In Over My Head and Drowning

[Nasanieru]

Hey Guys,

Thought it would be cool to remove my EGR from my 98 Expe EB. Even put on performance manifolds and removed the muffler with a glasspack. I am at the part of trying to tell the chip there is no EGR on the truck. I have a USB to OBDII cable and a flash disk to load to the laptop, and have the VOLTA program and one other to use so I can flash the chip. That's it....That's all the farther I know how to go. I don't know how to run the software and what I need to look at in the software to know if it worked. Im hopping some of you awesome guru's can help me fix my mistake. I can't go backward, it has been to much work getting here. So any suggestions would be awesome....

Nathan

 

[stamp11127]

Download the user manual for the program(s) if available.

 

[drewactual]

be careful. the very first thing you need to learn is how to download and set aside a copy of your OE file. it will be your recovery file and it's importance can't be overstated. don't alter a thing until you've got a non-corrupt recovery file. it should include your entire programming including every environmental table- NOT just the files you are altering.

other than that, youtube is your friend. it's not hard, but the penalty for failure is pretty steep IF YOU DON'T HAVE A RECOVERY FILE STORED (and store it apart from the computer you're using- like on a sizable thumb drive).

 

[Nasanieru]

Oh my gosh...Yes! That is the information that I am needing. And, I'm not being sarcastic...I was psyched that I was able to get the program to load correctly. This is blowing my mind!!
I did find out the other program I have is called "ECUsafe 2.0" The gentleman that is sending me these is sending a couple more programs that I can use also. Don't have those yet...But, I appreciate all the answers. This forum by the way has saved my pocketbook and my head so much pain. So if any of the creators of it are reading this...thank you so much. As for "Drew" I got another question, Do you know of anything else I can remove or tweak besides the "EGR?" that would add performance to the truck.

 

[drewactual]

well....

the gains i've seen out of tuning gas engines is minimal... i've never seen a tune turn more than 20hp by itself. diesels, on the other hand- a tune is an amazing thing... i literally swapped an exhaust pipe and tuned an engine and added 300hp and 400# of TQ.. those engines are massively detuned- pushing them nearer the line opens up all kinds of power.

the thing about gassers and tuning is matching parts... for instance, if you are running lighter 'pencil' (single hole) injectors and move to FMS four hole sprayers, you don't need the back of a hot valve to atomize the fuel anymore, so you can spit it a split second later and not only increase power ever so slightly, but dramatically improve throttle response and bump fuel economy. adding the sprayers by themselves won't do that- it'll actually hurt economy most often and bog response...

monitoring short term fuel trims and their impact on long term fuel trims, you'll want to 'cross zero' as often as possible- meaning, you want to see both stft and ltft at as close to 0% (stioch) as you can get it- adjusting duty cycle of the injectors along with the spark adjustment will do this- you'll see more power and better economy... those two go together more often than folks realize, until you start adding parts specifically for power gains (true power gains, such as boost of some variety, more lift+duration, ect)...

working with what you have, and doing bolt-ons as opposed to internal work, it's something like this:

cold air intake... hardly any value by itself.
larger throttle body.... hardly any value by itself.
four hole sprayers... hardly any value...
headers... hardly any value...
hotter spark... ditto.
colder plugs.... ditto.

now take all that^

cold air works with four hole works with larger throttle body works with hotter spark (allowing you to run wider gapping) on a colder plug and breathing out through balanced pipes (promoting scavenging and reducing/eliminating back pressure) AND THEN TUNING FOR IT by advancing spark, retarding fuel sync, and now.... you're talking as much as 50~70 ponies. can't be done without the tune.... works together in balance as you monitor lambda (remaining o2 and unburnt fuel in exhaust) cross zero... you'd add ponies reduce fuel consumption... how 'bout that?

so...

to best answer your question------ what all have you done that tuning will help?

 

[08T1]

Wow drewactual... that is a very good explanation. I can see that you understand tuning.

Maybe slow down for the others still trying to understand the black magic of tuning.

CJ

JMHO

 

[drewactual]

i sho ain't no master.... but i know some people approximating such. i've learned a ton from them, and every time they teach me something i realize ten other things i need to learn to have an intelligent conversation with them.

tuning on single camshaft pushrod v8's with EFI, controlled with IAT's, MAP or MAF, coolant temperature, and being reconciled by o2 sensors is fairly straight forward.... start involving variable valve timing and that gets complicated quickly. canshaft position sensors tell the injectors when to fire- crankshaft position sensors tell ignition when to fire... that's a fairly mechanical process except that the computer can advance and retard either to varying degrees of success.....

i'll say this plainly so those new to the world of tuning are clear-

'tuning' simply makes parts play nicely. that is the way and the only way to approach it... what it does it pushes things closer to the edge, away from 'safe'..... if you 'tune' and engine that isn't healthy, it will uncover weaknesses quicker than the OE 'safe' tune will... and if you 'tune' too aggressively on an engine that isn't dead-nuts-right before tuning, you're in for a heartache. it'll blow, break, under perform or flat out 'do nothing'... people who 'tune' on unhealthy engines and then complain about the tune breaking something were most often simply attempting to mask a problem- and surprise surprise they didn't mask a thing- they uncovered it instead.

 

[Boose]

Not knocking performance upgrades by any means. That being said, I'm wondering why the EGR was your target to remove? It is an all to often removed component that really has no net performance gains on even a heavily modified street motor.

 

[Nasanieru]

That is awesome information!! I have slightly pissed myself from the intimidation of the project I have took on...lol.

(Boose) The EGR was an accident from convience, I had...well not a intelligent mechanic putting on the new manifolds because the OEM was rusted from the block. So, in all of his genius he put one side on and figured he couldn't connect the EGR pipe to the manifold...lol. So, he cut the pipe and put a hose in the place of the metal pipe. Connecting one end to the pipe and running the other into the manifold...there fixed...lol. It wasn't fixed, so I had no other choice after exhausting my time and sanity in all the automotive shops to no success. Had to plug the pipe and the unit with full knowledge that I won't do anything for performance which I didn't have in mind when I was taking on this project. Now, I have to tell the computer the EGR isn't there so it quits dumping mass amounts of gas out the exhaust. Now, I did eventually want to do performance things to the truck. Just wasn't ready yet...lol. Thanks guys for the help!!! I do have a little question. Will flashing the computer and remove the EGR put the engine back to a neutral OEM standing sorta speak?

 

[08T1]

In the simple answer yes. A flas can fix all your problems.

But some times there's more to it. I have been out of the gas tuning world for a long time. Maybe Drewactual could fill you in on less the pre-historic tuning. I did all my tuning on my 94 mustang gt. Different programs and ecu.

I'm only just now getting back into my 08 and setting goals and getting parts.

Good luck and keep us posted.

CJ