LS-Droid use questions

[woody80z28]

I've done some homework on this and I'm loving what I read! Long time TunerPro user with my old OBD1 cars and recently bought a 2001 8.1/ZF6 truck to play with. (0411 ECM and DLAC code). Bought the truck to haul around my new bundle of joy which can make the researching tough... Babies are great at breaking your concentration! haha

So I was hoping someone can help me clear up a few things.

I've seen recommendations to flash the ECM with a bench harness out of the truck. But I've also seen a youtube video of a guy flashing his straight from the the OBD2 port while it's in the truck. Is the bench harness and removal really beneficial? It's stuff I'm capable of sourcing and building, but I'm finding my free time is much more scarce than it used to be.

I see the OBDLink LX MX and MX+ range $50-80, but the reviews for them are all over the place. Is the speed different on them and what really is the difference? I would assume the most expensive is the best, but Amazon reviews don't seem to agree with that.

And my biggest concern, looking at the XDF page, I see it's for the 0411 ECM, but must be 12202088 or 12208322 OS. That thread says 2001 "Full-size truck, SUV, and van (including 8.1L engines)" but the tag on my ECM says 12208511. Does that mean I'm out of luck?

Thanks for any help!

[LRT]

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[woody80z28]

Wow! Thanks for the quick reply!

Thanks for the info on the OS. The formatting of that tag seemed to be the same as the other OS listings...I wondered if the rare ZF6 was the reason mine didn't match. The BIN files available here were both auto and labeled as 8322. But I'll get a bluetooth dongle and read the BIN to see what the OS comes up as then. Hopefully 12208322. I guess if it is a different OS the XDF just wouldn't read right and I'm only out the cost of the OBDLink.


And it sounds like a bench harness would be a good idea then. I'll have to grab some connectors from the yard and make one up. I'll be sure to get a spare 0411 too. That can't be too expensive.

[B52Bombardier1]

Spare 0411 / 896 / P59 PCM boxes are about $38 around here and I highly recommend that you grab one for this effort. Aside from the bus traffic problems with doing a write flash to a PCM while it is installed in a vehicle, there is also the potential problem of a weak vehicle battery not having enough power to complete the write. These read and write times are long-ish and battery voltage can fall enough to cause problems.

Rick

[sodak02]

Not saying its the best idea but I have pulled my bin and modded it and reloaded it in the vehicle with ls droid. I did make sure I had a good fully charged battery and pulled the fuses for the daytime running lights radio and turned off everything I could. I worked great and was very fast.

[LRT]

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[KC5UEA]

Hi all,

Since no one else has mentioned it, IF using LS-Droid or PCMHammer for flashing, there is some issues currently with the MX+ device that do not seem to exist in the others.
If you are mainly needing the Device for flashing the 0411, then the LX is a good choice.
It only supports the J1850 protocol whereas the MX supports the CAN protocol, but at the moment there is no need to buy the MX if you do not have a CAN-Based vehicle.

Mike

[woody80z28]

Hi all,

Since no one else has mentioned it, IF using LS-Droid or PCMHammer for flashing, there is some issues currently with the MX+ device that do not seem to exist in the others.
If you are mainly needing the Device for flashing the 0411, then the LX is a good choice.
It only supports the J1850 protocol whereas the MX supports the CAN protocol, but at the moment there is no need to buy the MX if you do not have a CAN-Based vehicle.

Mike

Thanks. That's the exact kind of info I'm looking for. I'll order an LX now.

[kur4o]

Ls droid is designed to overcome any possible reasons for bricking pcms.
It is relatively safe to flash in car. You can recover in almost all circumstances including mid flash interupts and continue later on with new phone and cable.

In case something goes wrong, make sure the battery power is not removed and is good and solid untill the flash is completed.

Thip chips needs solid 12v to get programmed, If the voltage goes lower it is likely to throw errors.

[woody80z28]

Ok, I read the PCM in-truck by pulling a bunch of fuses as suggested. Turns out it is 8322 OS - the app said so and the XDF read it fine.

Interesting finds in the tune, too. It has less timing than I would have thought. Only 15 degrees max at wide open with an additional 2 degrees at lower AFR. But the PE looks to be delayed 60 seconds! And only at 90+% throttle. That seems crazy to me. I'm thinking like 22-24 degrees total timing at WOT and a 1sec PE delay at70-75% throttle would make more sense.

Stock BIN attached.

[kur4o]

Some truck bins have even lower SA and the PE mode is disabled. They run 14.7 at full throttle and 5-10 * advance based on load. I don`t know if it is for emissions or cleaner combustion but you can not feel a lack of power with these settings. You cannot feel an extra power either, when you mess with the settings so tune responsibly.
The newer engines are highly efficient and don`t need extra SA to make decent power.

[woody80z28]

Interesting information there about not being able to feel a difference in power. I did a bunch of searching online about tuning HD gas trucks and most 6.0 LS guys run about 26-28 degrees and 8.1 guys run 20-24, but they also zero out the IAT and burst knock modifiers that bring the actual logged spark down to about 10. (Also enabling PE).

I know with my Vortec-headed SBC in my old truck, 28 degrees made good power, but that's as far as I wanted to push it. I had 30 degrees in my 10.5:1 Vortec-headed SBC Camaro and it was great. From what I've read that's 6-8 degrees less than older open chamber SBC heads.
The guy who sold me the heads and cam for my 3.4 V6 said 26-28 is where they make the best power. They are all a long way from 10-15 degrees...

Here's the truck!