First I want to say I too was one of the people who negelected to budget for tuning in my build. I was convinced I could take care of this myself.
All was going pretty well until I burned a piston.
My financial status also took a dive right as I finished with the original build, so this was a huge blow.
Here we are 3 years later and I finally have the issue resolved. This truck is running so good, and I know I can beat on it and it will take it.
Thanks James-you made this fun again!!
Now you all know me by now-I don't do anything very quickly. In fact, every one of you here can do anything better, and faster than I , if you stop to think about it.
On with the show-
I swapped out all of my original maf stuff for a Lightning Maf sensor, which required I make a new intake tube. Once I had this all figured out, James sent me a tune file and the truck fired right up!
If you aren't familiar with the combination, you can click the "my truck" link in my sig.
basically -the only thing stock under my hood is the timing cover, water pump, and oil pan.
The camshaft has a fairly aggressive grind profile. Not to mention This engine is 5.6 liters instead of 5.0. This alone will give a stock PCM fits-
James had to have pulled this original tune right from his head. We both expected the truck to run like crap but it actually ran very well.
After a few drive ability tunes-it was time for the WOT part to begin. I attempted to install my innovative wide band o2 sensor, but somehow it got messed up. While I waited for the replacement, James was more than happy to play around with the surging issue I was experiencing.
The wide band arrived, and while it was a hassle to install, the information it gives is more than worth it.
Now it gets fun (for the tuner--nerve racking for me)
You must have full , complete trust in the person you are working with for this step. There is no room for wimping out, as if you let up, or don't get a good pull, you need to do it all over again.
I was able to get a good "high load" pull by starting from a dead stop, in 2nd gear.
You must floor it, no easing in, --
Hold it mashed to the floor until it hits the rev limiter James has set in for you based on the information you have provided. In my case this was 6000 RPM's
So, 2nd gear, dead stop-
start the sct live link logging software.
Once the screen comes up-nail it and hang on. all the way up to 85 MPH.
Then stop the log, head home and send an email to James.
After he looks it over, and does a bit of his magic, he sends back another tune file.
The old tune files are deleted, the new one is flashed into the pcm, and another pull is run.
I started to send him logs of launches from 1st gear also. I noticed the transmission shifting way too early. I mentioned this and the next tune not only had the a/f corrections for the next wot pull, but the shift points were raised to 5500 RPM's ( as indicated by the factory tach)
I then mentioned the Truck not hooking well,
After only 8 successful pulls ( total), James handed me the keys to the final tune file today.
Yes it was windy-but I think you get the idea.
All in all I must say-I am very pleased with James' service. He truly knows his stuff.
This has been the most rewarding part of the whole modding experience -
I know my truck runs great-and, I know it is going to stay together.
This is meant to be a discussion thread. If you want to see screen shots, or , if you have the sct live link software and would like to see a few logs-let me know. I think James is going to poke his head in here to show what he did. I didn't ask much. I was too busy following instructions
All was going pretty well until I burned a piston.
My financial status also took a dive right as I finished with the original build, so this was a huge blow.
Here we are 3 years later and I finally have the issue resolved. This truck is running so good, and I know I can beat on it and it will take it.
Thanks James-you made this fun again!!
Now you all know me by now-I don't do anything very quickly. In fact, every one of you here can do anything better, and faster than I , if you stop to think about it.
On with the show-
I swapped out all of my original maf stuff for a Lightning Maf sensor, which required I make a new intake tube. Once I had this all figured out, James sent me a tune file and the truck fired right up!
If you aren't familiar with the combination, you can click the "my truck" link in my sig.
basically -the only thing stock under my hood is the timing cover, water pump, and oil pan.
The camshaft has a fairly aggressive grind profile. Not to mention This engine is 5.6 liters instead of 5.0. This alone will give a stock PCM fits-
James had to have pulled this original tune right from his head. We both expected the truck to run like crap but it actually ran very well.
After a few drive ability tunes-it was time for the WOT part to begin. I attempted to install my innovative wide band o2 sensor, but somehow it got messed up. While I waited for the replacement, James was more than happy to play around with the surging issue I was experiencing.
The wide band arrived, and while it was a hassle to install, the information it gives is more than worth it.
Now it gets fun (for the tuner--nerve racking for me)
You must have full , complete trust in the person you are working with for this step. There is no room for wimping out, as if you let up, or don't get a good pull, you need to do it all over again.
I was able to get a good "high load" pull by starting from a dead stop, in 2nd gear.
You must floor it, no easing in, --
Hold it mashed to the floor until it hits the rev limiter James has set in for you based on the information you have provided. In my case this was 6000 RPM's
So, 2nd gear, dead stop-
start the sct live link logging software.
Once the screen comes up-nail it and hang on. all the way up to 85 MPH.
Then stop the log, head home and send an email to James.
After he looks it over, and does a bit of his magic, he sends back another tune file.
The old tune files are deleted, the new one is flashed into the pcm, and another pull is run.
I started to send him logs of launches from 1st gear also. I noticed the transmission shifting way too early. I mentioned this and the next tune not only had the a/f corrections for the next wot pull, but the shift points were raised to 5500 RPM's ( as indicated by the factory tach)
I then mentioned the Truck not hooking well,
After only 8 successful pulls ( total), James handed me the keys to the final tune file today.
Yes it was windy-but I think you get the idea.
All in all I must say-I am very pleased with James' service. He truly knows his stuff.
This has been the most rewarding part of the whole modding experience -
I know my truck runs great-and, I know it is going to stay together.
This is meant to be a discussion thread. If you want to see screen shots, or , if you have the sct live link software and would like to see a few logs-let me know. I think James is going to poke his head in here to show what he did. I didn't ask much. I was too busy following instructions
After about a month without opening the hood other than to check the oil and show it off, I can say it is fixed.
