Even my crazy 80's GM bullshit on my Olds isn't half as bad as the **** on our cars (and other new ones). But at least I can pull half of mine off.. lol

 

If you think I tune just for the money you could not be more wrong. Do you know how many people Myself and BYT have helped with tuning their cars or advice on mods and such? The answer is I lost count a long time ago. Believe it or not there are those of us on here who whole heartedly believe that something worth doing is worth doing right. I did not start tuning because I thought, hey I can get rich off of this, I did because I was very unhappy after I let someone else who had never tuned an LNF or any GDI turbo car tune my car. He is well known in the LSX motor world and he runs the tuning school.com. He nearly destroyed my car due to loads of knock on the street (up to 10*). He refused to log my car on the street after I suspected I heard loads of audible knock (I have good ears for knock). After that I bought HP Tuners and started fixing my tune myself and I am glad I did because I have learned a ton of info in the last 2 years. I try to teach people to learn from my mistakes.

 

i feel inspired by your story....i have had the same story almost....execpt mine is by a very well known tuner on the forums i will not mention...and my engine did blow up!

 

My BCM fried when doing HPT, so I can relate.

 

The funny thing about this reply is.... I'm a bit embarrassed to say this is...

I read the thread without reading the replies and took off my K&N Drop in and put in a factory filter.

Soooo... I'm still up in the air on what to feel. Everyone seems to have a argument that's worth listening too

 

That is very rare.

 

Just leave the stock airbox stock down to the filter because unless you plan on tuning it you are just better off. If anyone has intake based quesions refer to my thread here https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/2-0l-lnf-performance-tech-153/thoughts-all-intakes-currently-avaliable-ss-tc-206581/

 

I dont know what to believe either.

It'd be great if this arguement went further, it would only benifit the average joe.

My K&N SRI is on order right now as we speak. Not sure what I'll do when the time comes. But a tune is not an option till warranty is over. Decisions...

 

BYT, let me get some pics of what we use for reflashes (updates) and what I have for doing diag. most of the time when things come to my shop it's because someone ALREADY screwed it up. I have found ECM swaps, BCM validation problems because people still think they can get one from the junkyard and it'll magically work in their car. Sorry people it is KEYED to your vin. And because newer cars have multiple programmable modules, including things to update the XM/receiver we had to get the new GM Canbus usb controller and the software to run it. With it I can find ALL reflash activity and miles since. Anyways, it has a specific name for the life of me I can't think of it...let me get pics.

Oh I just realized you can find a tune with the tech 2. SCS/ECM Information. What you capture to the tech 2 before dowloading an update to program in. It'll give you ECM/BCM and applicable module information, including current software version, and the vin, ecm serial, software file size, miles since and theres a few others. That's the stuff you need to plug into the gm website and get any updates for the car. Also there's a few bulletins on tech 2 procedures to verify stock tune. (although I am sure it doesn't show the tech how to look for history)

Oh and anytime you change the ECM it sets a BCM code that doesn't set the SES light. If your not good about clearing the bcm the tech is gonna find it.

Honestly, most techs don't even care if it's tuned or not. Most of the time the dealer is just looking for K&N filters in the trucks and SUVs because it WILL cause engine failure. Something about fine particulate matter wearing away the rings and walls, and prematurely contaminating the oil. Case in point. If you own a diesel truck from the big three, if they FIND a K&N during normal services, or for warranty work it will unequivocally void your warranty on the spot.

Most techs I talk to even if they find a tune aren't gonna do anything about it unless it's real obvious the tune is the cause of the damage. What will void your warranty unfortunately I'm sure applies to this car just the same as the diesels. If they find an aftermarket "oil impregnated" high flow filter on your intake, it will likely void your warranty.

I also want to point out to those who have the K&N, it must be properly cleaned, oiled and regularly serviced, you should also cut your normal oil change schedule by a third, where a normal 9k service becomes a 6 k service or there abouts. The reason I already explained, the filter does not do well to trap fine particulates as well as conventional paper as it becomes dirty it becomes exponentially less effective at cleaning, I would service and reoil every single oil change. I also want to add they over oil the filter from the factory and that could be cause for concern when referring to MAF sensor contamination.

PS: I work at a private "we fix everything" shop from forklifts to dump trucks. I am not a KNOW ALL DO ALL with these cars I specialize in turbodiesels, particularly turbodiesel tuning. I am the guy who has tuned all the first responder vehicles in my area and most of the ambulances. I've done LSX tuning, Hondas of all sorts and some 2nd and 3rd gen GM V6s. My own car is my first step into GDI tuning, and Term is correct it is vastly different from conventional wisdom. I OWN MY OWN DIAG TOOLS, but for obvious reasons I'm not going to post up how to go about looking for hidden tunes for the masses. I know GM and dealers watch this. Ohh and I don't believe in rolling coal, it's a waste of fuel. Gah, sorry I know I contradicted myself there, BYT I'll PM you some pics one of these days on what we use for reflash and by the same way, find tunes or software errors (driver line x errors)

 

basically find a dealer who doesnt care and just do whatever... otherwise be sure to keep your butt lubed when you goto the dealer?

 

well...essentially it's a pay to play scenario, if you can JUST BARELY afford o put the part on your not prepared for potential problems it might cause later.

 

Right now it is nothing more than a sound mod. Without a tune the HP and trq gains are minimal.

 

I'm not personally attacking you, I did mean tuners on the forum in general as they charge for tunes. You and byt are the tuners responding in this thread and do charge for tunes, which I fully agree with. I was just pointing out a different angle. I respect and look up to both of you two as tuners. You've talked to me via pm, you know I do. I dont disagree with a tune being best or more efficient. I hope when I get my hpt that if I ask questions you and byt can help me out. I would do the same for anyone that asks me questions.

 

That is true.

I'm going to get gms1 around 10k when my engine is nice and broken in. And I do enjoy the stock turbo sound but I'd like it a bit louder.

 

LOL... are you saying that the turbo is after the cats in the D.P.? And 99.99% of cat-back exhausts never includes cats. They bolt (or weld) onto the exhasut after the cat. And a "full exhaust" doesn't include headers, usually, haha retarded I know but such is life.

On to the task at hand... My specialty is tuning carbs on old cars and whatnot... I built a 55 chevy pickup and know whats up with needles and jets. Even on those old cars you need to tune for any modification having to do with the airflow into or out of your egnine... an engine is a mechanical air pump after all, why would you not tune for it? Wang probably thinks I'm a dick based from a thread on brakes earlier, but mechanically speaking the tuner posting here are right. You must account for added or subtracted restriction in the air movement inside of your engine. Some engines are more forgiving than others, diesels probably the most. But ensuring proper combustion is key to proper power and responsiveness. Having done my own builds and helping family members with theirs I can tell you that cutting corners is not a good habit to start. Ok so you don't tune for the intake, cool, but what about when you get a new CAC or a new set of CPs. At some point a tune has to be in the cards. I for one would rather save my money and do it all at once. Intake, exhaust, turbo, injectors, heads, blah blah blah because you can do it all once then maintaining from there is easy.

Do what you want with your cars its America, but if you happen to blow up your car cuz of something you did, like **** with something vital, man up to it... GM shouldn't have you pay for someone else's **** ups. They design it a certain way, if you mess with it its your ass. Know what you are doing and do it right the first time.

Just my .02, please correct me if you feel I am mistaken this is a forum for the spread of information, hopefully good information.

p.s. I just read through 8 pages of back and forth mumbo jumbo to post haha slow night at work.

 

Yep. Fully agree. Dunno what you said in the brake thread, but the above is totally correct. You blow it from something you did, and you get to pay. You don't ask other people to pay for you.

 

Let sleeping dogs lie haha...

What tuning software do you use? I kinda want to get my own but I have only messed with carbs and stuff before, and I don't know **** about computers in cars really... Hmm wonder if my Holley 850 strip dominator will fit on this little beast??? probably not.

 

HPT. It's probably easiest if you get HPT, and start reading up on their forum. There are a lot of good threads in their archive. The software itself is quite powerful, and it's much more advanced that some software I've used in the past.

At the same time though, unless you get some good configs for their scanner, it's easy to get lost. Probably best if you can find someone local to help get you started, if you're not great with computers.

 

The car almost tunes itself if you setup the scanner properly

 

hahha ill have to remember that

 

I'm not savvy in cars at all and to speak technical with anyone isn't something I can do well, but after I took off my K&N Drop in I've noticed my car not having a rough idle from a cold start, so I'm not sure if this OP guy speaks the truth, but I've noticed some improvement in that at least.

I've decided to do a GMS1 and just a catted Hahn DownPipe.

Then in 5 years (when warranty expires), I'm gonna see what tunes are available and start with Intake and Charge pipe.

I guess better safe than sorry. I can't pay to play so if there's a chance of ******* myself, I'd rather not.

 

sounds like a smart decision for your situation But if you tune theres plenty of people to help with it.

 

The drop in causes a negative long term fuel trim. You need to disconnect the negative terminal of the battery or unhook the ECM to reset the LTFT back to 0. That will fix your rough idle. The car is running slightly lean at idle due to a negative LTFT that is needlessly shortening the injector pulse width. The short term fuel trims will compensate for the lean idle but will sometimes over or under compensate. The LTFT will eventually relearn back close to 0 where it belongs but it takes time so the best way is to reset the fuel trims any time you change intake setups.

 

It's because these days everybody is a google scholar and there are very few people who will scientifically follow a problem through and try to solve it. However, there are multiple people on this thread who have quite a bit of experience and all say similar things. The one thing I'd really like to see is a baseline of a stock car and the trims.

Also, thanks much for the info about Vince's tune. I have the switchable trifecta and was suddenly a bit worried about driving around with the tune off, because I wasn't sure what it was doing to my engine. Glad to know that I should be okay.

 

LOL I still do some manual MAF corrections when the ECM decides it is going to over or under compansate. It likes to do that.