hey guys,

i was wondering if any of you could help me out with a little "situation" i have lol. well, for starters, i just recently purchased an 08 nissan altima 2-door (i love it; it's fantastic!). Unfortunately, after a week of having it my "service engine soon" light went on:( tragic, i know. in anycase, i took it to the dealership today and they ran a diagnostic. turns out the BCM (or body control module) needed replacing because the original one "short-circuited"? well, they ordered the part and they said they would let me know when it came in so they could replace it for me. that's all fine and dandy, but i'm still left with a couple of questions, so here they are.

1) What exactly does the BCM (body control module) do?

2) does replacing it require going under the hood, or the removal of other components? mainly important engine parts, intererior, etc...

and

3) is this replacement covered by my warranty? lol (silly question that i should know but i have to ask anyway)

I would appreciate any and all feedback. thanks in advance.

when i took mine in for 1000 mile service (free) they mentioned to me there's a part in the A/C that's being recalled. Nissan will be sending out a letter soon. Forgot the part though.

I'm not 100% on this but I think the BCM is the on-board diagnostic system that is in the car. This is what records what is happening and when there is a problem it triggers your lights and tells the techs what is going on. I beleive it is located inside the car but I am not sure exactly where. I suspect it is either under the seat or behind the dash. I would absolutely think that it would be covered under the warranty.

IIRC, there was another member on this forum that had to have the BCM replaced. I think that is the controller that talks to all the other controllers and retrieves errors

thanks for all the feedback guys. another question that's on my mind is this:

will the faulty BCM be detrimental to the engine itself? in other words: will i have reduced engine power, gas mileage, efficiency overall?

hmm, the BCM is actually located inside the car? so the removal and installation should be completed rather quickly?

again, thanks for all the help fellas.