is it bad to assume a previous owner's chip tune is ok?

Silver01NC · Jan 11, 2006

i have an sct chip installed by a previous owner and i'm wondering if i should really assume the tune is what it should or could be. is that a bad assumption? the car had a supercharged engine before the present stock engine was reinstalled, is it possible the chip was never reflashed for the stock NA engine? thanks -

Uncle Meat · Jan 11, 2006

Silver01NC said:
i have an sct chip installed by a previous owner and i'm wondering if i should really assume the tune is what it should or could be. is that a bad assumption? the car had a supercharged engine before the present stock engine was reinstalled, is it possible the chip was never reflashed for the stock NA engine? thanks -

Yes, it's bad to rely on the word of the previous owner plus you'll sleep better at night knowing the truth. Go put the car on a dyno with wide band and have it checked. It's a minimal investment and will give you peace of mind... and maybe prevent a potential future problem...

U.M.

Silver01NC · Jan 11, 2006

thanks u.m., does $300 sound reasonable?

Uncle Meat · Jan 12, 2006

Silver01NC said:
thanks u.m., does $300 sound reasonable?

All you're going to need is ONE PULL on the dyno with wide band A/F readings and you'll know whether there's a problem or not. $300 is way too much! See if there's a car club doing a "Dyno Day" in your local area and maybe you can get in on that. I've never paid more than $150 for an hours worth of dyno time and that included custom tuning! On dyno days it usually ran $50-$75 for 3 pulls.

U.M.

Silver01NC · Jan 12, 2006

i spoke to another shop this morning. they offerred $25 to restore the stock tune and set the gear, no dyno. i'll ask about dyno days, too, thanks for pointing that out.

Silver01NC · Jan 13, 2006

i took the car to a local shop for the occasional stall which i posted in svt tech. the sct chip was badly seated or the connection was dirty, either way shaking the ecm caused the engine to stall so the chip is now out for the time being.

the car has a 3.55 gear, the stock gear is 3.27, will that affect the tune in any way or just the speedometer reading? thanks -

timeless2 · Jan 13, 2006

Good thing you didn't take the person's word, huh? Sounds like you came out better as a result.

Uncle Meat · Jan 14, 2006

Silver01NC said:
the car has a 3.55 gear, the stock gear is 3.27, will that affect the tune in any way or just the speedometer reading? thanks -

No.

You may want to think about investing in a handheld tuner like the Predator by Diablosport or the X-Cal 2 by SCT. You will be able to flash your ECM yourself and make the necessary changes for the rear end gear. You'll also be able to use these tuners to transfer custom tunes into your car. They are much better & more convenient than a chip!

U.M.

Silver01NC · Jan 14, 2006

right now i'd be happy to drive without worrying about a stall or where the fumes are coming from. the worst part, other than stalling in traffic on the way to work once, was the evap line being disconnected, the low end was really shaky, sounded awful at red lights.

if i were to eventually do a tune myself, what are the pros/cons for using an external chip compared to flashing the onboard prom? having the stock tune to fall back on would seem useful, and the chip i have may be fine.

Pro-Hawk · Jan 16, 2006

Once you burn a chip, you can't change it. They do have whats called a flip chip where you can run a street tune and a race tune. The advantage to a hand held is, you can also tweek it. A good example is the cold wether some of us are experiencing now days. The temp changes and you may need ton change something for it. The same goes for elevation if you travel a lot. Now another cool thing is, hand helds like my Predator allows me to run trouble code checks and erase trouble codes. They also allow to do data log stuff as well as check intake temps etc.

Best of luck
Ray

PS, if your car is running like crap, check for simple stuff first like vaccum leaks or loose air filter etc.

Silver01NC · Jan 19, 2006

i have looked for detailed information on X-Cal several times and i just find marketing flash. is it really that easy to use ? including data logging? data logging would be nice, as would diagnostic codes. if there's an online manual link i haven't found it. i emailed sct with the same question tonight.

Uncle Meat · Jan 20, 2006

Silver01NC said:
i have looked for detailed information on X-Cal several times and i just find marketing flash. is it really that easy to use ? including data logging? data logging would be nice, as would diagnostic codes. if there's an online manual link i haven't found it. i emailed sct with the same question tonight.

Handheld programmers like the Predator or X-Cal2 are pretty easy to use actually. You best bet is to read the manual to find out everything it can do! Here ya go:
http://www.sctflash.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=730

U.M.

Silver01NC · Jan 20, 2006

this looks like a great tool, thanks u.m., i found the page for changing the gear and other parameters, the manual answers a lot of questions i had, and the data logging is much more detailed and the graphics look much better than i expected.

thanks again -

Uncle Meat · Jan 20, 2006

Silver01NC said:
this looks like a great tool, thanks u.m., i found the page for changing the gear and other parameters, the manual answers a lot of questions i had, and the data logging is much more detailed and the graphics look much better than i expected.

thanks again -

Glad to be of assistance!

U.M.

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