DIY ECM tuning… worth the hassle?

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NorthState

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Afternoon, all! Just a quick question.

I am running a 5.7 block +.030” with aluminum heads from summit, Howard’s cam, etc and FiTech 30003 efi system.

I bought the engine off a good friend of mine with less than 1k on the clock. He swapped it out for a 6.0ls out of a 2500.

With the efi, I am using the factory harness/PCM for everything but the engine. Since I am not using some factory components. I’m not sure which ones were deleted yet. I would guess sensors like MAF, MAP, all but one O2 sensor, etc would have been left off. Question is, can those CEL codes be deleted off the factory PCM? I would think so. Can it be done DIY? If not, is it worth the time/money to take it somewhere and have them tuned out?
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df2x4

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What year is the truck? I would imagine that some of the codes in question could be disabled in the tune, but the year of the PCM will determine which software is capable of interfacing with it.

'88-'95 are supported by TunerPro, @PlayingWithTBI has first hand experience with that.

'96-'97 are supported by JET Dynamic Spectrum Tuner/TunerCat. @1998_K1500_Sub has experience with JET DST.

'98+ are supported by HPTuners and I believe EFI Live, but don't quote me on the last one. HPTuners for sure, though.
 

df2x4

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No problem!

I've actually been considering buying JET DST to play with on my '97s.
 

1998_K1500_Sub

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'88-'95 are supported by TunerPro, @PlayingWithTBI has first hand experience with that.

'96-'97 are supported by JET Dynamic Spectrum Tuner/TunerCat. @1998_K1500_Sub has experience with JET DST.

'98+ are supported by HPTuners and I believe EFI Live, but don't quote me on the last one. HPTuners for sure, though.

Just to build on df2x4's comments a little, here's what *I* have used:

OBDI vehicles are supported by TunerCat. I've used TunerCat for my father's 1995 K1500.


OBDII vehicles 1996-2007 (GMT400 and NBS) are supported by JET's "Dynamic Spectrum Tuner", which is an OBDII incarnation of TunerCat. As of this writing it's selling for $377 on Amazon.


:)
 
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1998_K1500_Sub

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Afternoon, all! Just a quick question.

I am running a 5.7 block +.030” with aluminum heads from summit, Howard’s cam, etc and FiTech 30003 efi system.

I bought the engine off a good friend of mine with less than 1k on the clock. He swapped it out for a 6.0ls out of a 2500.

With the efi, I am using the factory harness/PCM for everything but the engine. Since I am not using some factory components. I’m not sure which ones were deleted yet. I would guess sensors like MAF, MAP, all but one O2 sensor, etc would have been left off. Question is, can those CEL codes be deleted off the factory PCM? I would think so. Can it be done DIY? If not, is it worth the time/money to take it somewhere and have them tuned out?

On OBDII vehicles, I know with JET's tuner (which was mentioned in earlier posts) one can tune the response to a large number of "error" conditions, e.g., O2 failure, etc. I think the tuning options for each are (a) ignore, (b) set code but no CEL, and (c) set code and CEL, but I'm going from memory. Unfortunately, my JET tuner installation is on another computer and I can't check for you.

I know I used JET's tuner once to disable the CEL for an O2 sensor on my 1998 Suburban that was giving me problems. I was tired of looking at the light so I used JET's tuner to turn it off until I could get around to replacing the sensor.

For OBDI vehicles, I'm not certain what's possible. Unfortunately, my TunerCat installation is on another computer and I can't check for you.
 
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NorthState

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I remember the days of hypertech etc. Before there was an app for everything, and given that my truck is 25 years old, I was hoping that there was an open source platform that could tune out a couple sensors. I’m an admitted tight wad, and I’m not looking to do deep rooted tuning. I just wanted to get the obsolete sensor lights to go out.
 

letitsnow

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I remember the days of hypertech etc. Before there was an app for everything, and given that my truck is 25 years old, I was hoping that there was an open source platform that could tune out a couple sensors. I’m an admitted tight wad, and I’m not looking to do deep rooted tuning. I just wanted to get the obsolete sensor lights to go out.

If you are really into the tightwad life (like myself) you can pull the cluster, carefully remove the front clear plastic cover, then put a small piece of black electrical tape over the engine light. I have been driving mine like that for 2 years. I have a scanner to check for trouble codes, as you can't rely on the light any longer.
 

0xDEADBEEF

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Sensor data can be faked too. Although I think they cracked down on pre-made O2 sims.

I like that clear lid.
 

NorthState

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I actually thought about the electrical tape, letitsnow. I haven’t ruled it out yet if I can’t get a cleaner way to disable the codes. I’m going to change the cluster to LEDs, so I could always not replace the CEL bulb…
 
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