1998 black box programming options ? Help .

[df2x4]

df2x4 : Thank you , I had no idea where else to look for people with the 0411 swap experience . I would prefer the pcm swap for the data logging options . I have used data logging to tune my motorcycle and I have been very pleased with the results .

You're welcome! I think I found most of that info by accident Googling Wynjammer superchargers and other random stuff. I've personally had great experiences with Black Bear Performance though, and PerformanceTrucks.net gave me some very useful info for the 4L80E swap I'm working on.

I've been considering a 0411 swap for my red truck at some point in the future.

 

[BowtieBrody]

If you want to keep the black box and don't mind having someone else do the tuning via mail, I'll second Black Bear as a good option. If you want to keep the black box but want to be able to tune it yourself on the fly, the only tuning software I'm aware that's fully compatible with the black boxes would be Jet's Dynamic Spectrum Tuner.

http://jetchip.com/shop/chips-modul...formance-dynamic-spectrum-tuner-programmer-2/

If you want to do a 0411 swap, there's other ways to obtain the info than just waiting for Lextech. Performancetrucks.net has several knowledgeable members (Dr.X, among others) who can probably get you the pinout information for free. They've solved similar issues for me in the past. Also I believe PCMPowerTunes has access to the same info that Lextech did, their website used to mention him by name. They'll charge you for it I'm sure, though.

http://www.pcmpowertunes.com/

Is that Jet tuner any decent? I'm really wanting to do some tuning on my 96 454; or should I just stick to BBP and mail order a tuned PCM?

 

[df2x4]

Is that Jet tuner any decent? I'm really wanting to do some tuning on my 96 454; or should I just stick to BBP and mail order a tuned PCM?

I have no experience with it, but personally I wouldn't ever spend the money on it. The little bit of research I've done on it seems to indicate that it's not nearly as full featured as something like EFILive or HPTuners. The only reason it would come in handy is if you absolutely needed full control over the features of the Black Box and couldn't swap PCMs due to emissions reasons or something. Plus the black boxes aren't nearly as capable as the 0411s. 0411 swap and HPTuners would be my course of action if I ever wanted to buy tuning software.

In your situation I'd stick to a mail order BBP tune for sure.

 

[Nathaniel2g]

If you want to keep the black box and don't mind having someone else do the tuning via mail, I'll second Black Bear as a good option. If you want to keep the black box but want to be able to tune it yourself on the fly, the only tuning software I'm aware that's fully compatible with the black boxes would be Jet's Dynamic Spectrum Tuner.

http://jetchip.com/shop/chips-modul...formance-dynamic-spectrum-tuner-programmer-2/

If you want to do a 0411 swap, there's other ways to obtain the info than just waiting for Lextech. Performancetrucks.net has several knowledgeable members (Dr.X, among others) who can probably get you the pinout information for free. They've solved similar issues for me in the past. Also I believe PCMPowerTunes has access to the same info that Lextech did, their website used to mention him by name. They'll charge you for it I'm sure, though.

http://www.pcmpowertunes.com/

Will Jet's tuner allow you to datalog? Or will it only allow you to edit parameters?

 

[df2x4]

Will Jet's tuner allow you to datalog? Or will it only allow you to edit parameters?

No datalogging capabilities that I'm aware of, but like I just mentioned above I have no first hand experience with it. I'd say it's probably editing only.

 

[Christian Steffen]

Not for the black box, you'd have to 0411 swap for that. And they use EFILive, HPTuners doesn't support the black box. I asked them about going this route when I had my red truck tuned.

Hp Tuners can tune the black box, it just has to be 98-00, 96-97 trucks used a different computer. That said, if he wanted to do it himself swapping to the 0411 would be worthwhile, there is a pretty big difference on how much you can change between the two.

 

[df2x4]

Hp Tuners can tune the black box, it just has to be 98-00, 96-97 trucks used a different computer. That said, if he wanted to do it himself swapping to the 0411 would be worthwhile, there is a pretty big difference on how much you can change between the two.

Good call. I thought HPT lacked support for any of the black box PCMs but I just checked the supported vehicle list and you're right, 98-00s are listed as compatible.

 

[Nathaniel2g]

EFILive's website shows support for the 97s? I'm assuming it's only the later 97s that used the same computer as the 98. Any idea how to figure out which I have?

 

[Christian Steffen]

EFILive's website shows support for the 97s? I'm assuming it's only the later 97s that used the same computer as the 98. Any idea how to figure out which I have?

The difference obvious between the 98-00s and the 96-97s is the number of connectors. The early computers had 5 connectors whereas the newer ones had 4, I'm going to guess that there was some sort of operating system or memory difference that made them not worth tuning though.

 

[Steve A]

The difference obvious between the 98-00s and the 96-97s is the number of connectors. The early computers had 5 connectors whereas the newer ones had 4, I'm going to guess that there was some sort of operating system or memory difference that made them not worth tuning though.

On the earlier models with 5 connectors the 5th connector was a 4 pin but all it did was connect the 2 boards inside the "black box". There were a couple wires that came out, ran down in the harness a little bit then did a 180 and went back to the same connector albeit different pins. If you swap to a 0411 pcm, when you unwrap the harness for the re-pin that's what you will find. The 98-00 model boxes had an internal connector.
On a side note, no one has been able to reach Lextech? That's discouraging to hear. Hope nothing has happened to him.