Can anyone tune my car? - NJFBOA - Home of New Jersey's Camaros and Firebirds

TheBandit · 09-25-2007, 08:48 PM

Are there any members on the board that can tune my 94 formula? the garage where my dad took it to get inspected said its needs to be tuned pretty bad.. has a miss and other stuff.l. but does anyone do it on the board?

Tru2Chevy · 09-25-2007, 09:25 PM

AFAIK there isn't anyone here that can tune a 94-97 LT1 car....there are a few guys that can tune the '93 speed density cars.

There are a few threads in the Engine Tech forum below about software used for LT1 tuning.

Now, if you have a miss and other mechanical issues, you need to get that stuff fixed first.

- Justin

TheBandit · 09-26-2007, 01:28 PM

oh ok.. i was told i needed a tune to get rid of the miss.. but i wasnt sure about that. im going to do a tune up and see how it runs, any shops in the central area aroudn sayreville/old bridge you can suggest that are capable of tuning my car?

CALL911 · 12-06-2007, 04:20 PM

I would first check your ignition coil, the plugs, the wires, and the opti. It's probably one of those four things causing your car to miss. A bad tune can do many things, but it is highly unlikely that the miss is in the tune.

If you are 100% dead sure it is in the tune though, try PCM's for less. You can send them your PCM via mail and he can give you a great mail order tune.

JL8Jeff · 12-06-2007, 05:01 PM

What mods are on the car? If it's pretty much stock, then a tune won't fix problems. You probably need a tune up to find what is causing the miss to happen.

TheBandit · 12-06-2007, 08:11 PM

ive done the plugs, next will be wires, just havent had the time.. mods are LT4 Hotcam 1.6RR, ported intake, GM performance heads.. the car was never tuned after the new motor had been put in, thats why i thought maybe it would effect it and make it run rough. I'll check out PCM's for less. What about madz28? i've heard good things about those also

Blackbirdws6 · 12-06-2007, 10:40 PM

The car may not run perfect without the right tune but I would take care of the relatively easy stuff first before you go and spend the hundreds of dollars for a tune. Does the miss occur at all rpm's, at a certain rpm range or just every once in a while? A tune wouldn't hurt anything but it won't solve your problem if your car has an existing issue.

-brian

CALL911 · 12-07-2007, 05:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBandit

ive done the plugs, next will be wires, just havent had the time.. mods are LT4 Hotcam 1.6RR, ported intake, GM performance heads.. the car was never tuned after the new motor had been put in, thats why i thought maybe it would effect it and make it run rough. I'll check out PCM's for less. What about madz28? i've heard good things about those also

madz28 will also get you a good tune. I just have had overwelming success with Bryan Herter at PCM's for less.

Allright, so you had an LT1 with stock internals and a computer that had not been tuned (or tuned for what it was, a stock motor). That motor went, so you got a new motor with the hotcam, heads, new RR, and intake and put that in without getting the PCM re-tuned? If this is the case, then you definatly need a new tune. With that cam, you want to make sure you also have the LT4 knock module (that goes in the PCM).

TheBandit · 12-07-2007, 01:36 PM

i bought the car like this.. they pulled the LT1 and rebuilt everything.. redid the block and everything. I cant tell if there's a miss cause i think it runs pretty strong, but when my dad took it down to get inspected at a garage he knows the guy said it has a miss. No check engine light or anything, i'll get the basic tune up stuff all finished and see what happens.

I probably will go with PCM for less or Madz28 only because i got a quote from a shop for a dyno tune and they wanted $550 which is a lot imo

CALL911 · 12-07-2007, 01:48 PM

Yeah a tune will do you no good if theres something up with the car as it is like a bad plug wire or something. I would ask the individual who you got it from if it has already been tuned. Anytime you add a cam or do something to that extent with the motor, a tune is almost mandatory for the thing to run even somewhat okay. I have a feeling that if it seems good most of the time to you that it has already been tuned (that and I can't see the guy who rebuilt it doing that stuff and NOT getting it tuned).

A mail order tune from Madz28 or PCM's for less will get you a pretty good tune that should make the car run pretty well. Both will cost about the same (around $125 or so for the mail order tune). If you really want it 100% top notch dialed in tuning wise a dyno tune is the way to go, but yeah on average you can expect to pay $500+. I would go the mail order tune route if it were me with those mods done and be happy. But something as modded as my Z28 in my sig, and a dyno tune is a must. Again, I don't think the problem is in the tune though with your car.

JL8Jeff · 12-07-2007, 04:56 PM

A real miss should show up as a misfire code, usually P0300. Maybe it has a small exhaust leak that sounds like a miss. You should have somebody here look at it or listen to it. The LT4 cam isn't overly radical but the rockers can get noisy depending on what they are.

JSPERFORMANCE · 12-08-2007, 06:51 AM

94 is obd 1 guys no p0 codes... It sounds like you need to have the car gone over mechanically before you try burning a chip for it. The ignition system chould be checked out as well as the valve adjustment, fuel system, and all the electronics. Once the car is running on all 8 and everything is in proper working order then you are ready to have a custom program burned if that is what it really needs..

TheBandit · 12-08-2007, 07:23 AM

I believe it needs a tune when i bought it the guy said it was all done, beside needing a tune. It does have a small exhaust leak by the cat. im gonna do the rest of the tune up probably monday. When the car warms up it idles a little low and is real lopey, i dunno if its just the cam or a miss but the car rocks a good amount. I'll try to find someone to look at it and see if they could diagnose anything.

JSPERFORMANCE · 12-08-2007, 08:00 AM

the obd 1 cars with speed density are a little more forgiving as far as different cam profiles and such before they actually need a new program.. Unless you have some sort of wild cam or radical compression ratio the stock programming should be able to control it.. It my not run at its peak but it should be able to maintain an idle and normal acccelleration without missfiring.. What is the compression ratio and specs of the cam that is in the car now?

JL8Jeff · 12-08-2007, 09:33 AM

I keep forgetting the 94-95 cars are in a world of their own. My 96 SS kept popping up a P0300 random multiple misfire but it actually ran fine and never really had a miss. Have you tried looking at the engine in the dark to see if you can see any spark jumping somewhere? It really is an easy test to look for a misfire and I've found problems using this method. You might also have small vacuum leak at idle that would make it rough. Check all the rubber intake parts closely and vacuum lines.

Featherburner · 12-08-2007, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSPERFORMANCE

the obd 1 cars with speed density are a little more forgiving as far as different cam profiles and such before they actually need a new program.. Unless you have some sort of wild cam or radical compression ratio the stock programming should be able to control it.. It my not run at its peak but it should be able to maintain an idle and normal acccelleration without missfiring.. What is the compression ratio and specs of the cam that is in the car now?

His car is not speed density. 93 was the only fourth gen with SD.

JSPERFORMANCE · 12-08-2007, 10:03 AM

I am sorry, you are correct john even with the maf it still should run ok unless it has the cam or compression as I stated above..

(I could edit but I dont have a problem admitting when I make a mistake.)

TheBandit · 12-08-2007, 10:56 AM

I'm not sure of the compression ratio, but nothing ridiculous was done to the engine. Just the mods i mentioned before. It also runs very rich.. i get like 9-11 MPG around the city so that definitely isn't right.

TheBandit · 12-08-2007, 03:32 PM

The car runs rich so when it idles a little rough couldn't that be from the fact that it's loading up with fuel? and it's loading up with because it does not have the proper tune?

CALL911 · 12-08-2007, 04:58 PM

It could be a lot of things honestly. Best thing you can do IMO, is to finish off the tune up stuff you had planned. If you have something like a fouled out spark plug, or bad oxygen sensor your car is going to pull timing, and make you run rich to try to keep you safe and away from detonation.

It could be in the tune as well, or even a combo of things needing fixed, and a tune. Once you are at least fairly confident you have gone through and checked the plugs, wires, opti, ignition coil, oxygen sensors, fuel filter, and all the other stuff that could cause issues, and if you still are having issues, thats when I would give the tuning thing a shot.

It would be very helpfull if you had someone who can scan your car and plug in and do a diagnostic while driving it with a program like LT1 edit who is knowledgable enough to get all the sensor readings with your car to help pinpoint anything going bad or abnormal. This may help you narrow down what maintenance item(s) might be bad.

TheBandit · 12-10-2007, 09:48 AM

Yup, I'm going to do some more of the tune up stuff today. I'll check the O2 sensors but wouldn't they throw a code if they went bad?

CALL911 · 12-10-2007, 11:22 AM

If they get bad enough then yes, but they could be on the way out causing issues, and may not throw a code. Just unscrew them, and if they look completly covered in thick black exhaust dust, then it would probably help if you changed them.

Pampered-Z · 12-11-2007, 04:29 PM

Like other have stated, it could be allot of things, O2s, vacuum leak, wires are high on my list of things to change too. I did notice you said the intake is ported. What part, are you running a 58Mm Throttle body. Those things can be a PITA to get right. Is the EGR still hooked up? faulty EGRs cause all sorts of odd problems and oftem don't throw codes.

If you have or access to a laptop I'd suggest looking at DataMaster. This is outstanding software and very useful for checking how the engine is operating and data logging.

http://www.ttspowersystems.com/DataM...downloads.html

The software can be downloaded for a free trial ( 20 scans I think, then you need to buy the key). You can buy the cable here:

http://www.aldlcable.com/

John

TheBandit · 12-15-2007, 11:29 PM

my driend has datatmaster but he said he couldn't get the software to run on may car.. i guess that was bs.. but ill talk to him again.. it was ported out to an LT4 intake so im not 100% sure

CALL911 · 12-16-2007, 04:05 AM

Just because it has an LT4 in it, it is still OBD1 readable just like a standard LT1 pre 96 would be. (to be really specific, 95 had a different diagnostic hookup than 93-94).

If your friend has a diagnostic hookup for a 95+ car, there is a way to get it to work using a paperclip and tapping into the right pins. I'm sure if you do a search on a larger board like camaroz28.com you can find this info.