Results 1 to 2 of 2

Thread: Torture testing the PCM

  1. #1
    Carb and Points!
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Posts
    5

    Torture testing the PCM

    Hi Guys:

    A few months ago, I downloaded a stock V4P tune (tow pack, 3.42 gears) from a trusted source. I am converting my current 94 Cadillac Fleetwood to tow pack specs and after I changed out the gears, proceeded to load up the V4P tune. TC did all the things it was supposed to do, (have done this before 20+ times so know it works), turned off ignition when prompted, did my disconnect and on restart, engine went wild. Reconnected and the dreaded "no communication" came up. The ECM was dead.

    Replaced the ECM with spare, did a speedo recalibrate on my original tune (2.93 gears) and was back in business. Can't immediately point my finger at the file I downloaded off this site but it did come as an "LT1" file and I converted it to a "bin" file. I would really like to try out an original V4P tune, modified for fan temps to see if there really is much of a difference but as you can imagine, I'm a little gun shy now (no longer have a spare ECM). To this end a few questions:

    1. Can you load an LT1 file directly or must you convert it to a bin file?
    2. Could I have corrupted the file by saving it as a bin file?
    3. Is it possible for a bad file to knock out the communication capability of the ECM?
    4. Is it possible to resurrect the original ECM?
    5. Is there a utility in TC (or an add-in) that can check the integrity of a file?

    As I said, I can't really point my finger at the file as there is a possibility that something else happened during the upload. Have been playing around with the tune for a few months now and this is the first time I have had any problems. The only thing I can say I did differently was this was the one and only time I did this on the laptops battery alone. All the other times it was plugged in. The battery still showed 98% after the fact but maybe something happened in the background that didn't show. TC acted normally during the upload and terminated normally.

    Sorry for the long post but could really use some advise. Any help would be appreciated.

    Bill

  2. #2
    RIP EagleMark's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    North Idaho
    Age
    63
    Posts
    10,477

    Re: Torture testing the PCM

    There's not been much on the subject here. So you may be bringing us new information.

    TC would really be the place to ask, I know there's quite a bit of this info out there on CapriceSS.com has sactions for the Caddy as well.

    I have a JetSpectrum yet unused. From reading on the LS1 websites and looking into tuning OBDII Flash you need a correctly charged batterey in car and no acceseries need to come on during this time like car alarm, doors opening. Also computor should have excellent batterey and fully charges and not be plugged into converter draining voltage from car...

    Not sure if GM dealerships can reflash them back to stock, I have heard some can. The term Bricked my ECM probably came from those that can't.

    1990 Chevy Suburban 5.7L Auto ECM 1227747 $42!
    1998 Chevy Silverado 5.7L Vortec 0411 Swap to RoadRunner!
    -= =-

Similar Threads

  1. IAC testing
    By shua57 in forum GM EFI Systems
    Replies: 30
    Last Post: 10-17-2015, 02:30 AM
  2. ECM testing/rebuild
    By shua57 in forum GM EFI Systems
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 10-25-2011, 05:21 PM
  3. IAC Testing procedure
    By EagleMark in forum Fuel Injection Writeups Articles and How to New and Old
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 10-24-2011, 10:32 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •