PCM Reprogramming?

[zachmedia]

Greetings everyone! Hoping someone out there could please lend some advice.

I have had a Nissan Altima Se 2005 (AUTOMATIC) for almost a year and a half, buying it used from a dealership. I have no warranty.

I recently replaced (last week) the car's catalytic converter and O2 sensor after the car started burning oil, billowing smoke, making unsual noises and attempting to "give out" when sitting idle in Drive. The "Service Engine Soon" light indicated that both were a problem and needed replacing.

After the replacement, no above symptom returned. However, when starting the car each time it would smoke for a few moments with a few small plumes, then after a while it would stop. I called a very trusted mechanic to look at it and he was stumped; no check engine light, and no computer reports could suggest a problem. But somehow I was still burning oil and a few plumes would sneak out on startup. Another problem was the car took an unusual amount of time to change gears, and the RPM gauge would dip back heavily before revving forward when punching the accelerator.

He then suggested that the solution could be reprogramming the car's PCM which could have gotten messed up/disabled/reconfigured when the O2 sensor failed (the sensor literally melted down). When I first bought the car it did have a problem with the idle being too high, but I found some online instructions to reset it- and hadn't had a problem since.

Now to you experts out there:

1. Is there a way to reprogram the PCM from home? or DIY? I heard you could disconnect your battery (my battery has never been changed, nor been disconnected) and it would reset to factory settings..Or is this just a rumour?

2. Who can reset it, if I can't? Does it have to be a dealership, or do auto care centers take care of this?

3. Finally, how much does something like this normally cost?

Or...Is this not EVEN the problem to begin with?

I appreciate your help in advance. It's people like you that keep the forums running!

-Zach

[zachmedia]

Of Course I come to find out that 2003 Altima 2.5S are notorious for this "phantom" problem. Next thing you know, I've got hundreds of people complaining on various online sites that when the cat goes out the car is pretty much done because the cat desitengrates into the engine causing an engine failure. Looked into a recall (NTB03-070c) on the problem not sure if my situation qualifies, considering I replaced the cat last week.

The way my mechanic explained it to me was that I had three options:

1. Buy a new car.

2. Buy a new engine.

3. Continue to put a qt. of oil in it every week and cross my fingers it doesn't fail on me. This, at best, is a very temporary situation.

this is a major crisis and looking for some solid advice here...Can anyone help?

[Promise Land]

What is the PCM?

[fyrcomm]

What is the PCM?

Powertrain Control Module, i.e. the car's computer