how do I save my pcm's bin file to my laptop?

[FUN-9C1]

Here's what I have:

TunerPro RT
ALDL cable from Red Devil River
newer Dell laptop
$EE-16188051-V3.3.adx
$EE-16188051-V3.xdf

'94 Buick Roadmaster LT1
'95 Chevy Caprice LT1
'95 Cadillac Fleetwood LT1

I am brand new to this. I just bought the laptop and cable, and last night finally got my laptop to communicate with my Buick (the one I care least about screwing up!). I got the dashboard with all the live data showing up and working.

My question is: How do save my car's current bin file to my laptop and vice versa? All I want to do for now is copy my Caprice's tune (done by someone else years ago) and put it in my Buick. I've scoured the net and all the buttons and dropdowns on TP and cannot find what I would think should be super obvious (or maybe it is and I'm just not seeing it?).

Some things I read say I need some TunerCat software, but those are old posts and not sure if that applies to '94/'95 LT1s since some posts say all I need is TP and the cable for my application.

Thanks for any help!

Rob

[lionelhutz]

Tunerpro doesn't program. You can use Tunercat Winflash, Tunercat Tuner, or Steve's EEhack software.

http://www.gearhead-efi.com/Fuel-Injection/showthread.php?4956-new-EE-tuning-thing!

[FUN-9C1]

That would explain why I couldn't find it! Thanks for the reply. I assumed TunerPro would do it all.

[FUN-9C1]

Hi there, looking for pointers on fixing an unsuccessful programming episode- I'm using Winflash on a '94 Buick Roadmaster wagon, LT1. I successfully saved my wagon's factory program onto my laptop last night (after two tries) and was able to tweak it at the dining room table- nothing serious, shift points mostly, and was looking forward to seeing the "new" RMW (Roadmaster wagon) act a little different on my way to work this morning........ well, I hooked the laptop to the car, did the vehicle ID, that worked, I went to program, and..... It pooped about 5 seconds into it and I noticed that the fuel pump would not come on anymore. I was not able to connect after that- I tried about a dozen different times using different tactics each time.

I read online today that maybe once the PCM is unhooked from the battery for a while, maybe it will be able to connect... here's hoping. Raining too much tonight to try it, but I'm looking forward to trying it again tomorrow or the next day. But I don't have a warm fuzzy that it won't happen again. From what I read online today, frying a PCM using TunerCATS winflash is a very common occurrence. Any thoughts on that?

Next time I will close my door (no interior lights on) and unplug my GPS (forgot about that at the time). Maybe that will make a difference? Plug in the laptop? Or is it better unplugged? The battery in the laptop
is not awesome but it will last about an hour.

Any helpful hints on how to keep that from happening again would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Rob

[FUN-9C1]

Turns out that unplugging the PCM worked to make it operational again. Also, Winflash only works on 1 of my 3 94/95 LT1s. So if you can't get it to work, try it on a car that has been known to work with Winflash.

[steveo]

it's common to have to unhook the battery for a bit if flashing fails during the pre-programming stage, where the flashing routine, erase routine, or diagnostic routine is uploaded to the ECM's ram

winflash should work on all of your cars. but try eehack (see my signature) it might work better for you and also provide more descriptive errors if something goes wrong.


From what I read online today, frying a PCM using TunerCATS winflash is a very common occurrence. Any thoughts on that?

it's not. i've programmed with winflash literally thousands of times and never seen it fail.