ecm/pcm power programer

[007ezmoney]

can any on tell me were to find a power programer for the pcm ecm. 2002 eldorado? i live in arizona and theres a place t5hat can do it for me and thay say it will give me 40 more hp but its going to cost me 800 dollars.wow!!!. i think i can do it my self for cheaper. any ideas?

[Texas Jim]

The only two major tuner/software companies, that I know of, are HP Tuners and EFI Live.

NEITHER ONE of them offer software for the 2002 Northstar.

I wish I knew of someone that could help you...but I don't.

[Cadillac Jim]

Anybody that is charging $800 to do a tune on a 2002 GM PCM is worse than a rip-off, its quite likely a fraud, too.

There are chips you can buy that can be used in certain cars, including some OBD II cars, but not OBD II Cadillacs. I have seen devices that you splice into your OBD II system that are supposed to improve your power but I don't have reliable reports on them, e.g. reputable people here that have before-and-after G-Tech or other instrumentation reports on them.

Chips that I have seen offered for OBD I cars were offered in three stages:

Stage 1 was offered for street cars with no change in thermostat or other modifications. There was no impact on warranty. Sometimes fuel economy improvements were touted for this tuning option. Premium gasoline is recommended even if the car would take lower grades to take advantage of more aggressive spark advance curves. Your car would likely pass emissions inspection with these chips. The ads promised something like 5% power and torque improvement. Often transmission shift points and shift firmness were retuned for performance.

Stage 2 usually recommended a thermostat change to 160 F from the factory recommended 180 F or 195 F. Your car would *not* pass emissions inspection with a lower temperature thermostat, but you might be able to switch back to a standard thermostat for emissions inspection without pulling the chip and pass. This is the most aggressive chip tuning for street cars.

Stage 3 usually recommended a thermostat change to 140 F or the lowest available for your car, or no thermostat. Often custom tuning is available for cam changes and other modifications. All thoughts of drivetrain durability and longevity are abandoned. These are for use of a car on strip or track, or a step toward a custom PCM.

You can do a web search on tuning chips, or do a search on SummitRacing.com or other web sites for performance chips. I have never found one for an OBD II Cadillac, though. And, I looked.

There is some improvement to be had from the right guy with a Tech II. If you find one, first ask them specifically what they are going to change before you write any checks; if they "can't" tell you don't write the check. It's your money and your car. Bring your G-Tech or other performance analysis tool with you and do a before-and-after. If they can't support that go away. Whatever can be done with a Tech II will almost certainly be equivalent to "Stage 1" above - you will likely see an improvement in throttle response and you should be able to measure some improvement in performance with a G-Tech but nothing profound.

[007ezmoney]

Anybody that is charging $800 to do a tune on a 2002 GM PCM is worse than a rip-off, its quite likely a fraud, too.

There are chips you can buy that can be used in certain cars, including some OBD II cars, but not OBD II Cadillacs. I have seen devices that you splice into your OBD II system that are supposed to improve your power but I don't have reliable reports on them, e.g. reputable people here that have before-and-after G-Tech or other instrumentation reports on them.

Chips that I have seen offered for OBD I cars were offered in three stages:

Stage 1 was offered for street cars with no change in thermostat or other modifications. There was no impact on warranty. Sometimes fuel economy improvements were touted for this tuning option. Premium gasoline is recommended even if the car would take lower grades to take advantage of more aggressive spark advance curves. Your car would likely pass emissions inspection with these chips. The ads promised something like 5% power and torque improvement. Often transmission shift points and shift firmness were retuned for performance.

Stage 2 usually recommended a thermostat change to 160 F from the factory recommended 180 F or 195 F. Your car would *not* pass emissions inspection with a lower temperature thermostat, but you might be able to switch back to a standard thermostat for emissions inspection without pulling the chip and pass. This is the most aggressive chip tuning for street cars.

Stage 3 usually recommended a thermostat change to 140 F or the lowest available for your car, or no thermostat. Often custom tuning is available for cam changes and other modifications. All thoughts of drivetrain durability and longevity are abandoned. These are for use of a car on strip or track, or a step toward a custom PCM.

You can do a web search on tuning chips, or do a search on SummitRacing.com or other web sites for performance chips. I have never found one for an OBD II Cadillac, though. And, I looked.

There is some improvement to be had from the right guy with a Tech II. If you find one, first ask them specifically what they are going to change before you write any checks; if they "can't" tell you don't write the check. It's your money and your car. Bring your G-Tech or other performance analysis tool with you and do a before-and-after. If they can't support that go away. Whatever can be done with a Tech II will almost certainly be equivalent to "Stage 1" above - you will likely see an improvement in throttle response and you should be able to measure some improvement in performance with a G-Tech but nothing profound.

[007ezmoney]

thanks jim for helping me get things together. i saw the g-tech online just under 300. thay have 2 models one is the ss and the other is the rr. is this easy for me to use or do i have to get a specialist? hears somthing you can check out. i found this online to. apexi piggy back programer its at andys auto sport.part#401-A917. what is this?

[Logan]

You cannot 'tune' a GM vehicle with a Tech 2.

Here is the Tech 2 users manual:

http://register.otctools.com/364849/Tech-2UserGuide.pdf

You can change things like the way the door lock chirps, message center, passenger mirror tilt, etc. You can turn things on/off for diagnostics, such as fuel injectors or EGR valves, but only for 10 seconds or so.

[Cadillac Jim]

There are security-related and safety-related things that the Tech II can do, like take off the 120 mph governor, and so my L.A. dealer told me, adjust the powertrain tuning presets for different points in the smoothness-performance tradeoff. These almost certainly require a security code, and this code is likely a function of the VIN (or at least varies with the VIN) else anyone with this code could use it on any car. If you don't have information on these capabilities, you don't have all the manuals.

I would expect that if a dealer sells a Tech II, they are prohibited by contract from selling you anything that will enable security or safety related changes.

I ran across a company that offers tools for user tuning of their own PCMs and gave a link in a recent message. I don't know if it covered OBD II Northstars or not.

I asked the Scan XL people if my software from them could write tuning presets to my car. They said no, because this data is encrypted and the encryption used by the Tech II isn't available to them.

I don't know anything about the different models of the Tech II. I do know that the vendor of the original machine fell into the hands of a German company in 2008, and that currently-used Tech II machines at the dealers use wireless technology to work on the newer cars.

[Logan]

I've had a Tech 2 for about 15 years....so I have some idea.

The speed limiter can be defeated by programming in the software and VIN from a vehicle that was equipped with Z rated tires. That said, it would be foolish for a dealer to do so due to liabilty issues.

Tuning presets? Sounds like they are playing with you.

The old scan tool was the Tech 1 and 1a. Both units and software were made by Vetronix.

The original Tech 2 was made by Hewlett Packard and used Vetronix software.

Vetronix bought out the Hewlett Packard Tech 2 production.

Bosch bought out Vetronix. Everything that was 'Vetronix' is now 'Bosch'. So technically it is now the Bosch Tech 2.

[Cadillac Jim]

The owner's manual and the dealer both told me when I bought the car that if I brought it back with Z-rated tires on it that they would remove the governor. I doubt that this meant programming another VIN number into it. There seems to be a more direct way to do this.

I never saw any reason to do this since, in L.A. or near Philly, it's hard to find a way to get the car over 100 mph safely anywhere and even harder to find a good reason for doing so. I like to keep my car Autobahn-ready but I figured that if I ever did take my car to Europe with me I would look into it then.

The last lech I had look at my car reprogrammed my EBTCM to calibrate my speed-sensitive steering (which hadn't been done when I put in the new EBTCM) and I know that he poked around in my PZM because he un-programmed my fob. I believe that he checked throughout to make sure that everything was coordinated properly and nothing *else* was left undone by work outside GM dealerships.

What about the encrypted writes that the Scan XL people told me about? What do you know about that? And, are there any security codes used with the Tech II? Are specifically trained techs used to do things like remove the governor?

[Logan]

I guess we will have to agree to disagree.

I would love to see the owners manual statement suggesting the speed limiter can be removed if Z rated tires are installed. As for the dealer telling you that, seems dealers will say just about anything to make the sale....you should see our new local Kia dealer on TV..

Kind of the same reason a Tech 2 cannot change the mileage in the cluster. If it could..we'd all be driving low mileage Cadillacs.

The Tech 2 is getting old. It feels and acts like a 15 year old laptop. There are some calibrations and settings that can be adjusted on the vehicle using a Tech 2. A good example would be the tire size in the ABS unit on a GM truck. But in order to really program anything like the PCM you need the Techline software and a PC as the Tech 2 is just a pass thru unit. It contains no hard drive or calibration files.

Can I use the Tech 2, go in and subtract 2 degrees of timing at 3600 rpm in the fuel map? No.