Looking for mild heads/cam base tune 1999 LS1

[krwyellowz28]

Sorry for the long reply time. I've tried replying twice earlier today and they don't show up for some reason.

Joe: My cable is the Innovate serial input cable spliced with the V2 serial cable pig tail based off info from that thread and one other.

Scarab: I hadn't considered the blade MAF. I'll keep that in mind if I decide to go back to MAF, but for now I would like to tune in SD if I can.

I read the calc.VET tutorial a couple weeks ago and honestly I didn't retain much. I re-read it again last night and its making more sense, but does it still apply for me if I am going with SD? Can I still do the calc.VET and just ignore the MAF portions, or will that be pointless?

Calc.VET does two things simultaneously:
- corrects MAF table based on LTFT (CL) and wideband (non-CL),
- calculated a new VE table from the corrected MAF table.

One of the clearest posts I've seen so far is from SSpdDmon a few years ago:

First, some helpful tips since you sound new to this: Open the tuning tool and hit Alt+Enter. Change the fueling display values to AFR. That way, you don't have to worry about dealing with EQ or Lambda. Then, download your tune out of your car. If it's not a stock tune, download a copy of a stock tune for your car from www.holdencrazy.com for reference. You can compare your current tune with another tune (e.g. the stock one) by hitting Ctrl+F11 as long as they have the same operating system. Ctrl+4 will show you the current file and Ctrl+5 will show you the alternate/comparison file.

You force your car into open loop by setting the closed loop temp enable table to its maximum across the board. This disables STFTs and closed loop. You should also turn off LTFTs and DFCO (set temp enable to it's max). Set your Commanded Fueling in Open Loop table to a 14.63 AFR from 158*F on up and set your PE table appropriately (e.g. a 12.5:1 AFR is a good target for NA cars). You might want to drop the PE TPS enable table a little too.

Now you're in open loop. The MAF is still active and influencing fueling. If you want to go to speed density, you need to disable the MAF under Engine Diagnostics. Set the high fail frequency to 1 and the fail limit to 1 (C2901 and C2903). This will trigger an SES light. You can turn that off in the first few rows of the DTC MIL section. In speed density, the timing scaler reverts the PCM to the low octane timing table. You need to copy the values in the high octane table to the low octane table.

Now, you're in open loop speed density (no MAF). Depending on how heavily modified your car is, you want to go to the VE table and change a few cells. If you're just a bolt-ons car, you should probably increase the VE 5% from 40~105kPa and 2000~8000 rpms. That'll help keep you from running too lean the first time around. Other setups will require different changes (e.g. cammed cars need to remove fuel from the stock VE below 1600rpms in order to idle....however, they need more than 5% above 2400rpms).

Those are the firsts step in getting there. I just realized all of this is in the tutorial along with the remaining steps. So, check that out...

Are there any more generic tips or tricks that will help me get this thing to at least idle? I didn't really clearly say, but right now the car will barely stay running. I haven't let it blubber long enough to get up past 120*. I just want to get it to a point that I can put it in gear and it won't die. :/

[joecar]

If it has a SERIAL IN then it will need the terminator plug.

[joecar]

The forum was marking your posts "Moderated" for some reason, I just marked them Approved.

[joecar]

I've tried replying twice earlier today and they don't show up for some reason, but I'll try again.

I would like to try tuning in SD for now since I depinned my harness for the MAF. Can I still do the calc.VET and just ignore the MAF portions, or will that be pointless?

Calc.VET performs correction on the MAF... so without a MAF you can't do this...

so you want to do Calc.MAFT and ignore the MAF table calculation (i.e. AutoVE, which is a subset of Calc.MAFT).

[joecar]

Calc.MAFT does two things simultaneously:
- corrects VE table based on LTFT (CL) and wideband (non-CL),
- calculates a new MAF table from the corrected VE table.

[joecar]

AutoVE is same as Calc.MAFT with the following differences:
- uses wideband everywhere,
- does not calculate a new MAF table.

[DrkPhx]

That's a very mild setup that personally I think you still should use the MAF; but that's my opinion. I don't see it mentioned; but the most important part about tuning is actually data logging. The EFILive data logger is an awesome tool that can help point you in the right direction once you understand how to take advantage of it features like maps, calc pids, runway highlighting and the DVT controls. The DVT controls allow you to make real-time adjustments (not permanent) to help pinpoint troublesome areas.

The SSpeedemon idle thread has some very good tips to help; read it thoroughly to get a good understanding of what needs to be done. Generally a few issues cause idle swings with larger than stock cams; 1) fuel (usually too much), leaner is better for idle, 2) IAC (not enough idle airflow), 3) spark advance (needs to stable) and 4) stock desired idle rpms is usually too low for a larger cam. You can use the individual DVT controls for each of these area (or a combination of them) to help find the best idle rpm.

[krwyellowz28]

If it has a SERIAL IN then it will need the terminator plug.

I think you are right for the LC1, but I'm 99% sure all I need is the OUT cable for my LM2. I basically copied the TAQ cable that everyone loved, but is no longer available for sale.

Calc.MAFT does two things simultaneously:
- corrects VE table based on LTFT (CL) and wideband (non-CL),
- calculates a new MAF table from the corrected VE table.

AutoVE is same as Calc.MAFT with the following differences:
- uses wideband everywhere,
- does not calculate anew MAF table.

Once I get the serial wbO2 working with the V2, should I focus on just doing autoVE since I'm trying to stick with speed density?

That's a very mild setup that personally I think you still should use the MAF; but that's my opinion. I don't see it mentioned; but the most important part about tuning is actually data logging. The EFILive data logger is an awesome tool that can help point you in the right direction once you understand how to take advantage of it features like maps, calc pids, runway highlighting and the DVT controls. The DVT controls allow you to make real-time adjustments (not permanent) to help pinpoint troublesome areas.

The SSpeedemon idle thread has some very good tips to help; read it thoroughly to get a good understanding of what needs to be done. Generally a few issues cause idle swings with larger than stock cams; 1) fuel (usually too much), leaner is better for idle, 2) IAC (not enough idle airflow), 3) spark advance (needs to stable) and 4) stock desired idle rpms is usually too low for a larger cam. You can use the individual DVT controls for each of these area (or a combination of them) to help find the best idle rpm.

The more I mess with it, the more I'm leaning towards MAF just for tuning simplicity sake. I might even just re-pin my PCM and temporarily wire it up outside of the main harness. However, I do want to try to make SD work a little bit longer. I have not logged any data yet simply because the car won't stay running.

I somehow missed SSpdDmon's idle post... that's a great write up. I went through it last night and modified a tune based on his idle thread and the post I quoted to force the car into OLSD. I flashed the car last night without much improvement. The car still barely idles, it doesn't idle smoothly at all, and it still wants to fall on its face when the throttle is open past 2%. I've read almost all of the links Joe posted, but I'll go over them again today and I'm sure they'll make more sense.

I'm supposed to drive the car to Automotion in Wisconsin in 2 weeks, and I haven't even been able to put the car in gear... I feel like I'm back in my Controls Systems class understanding this stuff half as fast as I need to.

For clarification here's my progression in the last week up to last night:
- Deleted the VATS, AIR, EGR, etc out of the stock 1999 Z28 auto tune and turned the key. It ran, but would barely idle
- Hybrid 1999/2002 1221256 OS that Joe posted a while back in another thread. I flashed that tune with the VATS, AIR, EGR, etc deleted out and the car would eventually idle, but very low RPM and not smooth at all.
- Tried bumping up the target idle speed, reflashed, and no improvement.
- Followed SSpdDmon's idle and OLSD posts, flashed, and still no improvement... if anything it got worse and starts harder.

Thanks again for the help... this is driving me nuts right now.

[joecar]

...

Once I get the serial wbO2 working with the V2, should I focus on just doing autoVE since I'm trying to stick with speed density?

...

I would suggest doing Calc.MAFT with CL/LTFT/STFT/SOL disabled (i.e. using a wideband everywhere) and simply ignore the MAF calculations portion...

this amounts to doing AutoVE but using CALC.WO2BEN and CALC.DAT defined in the Calc.MAFT thread.

[krwyellowz28]

Great, thanks... I know what I'm working on tonight!