OK, let me start off at the beginning.

3 months ago I imported my SS/SC and I'm very happy with my purchase. The reason I had to import it is because my local GM dealership doesn't sell Cobalts...

Now, last week I bought my Stage II kit and I let a local mechanic here install it for me. After installation I went to the dealership to request a reflash. They informed me that they don't offer services to imported vehicles, albeit a GM brand.

The problem I have now is that the Stage II is in place but my PCM still requires a reflash as my redline is still @ 6500 and my engine idles a bit nervously.

Now I thought that there might be someone here who has let a third party mechanic do the reflash for them.

Or maybe someone can just give me information on how to go about applying a Stage II-compatible tune with third party hardware/software.

Any advise is appreciated as I don't know where to turn and I don't want to damage my engine.

 

get HPtuners, and then once u have it , you can get the stage 2 flash off their website..

but i think a dealership has to do it anyways. im not 100% on that idea.

 

Wow, congrats on the stage II, but I don't know how your going to get the tune. Good luck with that.

 

unfortunately, HP tuners isnt a cheap purchase.. I'm pretty sure there are "canned" tunes you can purchase from vendors, or even members of this site. I don't know how it works, but I think you can send your computer to the vendor, they flash it, and send it back..

 

yes, you can buy tunes from vendors on our site, some require you to send them your PCM befor hand and some charge you more and send you a PCM and refund money once they get yours in the mail. But your best bet would be to spend the extra money and buy HPT. then you can tweek the files your self or find a shop around you that can do it. best of luck to you. the cobalt, goin international, ohh ya

 

zzp has a ready to order tuned pcm check the site its under electronics good luck

 

The best you can do is get HPTuners and do the flash yourself or send you PCM to a vendor to do the flash. I for longevities sake I would try to get someone to do the stage2 tune, you can flog your car, some of the vendors tunes are less forgiving.

 

Thanks for the advise guys...

What's the risk in running it like this for a week or so until I find a solution ?

 

its not really a good idea to be driving around with stage 2 parts and a stock tune. you're putting in a lot more fuel and air than the engines tuned to take in, so you have the potential to do some damange. i wouldn't drive it if it were my car (and i was in that situation when i got stage 2 in my car).

 

right you could run real lean and do alot of damage

 

Without the tune the boost is limited to 12.5lbs...so he is putting in a ton more fuel than needed therefore causing it to most likely run rich.

 

Still @ 12.5 without the tune You sure
Wont the smaller pulley automatically lead to higher boosts no matter what tune I have


If anyone has been running their SS/SC with Stage II installed but without the tune, please identify yourself and share your experience..... p-p-please :p

.

 

well i think i can help my dad shop got the reflash for the gm but it's only good for 05-06 ss/sc you would have to send me the ECM i can't remember how much he charges for reflash

 

when i got my stage 2 the ealer ship didnt have the re flash till the next day they said it would be fine so i pulled out of the dealership and the check engine light came on i turned around and showed them, and they hooked it up to the compute imeadatly, they said it was the w/e code and that it was just saying it was getting more boost then it should and it would be fine till the morning, so on the way home it kinda had a very slight studder when u were cruzing and if u reved the motor the rpms would stay up a bit longer then they should but the guy at the dealership said it was fine. long story short took it back the next day they reflashed it and it ran great hope it helps

 

It's been a week now since I have installed the Stage II.

Still no tune and it seems like nobody is able to do the reflash for me over here. I only drove the car twice this week, staying under 3K RPM and avoiding boosts... That has been the hardest thing I have had to do.
I now notice how much fun it is when the SC spins and how reliant I am on it during daily driving...


Now...
I thought that instead of sending my ECM to the USA for the reflash, I could just buy the ZZP ECM which seems to be quite similar to the Stage II tune.


Or maybe I could go with the INTENSE™ Powertrain Control Module

The ZZP PCM has a redline @ 7200 and The INTENSE PCM's redline is @ 7000 but is has an option to limit boost in 1st gear, that may be good for better traction


Which one do you guys suggest
.

 

1st gear boost limit is a good option in my opinion. If you swap out your PCM there is a good chance you will need to do a CASE relearn, the dealer has to do that with their gear, since they won't touch the car, I think the only option is to send the PCM to the vendor and get it flashed.

 

i dont agree with this statedment, because like the OP said if you add a smaller pulley you will get more boost, maybe it will even out with the rest of the stage 2 but i know my boost skyrockted with just my 2.9, im just running my 2.9, intake with no tune with no problems for over a year and a half, 65000 miles.



but for the OP.....
have you tried the local shops around you?? they cant do any thing as far as custom tuning with HP tuners or any thing?

 

canned tunes other than GM, have a track record of blowing engines.

I strongly suggest you either find a way to get your S2 tune flashed,
or get it custom tuned at a shop.

 

edit-------- sorry i did the boost bypass so thats why my boost increased, sorry again for the missunderstanding

 

your an idiot.

the boost is limited to 16.4psi VIA a ECM boost cut.

if you cap the by-pass valve off with a stock pulley you can push ~14psi

the smaller pulley will let you run more boost up until that that 16ish psi mark then the ECM will dump fuel thus limiting boost......

to the OP you'll need to eaither find/buy HPTuners or you can send your PCM into places like ZZP or intense and have them re-flash a "canned" tune onto the car.

however those tunes leave allot to be desired and can be scary lean, engines have blown with these tunes due to excessive knock and improper fuel maps.

another option you have is this.

pull the S2 injectors out and run just the ~3.0 pulley. i've ran 2.9's on cars with no ill-effects however i don't recommend it for long time usage due to excessive IDC's

the 3.0pulley that comes with the kit will help lean out the rich GM tune but you'r AFR's will still be alright. this would be my course of action if i was you due to the simplicity.

running the car with the injectors from the S2 kit with no re-flash will cause an excessively rich condition and massive amounts of carbon build up as well.

 

Fueling is controlled by the MAF, fueling has no connection with the boost levels.

Now granted if you are running more boost, you are using more AIR, but the MAF adds more fuel when it detects the additional air flow.

The stock PCM is setup to limit boost, you can exceed that but the PCM will cut boost. Stage 1/2 pcm flash doesn't have that limit. No you can easily override the boost control solenoid by plugging up that line. But you will eventually get an error if you boost over 12.5 and the PCM can't limit it.

I know it's a bit more expensive, but to the OP I would strongly recommend that buy HPtuners and retune the car, we can get you the stage 2 tune file and from there it's a cut and paste operation. If you send your PCM to get reflashed, you will have to get a CASE relearn which can only be done by the dealership with a tech 2.

 

you could buy the GM stage 3 PCM, but you wouldn't have AC...

 

if you can find someone with hptuners, I have the stg 2 hptuners tune that i can email out to you, but its worthless until you can find someone with hptuners

 

Believe me I'm searching like mad over here for someone on the island who has the equipment. Still no luck and it hurts not being able to drive the car (normally)

I will place an ad in the classified this week looking for someone with the HPTuners equipment over here. Thanks


Won't a CASE relearn be required for the Stage III PCM as well


Like I said above, I will look for people with HPTuners this week. If I have any luck I will PM you for your tune. Thanks for the offer though




Thanks for all the input guys.

I knew it would be difficult to get actual parts over here, but I thought tuning wouldn't be a problem since there are a lot of tuned cars on the island (mostly Japanese cars though)

Until last week I had the only SS/SC on the island. Some people contacted me last week and informed me that they saw a red SS/SC here. I went to see for myself and indeed there is a second SS/SC in town. I want to get my tune in place, because I don't know what mods the red one is planning to install and I want to have the Uber SS/SC on the island. Besides that I want to show those turbo'd Japenese imports also that my SS/SC can put up a good fight

Thanks again guys I will work hard this week to try to get a solution for my problem. I need a Stage II tune badly for my Black SS/SC Beast

More advise/solutions are always welcome


.

 

when the injector is pushed past 100% (like it is stock) the larger amount of air flow will lean the car out...theres no more fuel to add.

also, OP if you buy hpt there are several people on here who tune and there are several variations of tunes, i'm sure some one would send you a pre-made tune to work with.