My first tune

Mooseman

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Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
Well, got my feet wet with a quick tune on my new to me 08 Avalanche 6.0. I just did some quick stuff like disabling DOD, enabling Power Enrichment, disabling PWM on the TCC and disabling VATS.

PE was effectively disabled as it was set to work only above 8400 RPM! I also removed the delay of 3 sec and have it activate at ≥50% throttle. My butt-o-meter tells me it's giving more power. It was so bad before I thought it was swapped with a 5.3.

Since I'm towing our old trailer tomorrow to North Bay, I didn't want to mess with torque management yet. For a first tune, it wasn't too bad. Still lots to learn though.
 

gmcman

Member
Dec 12, 2011
4,656
Not sure how it differs from platform to platform, but PE is generally an "enrichment" or addition of fuel. Not saying ot doesn't help, but that's where my paygrade stops...lol

Here's some great videos to start with, also have a great playlist. Kyle is well-spoken and provides a straightforward approach.

Many I'm sure you may know but still a good watch.

Older video but good intro




Lamda vs AFR:

This channel is good but is more geared towards boosted engines.

 

littleblazer

Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
PE is the equivalent of secondary opening in a carb. Richer mixture keeps it producing the best power it can. I haven't done any gen 3 or newer but older TBI setups sure. Its all map based but I have a decent tune thrown in the vette now. I was able to drive it on my first file I built. Very fun but its taken me since February to get to now where I feel it is very much optimized. A lot of driving.

Here is my first start. It stalled because I lost fuel pressure not because it was rich. Found that out later. Its all so much fun.
 

mrrsm

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If you can spare "The Bread"... "The Tuning School" Training Courses are SPOT-ON for anyone with any type of LS Engine and just now breaking in their HP-Tuners Kit and well worth the Money:

 
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Reprise

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I see the thread title, and think of toddler toys...lol.
My mind envisions Moose sitting there with a toy laptop, etc. "Vroom! Vroom!" :laugh:

I'm just starting out with mine. It's running ok, but I'm not going to really start seriously playing with it until I get the fuel pump swapped out (just got it yesterday), and get the noise in the rear diagnosed (by a shop) & fixed.

Right now, I've got a lot of 'pseudo' misfires occurring, but I haven't locked in timing, yet. I've done some on-the-fly adjustments with the logger, but haven't transferred them to the editor.

Question - What versions of h/w & s/w does everyone have? I've got the 'original' V1 MVPI (Pro), running 3.6.26

That's supposedly the current 'stable' release, but every time I try and pull a tune from HPTs repository or forums, I get a software versioning error (the imported tune file was created with a higher version). So I'm likely going to prep up a second laptop and start putting the 4.x 'beta' versions on it, so I can at least *look* at others' tunes.

Re: Training... At first, I thought I was going to break down and buy it (runs about $450-500 or so), but as I get more immersed in this, there are other online resources available (some posted by @gmcman, above). I've also been able to pull some sample portions of printed 'formal' training online (and can share them, if anyone's interested). Still need to thoroughly read through them, but what I saw of them so far, looked pretty good.
 
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mrrsm

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@Reprise... Of "Course"... But having seen the "Hit and Miss" ad-hoc information offered online and Youtube Videos that are 'Just Okay', versus the Step By Step "Hand Holding" Template approach that their Formal "Book Training"*** offers through "The Tuning School" ...There simply is NO Comparison.

If you watch "The Goat Rope" Training Videos, you'll get a little closer to this Quality of Instruction. But the VOP's Instructions there are nothing that you can 'Hold in Your Hands" ... and REALLY STUDY.

If you later decide to change your mind and you have more than 2-3 different Chevrolet Vehicles to Tune... You WILL Get Back what you Paid For this Formal Training ...and THAT will be 'Par for The Course'.

*** Please Remember that their AWESOME Stuff is Very Proprietary and Well Defended on-line. ;>)


For anyone deciding to get into using Tuning Hardware and Software, these are the most important things to do from Day One whenever using HP-Tuners:

(1) Create a Durable Library of Consecutive HP-Tune Versions and Back Them Up to Burned CDs.
(2) Start by Downloading your OEM Tune and Saving it as "The Rosetta Stone" JUST IN CASE.
(3) Create a PERSONAL TUNE NAMING CONVENTION and STICK WITH IT.
(4) Build in a Date/Time Stamp as Part of the Naming Convention.
(5) Make Damned Sure that your Car/Truck Battery is Fully Charged.
(6) Use a Decent Battery Maintainer.
(7) If working with a Bench Top Harness... Ensure the use of an Uninterrupted Power Supply.
(8) Record Screen Prints on each consecutive Screen and SAVE them as Before & After Images.
(9) Check ALL of your Power and Harness Connections for establishing Good Contacts.
(10) Try to Minimize changing TOO many Parameters per Tune. One Variable at a Time is BEST.
 
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Reprise

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I've heard this adage years ago, and believe it rings true...

A person only remembers, on average:
- 10% of what they hear...
- 30% of what they see...

But -- they remember 80% of what they *do*

As time goes on, I find this is pretty true when it comes to me, at least. With advancing age, the brain just doesn't absorb info as quickly as it used to. So, for me... "doing"... is good.


If I were developing skill w/ tuning to turn it into a side hustle... I might do the 'formal' training. If nothing else, I could take it as a tax deduction. But I just want to do a good job with my own vehicle(s), and once I get the tune locked in, I'll probably never touch it again unless I change something else with the engine. I might also help out one of our own GMTN brothers / sisters, if one of them is nearby, but outside of having them purchase any needed credits, I don't see myself charging them, FWIW.

Also, I can say that I do incorporate most of the 'best practices' listed in the last post (I haven't burned a CD in about 10yrs, TBH, and I don't use a benchtop harness - yet, anyway).

One thing I've run across that may help others... Apparently, there's some sort of issue with version 4.x (?) of the software always checking for updates when it's started up and connected to Wi-Fi. If it starts checking / updating itself while you happen to be writing a tune... you can brick the ECM. And, of course, there's no recovering from that - you have to get a new ECM.

So... for that reason... before you take the laptop out to the vehicle, connect to the OBD-II port and write your tune... *turn off your Wi-Fi*. It may be your own ECM that you save!
I've been doing this to get in the habit, even though I don't yet run v. 4.x, yet.

Now... with that said... let's get this thread back on track! :Over Here!:
 

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