Ok guys, I've read until my eyes hurt and my head spins. I've sorted things out and confused myself many times going through all of this info. This is what I have figured out so far..My Car 1989 Iroc 5.7 700r4
165 ecm
6e mask
arap bin.
I hope so far so good..
I have the autoprom,tuner pro rt,adapter(gp-1?) to use stock memcal in ecm with custom tune for limp mode.
Am I correct in saying that the 165 ecm doesn't use the tables that have AE,PE and all the other terms that are used in a 730 ecm,but something called a scalar table? I am currently building a 383.HSR motor for this car and figured while the motor is being built, I could get aquainted with tuning by playing with the stock 5.7. I have read just about everything available on this site regarding the 165 ecm and alot on the 730 not knowing that I was reading info on the 730(where most of my confusion came from). Can anyone point me in a direction.I think I can take some baby steps first like vats,fan temps on/off etc. From there where should I go? For a newb like me,this stuff can be pretty overwhelming. I want to start off slow but eventually be able to drop this new motor in and get her running without blowing it up the first time down the street. One more question,would a wide band 02 like the lc-1 help me along in the learning process. Thanks for reading guys,your input has been (and will always be)greatly appreciated

 

I'm not sure I can help you much, but like you, I am a beginner. I started tuning 2 months ago, with the Autoprom, TunerProRT, and adapter, and here's what I've learned.

1. Take advantage of the old motor while you have it. I started learning to tune on a new engine and it sucks. You know, wanting to adjust something but too worried my engine will need work after I do.

2. I'm sure you've read this a time or two on here, but it's the absolute truth: read, read, read. I've read most of the stickies 4 or 5 times, and they are just now starting to sink in. They seem to sink in when you're reading about what your tuning (AE, VE tables, Spark, etc), so keep reading them over and over. Once you go on to the next tuning table, you will go back and tweak some more...trust me.

3. There is no one thread that will walk you through the whole tuning process, but the tuning process will walk you through the threads...if that makes sense.

4. A wide band is not absolutely necessary, but you won't get your moneys worth out of the engine without it. After two months of tuning and learning, I have a WB in the mail. After reading and tuning, and tuning and reading, you start to realize that without a WB, there is no accurate way of tuning AE and PE. I haven't added up the receipts, but I figure I have around 5K into my engine. It makes only slightly more HP than the 180K mile one I took out of it and there's multiple "improvements" done to it. I'm not letting a $200 sensor stop it from making the HP it should.

Hope this helps you some.

 

PreTuner is correct. Start with your stock engine first. Learn to tune the fuel and other items. I don't know if your smog laws allow but things like purge canister and egr disable may be desired with your new engine. You can try those on your stocker.

All in all - its really not that big of a deal. You are on the right track. basically check and recheck everything... start with a stock bin make adjustments to increase fuel for bigger cubes... take it slow... take notes and just keep going.

Fuel (VE) then timing then fuel then timing then AE, AE, then PE, PE, etc. Do PE last. It will take you this long to get the motor broke-in good anyway. Only change one thing at a time! Lastly, more timing is not necessarily better!

Good luck.

 

The 165 ECM ($6E mask) does indeed use AE (acceleration enrichment) and PE (power enrichment) tables. It does not use VE tables (volumetric efficiency), which are used in a Speed Density set up. To fine tune fueling in a MAF system, you would use the MAF tables. There are a few threads here that help to define the Scaler tables (and their relationship to the MAF tables), but in general they should not need to be touched.

You're right on track starting with a stock engine. Like Pre-Tuner, I started learning on my new engine, which proved to be a little more difficult.

Take a look at all the elements in TunerPro (constants, flags, switches, tables, etc) and understand what each one is used for. If you can't figure it out, just ask. There are a lot you won't need to change, but it's good to become familiar with them.

I found that a wideband (I have the LM1 w/ RPM cable) was a huge help in tuning, mainly AE and PE/WOT. I would highly recommend it!