I have an '87 Firebird with a Buick GN engine. It's been up at the performance shop for a tune-up. It tuned-up great, but my mechanic is having trouble getting the new settings/info to save to the new chip.

I'm not out to insult his knowledge/experience or anything, I'm just trying to help him brainstorm because I want my %^&*! car back.
Any suggestions I can get from anybody would be much appreciated.

I don't know what kind/brand of chip he installed...only that the old one wasn't rewritable. All I know is that a new MAF was installed about 2 weeks earlier...don't know if that makes a difference, and don't know what kind/brand was installed.

Thanks.
Aggravated in Ohio

 

The 24 PIN EPROMs seem to be hit or miss when it comes to being programmed. Most are old stock, and some people have experianced bad EPROMs that were brand new, or would only take a couple times being programmed.

If that's not the issue, may need to check the offset, if the EPROM is larger than the stock EPROM, the bin will have to be offset to the "end of the chip". moates.net has some documentation on using offsets.

Most people are now switching over to 28 pin EEPROMs, and using an adaptor that will set the address properly, again moates.net has those adaptors. If you are using the '7148 ECM, you will need the narrower leg version (.46 IIRC). I made one for a friends Turbo Regal I should be tuning soon. This does require changing the EPROM socket on the daughter board, which is where the adaptor comes into play.

 

the actual conversion kit may not be necessary, someone i've sent chips to just used the 24-pin DIP socket and plugged the 28-pin chips directly into it...

 

Hey, thanks all for the quick come-backs....appreciate it.
Surfin' around I discovered that having trouble reprogramming the 24 chip is apparently a common problem. Guess that tech has more than outlived its useful purpose.
Getting the 28 pin and adaptor this week; hopefully will have car back by the weekend. WHOO-HOO !!

Thanks again.