Okay guys so I've got all my mods in, 3" exhaust, 14x3 open element, edlebrock tbi intake, 3.42 posi rear and hooker 2055s...I believe that covers all the bolt ons. Everything is on except for the headers now and once they are on the next step is obviously tuning. As of now I don't have any tuning equipment and I've read a lot on the topic but it might as well be in a greek. So my question is what do you guys think of dyno tuning? I imagine its designed just to get the best peak numbers and not necessarily whats best for actual driving but I'm hoping its enough to get my car into the mid-low 14s. I just want to know if any of you tbi gurus have any experience with dyno tunes.

 

I'd say dyno tuning Could be the best way to dial in WOT tuning, but the tuner needs to know how to do a TBI car. I don't think many places do, which is why you should just buckle down and learn how to yourself, it really isn't hard at all. Some of those DIY gurus make it sound like its "greek" and some of the hardcore stuff is really in depth, but the basics are very easy.

I think azvolfan's dyno tune showed that the guys didn't really know how to tune a TBI car IMO. Do it yourself, get the equipment and start tuning, you'll get the hang of it real quick.

 

No offense to him, but there is something not right with that car. They did gain something like 36 RWHP just from tuning so they did something right. I don't think he problems lie entirely in the tune.

 

I would say that your are probably right on the money.

Don't get me wrong the car runs great. But I think there is a lot more to get out of the set up. The first clue was that they did not have the ecu file to start the tuning. They had to track one down.

So all in all, it runs good but not $910 worth of good. For that kind of cash they needed to get more out of it.

But if you absolutely can not figure out the tuning yourself, then dyno tuning might be the way to go. Just don't expect much for your money. Might want to ask them first how much experience they have with TBI tuning.

 

Yeah I think you're right 25th, I didn't even realize they picked up that much HP. That's not too shabby then. I also think there must be something mechanically wrong there. I trapped about 1mph less than him when I had a flowmaster and open element as the only power adding mods.

I see we posted at the same time AZ, have you investigated everything in your engine? Maybe it isn't mechanical, maybe it's just running out of fuel, I would tend to think it's going static at a lower rpm and staying static.

 

Yeah. something is holding me back. Wish I new what it was. It would be easy to run down if the car ran really crappy. But it doesn't.

I think I may need to upgrade the ignition.

As far as the tuning, there is more to be done there. The guy who tuned it was not aware that he could tune the spark table above 3600 rpm. Another board member told me you could. I can't remember how he said to do it. But I find it alarming that the "PRO" was not aware of it.

 

How would I tell if I'm running out of fuel. I still have my winaldl cable hooked up. Will winaldl tell me?

 

Well all you can really do with the spark beyond 3600 is add a slope value so it adds a certain amount of timing per 1000RPM. That won't hold you back at all though, stock it'll slope it a couple degrees, but all your timing should be in by 3600RPM anyways. So I don't think you'd pick up anything there. I think it's your fueling that's off.

 

Yeah winaldl could tell you. It's really only accurate at part throttle though. You might be able to get a few data points at higher RPMs under some load. I would put it under heavy load at lower RPM and let it work up through the gear then it might have some time to get some datapoints.

 

What should I look for in winaldl?

 

Well, do a full log and save all the tables it makes. Then you can look at the BLMs and O2 values. I'm not sure how accurate the BLMs will be though, but I think if you're going static and the fuel is off a lot it'll give you an idea of it. Post the logs and BLM table up here then.

 

OK. I will do one this weekend. Thanks.

 

axvolfan,

you can output your injector PW into the data stream for winaldl to see, but you have to change some stuff in the chip. Do you have the ability to read and burn chips? If so I would be willing to make the changes in your bin and e-mail it back to you. I'd try to talk you through it but I think it's a bit over your head at the moment, but thats no problem thats what car guy buddies are for.

 

I can not read or burn chips. But I should probably get a reader. Snuffy has one he is bringing to PHX soon. At the moment he is in Seattle picking up the new car he bought. I have been sworn to secrecy on what kind of car it is.

 

ohhh noo! it's not a ........Fe.....Fo.....Ferd is it? LOL keep us updated on the chip, we'll get your car figured out.

 

Nope, not a ford.