Hey guys! So after the injectors and FPR (and front hubs and shocks) I took a maiden voyage to the blue ridge mountains last weekend. She did AWESOME, about 400 miles total with long duration highway speeds and lots of hills. I got a single check engine light on the way home when I pushed it hard going up a hill and it downshifted to 3rd and hit about 4000 RPM. There was no changes in performance but I still freaked out about it for the last 45 minutes of the drive home. It ended up being a P0154, bank 2 upstream o2 sensor. I learned that autozone now only has this wonky code reader that won't reset codes, and it ended up clearing before I could find a place to reset it. I'm wondering if the off brand 93 ethanol blend gas I used (compared to the ethanol free 89 I have used religiously) had anything to do with it. Speaking of octane...
I'm really close to getting an Autocal and tune from Blackbear. I've been emailing with them a bit and they said that the Autocal will work with my 1998 truck. I was surprised to hear that they "do not recommend running non ethanol fuel, as the engine pings far more on non ethanol fuel than on fuel with 10% ethanol". I've heard "old timers" (my father included [emoji1787]) tell me that ethanol fuel in older engines is the devil, but these guys are the professionals so... I guess I'll start using 93 octane top tier fuel and see if I can tell a difference.
I know a lot of you guys are heavy into the 0411 pcm swap, but for what I'm looking for I think the juice on that might not be worth the squeeze (and risk of me royally screwing up my truck). I'm in a weird spot having a 1998 that CAN be autocal'd and haven't found any mention of people doing it for the 454. Does anybody have any experience with Autocal email tuning a 1998 black box or is everyone here all in on the 0411 swap?
Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk
FWIW- I just got all my 0411 swap parts from Lextech/ JJ and it was very reasonable $ wise for a tune via 2002 Express Van for the 454 vortec pre loaded onto a 0411 PCM, VIN loaded for CA emissions and two new blue and red connectors plus of course the repin file. My truck is still in the shop tracking down some leaks (rear main seal) so once I get it back I will be undertaking the install.
Here is quote from an older thread but having the control as mentioned below is precisely what I need as I am going to remote turbo, add larger injectors and fuel pump and would like to data log all parameters and get it dialed in correctly. Even with being naturally aspirated it is cool to have the depth in tuning before going turbo! Lextech has it dialed in and his tune will fire off right out of the box... doesn't get much easier than that! Blackbear though has been pretty awesome too if you are staying stock and want some oomph with basic bolt on mods.
Quote from older thread on gmt400:
"411 has higher resolution tables for vital things like VE, MAF, and spark, which allows more precise control, and also can be made to support many many different and custom setups. also the upper RPM limiter of 5800RPM that is hardwired into the blackbox (regardless of tuning) can be surpassed with the 411...
if I were to sum up the benefits of the 411 in 2 words, it would be, "more control". if you're stock, or near stock as far as the powertrain is concerned, then the benefits will likely not be too earth-shattering, people in those situations have stated that they get a more stable or 'smooth' idle, but beyond that will depend on their tune (and tuner). if you plan on staying stock or near stock, then honestly, the benefits may not be worth it to you. however if you plan on doing upgrades, or getting into tuning yourself, then the benefits are very substantial, ESPECIALLY if you ever look at going with forced induction, or custom engine/trans setups.
Depending on who you have tune the 411 if you go with a mail order tuner, they may prefer tuning the 411 vs the blackbox, for the benefit of things like autocals, etc. but again, those benefits on a stock setup will depend on your tuner.
With all my modifications, I can honestly say that the 411 and getting EFILive for myself have been the 2 best things that I've done on the truck....and that includes when I had a blower, and it'll continue to be true after I build my forged 383 with twin turbos..."
