hey guys- dont flame me here. just a newb trying to learn. is a tune just when you adjust a car's a/f ratio? ive read so much on this site about needing a tune, a reflash, or a piggyback. i know the reflash is when you make changes to the ecu (i think) and the piggyback attatches to the ecu so you can fine tune it (i think), but what specifically is involved in doing a tune? also, how much should something like this cost?

 

anyone?

 

Try posting this in the main Engine, Drivetrain & Forced-Induction section, not the intake/exhaust section. You might also want to try the forced induction section since those are most of the people getting a tune. I sort of know what it is but I dont want to start explaining something I'm not positive about.

 

Double post, sorry

 

well for starters most poeple who tune their cars have gone with some sort of forced induction with that said, tunning is basically when you use a piggyback system or full standalone ems to adjust certain settings to get the most power out of your car by adjusting timing, fuel, and a couple other things.

 

Tune is ECU on N/A cars as you add mods you tend to run lean , thus after adding all the mods you want you send ECU or buy piggyback so you can tune yourself...after sending ECU back 3 times to get flash done correctly you might want to utec or piggyback, A full flash will cost you around 700 I think , that includes raising redline , timing and a/f and opens TB to 100%...you may gain 5-10 whp on flash if you are lucky.

 

The $$$/performance value of a tune up may be high, but also consider the safety factor: you do not want to be running lean at redline.

 

manufacturers want to sell a car that will work in every temp (-40-+130) and every altitude and make it safe for any condition it could encounter around the world. so they tune the ecu with alot of safety to work in all these conditions. but the ecu can still "think" with help from the sensors and adjust for these things too. a tune can optimize your current engine set up when you modify something on the motor. our ecu's run rich towards redline from the factory to make it a little harder not to slam into the rev limiter. trying to make alot more power than the factory originally designed the car for, requires some sort of aftermarket way of controlling engine functions. reflashes are not my favorite for the fact every car is a little different, and i have had some reflashes not even close to what they should have been. 16-1 a/f @ 5500 was the results of a reflash i got on my vette!!

as some mentioned, intake and/or exhaust mods can lean the motor out a little due to more air traveling through the motor. these can be optimized with manipulating the stock ecu tables. sorry for the long post, was trying hard to not get too technical, lol.

 

Can anyone tell me if there is any truth to disconnecting the battery for a length of time after doing a mod? The reason being that when the battery is reconnected and the engine is run at idle, the ECU will correct the a/f mix by itself as long as the mod isn't too severe. Anyone??

 

if im not wrong it just resets it

 

All that will do is reset the ECU trouble codes, some of them..


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I believe overZealous1 answered that question well.

 

Can a dealer manipulate the stock ECU tables and what would I tell them to do with those tables. I am getting NISMO cat back and CAI this spring so I would be interested to know what I should have them do when they do the install.

Thanks

 

don't have the dealer do anything but install the parts!! lol. i hate to generalize, but most of the techs at most dealerships really don't know much beyond the basics of parts replacement. sorry if i offended anyone, but this has been my experience. you would need a competent tuner with a dyno and some form of a programmable or piggyback ecu to make adjustments.