HPTuner/EFILive/other options

a_kelley

a_kelley

mechanical fixer
Joined
Jan 26, 2010
Location
Rutherfordton
Ok, so I'm looking at expanding my capabilities as a shop.

I've had people want to either delete multi-displacement systems (Dodge) or active fuel management (Chevy) as well as correct speedometer, turn off abs/tpms, tune engine (though I don't have a Dyno, may kill that option), correct over size tires (I can adjust some vehicles presently but only within allowed parameters), tune shift points/pressures, convert from automatic to manual transmission, just to give some background on what I'm trying to do.

So that being said, what platform am I beat off going with? What's the average cost for doing x,y,z to one vehicle? I know hpt runs on credits, how much is a credit, and what do I get per credit? I'm thinking that hpt is the way to go forward. What does the software & interface cost?

Just trying to be an informed consumer and provide the customers I serve with the best service I can possibly provide. I know deleting AFM on the late 5.3 engines is a huge benefit given how much trouble they give - same with MDS on the Dodge Hemi trucks.

I'm not scared to try to reverse the code/interface myself having performed a near complete reversal/modification of the 91-95 "unmodifiable" Jeep SBEC, but I've invested a crazy amount of time in getting to where I'm at with that system - and that's far more simple than a modern computer. The code program space was only 32 kilobytes. I recently flashed a TCM in a 2010 Tahoe - the programming file was nearly 2048 kilobytes. Having background in computer engineering - that doesn't sound like much, but consider, the 32k code took me and a friend 8 weeks to wade through and document and understand fully. I can appreciate the time involved in making tools to customize and program computers to do what you want them to and it takes time to do so.

I just need to know what kind of money I'm looking at investing to accomplish what I set out to do. I know it costs money to design the editors and interfaces and I'm not opposed to paying for it as long as it does what I need it to.

So what am I looking to purchase? And how much am I looking at spending on the reusable stuff and how much per vehicle on the credits or whatever? (Yeah I know it varies, say on average, or per credit, and average credits needed)
 
I am currently trying to learn HP Tuners from a friend at work. He uses HP Tuners quite often, he is on the LS swap train full speed ahead. He unlocked the computer that we used for the LS1 swap in my dad's 55 Chevy this summer and made all the changes that we needed. I sat with him and watched the process as he worked on my dads computer and it seemed very straight forward for just making changes to allow the stock motor to start up. I think the difficulty comes in when you start making changes to the engine itself. It cost 2 credits at $50 each to unlock the GM 411 computer that we used. I have watched him making changes to the 5.3 that he put in his father's old car and it seems straight forward, but you have to understand what you are doing also. He changed the heads, cam, and intake on that 5.3 so it took a little finesse to get it to start and run. After that it took a lot of driving and trending to get it mostly correct and having a wideband O2 is almost required to get it perfect.

I purchased an electronic book for Christmas that details a lot of the HP Tuners and EFI live settings for multiple vehicles. It breaks it down pretty good I think. The electronic book was $20, I downloaded it had it printed out and bound at Office Depot because I have a hard time reading a book on a computer screen. Hopefully I can figure it out well enough to put a late model engine in my old car and tune it myself. I have a rebuilt LS1 bottom end and am trying to decide on a set of heads and a cam now. I always said I would never put a LS engine in my car, until I fired up and drove my dad's car. The drivability is amazing, especially cold starts and part throttle around town driving.

Master Engine Tuner - Efi Tuning information
 
I prefer using hptuners, but keep in mind that with hp tuners at least, the credits can be too damn expensive. Make sure you look at all their pricing scales.
 
tsconver said:
For mopar look at alfaobd.
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Is there a different one for each of the big 3? I thought there was a go to laptop software that could do any of them you just had to buy each at $xxx per.
 
Alfaobd is for fiat Chrysler. It is a onetime fee and let's you change a lot of features. Cannot tune with it but for instance I reset my tpms to pressures that I wanted. Enabled drl. Disabled fog light dropout on high beam. Can do a lot of other stuff like calibrate the turbo actuator. Just can't do the tuning part.
 
ghost said:
Is there a different one for each of the big 3? I thought there was a go to laptop software that could do any of them you just had to buy each at $xxx per.
Click to expand...

Oh and no per vehicle fee.

A lot of people use autoenginuity. It can be unlocked for various manufacturers. Each manufacturer is a fee. I have it as well. Great for reading codes from any of the various systems and can do things like abs bleed and actuator calibrations. Not sure on the setting things like drl and tire size. Definitely cannot tune with it.
 
tsconver said:
Alfaobd is for fiat Chrysler. It is a onetime fee and let's you change a lot of features. Cannot tune with it but for instance I reset my tpms to pressures that I wanted. Enabled drl. Disabled fog light dropout on high beam. Can do a lot of other stuff like calibrate the turbo actuator. Just can't do the tuning part.
Click to expand...


For the record any higher end scan tool--which I imagine he already has-- will do this stuff. Might be all he needs if not tuning.
 
tsconver said:
A lot of people use autoenginuity. It can be unlocked for various manufacturers. Each manufacturer is a fee. I have it as well. Great for reading codes from any of the various systems and can do things like abs bleed and actuator calibrations. Not sure on the setting things like drl and tire size. Definitely cannot tune with it.
Click to expand...

I have autoenginuity as well. I bought it just to work on Ford Powerstrokes, but it does do a good job of code reading for the generic stuff too. I really like it for what it does.
 
I'm actually looking to tune, specifically like turn off AFM (and the Chrysler equivalent). I do already have an autel ms908p that can flash, do most any manufacturer specific (abs bleed, calibration, tests, etc)
 
I am in the process of building a pos silverado that I picked up awhile back and am doing some research for tuning it myself also. HP tuners seems the best to me thus far. You can buy the basic tuning suite for $300, and credits are around $50 each. Most stuff takes two credits but some stuff like the newish vettes take 8 credits. There is also a "Pro" version that is a $250 upgrade that does data logging without laptop/tablet being connected, integrates the wideband O2s and other 5V references into the readings. I have a friend that tunes dodge and ram with HP tuners and loves it. Once you unlock the computer you have unlimited acess to tune all you want but the vehicle is tied to that tuner. My thought is I can tune for the cam now and still drive the truck and then tune for the turbo and then tune for the 6 liter when I kink the rods in the 4.8 etc. I would most likely tune on my towrig also. There are tons of vids online that break the tuning down on HPt very well.
 
If you hurt the rods in a 4.8, you must really be turning out some power....like high 4 digits.
 
Awesome. That's the kind of input I'm after. Cost is somewhat irrelevant - you want this - it costs you X. So as long as it allows me to accomplish what I'm after - afm delete - shift pressure/schedule.. it will serve my purpose. In the future , ls swap security/trans swap/tune etc.. I'm going to say it'll do what I'm aiming to accomplish. What it costs, is what it costs. I could reverse it myself, but with having spent 160+ hours (do math on it @ 65/hr - and the hours are very conservative) on the Jeep sbec (32k program space - way less than an ls computer).. I'm time (more important) and money ahead to purchase a turn key tuning software.
 
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