Tuning a 5.3

Austin66 · August 2, 2017

Could you explain the tuner footprint please.

AZ_SS · August 2, 2017

It depends on the dealership you use as well. I spoke to mine before tuning mine and was told the only time they would even check is if there was a catastrophic engine/transmission failure. They said GM checks to see if the vehicle was running outside of normal specs at the time of the failure. I would think any reputable tuner would not tune it to run on the ragged edge. I thought I read on hear (may have been on another truck forum) that even disconnecting the battery cycles the flash counter, someone else can chime in on that.

L86 All Terrain · August 10, 2017

Your relationship with your dealer can help too, my friend killed his 2011 Dmax injectors in 70,000km because he had efi live and a lot of extra fuel. He is friends with the GM at the dealer and they covered it no problem. I would go in and ask personally, my dealer is ok with reputable hand-held tuners like Diablo and Superchips. At least with Diablo, a guy working under the name 'Diablew' can unlock it and create a custom tune remotely using Diablo's hand held unit. I just bought another K2, a 2014 5.3L WT and it is the worst shifting vehicle I have ever been in, I will be getting it tuned to make the truck a little less of a pos. Kind of strange because I loved the 6L80e in my 2010, but 4 years into the future we have gone 60 years back in time in shift quality. My 8L90e shifts smooth as silk.

OmniCamaro · August 11, 2017

Could you explain the tuner footprint please.

I believe the ECM records or keeps track of it's tune history. I know my handheld tuner (SCT iTSX) shows how many times I've tuned my Camaro, returned to stock and loaded tunes.

Austin66 · August 13, 2017

I know. It was a rhetorical question awaiting BlackBear, who I'm sure won't reply back with a relevant answer.

SilveradoSaver · August 13, 2017

All the years I've been on enthusiast forums, I've haven't heard of one gas vehicle being declined do to a tune. Now would be a good time to speak up. I've had one tuned vehicle needing warranty work, no problems.

I think it comes down to the dealership too and your relationship with them. Some are more willing to bend the rules than others to make a satisfied customer.

JRoyPDX · August 18, 2017

When it comes down to it, the dealership submits the flash log to GM directly if they require the dealer to do so. Denials of warranty work are made by GM, not the dealer.

So if you have a cool dealership you'll be fine so long as GM doesn't request the log.

Mileguru · August 20, 2017

I know. It was a rhetorical question awaiting BlackBear, who I'm sure won't reply back with a relevant answer.

Oh dang, calling Blackbear out.

But seriously, lets get some real answers about this "footprint" and "flash counter." Everyone talks about these on NUMEROUS forums as if they are mythological creatures. Exactly where is the flash counter stored? If it is stored on some module, could you just buy a backup module to tune on and swap the modules back and forth? And, as was proposed by JToups386, why wouldn't a tuner company put some serious effort into defeating the flash counter. Seems like they would dominate the market if they cracked it.

.justin. · August 21, 2017

Could you explain the tuner footprint please.

On Global A vehicles, any time that there is a change to a computer segment's CVN, the ECM will log the new CVN into a register/ledger of the past 10 CVNs generated. If the CVN doesn't change, there is no footprint. If the same tune is flashed into the ECM 100x, it will only log 1 change

The Calibration Verification Number consists of 4 hex characters, 2 bytes, of the 8 hex character, 4 byte checksum. For each segment, there are 65,536 possible checksums that would result in a CVN that does not change.

It is possible to tune and have that CVN not change, thus having no update of that registry. Diablosport does it automatically with their handhelds by manipulating an offset value stored in an unused area of the segment.

I know. It was a rhetorical question awaiting BlackBear, who I'm sure won't reply back with a relevant answer.

Not to your satisfaction, no. The information at the start of this response was perfectly relevant though. Beyond that, we will not divulge any part of our process.

The whole discussion is essentially moot though, as a) the Magnusson Moss act provides consumer protection against blanket warranty blocks and b) without significant modifications, you're no more likely to have a warranty claim during your warranty period with a tune than without. The exception to b) would be if the tune is done improperly (knock sensors disabled, timing ramped well beyond MBT, "lean is mean" type of idiotic fueling strategy, stock line pressures with all transmission TM removed, etc).

Austin66 · August 22, 2017

Thank you. That was the more detailed explanation I was looking for. As opposed to: 'well...we've never had warranty problem and neither will you'

Jasadl · September 23, 2017

So yeah ... I'm quasi-thread jacking ....

Most of my issues seems to be the transmission and torque management. I'm hella upside-down on my loan so I can't trade in. I also can't deal with this shitty transmission programming anymore. For all intents and purposes, I'm ASSUMING 1) tune=voided warranty and 2) Magnusson-Moss Act is worthless because you can buy a new truck for what you're going to pay lawyers. Honestly, this truck drives so bad that I'm starting not to care about losing the warranty (maybe that was GM's plan ). But in order to make an informed decision, I ask the following:

1. Is the TCM responsible for torque management?

2. If #1 is yes, does GM check the TCM when you request warranty work on the engine?

You probably surmised where I'm going with this. I'm exploring the option of tuning just the transmission (tcm) and leaving the engine alone. I'm not trying to squeeze more HP out of her or increase my 1/4 mile time. I just want a truck that does what my foot tells it to and not some gotdamn nazi-nanny computer driving for me!! Is that too much to ask? Anyway, if the tranny breaks with a tune, I'm 100% okay with paying for a replacement out of my own pocket. But replacing an engine is a bit out of my financial capability at the moment.

snowman44 · September 23, 2017

I could not agree any more jasadi.

Crobinson16 · October 3, 2017

Following

Motor City Rick · October 3, 2017

In my GM career, I bounced over 600 drive train warranties for modifications, most of them with lawyers backing these bull chit artists up.

If you know what to look for, how to deliver the facts, ...and have knowledge of consumer law, ...it's a "cake walk". Never lost a case (with the support of GM Legal), ...and only one tie with one that was willing to bring everything back to stock configuration.

garagerog · October 3, 2017

Anyway, if the tranny breaks with a tune, I'm 100% okay with paying for a replacement out of my own pocket. But replacing an engine is a bit out of my financial capability at the moment.

Jasadi, that may have been true in years past, but nowadays a new transmission will cost you just as much if not more than a new motor. I'll cut you some slack tho because maybe you're old like me and remember when engines had twice as many cylinders or more than transmissions had speeds. The quest for epa mandated mpg has forced along transmission technology and expense faster I believe than the motor sitting ahead of it.