Tuning Suggestions(1996 Buick Roadmaster - 1995 Chevy Impala SS ECM)

[Capt1501]

Any help, suggestions, comments welcome!

What I'm Running:

1996 Buick Roadmaster - Running with 1995 Chevy Impala SS ECM

EEHACK
FLASHHACK
TUNERPRO

LT1:
-Custom Long Tube Headers
-Custom Exhausts; 3" to 2 1/2" with 6" cross over, Flowmasters
-Custom Ram Air
-MSD distributer (rebuilt-modified)
-SP Performance Coil
-8 1/2 MM Race Wires(Customized with Ceramic ends)
-Electric Water Pump
-Stock Throttle Body(Modified)
-Stock MAF
-EGR and A/C Delete
-regular O2's (Wide Band coming soon)

4L60E:
Rebuilt (Stock Internals *Not my rebuild*)
Transgo Reprograming Kit (Customized-ZT Performance-Mine)
Sonnax Servos
Custom 2nd gear Servo (ZT Performance)

Rear End:
Fully Rebuilt; upgraded (ZT Performance)
-4.56 Gear
-Helicoil Gear Posi

Suspension:
-Front-
MOOG XRF Heavy Duty
A1A Self adjusting Race Shocks

-Rear-
Fully Adjustable Air Ride

Tires: 255/50-17 Federal Super Street 595 (Front-Rear)
Rims- 17" Crager Style


Started Programing about a month or so ago. Started with "easy F-body Tuning" and adjusted Trans to shift and speedometer. Simple stuff, have been trying to get on this forum for weeks "mostly my fault - started with adding old E-mail" but have been messing with it trying to learn myself from reading forums from here and other sites. Have done small AFR and Timing adjustments. Messed with trans shift pressures and points a good bit but have gone back and forth with it.

So it runs good, strong but think i should be getting more out of it in higher RPM's.
Trans feels real good but would like to calm 1<2 shift a little more on lighter throttle.

Biggest problem at this point is somewhere in trans programing I have lost the 1st gear command for coming to stops. Doesn't down shift coming to stop, touch throttle and commands first gear and is perfect till next stop. NO SLIPPAGE at all, just not commanding the shift. I can't figure out why. Have made numerus adjustments since and can't figure parameter that I might have changed.

Will try to down load Bin I'm running currently.

Another Question I have is in EEHACK I cant read certain things data-logging. Like, for me the biggest is the Trans info; which is what I really want to learn for my small Tranny Shop "ZT Performance".

Should I have left stock (96 Buick ECM) in instead of switching to new(95 Impala SS)
What difference would it make? Pro's and Con's of each?
Truthfully I tried doing this yrs ago on my 95 Z28 and was having communication problems which I found out my nemesis back then and at beginning of this try with the Buick came down to Laptop I was using... have new one now. And as any older FART I am not very computer literate.
But at time of starting this process with Buick I didn't do my research again, after all I did that yrs ago, and I didn't realize the huge steps that has been made with these programs for OBD2 systems and first thing i did was get me a 95 ECM. If the OBD2 is a better way to go I will gladly go back. Haven't really looked into any of the OBD2 programing because of what I'm Running right now and trying to learn this has been a ordeal for me but I am studying and learning I think, but as in anything I might be Learning bad practices. But I will be looking into OBD2 programing so I can get into changing programs for tranny's I build.

Thankyou in advanced.
And thanks to Stevo and everyone else that has made all this possible. It was one of Stevo's posts in a F-Body forum that made me look into this yrs ago for my 95 Z28

[LeMarky Dissod]

'96 & '97 OBD2 LT1 pcms are STILL the bastard stepchildren of the tuning world.
There are very few OBD2 LT1 mail-order or ride-along tuners left.
For slightly more than the cost of an OBD2 LT1 mail-order tune, an OBD1 conversion has been the best bang for the buck for a while.

Now that steveo's $EEhack & FlashHack are on the scene, the bang for the buck hits even harder for even less buck.
Just make sure your wiring is all sorted.

[steveo]

the 1994 and 1995 stuff will always be better
why?
cause eehack
thats why

"i cant read certain things datalogging"
what does that mean?

[Capt1501]

In the EEHACK program I can't look at the *Trans or *Diag data. It just says no data in all the tables. I can only look at the Dash and *Main data. I'm sure there is a setting or something I'm missing.

[NomakeWan]

Correct. You have to actually enable those streams by clicking one of the buttons on the right side of those tab screens. "Snapshot" is useful for getting the *Diag data since it's really just instant codes you'll want. Streaming *Trans will get you your active transmission data.

These streams are disabled by default in order to allow Main*/Dash to work faster, since you have limited bandwidth to work with.

[steveo]

this ecm has various datastream messages. by default only the main engine data is logged. each additional message decreases the logging rate of the other messages being logged at the same time. press stream to enable a message. you also have a speed slider. that way you can make one message 'higher resolution' and one 'lower'. eehack is unique in that it has that sample rate control but also deals with alternating datastream messages in its log. your graphing and analysis tools are designed to deal with different sample rates and synchronizing them properly.

[Capt1501]

Thanks for suggestions, sorry, it's been days since I have even had time to open this. I will hook it up tomorrow and try that out.

So, why do you think me transmission isn't down shifting coming to a stop? A few updates since I posted this.

1: If I touch the gas at all under 10mph (That's my light throttle shift point) it down shifts. Even in neutral or park. All I have to do is is make the TPS move.
2: Sometimes it stays in 3rd sometimes 2nd
3: Does it in open or closed loop
4: Can force it to shift to first when in control mode whenever I want it to.
5: I've changed my Base programming or Original programing numerous times in the Transmission parameters and a few others. Small changes mainly. Still the same thing.
6: Made my Biggest changes in last BIN file. Running on it last few days. Calmed down the transmission a lot. But still no down shift coming to a stop.
7: Realized this all started when I first changed Trans parameters trying to calm second low throttle shift harshness down some from my initial Programing. But screwed up and recorded over my first BINs so can't go back and compare them.

I'm missing something.
Will try to download my newest BIN file.
Hopefully downloaded 2 BINs. Tranny one was changes made to Tranny of course, what I consider pretty big changes. The AFR-TIMING one is the same as Tranny one but with other changes..

Can down load Data log if anyone wishes to see it.

Again Thanks for talking with me.
This is fulfilling a old mans dreams I've had for a long time. Wish I was more computer literate. Learning though!

[kur4o]

There is a table called 2-1,3-2,4-3 shift tables, I guess you screwed that up. And the trans never gets the threshold to execute downshifting.

If it doesn`t shifting to 1st on stop, I think the engine should stall. On eehcack there is a current gear dialog, What that shows, when coming to a stop.

[MO LS Noobie]

I had the same issue with my 4L60E. It would hang in third gear when coming to a stop. Only did it when engine was fully warmed on the highway for five minutes or more. Engine would not stall because the torque converter worked like it was supposed to, just very sluggish out of the hole.


Never did figure out exactly what it was but went to a much earlier tune and copied over the shift tables. I am running a 603 operating system, and will share the bin file if that will be helpful. Might be better to grab the stock file from your other computer since it is running the correct operating system.

[Bent72]

Good info in this thread, thank you

@capt1501
Any progress on the transmission tuning?

[LeMarky Dissod]

Capt1501,
why did you change the 2Up3 shift @ 00.00% TPS to 0MpH?

[Capt1501]

Thanks for responses everyone. Sorry haven't been on for awhile. Been having fuel pump issues on the Buick so haven't done much to it in last cpl weeks. Fuel pump ordered and trying to get money for wide band O2. Have a friend I've built a tranny for that is having a Dino installed at his shop and my car is going to be one of the first on it. That means I need the wide band installed and car ready within a few weeks. He is a tuner also and is going to help me get everything straight on it hopefully. Will let y'all know what we find.

In the meen time I will be looking into the parameters listed above. LeMarky Dissod, I'm pretty sure I did that as one of my mods just to see if it had any effect on the trans and no down shift. Will change that on tune and install tune before starting car with new fuel pump. Truthfully, I've changed so many parameters on trans trying to fix the problem and i haven't kept up with all of them like I should have. It is running on one of my earlier Tune because I kept getting Lean codes since I installed a new Evil Energy pump until it finally didn't want to run except at idle 2 weeks after installation no matter what I tried. Took that pump out and installed a Quantum pump I was running in my 95 Camaro and it straightened it out for about 4 days then that pump quit totally so have a new one ordered.

Let me make sure Y'all understand the problem. The transmission is perfect except not wanting to down shift to first when coming to stop. I touch the throttle at anytime and it will go right to first. I can do this in park, neutral or in drive. As soon as the TPS moves or comes off 0% it goes to first no matter what gear is selected. It was something I did in tuning. I can't down shift manually yet because of headers get in way of linkage. I also have cable system to install off a newer 4L60E to fix that problem but haven't had time to do it yet. My stuff is always last to work on.

So I've been working on my sons truck, 2005 Chevy 2500HD 4x4 with the Duramax. It has been a yr in the works and over $15,000 in parts alone and who knows the hrs. We have done more upgrades than able to list. Have went through motor, Trans(was done before current work), Transfer case, whole front end. All for doing 4wheel take offs at track. Just got new tune for it. The conservative tune is 700+hp and 1400+lbs torque. Trans has a good tune in it for my trans build but would like to break into trans tune to set up second gear take offs for track for the higher level tunes. Truck will probably end up on Dino also and see what we can do with it.

Promise to let y'all know and give updates on Buick

[Capt1501]

Capt1501,
why did you change the 2Up3 shift @ 00.00% TPS to 0MpH?

That was it!!!! Thankyou!!!

A little explanation for everyone as I now see it.

1: This had to be wayyyy back at my first couple attempts at programming. I don't even remember changing anything on normal Trans settings because I have it set to Performance and have just been changing those to get my shifts how and when I want them.
2: With that setting set to Zero every time I was coming to a stop at 0%TPS the computer was automatically calling for 3rd gear. And that's what it was doing.
3: Also, why, as soon as the throttle was touched or the computer saw a change in the TPS reading then it would demand first and of course go to first.
4: By changing that back to close to a stock parameter that automatically fixed it because the CPU wasn't asking for 3rd gear at 0%TPS anymore.
5: That's why this chat room is soooo cool! I might have found it eventualy but I probably would have finally had enough of it and just started all over back at stock everything and tried to get back to where I am now. But now because of someone else actually looked at my crappy programing it's fixed!

Thankyou to everyone that helped,
Especially LeMarky Dissod!