ABT - Always Be Tuning

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SlugSlinger

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ABT is just a catch phrase of the YouTube channel I’ve been watching.

Are there any tuners on here? I’ve started watching some informational videos about the equipment and process of tuning these newer vehicles.

I am amazed of the technology with the electronics and the ability to monitor and change factory settings on almost everything in a car today.

This is a great series I’ve started watching. I am also looking for more resources and information about scanners and editors. If you have some good resources, please post them.


https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxTMckx4RYqmWr0x6J5oEO01pSgOUMOwa
 

adamsredlines

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HP Tuners, I'm pretty sure, started out mostly for the GM guys but has expanded quite a bit in recent years.

A few years ago it seemed most GM used HP Tuners, Dodge guys used Diablo and Ford guys used SCT.
I think HP Tuners has grown quite a bit in market share.

I dont have the stones to do it myself, and I've had nothing but bad luck letting others do it. Tis one of the reasons I kinda lost interest in car stuff honestly. I can and have done all the mechanical stuff but when it came to tuning and putting it in someone elses hands, it was a nightmare.
 

swampratt

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My first Fuel injected car was a 1976 280Z and you could time the distributor the old fashioned way.
If you went to the library you could find a lot of information on the FI system and how to tweak it.
I was 18 at that time and found I could open the air flow meter side cover and have a few screws to turn inside that would change injector dwell time.
Inside the computer there was also some more of that going on.

That made it pretty simple to tweak things.
Later I stuck a Cartec intake on it and mounted a 4 barrel carb.
Power was up everywhere and MPG did not get hurt.

FI is good in my mind if you plan on boosting the engine that way you have a lot of control over fuel and timing curves.

You can get there with a carb on boost but I feel much will be left on the table.

I like carbs and have messed with LS engines with carbs and to me they run very well ..instant throttle.

MoBoost is a member here is a tuner and has a speed shop in MWC Abel racing.
But he has quit the internet forum thing and concentrating all his efforts on his speed shop and his wife and child.

Some tuners you must wait like 15 minutes for it to update then see if it was a step in the right direction or the wrong one.
I know MoBoost Andrei said he hates those and will not mess with them as it takes 2 days to do what a good program will be able to do in a couple hours.

Research that when looking for programs
 

beastep

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Abel is supposed to have a good rep. Never used them. I did ask them what a tune would cost me for my 12 ecoboost and they told me either 500 or 550. Cant remember. I think Im going to go with an NGauge and Brew City Boosted for tunes.
 

swampratt

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I think you are in the ball park beastep somthing like 550 for a tune.
That is the first tune and it takes much longer to get all out of the engine trans etc.
After the first tune say you change something on the car like a different turbo or different injectors or mufflers.
The next tune is or was like 175.
It is the initial tune that costs you a bit, after that not so bad.

I am all about doing things myself though and hate the day i have to pay someone to do something for me.
 

SoonerP226

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Abel is supposed to have a good rep. Never used them. I did ask them what a tune would cost me for my 12 ecoboost and they told me either 500 or 550. Cant remember. I think Im going to go with an NGauge and Brew City Boosted for tunes.
The NGauge is nice, but (if you haven't already) take a look at 5* and Livernois for the tunes. (Not saying anything about Brew City; I just don't know anything about them.) I'm running a 5* on my '13 Coyote, and Livernois has been tuning EBs for a decade.
 

SPDguns

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My second car was a 1975 280Z. I put a 2+2 clutch in it, an oversize throttle body and a long tube anti-reversion header on it. It hauled a$$! You had better have it pointed where you want it to go when you punched it!

Anyway, I use Chris here in Stillwater. He's mainly GM and he uses HP software and he knows his stuff. He can be found on FB under "Street Car Garage". I'm going to do a cam swap, long tubes AFM delete and exhaust on my GM 6.0 this summer. He's the only one I would entrust the work to. He also has a chassis dyno. PM if you want his contact info.
 

beastep

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The NGauge is nice, but (if you haven't already) take a look at 5* and Livernois for the tunes. (Not saying anything about Brew City; I just don't know anything about them.) I'm running a 5* on my '13 Coyote, and Livernois has been tuning EBs for a decade.

I have checked them out. It seems like there are a few, the ones you mentioned, that are at the top and you cant really pick a bad one from any of them. I just really like the adaptive tunes from bcb. Im not done looking though and thanks for the info.
 

SlugSlinger

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I bought this scanner to see why I had some DTCs on an old Jeep I bought. It is handy to find and clear codes after making repairs or sensor replacements.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076XVQMVS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Because its an old Jeep, I started making some upgrades. I upgraded the headlights with some old school e-code Hella headlight housings, upgraded wiring and some relays to draw power directly from the battery. What I didn't realize was the headlights are controlled by the ECU and are factory set to pulse via PWM. Well because I installed some mechanical relays, now my modification suffers and the lights look dim because the relay can't keep up with the pulse. To fix this, I was going to install some capacitors to level out the pulse. However, after looking through the app I bought to use with the scanner, I found I can turn off the pulsing instead of having to buy the capacitors. I turned off the pulsing and now have some good and bright headlights. I was also able to to program the low beams to stay on with the high beams.

I can control a lot of things with the app. This includes locking doors, rolling windows down, and many other things.


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