I am just barely starting to get into chip burning/programming. I have tuner Pro RT and an AKM cable. I am able to access my ECM and monitor all engine parameters now. What I don't know is what some of the Acronyms and abreveations mean. I also need to know what the maximum and minimums of any given reading should be. For example BLMs: I know 128 in perfect and a higher number means the engine wants more fuel to correct a lean condition or vice versa. But what do the numbers above or below really coraspond to a real value like an Air fuel ratio. The same with O2 voltage being an AFR. What do the Mv number mean in AFR numbers. This is only the beggining of the questions. The program gives me all the information the ECM has to give but I don't know what it all means. Is there a guide or sort of dictionary for these terms that are used???

 

Have u tried the top of the board?

Huge sticky covering many facets of all things tuning related from hardware to definitions to common issues.

Get very used to reading. It will be your best friend on this board.

later
Jeremy

 

Yes, I have read through most of the sticky threads. They are tuned more toward the people who have been doing this for at least some amount of time. There is very little explanations into things. I am a real newbie and need more explanation. I would rather not have to search out the explanation to every parameter one by one. There is nothing tailored to newcomers specifically. Most of the threads are skewed towards prom burning and while that is the main goal I need to understand the engine I am working with before I can modify it's settings. I still have not found any articles or specific web pages to explain the terms and their meaning or the min. and max. of any given spec or what they traslate to. You may have the knowledge to understand these terms and phrases easily and what they mean due to the experience you have but I have no experience so far and it's a maze in here!

 

Unfortunately, you won't either. ALL of us started just like yourself and we all learned by reading, re-reading and re-re-reading the "stickies" until we got that "little light" to turn on.

However, if you are asking for "tuning" advice, that really comes once you got the "mechanics" of eprom burning down and are already to try making some changes. As you make changes, notice the effects and start to read and make posts, your knowledge will increase.

Also, make use of the "Search" tool to find posts that probably explains a lot of what you want to know. People are happy to help out with specific questions, but don't expect everyone to jump in and spend hours of time to answer questions that we know are in the stickies. There is a lot of "Do-It-Yourself" here.

 

Might want to check out the ChevyThunder.com site
It has a good explaination of how the systems work. You will need to know how the stuff operates to be able to customize your calibration.
HTH

 

I will definately have to check out the site.

It might be good for some of the ones who have learned the hard way to take a minute to write down a glossary of terms and their meaning for the rest of the fledgeling tuners. Maybe a list of the different engine parameters that the ECM can monitor and their highs and lows. I understand that every car is different in what tune they need for optimum performance. What I don't know is what I'm looking at. Like I see a MAF value on the screen. What does it represent? What does it mean to me and is it good or bad? Or o2 cross counts. What the hell is that? Other things like flags and such is a no brainer. Its the sensor data that I don't know. It's like taking a algebra class in elementry school. I don't have the prior knowledge yet to jump into that type of stuff and it seems there is no one source to get it. Maybe it's just me.

 

Quote: But what do the numbers above or below really coraspond to a real value like an Air fuel ratio.

they dont correspond to an air fuel ratio. if they are within the limits allowed as far as min/max. they are correction # to allow the desired A/F of 14.70 in closed loop. so 138 blm is adding fuel so that the desired A/f is reached in CL 14.70/1. 138/128 = 1.078 or adding 8% fuel.

MAF mass air flow? honestly i never looked at it. my car is speed density but i believe a calculation can be done to determine the amout of air being ingested.

as far as the function of the NB02 sensor there is a good tuntorial in stickies that will explain its functionality. i never used the voltage readings to tune with. having a WB it gave me the accurrate A/F that i needed. not sure how helpful the NB data is. some have used it as an indicator of lean rich for WOT.

 

I haven't actually messed with data logging on my car yet, but I have spent some time with scan tools. Although, it's been a while so forgive me if I mess something up.

Not real sure about this one, but I think it has to do with grams of oxygen.

This is the number of times the O2 sensor passes the 450mV mark (optimal A/F mix) within a set amount of time. The O2 voltage constantly bounces high and low as the computer adjusts the amount of fuel the injectors put out. A high number is better here.

 

Hey FIRECHICKEN, Im in the process of learning this stuff also, I cant even data log......lol but if im not mistaken if you look at one of the stickys at the top, that says noobs look in here, im almost positive that there is a glossery of all the stuff like SD/MAF/TPS/MAP/BLMs etc, bunches of them I remember seeing it, but I dont think it showed any max mins but it may give you and idea about what some of it means. I hope you can maybe help me out one day.....LOL.