Any decent tuner can flash the correct software onto any of these PCMs, and pinouts can be changed fairly easily as well.

For example, the PCM from an automatic transmission car will be loaded with an operating system which includes transmission control logic. Corvettes will have drive-by-wire software.

While you’re right that it’s possible, basically nobody converts an F-body to DBW. It’s expensive and provides very little value.
F-bodies sold in much greater numbers than Corvettes. The F-body variants are therefore more readily available, and anyone who’s doing a PCM swap is probably engaged in something that requires tuning and wiring work anyway.

NSFW

The suspense is killing me. So I'm going to guess...

97-98 - was that called an LS-A or something like that?

99-00 - I think these are the '896 years? The PCM looks just like the later ones but I've heard (not from an authoritative source) that it had a less powerful CPU in it. But I've also heard that you can flash an OS from a '411 (see below) and it works fine, so I dunno.

01-03 - These had the '411 PCMs, aka P01. All of them have IAC drivers.

2004 - this year had a '243, aka P59, which is basically a P01 with twice as much flash memory. Not all of the P59s have IAC drivers.

You can put a P59 into a car that came with a P01 by swapping the red connector clips for green, and moving one alternator wire from 52 to 75 (on the connector whose clips get swapped from red to green). I did this in my C5.

Also, if you get a '411 PCM, you can flash it with the software that came with any other vehicle that used the '411. In that sense there are not "F-body PCMs" and "C5 PCMs" there are only PCMs that have F-body or Corvette (or Silverado) software on them.

And ditto for the P59s, provided you have (or don't need) one with IAC drivers.

JakeRobb

LMAO. I totally forgot to go back and fill those in!

Are you the NSFW I remember from the CZ28 forums many years ago? 👋🏻

The ‘97-98 is the 212. You’re correct about 896 and 411. All three are in the P01 family. There are more P01s used in trucks and vans. AFAIK, all P01s support both DBC and DBW, although I think Corvette was the only P01 car to use DBW.

Like P01, P59 is a family including numerous specific part numbers with slight variations. For a specific part number, the presence of IAC circuitry is consistent.

Slight correction: you can put a 243 in a car that came with a 411 using the steps you described, but pinouts vary a bit for other P01s and other P59s. You can swap a 411 into a car that came with a 212 or 896, but some more pin swapping is involved. The specific pinouts for any given part are available in the service manuals for the vehicle that came with those originally. You can get a three-day subscription for online access to all GM manuals from the last few decades for $22 at ACDelcoTDS.com. (Recent discovery for me — incredible! Sadly, there’s no option to just download everything for a specific vehicle as one big PDF.)

I believe you can put any P59 into any P01 car, assuming you’re compatible from an IAC standpoint as you noted below.

All correct to the best of my knowledge. 😁

JakeRobb

I’ve edited my earlier post with the missing part numbers, as well as a bit about the P01 designation.

NSFW

Nope, that'd be someone else. I did use this alias in a few Subaru forums from around 2005-2015 though.

smitty2919

Well for one, the Fbody OS isn't setup for dual gas tanks...

To avoid all this fuss, get a C5 OS on a 411 PCM. Going to a P59 is possible in order to run E85, but that requires some re-pinning on the car harness due to the Blue/Green and Blue/Red plugs and also running a specific OS that allows E85 be turned on.

NSFW

The 2004 C5 came with a P59, and that OS has flex fuel tables. I'm pretty sure you'd just need to check the "enable" box and tune them.

smitty2919

Correct, and you need to re-pin the car harness also. This is what I have in my car now for e85 capability.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-early-c5.html

benflynn

you have to have the flex enabled rom for the enable box to work, it’s on the e85 p59 thread