Check engine light is on

Tiny
GTX6970
  • MEMBER
  • 2008 MINI COOPER S
  • 1.6L
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 127,000 MILES
My daughter's car will randomly stumble or buck on acceleration. Fault I come up with is random cylinder misfire and/or cylinder three misfire. Replaced spark plugs and have swapped coils around with no change. It's really intermittent and I have not been able to recreate with it sitting in the shop. Moved wiring around with no issues. I can't see it being a compression issue with it being so intermittent.

My question is, if I pull an ECM from a local junkyard car of same year model with same engine and transmission combination. Will it run without having to reprogram it to the car's VIN?
Wednesday, December 15th, 2021 AT 12:51 PM

1 Reply

Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 110,114 POSTS
Hi,

To the best of my knowledge, it won't work. The ECM requires reprogramming/encoding specific to your vehicle including the VIN number. The encoding information should be in the original owner's manual. If it isn't, the only way I know how to get the specific codes is through the Centerlink, which requires (I believe) you to be an employee or a dealer.

Let me know if you have other questions.

Take care,

Joe
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Wednesday, December 15th, 2021 AT 8:05 PM

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