2019 5.3L ECM Tuning

lt1z · January 8, 2020

HP Tuners is offering unlocked ECM or you can send yours in. It’s already broke but no tunes have been written yet.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not true. Tunes have been written to these trucks already. Just not a large amount due to cost of entry and lack of serious engine mods requiring tuning being available at this time.

yankeedoodle86 · January 8, 2020

Not true. Tunes have been written to these trucks already. Just not a large amount due to cost of entry and lack of serious engine mods requiring tuning being available at this time.

List the sources please. I’ve spoke to blackbear, 5 star, and diablew which are three of the more reputable custom tuners and they don’t have anything written for the 5.3 with 8 spd transmission. They’re all “working” on it. What serious engine mods are you talking about? For the average user the only mods needed are an intake and exhaust.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

lt1z · January 8, 2020

List the sources please. I’ve spoke to blackbear, 5 star, and diablew which are three of the more reputable custom tuners and they don’t have anything written for the 5.3 with 8 spd transmission. They’re all “working” on it. What serious engine mods are you talking about? For the average user the only mods needed are an intake and exhaust.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well I myself have but beyond that Houston House of Power and others have as well. The average intake and exhaust guy will not pay the $2800-3000 it takes to tune one of these trucks.

Serious mods requiring tuning would be things like boost from supercharger or turbo kits that are in the pipeline but not yet available.

We are not talking about “canned” tunes here. Given that GM GDS is need to even swap the unlocked computer in, that market will not work with these trucks.

The install of the ECM and tuning needs to be done at a shop in house with capabilities to do so, at least with the current tuning option available via HP Tuners.

lt1z · January 9, 2020

...

Swiftks · January 10, 2020

On 1/8/2020 at 12:21 PM, yankeedoodle86 said:

List the sources please. I’ve spoke to blackbear, 5 star, and diablew which are three of the more reputable custom tuners and they don’t have anything written for the 5.3 with 8 spd transmission. They’re all “working” on it. What serious engine mods are you talking about? For the average user the only mods needed are an intake and exhaust.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

HPTuners was the first one to crack the new ECM for 2019/2020 5.3L & 6.2L 1500's.

https://www.hptuners.com/vehicles/

As already stated in this thread, you have to do a full ECM swap, buy the software to tune, and do a custom tune. Figure close to $3K to have a shop do it for you.

yankeedoodle86 · January 10, 2020

HPTuners was the first one to crack the new ECM for 2019/2020 5.3L & 6.2L 1500's.

https://www.hptuners.com/vehicles/

As already stated in this thread, you have to do a full ECM swap, buy the software to tune, and do a custom tune. Figure close to $3K to have a shop do it for you.

I’m aware of all that, I even mentioned it early on when I started the thread.

This quote was from me asking someone else a question. He mentioned necessary serious mods and I wanted to know what was absolutely necessary other than intake and exhaust.

It’ll be expensive, no more plug and play...I get it. People will always pay it though. My duramax had over $5k in performance although that was a much different return on HP.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

lt1z · January 10, 2020

I’m aware of all that, I even mentioned it early on when I started the thread.

This quote was from me asking someone else a question. He mentioned necessary serious mods and I wanted to know what was absolutely necessary other than intake and exhaust.

It’ll be expensive, no more plug and play...I get it. People will always pay it though. My duramax had over $5k in performance although that was a much different return on HP.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What I said is serious mods that absolutely require tuning like blowers, turbos etc.

Intake and exhaust can be installed without tuning even though tuning would help.

yankeedoodle86 · January 10, 2020

What I said is serious mods that absolutely require tuning like blowers, turbos etc.

Intake and exhaust can be installed without tuning even though tuning would help.

Pretty sure we got crossed somewhere. I wasn’t trying to imply that the intake and exhaust would require the tuning. I may have misread or just took something the wrong way.

Either way, I agree, it will be an expensive process to tune. I doubt seriously if people like me who have zero plans for serious mods will pay that price for minimal HP gains. It’s not like the diesel world where you can easily grab 200 hp with a couple bolt ones.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

lt1z · January 10, 2020

Pretty sure we got crossed somewhere. I wasn’t trying to imply that the intake and exhaust would require the tuning. I may have misread or just took something the wrong way.

Either way, I agree, it will be an expensive process to tune. I doubt seriously if people like me who have zero plans for serious mods will pay that price for minimal HP gains. It’s not like the diesel world where you can easily grab 200 hp with a couple bolt ones.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That is correct. The cost will likely be too much for the bolt on guys.

SquireSCA · January 10, 2020

What needs to happen is someone to make a piggy-back system for these trucks. Been doing it with EFI motorcycles forever... Bazzaz, Power Commander, etc...

Small box with harnesses to plug inline with the injectors, and if you get the ignition module, the coils as well.

Plugs into a laptop, and you remap the fuel and timing tables as needed, but altering the width of the pulses that the ECM is sending to the injectors... You tune it by throttle position and in 250rpm increments and you can take whatever the ECM is sending to the injectors, and add or remove fuel from that "cell" on the mapping tables. It's easy, doesn't write anything to the ECM that would show up in a dealer scan, etc...

Only thing would be the need to disable any lambda sensors so that the ECM doesn't see the exhaust as "rich" and try to lean it back out and undo your tuning changes... That is usually done with resistors to send a steady signal to the ECM so it doesn't see any changes...

I know many of you know this stuff, but some might not. It's how most motorcycles have been tuned for the past 15 years. For a bike, the box is $350 and us plug and play, and you can download and run canned maps, or take it to a shop with a dyno and the software and have them custom tune your truck.

If you have to to take the truck to the dealer for warranty work, unplug everything and put it back to stock, and then plug it all back in when you get it back home...

I feel like that may be the only real way to tune these trucks going forward...

CamGTP · January 13, 2020

You can't do that stuff with the these new controllers. Everything is torque based and I mean everything.

Read this if you have time, it's the basic logic behind how the computer functions. You can't interrupt signals or piggy back off anything. Changing fueling and timing isn't so simple anymore.

http://www.hptuners.com/help/vcm_editor_tuning_how_to_advanced_e78.htm

SquireSCA · January 14, 2020

2 hours ago, CamGTP said:

You can't do that stuff with the these new controllers. Everything is torque based and I mean everything.

Read this if you have time, it's the basic logic behind how the computer functions. You can't interrupt signals or piggy back off anything. Changing fueling and timing isn't so simple anymore.

http://www.hptuners.com/help/vcm_editor_tuning_how_to_advanced_e78.htm

Well sumbich....

Evansdmax · May 11, 2020

I just got my 2019 trailboss custom 5.3.... I have a local guy that has always tuned my earlier 5.3’s a 07 Tahoe and a 2010 1500.... he told me to do the research.... I’m not good with tuning so if he does the tuning for free like in the past he is just goi. To have to buy the license to get into the ecm and tcm? Or is it impossible from his laptop? He’s a tuning genius but really busy and I’ll have to do the legwork to make sure it can happen!!

CamGTP · May 12, 2020

You have to buy an unlocked computer first, then buy the credits and have him do the tuning.

This will set you back $1,900 just to do this part.

SummitBoss · June 23, 2020

I’ve been reaching out to Diablosport every 3 months or so to see if they’re getting close to having some tuning options. According to their rep they are in the final stages of emissions testing and will have some products available soon. Whether that’s 1month or 6months from now they didn’t say but hopefully we’re closer to an option under $1,000. I like my truck but the throttle response and the torque management at wot kills me. I feel like it’s better made and looking vehicle than my ram but it doesn’t hold a candle to it from a performance standpoint. I miss the power and responsiveness of the ram and just wish they could get it in the same ballpark. I shouldn’t need to go 3/4 throttle to downshift and find the right gear. I feel like there’s a potato stuck in the exhaust at wot.

Edited June 23, 2020 by SummitBoss