1956 Dodge Magnum

[conrad_az]

I am in the process of installing 5.7 Hemi and 5-45RFE from a 2005 Durango into 1956 Dodge Sierra Station Wagon and have a couple of PCM questions.

I am a cheap b@st@rd so I am using the PCM and wiring harness from the Durango, unfortunately the Durango was equipped with a Wireless Entry Security System which will not let the engine start unless the ignition key is near the wireless tranceiver in the steering column.

Before I try the brute force approach, I was wondering if there is anyway that the PCM could be reprogrammed to ignore this feature in the same way that it can be programmed to ignore the EGR, ABS and downstream O2 sensors.

Plan B would be to pull the wiring and tranceiver from the steering column and hide them with the ignition key under the dash of the '56. Workable, but ugly...

Plan C would be to buy a non security PCM and wiring harness which is really spendy - around $1000 for the wiring and $300-400 for the PCM.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[conrad_az]

After doing a lot of research, I tossed in the towel. There is no clean cheap work around for the security key issue. I was not able to find a programmer that could disable the security.

The 2005 Durango has a CAN bus which would require me to use the FBC as well as the PCM if I wanted to hide the key and wireless under the dash. The FBC and its wiring would be a major PITA to install in the '56 Dodge.

I did find out that if you are installing a 5.7 Hemi in a classic, hotrod or street rod, that your best choice for a donor would be a 2005 Dodge 1500 2WD with the 5-45RFE transmission. It is the last 5.7 on the PCI bus, which makes the wiring a whole bunch easier.

I was able to get a good price on a PCI - PCM and harness from HotWireAuto.com for what it is worth they have everything you need if you are considering putting a 5.7 in a Wrangler - one of my next projects.