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S tucker

By S tucker
in Ask A GM Technician

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Jsdirt Senior Enthusiast

Jsdirt

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Doesn't need a new ECM. You can reprogram it with factory tuning, or, a tuner shop can tune over it.

Jsdirt Senior Enthusiast

Jsdirt

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Posted (edited)
4 minutes ago, KARNUT said:

I use to program to the redline then back a-bit I believe 5900. Then 50 percent TM and their premium engine tune. I can’t imagine a can tune jacking up that bad as he described. Unless a drastic tire size change?

Rev limits and shift points are adjustable in the tuner. Someone jacked it way up to the moon, and probably didn't understand what was happening when it hit the rev limiter, and dumped the truck. I hate when people do that and don't include the tuner! Pretty much screwed without it.

Edited by Jsdirt
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S tucker Enthusiast

S tucker

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1 minute ago, Jsdirt said:

Doesn't need a new ECM. You can reprogram it with factory tuning, or, a tuner shop can tune over it.

That sounds like the best way to go. Thanks

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S tucker Enthusiast

S tucker

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40 minutes ago, Jsdirt said:

Rev limits and shift points are adjustable in the tuner. Someone jacked it way up to the moon, and probably didn't understand what was happening when it hit the rev limiter, and dumped the truck. I hate when people do that and don't include the tuner! Pretty much screwed without it.

I would of left it stock like my old 2001 silverado. Never had a problem with it.

Jsdirt Senior Enthusiast

Jsdirt

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Posted

Yeah, there's no need to screw with rev limits or shift points unless you installed an aggressive camshaft and heavier valve springs, and need the thing to rev out to 7k to make use of the top-end power.

Jsdirt Senior Enthusiast

Jsdirt

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Posted

I've got the Hypertech tuner on mine - bought it in '07 when my truck was still brand new.  Got a cold air intake, and Corsa cat back system, and that's it as far as mods go. It woke the truck up pretty good. I have all the transmission parameters set to stock, since my transmission is built to the moon, so all of that has been taken care of by the builder. I can actually break stuff inside the trans if I go ramping up shift firmness, since my pump is already set to run in triple-digit pressures.

 

Back when the truck had the original trans (before 103k miles), I cranked up the shift firmness as high as it would go. That probably got me several thousand more miles out of it. Yours is built MUCH better than mine, so you won't have to worry about that too much. From '07-up, parts quality of these trucks really took a nosedive.

 

As far as shift RPM and rev limits, I left all that alone, since there was no reason to increase or decrease any of that from stock.

 

One time I screwed up and changed the rear end gearing in the tuner - thought I had set it back to where it should have been, but I missed a key step. Every light on the cluster lit up, shift points were screwed up, and the truck was bucking and surging like crazy! Luckily I didn't break anything. The shifts were violent.  I only drove it 4 miles that way. 

S tucker Enthusiast

S tucker

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2 minutes ago, Jsdirt said:

I've got the Hypertech tuner on mine - bought it in '07 when my truck was still brand new.  Got a cold air intake, and Corsa cat back system, and that's it as far as mods go. It woke the truck up pretty good. I have all the transmission parameters set to stock, since my transmission is built to the moon, so all of that has been taken care of by the builder. I can actually break stuff inside the trans if I go ramping up shift firmness, since my pump is already set to run in triple-digit pressures.

 

Back when the truck had the original trans (before 103k miles), I cranked up the shift firmness as high as it would go. That probably got me several thousand more miles out of it. Yours is built MUCH better than mine, so you won't have to worry about that too much. From '07-up, parts quality of these trucks really took a nosedive.

 

As far as shift RPM and rev limits, I left all that alone, since there was no reason to increase or decrease any of that from stock.

 

One time I screwed up and changed the rear end gearing in the tuner - thought I had set it back to where it should have been, but I missed a key step. Every light on the cluster lit up, shift points were screwed up, and the truck was bucking and surging like crazy! Luckily I didn't break anything. The shifts were violent.  I only drove it 4 miles that way. 

I'm not into the newer way of tuning with the computer stuff. I still run a 1970 LT1 in a 64 nova that's built. Much easier for me to tune.

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Jsdirt Senior Enthusiast

Jsdirt

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AMEN to that! If I had my way, I wouldn't drive anything built after 1972!

 

We've got a '86 Grand Marquis daily driver that's all stock and original. Still runs the original OE in-tank fuel pump - 36 years, 285k miles! Try that on anything built in the last 25 years. We take it off the road every winter, otherwise it would've rotted away to nothing 25 years ago. The road salt up here is brutal.

 

We run a '93 Volvo 940 for a winter beater. They used top quality metals and paint on this thing - been in New England winters since it rolled off the showroom floor in '92, and has minimal rust and no rot. Slow as slow can get, but it's as reliable as a stone ax, totally unlike my Silverado has been. I'm at 117k on the Silverado, and I'm planning an engine swap already due to low oil pressure. Started burning oil at 50k miles! Had nothing but trouble with this thing since DAY 1. Brakes, ball joints, rear end failure at 97k, trans at 103k - one thing after another.

S tucker Enthusiast

S tucker

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4 minutes ago, Jsdirt said:

AMEN to that! If I had my way, I wouldn't drive anything built after 1972!

 

We've got a '86 Grand Marquis daily driver that's all stock and original. Still runs the original OE in-tank fuel pump - 36 years, 285k miles! Try that on anything built in the last 25 years. We take it off the road every winter, otherwise it would've rotted away to nothing 25 years ago. The road salt up here is brutal.

 

We run a '93 Volvo 940 for a winter beater. They used top quality metals and paint on this thing - been in New England winters since it rolled off the showroom floor in '92, and has minimal rust and no rot. Slow as slow can get, but it's as reliable as a stone ax, totally unlike my Silverado has been. I'm at 117k on the Silverado, and I'm planning an engine swap already due to low oil pressure. Started burning oil at 50k miles! Had nothing but trouble with this thing since DAY 1. Brakes, ball joints, rear end failure at 97k, trans at 103k - one thing after another.

My 2001 silverado was completely stock and had 247,000 miles with normal maintenance,  water pump and alternator. Some jack wipe pulled in front of me and totalled it. I had it from new. Great truck.

Jsdirt Senior Enthusiast

Jsdirt

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Crap! Sorry to hear that. Those are great trucks - I see many well over 300k still running.

S tucker Enthusiast

S tucker

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1 minute ago, Jsdirt said:

Crap! Sorry to hear that. Those are great trucks - I see many well over 300k still running.

I found my 2001 sierra at a dealership with only 160000 miles. It hasn't been too bad except for the program. I will get thru that ok.

Jsdirt Senior Enthusiast

Jsdirt

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Posted

It does NOT lock the ECU / PCM. It locks the tool so you can't upload it to more than one vehicle. It also captures your stock info in the tool, which cannot be uploaded to any vehicle but the original. With a J-box you can wipe the PCM and start over. 

 

Look at the link I posted to the picture straight from the manual - "If a service facility reprograms your vehicle's computer with an update, your Hypertech Power Tuning will be erased."

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