Eric2ndGen

After 15+ years of dinking with cars, I've managed to avoid significant re-programming of ECM's. However- I recently felt the need to get a TBI wiring harness and ECM to start fiddling around with.

The ECM I've got is a 350 truck unit, a #1227747, which I have gathered has an incorrect Base ROM (not Prom) to work with in any sort of "performance" application. How can this be modified, or what ECM should I be looking for?

After looking over the E/EEPROM programmers, it seems the best unit with the most features is the Prominator- but it didn't appear as though "idiot" software is available for it- i.e. a Windows-driven interface where I can select the parameter I want to modify by "title" or "label" -i.e. "cruise A/F ratio" or "MAF pressure"- not direct hex code location/modification. Am I wrong on this- or what is the easiest system for someone not wanting to touch hex code and still liking the multiple-saved-settings and 'no reprogrammer required' features of the Prominator?

Also- on a more direct note- the engine this will likely end up on is a 350 SBC that should be outputting about 300hp at the crank- what throttle body/injector combo will handle this? Any off-the-wrecking-yard-floor units I can use, or am I looking at a 454 big block unit or an aftermarket unit?


Thanks in advance for any answers to these "newbie-esque" questions.

Z69

Free software with lots of support.
Tunerpro
Lots of people use it here.
May not be easy for a beginner, but fits your feature request.
Do a search on Romless in DIYPROM for converting a 7747.
There was a post on where to go etc within the last month.
Might try Grumpy or Rbob also if the search isn't cooperating yet. Or maybe they'll chim in.

greenbuggy

Ok, for hardware:
You'll need a soldering setup, solder, moates G2 (comes with base socket) and an atmel C1 - 29C256 flash chip. I also highly recommend the Aries Zif craig sells.

On my site in "projects" I detail how I modified mine.

You'll also need a programmer. I dumped my money into a pocket programmer II from xtronics, but craigs unit is cheaper (it just doesn't support the 2732 that the 1227747 ECM uses from the factory). On top of that you'll need a laptop (with a parallel port if you get the PPII) and a datalogging cable. I have a Mastach.com unit I scored for $15 off of ebay that uses a serial port interface and I'm very happy with its performance.

Hooking up the ALDL scanner is sometimes a pain with the 1227747, you'll need to connect the ground to ground and the 8192 baud connector (on the scanner) to the 160 baud output on the ALDL connector.

I use tunerpro for modifying .bins and winALDL for datalogging.

Since you're going for way more HP than the stock LO5 (210 ponies) that the 1227747 saw normally, you'll probably want to invest in an adjustable or vacuum compensated AFPR, Fuel pressure gauge and either a ported TBI (turbo city sells them), port/shave your own TBI or get a big block TBI (my site lists vehicles to get them from & ident info)


For my truck I've got a 454 TBI with 350 injectors/injector pod, big TBI-->qjet adapter and a stock steel Qjet manifold on a near-stock 350, ramshorns manifolds tapped for O2 sensor and single exit exhaust. Future plans include an aluminum dual plane intake manifold
Right now I'm using an AKSM broadcast code .bin from an astro with a 4.3/auto that I've left at 6 cylinders (runs way better that way) for the cylinder select constant, disabled the EGR, changed the BPW constant to 135 and added a few points across the board to the FL2 "adder" VE table. Its not there yet, but its a lot better than it was when I tried running it with a stock 350/auto chip. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.

TonyC

iTrader: (1)

The prominator setup is the easiest to go with in my opinion. Instead of pulling the ECM, taking out the flash chip, reflashing the chip, putting it back in, putting your ECM back in the dash (or just leaving it on the floor) all you have to do with the prominator is plug in your computer to the cord coming from your ECM and hit "upload" and you're done (my ECM stays in the dash and never gets pulled out). There's no stacking bins or anything like that, it really is very easy. As far as editing bin's, the hardware isn't what matters for that. Once you have a bin file, you open it up in Bin editing software like TunerPro and TunerCat. These both have explanations as to what each table is and how it affects the car.

Hope that helps
Tony

91RedFirebird

Cool info about the Mastach cable, I was about to toss it in the trash! It looks so much better than my radio shack special.