Looking in to them and they all say easy installation.I know where the computer is located but how do I get to it.What do I do when i see the actual computer.

Thanks

 

You'll see two 1/4" (probably really like 7mm) bolts holding a little 'plate' down. Unbolt it, and you'll be staring at the PROM.

 

What do I do from there?


Thanks

 

I will assume you found the ECM and have unbolted the ECM from the bracket that holds the ECM to the dash.

As Doward said, once you got your ECM disconnected, there is a small plate with two 1/4" (and they are 1/4") bolts that hold down the plate. When you remove it, you will see the memcal. Push down on the two locking tabs on the side of the memcal and it release the memcal from the motherboard.

Now for the bad news, unless this is a custom prom, off-the-shelf eproms don't do much at all. You would get better luck just advancing the timing.

You CAN modify the eprom on a V6 car with the same tools we use on the DIY Prom Board to modify V8 cars. V6 cars respond very well to proper tuning in the eprom. I find the 3.1 V6 cars tend to be VERY MILD on the spark advance and can handle a fair amount more timing (and still run on regular). In fact, I find the 3.1 V6 cars less prone to detonation than the TPI 305/350s.

But I would pass on the "off-the-shelf" memcal and find someone in your local area that has the eprom burning equipment and get them to reburn your eprom.

 

Actually a few years ago I took Glenn's advice and yanked my ADS SuperChip ($70 back in 1997), and reinstalled my GM original chip. The car acted the same and actually ran a little better! So I've left the GM chip in ever since then.

I've got many things left to do on my car first, but when they're all done, I'll be trying to burn my own chip; the guys on the DIY PROM board have pretty much layed out everything so it's easy to follow.

 

I wish I could highlight this in big bright flashing colors....

 

Actully I was going to get the ADS Chip...Guess not anymore

 

Glad I saved you some coin! I tried to find a price on the ADS Superchip but couldn't; are they even made anymore or is the company out of business? Were you going to buy a used one?

 

I am so glad there are more alternatives for the 60* V6 these days, including "burning your own eproms". The techniques and tuning is the same as a V8 - just different tables. But the concepts are the same.

Also, besides tuning for performance, you also can tune for additional fuel economy (on the same eprom). The money you save on gas can easily pay for all your eprom burning equipment in a very short period of time.

I know that I've been quite impressed with the response the 3.1s have shown that I've tuned. Mostly J-bodies, but they tune just the same. What impresses me the most, is how much spark advance they can handle without detonating and STILL use regular. GM REALLY "under tuned" the 3.1s

I currently have a buddy with a 3.1 in a J-body convertible and I'm trying to convince him to pull his engine, let me try porting the heads and intake and slap in a nice cam.

 

With the right Cam and port work, that motor could scream. He could throw a 3.4 out of a Pontiac in there too.... Pretty sure the FWD blocks work the same way as us RWD guys. Say Glenn, have you ever worked with a MAF bin for 2.8L cars? I'll be getting involved in chip tuning my car before too long, and I'd like to have some reference to go off of.

 

Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance yet. But it shouldn't be any different than tuning a MAF V8 car (other than different table names)...but the concept will be quite similar.

The biggest problem with tuning a MAF car, is IF you need to tweak with the MAF Scalar Tables, it can be quite a bear unless you get a WB and a Romulator. Typically, the only time you REALLY need to tweak MAF Scalar Tables is when you install a big cam and need to over come "reversion" through the intake at the lower rpm level.

At higher rpm, if you max the MAF, we just add more fuel via the PE tables. Somehow I recall that the max MAF tables are set lower on V6 cars than 255 (as they are on V8 cars). But, that is not a problem to overcome for tuning.

You are more than welcome to post your V6 eprom tuning questions on the DIY Prom Board. But you can also post them on the V6 Board (to keep it all in one place) and send me a PM inviting me to join in the fun.

 

Will do when the time comes. I was thinkin I could just get away with tuning th PE table. I'm not really interested in gas mileage or part throttle performance. Although, I am getting tired of running around with 110 BLM at idle.... Thanks.

 

Performancecenter.com

Found one for my car,Thanks for your input

 

Huh; that's really weird! In '97 I bought mine from Summit Racing, but they don't carry it anymore- and neither does Jegs.

 

Just think, you can become the "V6 Prom Burning Expert" and corner the market as you have little/no competition.

While we don't permit "prom burning for profit" on the DIY Prom Board. The V6 Board is a different matter. All you need to do is discuss it with the moderators of the V6 Board and get their agreement.

Besides, everyone is aware that "eproms for profit" is happening "behind the scenes" anyway. We just want to keep the DIY Prom Board focused on the "Do-It-Yourself" aspect.

 

V6 board is very DIY oriented as well. Behind the scenes is one matter, but the info on V6 prom tuning will be public in one way or another regardless... batch of 29C256-70Is and ZIFs arriving tomorrow, co-own the only Pocket Programmer 2 in town... and yes, I'll tune for profit in town, but if someone seeks to learn how to do it themselves, I'll be more than happy to help. Lazy people are my target market

(Basically that means I'll be publishing any advances in V6 prom tuning I make... of course I encourage others to do the same with at least the basic information required to make changes. What exact changes should be made, however, is likely to take a while to become public, thanks to people wanting to make money off retuning MAF scalars and whatnot... so much for the community :shrug: )

 

just like that smiley sorry

 

That doesn't bother me in the slightest. Yes, there will ALWAYS be people who (for whatever reason) don't want to get the equipment OR don't want to take the time to learn how to do it. If someone (trusted) is willing to deal with those people, so much the better.

The "no prom for profit, etc" policy of the DIY Prom Board was a result of it's original creation. Most people are not aware of this but the DIY Prom Board originally was a "secret board" that you had to already have the equipment before you could even access the board. It was only after awhile that it was made public on TGO.

Also, there were a number of problems we had with certain people openly burning eproms for profit by mail and then a number of complaints from the people who didn't get a good eprom. That is why we deleted all posts "requesting an eprom".

I still have great difficulty with people who burn eproms without physically access to the car. I have personally experience where I had a friend that had a car identical to my original car and wanted to try my "best eprom" that I had developed for my car. I can tell you that my "best eprom" would not work properly on his car, inspite of them both being identical (at that time). His car was more prone to detonation than mine, and just coulldn't handle the spark advance that mine could.

But once I "de-tuned" that eprom, his car was killing his buddies that had a LOT of work done to it. I even have a video of my buddies car beating the other guy and the other guys saying "He needs new tires" (when you can see he got whooped totally throughout the 1/4). He didn't need new tires, he needed a new eprom.

Glad to see you V6 guys are now getting into it. (And the increase gas mileage is just pure bonus )

 

I'm all for learning how to do it, but I don't have a use for the burner after I get my A/F where I want it. It's not very economical for me to buy one and take the time to learn how to do it really. I know a guy here in Houston who has done some PROM burning, but I have mixed opinions on his abilities. He's never worked with my type of ECM before, and I can't let him guinea pig my motor, to dangerous with what I use (gas). It appears a very complicated science from where I stand, I've read the stuff on the DIY board, and I have no clue what's going on... I actually built an ALDL conector for my Bro In law to use on his L98 car. I was told it'll read the 2.8L MAF system data jsut as well (for data logging). But where to go from there....I'm clueless..

Time for a carburetor that'll fit under the hood...

 

Well the problem I have is this-

I have been TOLD there is no COMMERCIALLY availible software to datalog the ECM used in the '90-'92 3.1 powered F-bodies.

Upon suggestion I emailed Craig Moates- I gave him the # off my ECM- which says "Delphi remanufactured" on it, and gave the # off the memcal. I got a reply saying "is this a such and such ECM?"

To which I replied with the same information I had given him in the first place- I have no idea how to tell what ECM was originally in the car, I just know that in the 170,000 miles and four Carfax documented owners it's been replaced somewhere along the line. He's the expert, I'm not. If I knew the original ECM number I'd have given it to him in the first email!

I never got a reply.

Alan (AIM91) has some software to datalog, but it is "borrowed" from someone who does not want it copied or handed out, which I can respect, Alan's a friend so I won't bug him about it.

From what I have gathered the best way to burn a PROM is to datalog the car and see what it's doing, otherwise it's a guess.

I'm not very computer literate, but I figure it I can supply datalogs to someone they could do a better job of chip tuning.

 

Craig SHOULD be able to modify his software to datalog the 90-92 3.1 F-body.

But, there IS a commercially available scan tool because I use it all the time - it's called "DIACOM". However, I would get the "cheap" version and not the expensive "Plus" version. If anyone purchases Diacom, send me an e-mail and I'll help you learn how to use it.

The one thing I love about Diacom, it works on ALL GM cars made up to 1995. What I dont' like about it, it works in DOS and thus you must use an older notebook (which is cheaper to use). But the graphics - well, it's DOS (enough said).

 

Hence my 'in town' ... any tuning I do will require physical access to the car for datalogging purposes.

By mail has proven to be the crappiest way to get anything done. Everyone I've ever heard of doing business with TBIChips.com has been thoroughly unsatisfied.

 

What if someone E-mailed you a Data Log.....hmmmm

 

That's how TBIchips does it. It doesn't work. Turn-around time is just too slow.

 

It's better (provided you are using the same scan tool) but A LOT of the tuning is initially done by ear and witnessing it happen. Seeing a "dump" of a bunch of numbers but not hearing/feeling what the problem is while WATCHING the screen is MUCH BETTER.

It much harder for the "eprom writer" to analyze just a dump of data (and not knowing exactly when it occurred).