Abuse mode and custom tune question

tryn2lrn · February 21, 2006

I have an 04 Sierra 5.3L with a WAIT4ME tune installed(which I like a lot). Last week the NE had a big snowfall and I slid off the driveway and got hung up pretty bad with the plow. My father came down and after a few hours of snowblowing and smokin tires I was out. Problem is I am pretty sure I had the truck kick into the "abuse mode" scenario as I had the pedal to the floor and the truck wouldn't even spin the d**n tires in the snow. I had to put it in 4LO to get the truck rocking again. Afterwards and all week I noticed the shifts were back to factory mush again and the throttle response stinks. It seems like the truck is back to stock tune again. Is that even possible? It's like the computer returned back to some default stock mode. I can send it back to be reflashed but has anyone heard anything similar? Thanks

redvett · February 21, 2006

You probably overheated the trans. and did a lot of damage to it. Should have gotten a wrecker its cheaper than a trans.

tryn2lrn · February 21, 2006

I pulled the stick and it doesn't smell bad. I didn't do it for prolonged periods, but did do some healthy forward reverse transitions a few times. I just ordered a winch yesterday and some cable chains for good measure....just in case!

As a second thought, if the little abuse I applied to the truck did damage I will be severely disappointed in the robustness of new GM designs. I have abused other stuff WAY more than what I did to this and they had high miles on them.

RyanZ71 · February 21, 2006

The trannies on these trucks are very weak, they don't hold up all that well to abuse.

sonjaab · February 21, 2006

HEY TRYN !!!!!!!!!!!!

Got stuck plowing huh????????

Been there done that myself...............

I would try disconnecting the battery cables for a few minutes and

see if the truck resets itself................

Did you keep your old PCM? If so swap it out and check..........

Thats why I went with the hand held tuner. Just for cases like this!

If your still under warranty take it to the dealer................geo

100R1 · February 21, 2006

Tuned PCM is not going to "return" to factory settings.

I would disconnect the Negative battery cable for a few minutes and let the PCM relearn your driving style.

Perhaps the PCM went into "limp Home" mode if it did there should be some etored codes. do you have a reader ? Go to your l;ocal parts store and borrow their reader to pull any codes.

tryn2lrn · February 22, 2006

Hey there sonjaab, good to see ya still lurkin around and thanks 100R1. I will try to disconnect the battery cable and see what happens. I almost got stuck the same way last year, I live on the side of a hill and everything (even stuff that is supposed to be flat) is sloped. It just so happens that I had a bucket of dirt delivered last spring(covered with a tarp) and as I slid sideways that pile went smack dab in the middle of the truck . So not only did I have to get unstuck I had to get the front end and the plow over the 2-3' pile of dirt to back out. Nothing but woods everywhere else . Plus the tarp was all wound around everything . I got the extended warranty for 7 or 84000 so I got time if the trans is gonna toast. My cable chains came today and my winch will be here tomorrow....this ain't gonna happen again . Guess a few strategically placed railroad ties would keep my butt on the macadam too. Come on 1 more big snow

sonjaab · February 22, 2006

100................Disconnecting the PCM "MIGHT" reset any odd

codes and possibly the "limp mode"....................

But yet again if you take it to the dealer the Tech 2 machine

CAN SEE the changed parameters in the custom PCM burn

and will overide them..................................

Since I snowplow and I also require dealer warranty service

from time to time because I WORK the dogtar outta my truck

snowplowing or heavy towing a handheld tuner is the only

choice for me IMO.....................

I have been thru the warranty denile routine before........geo

Butch 02 Denali · February 22, 2006

But yet again if you take it to the dealer the Tech 2 machine
CAN SEE the changed parameters in the custom PCM burn

and will overide them..................................

Sonjaab, the dealers tech2 CANNOT detect a custom tune, all they see all programs working correctly. This has been proven hundreds of times. There are many members on this forum that are techs themselves or that have had their custom tuned truck at the dealers. I myself when I got my first custom tune 3 years ago went to my GMC dealer (a friend) and asked him to try to find any evidence of anything out of the ordinary. He couldn't, everything was as it should be and all looked 100% stock to him. He did tell me though that he could always tell if someone had a Hypertech tune, even if it was uninstalled. Not sure about the other brands of handhelds. We actually have some GM dealers in our Wester's dealer network now. They sell the custom tunes thru their service and parts departments.

sonjaab · February 23, 2006

Well Butch............... I SEE 100s of "other" posts that say different

on the Tech 2s ability to "see" a non stock parameter in a OBD 2 GM vehicle.................

I guess you pay yer money and take your chances eh?????

But the westers tune is the end all and be all of tunes then and

Tryn got screwed by buying a Wait4me tune huh????????

I suppose the posts I see with problems with the westers tunes

should be ignored too?

Sheesh....................

Delray · February 23, 2006

I have an 04 Sierra 5.3L with a WAIT4ME tune installed(which I like a lot). Last week the NE had a big snowfall and I slid off the driveway and got hung up pretty bad with the plow. My father came down and after a few hours of snowblowing and smokin tires I was out. Problem is I am pretty sure I had the truck kick into the "abuse mode" scenario as I had the pedal to the floor and the truck wouldn't even spin the d**n tires in the snow. I had to put it in 4LO to get the truck rocking again. Afterwards and all week I noticed the shifts were back to factory mush again and the throttle response stinks. It seems like the truck is back to stock tune again. Is that even possible? It's like the computer returned back to some default stock mode. I can send it back to be reflashed but has anyone heard anything similar? Thanks

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Shouldn't you be talking to Jesse about this?

Butch 02 Denali · February 23, 2006

Well Butch............... I SEE 100s of "other" posts that say different
on the Tech 2s ability to "see" a non stock parameter in a OBD 2 GM vehicle.................

I guess you pay yer money and take your chances eh?????

But the westers tune is the end all and be all of tunes then and

Tryn got screwed by buying a Wait4me tune huh????????

I suppose the posts I see with problems with the westers tunes

should be ignored too?

Sheesh....................

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sonjaab,

First, I'm not trying to start anything with you, and never said anything bad about wait 4me tunes. His tunes are also non-detectable to the dealers Tech2 scanner, all custom flashed tunes are. This is a fact that any dealer technician that has checked will verify. I personally verified this myself. I have also personally verified that the Hypertech leaves a "signature" in the PCM that can be detected.

Please don't turn this information thread into a tuner war thread, there are too many of those already!

Mark_in_Tulsa · February 23, 2006

Well Butch............... I SEE 100s of "other" posts that say different
on the Tech 2s ability to "see" a non stock parameter in a OBD 2 GM vehicle.................

I guess you pay yer money and take your chances eh?????

But the westers tune is the end all and be all of tunes then and

Tryn got screwed by buying a Wait4me tune huh????????

I suppose the posts I see with problems with the westers tunes

should be ignored too?

Sheesh....................

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sonjaab,

First, I'm not trying to start anything with you, and never said anything bad about wait 4me tunes. His tunes are also non-detectable to the dealers Tech2 scanner, all custom flashed tunes are. This is a fact that any dealer technician that has checked will verify. I personally verified this myself. I have also personally verified that the Hypertech leaves a "signature" in the PCM that can be detected.

Please don't turn this information thread into a tuner war thread, there are too many of those already!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I can't recall anyone reporting a GM tech finding a custom tune, on a non diesel motor.

sonjaab · February 23, 2006

Read this post... http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=42741

I also posted on the "Ask the GM tech" thread for a REAL answer.

Mark_in_Tulsa · February 23, 2006

Read this post... http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=42741

I also posted on the "Ask the GM tech" thread for a REAL answer.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well you already got a "REAL" answer from the GM tech. He answered the question in the link you posted. Plus I believe he has answered that question a couple of times here with a no you can't detect it.