OK, been a while since I posted here as my TA mods have been done for long time & kinda been concentrating on DD BMW's.

Issue I have is I might have a problem with my TQverter after all these yrs as the car is really 'flat' pickup/performance wise as of late compared to previously. 2000 TA WS6 & it seems to be that over the yrs I may have flattened down some fins or bearing wear has increased tolerances so I'm no longer realizing hi stall - all mods were basically done in the 2000's including all the engine work, new dyno tested to 800hp 4L60E, Tranny Cooler, Derale Deep Pan & 3400 2.5 STR Lockup verter.

Unfortunately, while I spent good $$ on most things, the converter is from Midwest Converters so not as good as a FTI, Yank, CircleD...

I'm having the car tested next wk to see if it is indeed the verter or tranny (all though the transmission shifts as normal & all feels good with that respect) Plan is to go with FTI 3600 (either reg or hard hit) with triple clutch.

My problem is - my car was originally dyno tuned by Mike @ Rapid Motorsports which is no longer in business since 2006 & I can find no good PH# for him now. Pretty sure he used LS1Edit for engine & tranny tune, but I have no actual tune file from him or my base tune file from GM that I can find. Regardless of the mechanical issue at hand I would also like to go in & adjust ONLY tranny parameters (esp. lockup).

I have absolutely no idea what tranny parameters he tuned & their values & would definitely want to know b4 installing either new TQ or tranny

I do not have LS1Edit or cable (seems they are no longer in business, can't find any info) so I was going to go with HPTuners which is way better anyway.

When I asked HPT if it was OK to simply use HPT to read in my LS1Edit tune file & save that as base, then continue on with what I wanted to change in tranny tuning they told me not a good idea & I need to revert my car back to base tune 1st (which I do not have), or take to dealer to have them install the correct base tune.

I do NOT want to revert back to stock & start all over with HPT as my car was custom tuned on dyno & runs great engine-wise + the car would not run correctly with the mods it has on base tune + I don't want to pay for another dyno tune on the car (I don't even know anyone local to me in Pittsburgh area that is knowledgeable enough & remote tuning is simply a guess) - all I want to do is tweak some tranny parameters so neither of those options worx for me

Be great if I could just read in the LS1Edit tuned file in HPT, save as base, then tweak only the tranny items, then save over the LS1Edit tune while keeping all the engine parameters the same as current

Question I have, anyone out there used HPT over an existing tune file from another mfg such as I want to do with no issues??

I never thought this would be an issue, but according to HPT it is

 

Q: "Question I have, anyone out there used HPT over an existing tune file from another mfg such as I want to do with no issues??
.
. Obtain HPTuners, buy credits for YOUR PCM (year/make), READ the PCM and save file.
Adjust transmission parameters as necessary, WRITE changes. Test drive, repeat as necessary.

 

I can't imagine why it would be a problem to use your current (LS1 Edit) tune as base. LS1 Edit was tuning software, not an operating system; it didn't "change" the way the factory PCM works, only the base data that was input. When LS1 Edit first came out, many of us "wrote over" various tunes from HPPIII or other handhelds, etc. - this was not an issue. And when HPT came out, I don't recall anyone having issues with "writing over" previous LS1 Edit tunes.

I have no idea why HPT would now claim that this is a problem.

 

Sounds good thats exactly what I want to do Thanx

 

All my thoughts exactly! The files are GM not LS1Edit or HPT files - all the SW does is modify values & save them to the GM file so it shouldn't matter what tuner SW I use. But to be sure I asked HPT 1st as they are the experts - this is what they stated:

> Will the 2 credits cover all including transmission? If not, how many would I need to include trans?
> This car was tuned by vendor on dyno many yrs ago using LS1Edit - will that be an issue with using HPTuners from this point on?
> Will it save my current LS1Edit tune as 'stock' tune to always be able to revert back to?
> And finally, do you recommend any 3rd party tuners experienced with Gen 4 LS1 Trans Ams that can tune remotely?


On Mon, 28 Oct at 9:41 AM , wrote:
Thanx for the quik reply! Based on your answers to 2nd & 3rd questions - if restoring the OEM tune saved from LS1Edit is an absolute must then I'm SOL
Car was tuned on a dyno @ the other end of PA, 22yrs ago, by a company that no longer exists (Rapid Motorsports), & I do not have a copy of either the OEM tune or the dyno tune he created



On Mon, 28 Oct at 10:20 AM , wrote:
OK, that would basically leave it undriveable from the dealership due to engine mods done that cannot be controlled by stock tune. Plus, this car is 25 yrs old now & I am pretty much out of the zone as far as mods or tuning. I know no one locally that tunes these cars using any software...

Basically, I just wanted to tweak the transmission tune, not anything engine related

​​​​​​​

 

^ Ah, I see. They are just worried that some previous shop/tuner had "locked" your PCM when they modified the tune to their proprietary specs (which has less to do with the particular brand of software and more to do with the shop that did the work). Hence the recommendation about reflashing it to complete 'stock' by a dealer.

 

Guess there's no way of knowing if he locked his tune?
other than buying HPT & trying which could end up being a waste of $500

 

".....buying HPT & trying which could end up being a waste of $500"
.
Worst case, your PCM is locked, and you have to buy a junkyard PCM, they are cheap and available on Ebay, and your local junkyard. You'll STILL have HPTuners in hand to do what you want to do.

 

Tuner locks on older pcms can almost always be bypassed. However, most of them were originally done to hide the half-assed nature of the tunes people were paying for, so there is a high likelihood you would be better starting from a stock file even after you read out the current tune file. Either way, you will be able to do what you want when you buy your own tuning software, or when you use the readily available freeware that can read, write, and edit your pcm.

 

You should be able to read your current tune file with any friends HPTuners interface for free. The software is a free download to your PC or laptop. You can look at, modify & save any files for free. It only costs $$ if you want to write a file to a PCM.

Once read it you should be able to see if is locked or not. Name it something that is easy to remember. Download a stock tune from HPTuners tune repository and use compare file to see the changes. Always keep your current tune on the left and the compare file on the right. It's just easier that way.

To see if it is locked you would need to be in HPTuners editor>edit>calibration details>controllers>security key will show (locked) or (unlocked).
Oh hell I searched the tune repository and found this 2000 WS6 file...

It should be very easy to copy and paste files to a new/used PCM if required.

Hope this helps...

This post may get more traction over in the tuner/PCM section.

 

Thanx! I no longer know anyone that has an LS1 FBody - is it possible to buy a simple cable for direct connection from OBD Port to USB or Ethernet to enable me to use the free HPT capabilities & read/view current tune & whether it is locked without having to buy the $400 HPT BT dongle + credits?

That way I would be fine with buying the VIN locked dongle

 

Unfortunately The cables still cost money... you can use PCM hammer Free to read and write but getting something that works with it is the key.

Where are you located? Maybe someone can look and see if it has a locked tune in it before you spend any money.

 

Unfortunatly thats where they make there $$. The interface and the credits for writing of tune files.
I bought one and its been used more than my scan tool now.