93 3.4 grand prix unique application ECM

[BumpRacerX.com]

Hello,
New poster to the forum, been lurking and reading for quiet a while. I race in a unique form of motorsports called bump and run racing. It's basically full contact ultra short track racing. Over the last year, the 3.4 really started to dominate at the track. There is one big problem though. Safe Mode.

Would it be possible to obtain an ECM that never went into safe mode? Likewise, would it be possible to have an ECM that never shifted out of 1st (for a forward gear)?

When the 3.4 goes into safe mode and instantly goes into 2nd or 3rd gear. At this point a driver is toast. I've even seen guys go as far disconnecting the battery (relocated to the floor where the passanger seat would be) and sitting for a minute or two to reset the system. By the time they do this though, they end up a lap or two down.

So...Is there a way to modify the ECM on these cars to keep the car in 1st only?

Thanks for your help

BumpRacerX

[robertisaar]

IIRC: the algorithm dictates which gear the tranny goes into when it triggers safe mode. i imagine with a little bit of code work, you could command it to go to first instead of third like it's supposed to.

EDIT: a bit more info: you could tune the shift tables to never allow it out of first, but honestly unless you spend the entire time at ~45MPH or less, it's not too great of an idea.

or you could even go as far as disconnecting shift solenoids and wiring them to allow you to choose the gear you want at any time through a rocker switch.

[SappySE107]

Why does it go into safe mode?

[BumpRacerX.com]

Why does it go into safe mode?

http://www.youtube.com/user/wd8mqx#p/u

This is my wife's youtube channel, there are videos of different races on here. Typically the tracks are fairly rough dirt/clay layouts. Also, there are no exhausts on the cars from the 02 sensor back. My particular car I think is a ground issue which should be easily rectified. I bought this car 2nd hand off another racer whom had moments of super fast with it and moments of pure frustration. I don't think he kept a body ground when he relocated the battery to the passanger compartment. My gut hunch is that without the body ground the ECM and other sensors are malfunctioning. I can't speak for other cars, but I'm guessing the jarring and banging that takes place plays a large factor.

An ECM tuned to never go into safe mode would be perfect, but one tuned to never leave first would be even better. 90% of the tracks we run on 45mph is way more than enough top end. The other 10% you could always swap in a stock ECM. This type of racing really is more about torque and the ability to pull hard out of the corners.

What is a good code reader for this car? If I could keep mine from going into safe mode by locating the immediate problem it would be a positive start.

[SappySE107]

moates.net has an ALDL cable. TunerPro RT (also on moates.net) will work for scanning using the DF aldl file.

You can just keep a different chip to allow 1st and another to not. Since you can modify, you can run the wot-tech chip for the DOHC and get more power and a better powerband to work better with only 1 gear.

[bszopi]

That looks like a lot of fun!

[SappySE107]

Yes it does. Banging the car around shouldn't put it in safe mode unless something is loose. You could epoxy the computer internals but I doubt that is necessary.

[robertisaar]

when i was still running 1.5, a fast hard brake threw it into it sometimes. thinking it had something to do with a wheel(s) locking and the speed sensor going from 55 to 0 MPH instantly... just had to put it in neutral, turn the key off then roll it back on then it functioned normally again. haven't had it happen with the 9396 yet.

[BumpRacerX.com]

when i was still running 1.5, a fast hard brake threw it into it sometimes. thinking it had something to do with a wheel(s) locking and the speed sensor going from 55 to 0 MPH instantly... just had to put it in neutral, turn the key off then roll it back on then it functioned normally again. haven't had it happen with the 9396 yet.

I've seen this happen before. Red flag comes out and everyone locks them up and slides to a halt.

This type of racing is a blast. When it first really started to come out you could take anything and be competitive. Now, you probably better have a hot running v6, and the 3.4 is the engine of choice by far.

[RedZMonte]

Nevermind... Im an idiot, didnt read the topic line...