kingtal0n

iTrader: (1)

So I have a friend asking me about tuning his 06' GTO. It has the OEM ecu, so naturally I assume that is an HPtuners issue.

I went to the site and apparently you have to buy a $550 unit just to get started. So I am here asking... am I reading this right? I don't need to tune 4 cars, or 2 and a half cars, just one car, and its going to cost that much just to connect to the computer ?

And if anybody can clarify what they mean on the site about... adding credits or buying more credits in order to tune the same engine over again a a supercharged engine or something... they charge you credits to change from a 1bar to 2bar map?

JakeFusion

iTrader: (7)

No. Credits are charged based on the VIN/PCM. Once you apply credits (2 for his VIN - you get 8 to start with), the credits and the PCM are tied to your VCM module and Serial Number. You can then hook up the laptop to and use the editor and logger to tune the vehicle (for the full suite).

For that price, you can tune 4 cars/trucks unless they require more credits. I believe Mercedes and perhaps the newer Vettes take 4 or more credits.

You do not need extra credits to upgrade to a custom OS for a vehicle (from OE to 1-bar or 2-bar, etc).

kingtal0n

iTrader: (1)

What I am trying to ask is, is this going to cost him $550~ minimum. Is there no cheaper way to do this? I dont have a VCM or whatever. I have to buy a VCM first, yes? I am guessing here that this is the only way to connect to the ecu. In other words, I cant just buy have him buy 2 credits and tune the vehicle, he has to buy the VCM and all 8 starter credits before any tuning can be done.

Phil'sC5vette

iTrader: (4)

why would he ask you to tune the car if you don't know how the program works?

kingtal0n

iTrader: (1)

word of mouth. I do not advertise, its just a hobby for friends.

I develop some software, modify some hardware, I know how it all works, they all work the same. A trigger/teeth helps a processor find piston location, and the user inputs desired values for fuel and timing, adjust parameters using experience and common sense, and the rest is knowledge of combustion and properties of engines. They all know in advance that I've never touched... whatever the ecu in question is. last couple of months I got to do my first MS ecu for example

http://www.msextra.com/forums/viewto...486079#p486079

which springrolled into another car, and then another car... I can't stop them from sharing my name...

Would love to break into HP tuners though. I want to use it for my next engine swap, so this is an ideal circumstance. Any help acquiring the necessary hardware or information you provide is <3 love.

JakeFusion

iTrader: (7)

You have to buy the software and interface between the car and laptop. The credits are just so you can tune multiple cars. They really should call them licenses to make it consistent with any other software on the planet.

HPTuners is cheaper than EFI Live. Both have their ups and downs. Each new version of HPT gets it closer to EFI Live tho.

mrvedit

And just to be absolutely clear, once you have used the 2 "credits" to tune one PCM/ECM, you can tune it over and over again. I have tuned mine 100+ times. I keep a spare PCM handy in case I fry one, but since that PCM has a different internal serial number, that costs another 2 credits.

Also, once you have HP Tuners, you can read any PCM without charge - you only need to pay "credits" to write to the PCM. HP Tuners has features to compare tunes and quickly find the differences. Jake and I and others use this to open the tunes members post here, see how they compare to stock tunes and even our own tunes.

While I would never suggest just trying out another person's entire tune, it is common to compare two tunes, and copy/paste a table from another person's tune to your own. That again does not cost any additional credits.

Over the years I have seen special OSs cost extra credits, but maybe no longer.

kingtal0n

iTrader: (1)

Hey, thanks guys, that was very helpful. I didn't realize about the ECU. How does the vin# of the vehicle interplay with the serial number of the ECU? I was under the impression I input the vin#- but now I am not so sure how that works with the ECU, i.e. if I have a swapped vehicle and don't have the original engine's/car's vin#, I will instead input the serial # of the ECU?

joecar

The VIN in the ECU can be changed easily; the ECU's serial number no so... so the "license" in the hardware marries itself to the ECU's serial number (charging a license's worth of credit(s)).

mrvedit

When HPT reads a PCM/ECM or a tune file, it reads the VIN and the serial # out of it and gives you the option of licensing it so that you can edit/write it.
In other words you don't have to manually enter the VIN or serial #.
If you select [No Thanks] to licensing it, you can still read it, compare it and copy sections/tables out of it to paste into a licensed tune.

Changing VIN gets more complicated and seems to have changed over the years.
Selecting Edit ->Change VIN wizard in HPT 3.4, you get this warning:

To change a VIN, the new VIN must adhere to the following constraints:
* Must be correct length
* Must have a valid checksum
* Must be of a year that has supported this operating system at any time

Not sure if changing the VIN costs another 2 credits or not.

statesman

I'd agree with that. I bought EFILive back when it was considered a better package but since then HPTuners have done a lot of development work on their product and they have excellent vehicle support. Most of the people that I remotely tune for now have HPTuners.

carport mechanic

I know this thread is old, however this is such good advice been struggling to understand how all that works myself, much clearer now, so upon purchasing and receiving hp tuners, setting it up on my cars ecu its going to ask me to licence or use an amount of credits say, but you can read and or save factory tune to a file open new file with it in your computer first and just licence or use credits when your ready to, am I on the right track.

joecar

Yes, it uses up a license or a set of credits when you go to flash the PCM for the first time (from point of view of the cable/module).

dw456post

Don't forget that you need to add a wideband to tune with.

LS1 pwrd NOVA

iTrader: (2)

Why change vins in the ecu?
What's that all about or what's the benefit?
Also is the mileage an ecu shows available and is it accurate?
Or I thought it showed the mileage before on hpt