PCM Capabilities
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Teching In
Joined: Aug 2010
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PCM Capabilities I did a couple searches but found nothing noteworthy.
A while back I had a shop do an LS swap on my BMW. I would have preferred to do all of the work myself but I had no time due to the fact it was DD and could not afford much downtime. The idea was just to get the motor in and running. From there I intended to modify it, adding a few features like A/C, HUD, OBDII stuff, etc. I was adding the harness for A/C last night and went to connect the harness to the PCM pins when something caught me off guard. The PCM looked different from the F-body version I was expecting. I did a part number search and found it was out of a 01 or 02 Chevy express van.
1) Will the Van PCM manage the engine as well as the F-Body/vette PCM does? I wouldn't think so, but in theory the engines are the same. I was wondering why the motor was showing lower HP than I was anticipating, could this be why?
2) Can the PCM be cloned to that of an F-Body (software and pinout)? I don't think so as many circuits have physical resistors, etc, for controlling different systems.
3) Does this mean that I will only be able to add features that were available on the Chevy Exp. Van? (i.e. no HUD possible with this PCM)
A while back I had a shop do an LS swap on my BMW. I would have preferred to do all of the work myself but I had no time due to the fact it was DD and could not afford much downtime. The idea was just to get the motor in and running. From there I intended to modify it, adding a few features like A/C, HUD, OBDII stuff, etc. I was adding the harness for A/C last night and went to connect the harness to the PCM pins when something caught me off guard. The PCM looked different from the F-body version I was expecting. I did a part number search and found it was out of a 01 or 02 Chevy express van.
1) Will the Van PCM manage the engine as well as the F-Body/vette PCM does? I wouldn't think so, but in theory the engines are the same. I was wondering why the motor was showing lower HP than I was anticipating, could this be why?
2) Can the PCM be cloned to that of an F-Body (software and pinout)? I don't think so as many circuits have physical resistors, etc, for controlling different systems.
3) Does this mean that I will only be able to add features that were available on the Chevy Exp. Van? (i.e. no HUD possible with this PCM)
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 13
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Looks like pcm in this post, minus the mount:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/12684545-post13.html
I will post a pic of my PCM with the wiring when I get back to the car; probably tonight.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/12684545-post13.html
I will post a pic of my PCM with the wiring when I get back to the car; probably tonight.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
Understood, as I think it is currently running one, but does the pinout change when you alter the map? I wouldn't think so as the two should be independent of each other. I just want to confirm before I go adding more pins to the harness in the wrong locations.
Would the PCM from an express van manage the engine any differently than that from an F-Body? There is more to it than just the map right? Each PCM expects certain inputs, sensors etc. Can the PCM being used physically produce less power than others depending on its original vehicle etc or is it all in the map alone?
Would the PCM from an express van manage the engine any differently than that from an F-Body? There is more to it than just the map right? Each PCM expects certain inputs, sensors etc. Can the PCM being used physically produce less power than others depending on its original vehicle etc or is it all in the map alone?
Understood, as I think it is currently running one, but does the pinout change when you alter the map? I wouldn't think so as the two should be independent of each other. I just want to confirm before I go adding more pins to the harness in the wrong locations.
Would the PCM from an express van manage the engine any differently than that from an F-Body? There is more to it than just the map right? Each PCM expects certain inputs, sensors etc. Can the PCM being used physically produce less power than others depending on its original vehicle etc or is it all in the map alone?
Would the PCM from an express van manage the engine any differently than that from an F-Body? There is more to it than just the map right? Each PCM expects certain inputs, sensors etc. Can the PCM being used physically produce less power than others depending on its original vehicle etc or is it all in the map alone?
Tuning parameters between all gen 3's are similar Some platforms add/remove options, but even between manual and auto tunes, just about all the same tables are there.
It's not like you're going to open an f-body file and see chrome and flames or something...
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 13
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Performance will not be affected.
Tuning parameters between all gen 3's are similar Some platforms add/remove options, but even between manual and auto tunes, just about all the same tables are there.
It's not like you're going to open an f-body file and see chrome and flames or something...
Tuning parameters between all gen 3's are similar Some platforms add/remove options, but even between manual and auto tunes, just about all the same tables are there.
It's not like you're going to open an f-body file and see chrome and flames or something...
I'll give a hypothetical. If I were to take an PCM and harness from an 02 X-Van and plug it into a 02 Camaro, with the proper map, would the engine produce the exact same power HP/TQ as it did with the original Camaro PCM and harness? Why/Why not?
I would suspect not. Would not some sensors would perform differently? Albeit even slightly? Would you not expect that some control logic has different feedback loops and variables?
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