97 pcm tune questions

[LETZRIDE]

Ok...so I will be picking up hp tuners soon...not sure if I am going to nab the pro one or not, but I have a question.

I have a tune from PCM4less that is not locked...When I had my 3.90 gears changed at the speed shop the tuner there tried to tune the 3.90's on the PCM but had no luck....said that the car 1996 camaro was reading the 1997 PCM as not being a 96 or something and therefore it would not accept the tune. We were able to change everything on the screen of HP tuners, however when we attempted to write to the PCM, the PCM would just revert back to the old tune...

I ended up having to send the PCM back to PCM4less for them to tune the gear change...

Now my question is, is this a regular problem for 1996 cars that put in a 1997 tune? We were trying to change it from the OBD II port....I am ordering the parts to do a cam swap very soon so I will need to tune my car...Just wondering if maybe I have to buy a cable that directly hooks into the PCM rather then the OBD II port?

[97rs4life]

Re: 97 pcm tune problems

I have tuned a couple 96 cars with 97 pcms, no issues, works fine

[LETZRIDE]

Re: 97 pcm tune problems

I have tuned a couple 96 cars with 97 pcms, no issues, works fine

were you tuning straight through the PCM itself...or through the OBD II port...what would cause the two not to communicate?...I know it should work via the cable directly to the pcm because thats how PCM4less probably does it...and it excepted the changes from them, but not from the hp tuners at the speed shop...

[97rs4life]

Re: 97 pcm tune problems

OBDII port using hptuners

[LETZRIDE]

Re: 97 pcm tune questions

have you ever heard of any one else having this problem?...or could you think of why the tuner was unable to successfully copy the tune? I did contact PCM4less to see i maybe they had locked the pcm, it wasnt though...

[97rs4life]

Re: 97 pcm tune problems

were you doing a write entire or just a partial rewrite?

Did you upload the tune on the vehicle to hptuners or were you using a tune from another car and modifying it to fit yours?

[LETZRIDE]

Re: 97 pcm tune questions

Im not sure if he was trying to do a partial or full write...I know I was sitting beside him when he was making the changes...He copied my tune, made some changes to the speedo and pulled some timing so I could run 89 octane rather then 91, and I think he made a few other changes in there...went to write it, but when we double checked, the pcm was rejecting it...it would just revert back to the original tune.

[97rs4life]

Re: 97 pcm tune questions

do you have the stock tune to go back too?

[LETZRIDE]

Re: 97 pcm tune questions

no...I only have the pcm4less tune that is on there...


edit: when I say original tune, I mean the pcm4less tune that was already in there...

[bigbrian442]

Re: 97 pcm tune questions

Was he trying to write your 96 VIN into the 97 PCM? You can get operating system conflicts when trying to write a different VIN to A PCM from a different year car. HPT will then not allow the write.

[LETZRIDE]

Re: 97 pcm tune questions

Was he trying to write your 96 VIN into the 97 PCM? You can get operating system conflicts when trying to write a different VIN to A PCM from a different year car. HPT will then not allow the write.

I think this was the error he was getting...kept saying the car was a 96 and refused to write to it. I dont believe he was trying to write the vin though, I'm not even sure if the VIN has been changed on that pcm...

I just want to know why/how I can prevent this from happening...I am going to be buying HP tuners within the next 3 weeks, and I dont want to spend all this money for something that isnt going to work for me if I am going to have this problem....

[bigbrian442]

Re: 97 pcm tune questions

You need to use the 97 V6 VIN That came in the PCM to avoid this problem. The only way you get that problem is from trying to use an incompatible VIN with the operating system in the PCM.

[LETZRIDE]

Re: 97 pcm tune questions

so what do I do to get around that...like how do I make changes and use the 97 v6 vin...

[bigbrian442]

Re: 97 pcm tune questions

The PCM should already have that VIN in it. Your guy had to be trying to change the VIN to get that error. Just don't change the VIN currently in the PCM.

[LETZRIDE]

Re: 97 pcm tune questions

ok sweet....now my next question...standard or pro?...I know everyone says that pro is better b/c of the wideband and what not...Im not a professional, and I am not looking to do super radical tuning on my car...I am installing an abbott racing N/A cam and need to tune for the cam...do I really need the wide band?...from what I understand pro is another 249$ + wideband and module is another 250-300$...How bad is it if I go with the standard version for my application.

I am also looking to copy some members tunes who have this cam already, and tweak these as then I will have a starting base...