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98 SS pcm questions

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Old Feb 19, 2017 | 11:07 PM
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Default 98 SS pcm questions

I have searched and searched, and came up with some conflicting answers. A friend has a 98 Camaro SS. He has a BTR stg 3 n/a camshaft, Tea ported 2.02 intake valve stock heads, ls6 intake, slp with smooth bellows, long tubes, and 3" duals with x-pipe/bullets dumped. I know the resolution and features on the stock 98 pcm are lacking, but for such a simple setup, would tuning on that be a viable option, or would an 0411 and repin be better? I have also heard that 98's have an issue with being flashed and burning transistors. Any first hand info here?
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Old Feb 19, 2017 | 11:23 PM
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Originally Posted by L33dreamboat
I have searched and searched, and came up with some conflicting answers. A friend has a 98 Camaro SS. He has a BTR stg 3 n/a camshaft, Tea ported 2.02 intake valve stock heads, ls6 intake, slp with smooth bellows, long tubes, and 3" duals with x-pipe/bullets dumped. I know the resolution and features on the stock 98 pcm are lacking, but for such a simple setup, would tuning on that be a viable option, or would an 0411 and repin be better? I have also heard that 98's have an issue with being flashed and burning transistors. Any first hand info here?
What resolution and features are lacking on a 98 PCM? I've flashed 98 PCMs hundreds of times and have never fried one. Including full writes and changing operating systems. Don't believe everything you read on the internet about 98 PCMs. Only real reason I see to upgrade to a newer PCM is if you need a 3 bar OS. Who is going to be tuning it?
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Old Feb 19, 2017 | 11:39 PM
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Originally Posted by 2xLS1
What resolution and features are lacking on a 98 PCM? I've flashed 98 PCMs hundreds of times and have never fried one. Including full writes and changing operating systems. Don't believe everything you read on the internet about 98 PCMs. Only real reason I see to upgrade to a newer PCM is if you need a 3 bar OS. Who is going to be tuning it?
Well, most everybody I have talked to complains about how awful they are. Like they are some ginger stepchild or something. Bluecat's will be tuning the car, but he hates them with a passion, and really pushes for that 0411. It will not be SD and still have the stock maf. My friend doesn't want to spend unnecessary money, as next year he is putting an lq9 in the car with a Gold Box and billet s480.
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Old Feb 20, 2017 | 12:12 AM
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Someone with Bluecat's tuning ability should have no issues tuning a 98 PCM with those mods. I'm really surprised to hear that. My experience is that those that complain about the 98 PCMs haven't really done much tuning.
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Old Feb 20, 2017 | 07:57 AM
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2x has it pretty much down the only real reason to switch is to take advantage of custom operating systems or segment swaps not available to the 98 pcm.

You do lose some resolution in the VE table if you don't use the maf but it's fine to calibrate and flash I have done it plenty of times my car is SD right now.

As for burning them up I think that rep comes from the early days running things like LS1 edit on 90s laptops where the computer was so slow it caused issues with the newer software and laptops I haven't heard of this still being an issue.
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