knightinblackar

Hey people,

It appears I've been shafted by Custom Chips, John Wayne, Oscar Sebastian of whatever his name is. Same old story...paid for the chip, waited over a month, excuses about shipping issues, chip got lost, shipper returned it, the usual BS, then promises he's sent it out 'personally'..well WTF did you do last time; send robocop? Idiot.

Oh by the way he's now using a new trick which I fell for. He refunds the money and tells you theres a problem with his paypal account, then asks you to use google pay, or skrill to send the payment which ISN'T refundable. I fell for it and now I'm paying for it. NOT happy.

Anyway, i've lost $70 and I'm pissed off, BUT i need to find someone who can burn me a chip ASAP that will enable the following :

Removal of:
EGR
Air Pump
Smog
Cat

Addition of:
Headers
K&N air filter and associated cold air tubing
V8 exhaust from the cat back

If anyone can help I'd greatly appreciate it because at the moment I feel really annoyed and I have an engine that's gonna run like crap on the original chip.

My car is now pretty much a paper weight thanks to this guy and I don't know where to turn for help with a chip.

Thanks in advance and sorry for the rant guys and gals.

Rich

Six_Shooter

iTrader: (2)

Have you tried running it on the stock chip/MEMCAL or are you just assuming that it will run poorly?

The only way to really get a proper tune for this is with some data from the ECM itself, starting with the stock chip.

The changes you've made wouldn't be too difficult to deal with on a "canned tune", but won't be as good as it could be.

knightinblackar

I haven't tried running it at all on the stock chip, as I've read not having the EGR delete on the chip can make the car run too rich and cause problem down the line.

I'm not a tuner so I don't know any of the associated terms so what is a 'canned tune'?

I have the three letters from the ECM which denotes which chip was used but thats all.

Are there any people who know where I can get a tuned chip from?

Thanks in advance

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

By canned tune he just means an off the shelf kinda thing. Not vehicle specific. It'll run fine for the time being on stock chip just not as efficient as it would on a new one. It may throw an egr code though. Mine only did on occasion.

Aside from the egr the rest of those mods aren't really major enough to be worried about the stock chip. The bigger exhaust probably hurt you more than helped if it's to big.

knightinblackar

Well I can live with a light on but I'd rather get it sorted to run properly with its bits removed! Thanks of the explanation though, I get it now!

The exhaust doesn't look that dissimilar to the stock V6 pipe that was on it to be honest. The only difference seems to be the rear box and pipes, they're 2.25" instead of 2". The pipe from front to back is exactly the same as the V6.

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

I'd put stock chip in and see what it does. Mine ran a tad rich but wasn't an issue overall. Least till you can get a chip to turn off egr stuff. I had everything you did except mine was a 92 with a 3.1

knightinblackar

Ok I'll try it without a tuned chip then. Just wondering what effects it will have on the ECM when it's looking for all these things that aren't there!

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

Was there a sensor in your old air intake tubing?

knightinblackar

Where abouts on the air intake? You mean the air intake to the inlet manifold or from the smog pump?

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

Close to your air filter housing. Smog pump being gone won't cause any problems

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Your timing will be effected if your EGR is enabled and the sensor is not connected, the engine will not run right. Re-install your EGR and run the stock chip. Either that, or have someone burn you one. There are some very good chip burners in the V6 section, I don't see why they wouldn't help a fellow member disable a few areas...

Pillsbry10

iTrader: (1)

Lol forgot to mention it has to be plugged in. I just had mine sitting over by the fender

knightinblackar

Thanks for the advice guys but I can't plug anything back in because it's all in the bin. The engine has been rebuilt but the EGR was dead, smog pump seized, etc etc. I didn't remove them for fun, I removed them because everything was broken. So I MUST find someone who can tune this chip. I've posted in the V6 section so let's see if anyone is feeling nice

OrangeBird

iTrader: (1)

Ok so what's up with Brian , the guy who goes by the business name "Tuned Performance" on the forums ? Have you looked him up ? Of all the reading I've done here , it seems everyone was always happy with his chips and I can't recall reading one bad post about him . By comparison , I have read several posts about the "John Wayne" character and all were the same as yours , he took the cash and sent either badly programmed chips or chips with totally stock tune in place of the custom tune the person thought they were buying .

If Brian can't help you , and your committed to fuel injection , your options are ;

Put it back to stock ,

OR

Learn to program chips (not as hard as it appears once you learn how it's done) ,

OR

buy a different ECM like Megasquirt that comes with all it's programming software all ready for you to set it up yourself ...

knightinblackar

I've sent Brian messages both here, on the Fiero forum and via Face book but it looks like he hasn't been active anywhere since about 2007. Some say he's had health problems recently but I don't know. I haven't had a response either way but I am talking to another company called Sinister Performance LLC, they seem to be very helpful so far so I'll see how that goes.

I have no idea how to tune a stand alone ECU so won't be doing that, and it's far too late to go back to stock now

OrangeBird

iTrader: (1)

His most recent post to this forum was 5/28/15 , so he's been plenty around since 2007 . I do remember something about health issues I think ? Anyway , best of luck with it and hopefully Sinister Performance takes care of it .

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

If the car is simply a "paper-weight" right now why wouldn't you simply search for / buy an EGR and use the stock chip to get the car running again ? I'm sure it will take far less time/effort to get your hands on a replacement EGR than you have already spent trying to get a custom chip,...

The ECM isn't going to care one-bit about the exhaust-mod, Cat Delete or SMOG delete.

I just don't understand why you don't simply get the EGR you need so you can drive the car again.

knightinblackar

Well it's not just the EGR, it's the vacuum switch, solenoid and the other bits that are all dead too. I've already searched for one part but it never arrived and I had to get my money back. I'm also hearing contradicting stores about what will and won't affect the running of the engine.

Up to now I've sourced a chip, and a chip burner. Now I just need a UV lamp to erase it and to read my original chip. Hopefully then I can get more help from people regarding the programming of it.

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

It is essentially the same principle as the V8. Klowny explains it very well, watch at 13:40.

knightinblackar

Fabulous info, thank you very much. I was dreading this but now I'm kinda looking forward to it!

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Here are your definition files that you're inquiring about...

GM files are first on the list, scroll down;

http://tunerpro.net/downloadBinDefs.htm#GM

knightinblackar

Right I've downloaded the right data stream file for my ECU 6870, but it states only for V8 engines. Confused, mine is a 2.8 V6 manual.
Is there anything else I need now apart from the read from my stock chip, which I have as a .bin file, and this ads (using as an adx) file?

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

6870? That is for a Tuned Port Injected V8.

Can you upload a picture of your ECM information first?

Edit: I'm looking at your vehicle information in your description and trying to decipher what you are running. Are you running an '84 Firebird but with '85 2.8 and 5-speed, but with the 5-speed belonging to the original '84 engine setup? Please clairfy...

knightinblackar

It came with the car and it's never been altered.

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

In '84 the SE Firebird would have received the LC1, a 2-bbl V6. In '85 it received the LB8, the fuel injected version of the V6, so someone might have swapped engines in your '84 Firebird. This is not to say it didn't come from the factory with a newer engine, as GM did some strange things back then, I am not sure on that. I believe the 6870 ECM was shared between the V6's and the V8's in 1985, so despite Tuner Pro not stating V6, it is safe to say that the V6 is in fact included, especially since Robert Saar had a hand in the ADS, as most of what he did/does was always V6 oriented...

knightinblackar

Street Lethal, if you look just to the left of my name you'll see that my car has the MPFI engine in it! The shell was a 1984 5.0 V8 Firebird SE, but I bought it engineless to do a complete drivetrain swap from my low mileage '85 2.8 V6 MPFI Firebird SE cos it's a rot box! There's the history sorted. So if you assume everything drivetrain wise is 1985 you'll be absolutely bang on.

Oh right so the data stream file should work for both then? I can't say I'm very 'up' on this stuff, I have no idea what the different files are or really how to operate it but I am trying to read as much as I can and learn something. I've read the .bin from the stock chip so that should help someone if they're prepared to take it and alter what I need. I'm putting it all back on to a stock 2732A chip which I've already tested to see if it works, and it does. So basically I have a clone of the stock chip on another chip, which erases fine.

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Understand something, a few posts up you stated it came with the car and never been altered, but now I'm reading that a swap was done. Big diffrerence. This is very important information to embellish up front in this section as members need to know all the details if they are to help another member out, and the very reason why I was asking. It wasn't so much as an assumption on my part, it was based on knowing that the '6870 ECM was a one year only ECM in 1985, which is why I needed clarification...

Yes, you're all set. Robert Saar is the only one who seems to have taken the time to work on those files for members, as that particular ECM was always known as the limited ECM due to its' configuration. Many members normally upgrade to the 86-89 ECM's and work from there, but in your case, you are just looking to disable some items, so you should be good to go...

knightinblackar

My mistake I apologise, I meant the '85 car had never been changed. Hard to keep up with two different cars, especially since now they are one!!

Great stuff, thats the news I wanted. In the future I'll probably want to fiddle with it some more but at that point I'll be at a stage where I won't mind swapping out the ECU and doing all the mods I've read about. Right now, though, that's not what I want.

Right do I need to contact Robert Saar for any reason?

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Do you have everything you need to burn a new chip? I'm looking at the $1F XDF now, no bin uploaded though, just want to see the configuration. Do you understand how to disable it? Robert Saar is a great guy, I am surprised he didn't reach out to you in the V6 section...

knightinblackar

Here's the stock .bin

RBob

iTrader: (1)

The $1F XDF is the correct definition file for your BIN. Even though it is listed for the TPI setups the MPFI uses the same calibration layout.

IIRC, there is a MAT value to set high (150* C) to disable the EGR.

RBob.

knightinblackar

Ok so i can finally see the date in tuner pro but it doesn't mean much except for the obvious ones. Is there someone who can talk me through the alterations I need to make to change the following :

Removal of:
EGR
Air Pump
Smog
Cat

Addition of:
Headers
K&N air filter and associated cold air tubing
V8 exhaust from the cat back

Many thanks again,
Rich

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Yes, Rbob is correct. These are the values to set for disabling the EGR. Note the difference in the diagostic disable from the video I posted above having nothing to do with vehicle speed in this XDF, just uncheck it to disable it, then bring the TPS values to 0.00, then increase MAT to max 151.25...

knightinblackar

But they're all exactly the same as stock?!

EDIT......nevermind didn't read properly!

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

* Disable EGR as explained
* I don't believe the 2.8 engines came with an air/smog pump...
* The catalytic converter is not controlled

With the Headers, K&N Filter and Exhaust, you need to datalog the engine after everything is installed, and tune the engine through your fueling, by adding and removing fuel in areas where it is being called for. This is trial and error tuning. Being they are minor bolt ons, you could always tune by increasing your fuel pressure up until a certain point, bypassing the bin. If say you went with heads and cam, then you would need to tune your fueling and timing in the bin to maximize the tune...

knightinblackar

OK so this is what I'm looking at now.

knightinblackar

Ok I've done the EGR as guided, the 2.8 did have a smog pump cos it was seized and I removed it.

Right okey dokey, looks like I'm going to need some help once the motor runs then! How do I go about data logging?

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Interesting, I know my old 3.1 engines had them between 90-92, but for some reason I remember Dave telling me his turbo 2.8 didn't come with one, only the S10's. But I digress. In that XDF I do not see any measure to control the smog pump, and being that it is now removed, the O2 correction should be able to correct for it. The air/fuel will not deviate that much from stoich with such light modifications, but again, if you are running too lean, just up the fuel pressure until it richens to where you need it...

knightinblackar

Ok so how do i alter the fuel pressure for future reference?

This is a cross over year engine so it has the uprated crank and MPFI but not the serpentine setup, so all on separate belts. Maybe there were difference on the '85 model cars?

It did have a sensor on the air pump, I asked a question a few months back about it on here. Single wire jobbie.

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Most remove the factory regulator and modify it accordingly to increase pressure constantly, some lightly "kink" the return line forcing higher pressure which I honestly do not recommend, but the best way would be to install an adjustable fuel pressure regulator. Monitor your BLM's (get familiar with the acronym) and increase fuel pressure until BLM's average 128, which is the numeric equivalent to stoichiometric...

It might have been a voltage circuit, not necessarily a sensor, as not all were belt driven...

knightinblackar

So where would I find a suitable adjustable fuel pressure regulator? The smog pump on mine was belt driven with a single wire connector thing. It was a flat fronted round thing about 20mm across with a tube sticking out the under side, like it would be for monitoring air pressure, or mass.....something.

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Its been so long since I've even looked at my old V6 pictures, all of this is really bringing back some crazy memories. Not too sure about the single wire connector for the smog pump, but if I had to guess, perhaps it opens an internal passage for the vacuum line to the engine during "key on", but then closes when key off. Not too sure. The later pumps were ECM controlled though. As for fuel pressure regulators, there are so many to choose from online, its just the matter of personal preference...

Edit: This is way back when I was going to turbo my old 3.1, after pulling the smog pump...

knightinblackar

I'll try to dig up the pictures of this sensor thing, then you may know a little better what I'm on about! Did you ever turbo the motor?

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Looking back I wish I did, would have been a fun street car. Wound up getting two of these ebay turbo's, but then sold them to another member. Time freaking flies...

knightinblackar

In the long run that's pretty much what I want to do to mine, but at the moment I just want it to run reliably with a few gentle mods to help it breathe better, then once we've got our honeymoon out of the way next year I'll start fiddling a bit!

knightinblackar

This is the little sensor thingie for the smog pump

knightinblackar

What chip? The original order from Custom Chips? It didn't work out, it never arrived. I've given up. I'll do it myself.