So I just installed treadstone stage 4 and went to have my tuner read my PCM and it was locked. So I went to my gm dealer to have then hook up tech 2 to flash a stock tune on it. I picked it up and they said that the tune already matches their oem parameters. WTF??? Could this be gms1? The car was previously tuned ( or so I think since it boosted 24 psi) and would beat a stock ss/tc in a street race. Idk what do now short of buying a new PCM

 

sounds like trifecturd

 

But the tune is always on. Does trifecta locked their tunes?

 

you shoulda had em flash you a stock file anyway jus cuz

 

I think they did

 

Had the same issue about 1627484848372 with previous trifecta ****. Vince still changes somthing within the os or somthing... So he needs to change the ****.

 

trifecta has lots of different things they offer iirc and there was recently someone saying trifecta locked his pcm so i'd say it's possible, i don't see any other way it would be locked

 

Trifecta does lock ecms. And they also change the ecms vin or os so hptuners cant read the file.

 

forced repeat customers eh lmfao

 

This worries me, why was i not notified haha.

 

o wow, didn't know that

 

Yea. . Trifecta customers dont know alot about there tunes. Most just know (oh my cars faster) ...

 

I have the same problem now, at first Bill at HPT thought the PCM was bad, but later to find out the tune was locked either by ZZP or Trifecta..

Right now my PCM is locked, but I'm going to sent it back to Matt (ZZP) within the next 2 weeks to have them unlock it, but for now, either buy a new PCM or wait to have it unlocked from the tuner who locked it in the first place.. I know it's a bit*h, but buying will save you from headaches later down the road..

 

Call Vince and give him your vin. He will have your stock cal on file. You just need to find someone with a cable and flash the car back to stock. The HPT will read

 

fu james haha. and try to stay out of the trifecta threads, people are hatin even though your really not doing anything wrong, just a heads up.

and i would hope vince could remove everything.

 

Guess I'm gonna have to hunt down a trifecta cable and give Vince a call. Can he just tell me if it's tuned by my vin?

 

this is my oredeal with trifecta ( why is Vince so shady when it comes to people seeing his tunes, why is it when i log these trifecta cars there off so much, so much kr, no rich or so lean, idles crappy and ect. I mean theres more i wont go into detail) I understand people have a prob with me talking about trifecta, which im not upset about because im trying to help out other people to make sure vince gets there **** straightened out correctly...(Which trifecta or vince is not a supporting vendor) so my words are not against a vendor... I mean i think trifecta is a great tuning source but it seems to me he is shady as hell....... I have tuned tons of previous trifecta cars because they all ran into issues, and i also ran into other issues like the ecm being unlocked even with vince sending the stock file or the wrong vin and ect.



I mean this is what i should do,buy 1234567890- hptuner cables and send them out with a base file and instructions and have the customer put the file to the car log it for me without explaining kr, stft, ltft, maf hertz, coolant temps, maf lbs ve lbs, egts, cam phasing, pe enrichment , cot , cot disable, timing, lo and high, andblah blah blah. This is just like trifecta sorta except hptuners shows whats going on to the customer. ( I AM SURE TRIFECTA DOES THIS) but with all the previous trifecta customers ive tuned they had no clue nor a idea what i was showing them so i explained it to them. I get why people get mad about me talking about trifecta i do, but thats because they are either the dealers or they are first time tuned with trifecta so there all happy pancy... Id love to have a trifecta vs hptuners day. shoot i think it would be fun, but you think vince will do it .... I doubt it!!!!

Sorry for rambling lol just had to do it.. sorry bro!!.

 

How do you know if your ECM is locked?

 

Hooked HP Tuners to it and it wouldn't let it read my tuning file at all

 

That's how they get ya. I never knew that either. Hence why I'll go for an hp tune from the start.

 

It's nuts, to think we spend some hard earn $$$ with Trifecta to get a tune, and then to find out, the tune is locked.. he never mentions it to anyone.. This is something he should have advertised to everybody when he was tuning folks from day one..

It's like getting chocolate ice cream, but not knowing what's in it..

 

And this is why I like my spare pcm.

 

Not sure if this also applies to the Cobalt engines or not, but this was directly copied from the FAQ page of Trifectas website...

"Q: Does the GT Tuner "lock" the PCM after flashing it?
A: PCM “locking” is a feature that became available with the Gen III LS1/Vortec PCM. PCMs have a “password” that is required to access them, and there is a specific algorithm for establishing the “password” from information provided by the PCM. It is possible, however, to change this “password” to something else. Some custom PCM tuners will change the “password” for the stated reason of preventing others from accessing the tune stored in the PCM.

There are a few problems with doing this, the biggest being that once the password is changed, only the person who changed it will be able to program the PCM again. The customer will be “stuck” going back to the same PCM tuner if they make any further modifications, and if they wish to go to another PCM tuner, they will need to purchase a new PCM which is not locked.

Some PCM tuning customers may be OK with this, but at Trifecta Performance, we do not believe this is our decision to make for the customer. We also acknowledge that changing the PCM “password” doesn’t really provide any additional degree of security around the contents of the PCM because, like any “security” mechanism, an individual with the right set of skills and information can circumvent it.

Having said all of this, we are also providing a tool and service to custom PCM tuners. We have received feedback from at least one custom PCM tuner that having the “password” change feature in the GT Tuner would be a requirement for doing business with them. If there comes a time where Trifecta Performance is required to lock PCMs after flashing them as part of the terms of offering a specific PCM tuner’s programs through its unique service, we pledge to you that we will openly disclose that our product will lock the PCM before selling you a custom program."

 

I didn't get it at first, but now I do. I had this whole thing typed up but I didn't like it. So I reread the thread and well that does suck.

If TF did lock you out, he should be able to unlock you, but that sucks.

I'd email Vince and ask him to unlock you. If he can't unlock you maybe the PCM was locked by something else.

 

I emailed him last night and if he doesn't respond by in the first couple hours of him opening then i am going to give him a call. I was supposed to be tuning and dynoing today...so that sucks!