Diving in head first, mind the rocks...

[pocket-rocket]

I didn't want to crowd Roberts nAst1 thread, so I started my own to crowd as I learn tuning from the ground up.


Ok, so I loaded up Roberts BCFA (3.4 DOHC 5 speed) port of nAst1 onto a chip and put it in the car. Mind you I'm exhausted from work, so I'm not firing on all cylinders. I had to update my TunerPro RT version, and I had to download some code mask data stream definitions from here to get going. The whole mental exhaustion has reared its head in the other thread in the form of the copies of my chips I have. Now that that is straightened out I had to remember to load up the data stream definition into TP, which I recalled AFTER the car was on its way to warming up. If it had not come in the zip file in the nAst1 thread, I probably would have forgotten about it and wondered why my laptop wasn't connecting to my car.

The car idled fine on nAst1 (besides the 13* modified timing lope), threw no CEL, but TunerPro was showing errors as it was recieving data from the ECM. The one thing that sucks is I can't see the whole dashboard display, part of it is cut off on each side of my screen and I can't seem to get it to resize. At any rate, here is an unadultered scan of my car at idle. I did idle it up some for a short bit since DOHC like to tick like mad when first started after not running for some time. This is probably what has tripped knock count in the log despite not doing any tuning to it. Basically this was Roberts straight port over and I disabled the EGR, turned lean cruise on and set a very low rev limiter. This was also idling in my garage, hence no vehicle speed being registered. Also, aparently the "Selective Export" in TP doesn't listen when you tell it what info to export and my NAVRAM has been bombed, so TP says.

first run.csv

[robertisaar]

errors? what kind of ALDL cable are you running? and about how many error counts came up in however long you were logging?

knock counts CAN be generated by the starter when first cranking the motor, i didn't see any of the counts actually happen in the log.

bombed NVRAM flag is set whenever the NVRAM (00-FF) checksum doesn't match. that will happen if there is a power interruption to the ECM or a few other problems, but you probably won't see it again any time without cutting power to the ECM.

fueling looks to be fairly close for most of the log, even while it's still warming up.

[pocket-rocket]

It's a home built cable.

http://60degreev6.com/forum/showthread.php/40147-My-new-built-in-ALDL-circuit.?highlight=built+in+aldl

I think I saw about 50 errors from start to finish. The power interruption was from disconnecting the ECM fuse since I was changing code masks.

[robertisaar]

hmm.... i've never had errors come up with a MAX232 cable, then again, all of mine are run through a USB converter, so i've never dealt with a true serial one.

you MAY need a small delay between send/receive commands.

[pocket-rocket]

How small? We got kicked out of work today at 10am due to the heat. They also said "Don't come back 'til Monday", so I have some time on my hands, lol.

The next log will have signs of a power interruption in it. I found out something nifty about Optimas...

[robertisaar]

5mS or so to start usually works for most people.

[pocket-rocket]

I feel like a n00b.

I looked around in TP and cannot find where to add delay, be it definition editing and what not.

[robertisaar]

Acquisition => Edit definition =>commands => add new item => listen for silence

name it however, give it an ID, change timeout to 5.

now go to the transmit stream macro, click add new on the right side, select the silence command you just created, move it down after the reply.

save defintion, attempt to generate error free log.

[pocket-rocket]

With the addition of an Ostrich to my car, I've kinda jumped back on the bandwagon again. This time I really do have the need of learning tuning due to planned modifications now that some parts are gathered and I have a good income for now.

Today I got the car in the garage and got the Ostrich installed, uploaded the nAst1 LQ1 port onto it and confirmed it is working. The hit tracer is a neat feature My knock count, on the other hand, was constantly going up...

I was reading online and kinda got the gist of tuning fuel on GM OBD1 (tweak for 128 INT and consequently BLM by editing the VE table), then raise spark advance until you get knock and back it off a couple degrees. Is this close? I was going to start by tuning the idle VE, but there are so many tables in there that it's nuts. I was considering moving back to $DF for now, just to try and see if I can pick things up fairly easier to really get into the nitty gritty of tuning for now, then migrate back over to nAst1. I've found no real definitive guide to learn tuning from, and the book I have on it only talks about different systems, how they work, reluctor wheels, injectors, sensors, ect, but don't really go into the part where you actually get your hands dirty, and that's the part that I'm (surprisingly) having a hard time finding on the internet.

[SappySE107]

use DF. Nast1 is awesome but its over the top for fuel tuning RPM/kpa points. You can have it converted to nast1 afterwards to do the nitty gritty.

13 degree isn't too rough at all on obd2 tuned. when I fix the starter, ill make a vid. I mean, its got some lope, but I think the OBD1 tune was more noticable.

[SappySE107]

oh and post a log I guess, so I can make sure its good enough to lock the BLM and tune INT. That is how you do it Tune idle first after its warmed up. Get the fueling at normal cruise in the 110-140 BLM range, then lock BLM at 128 and tune for INT to 122-134ish. With a manual, thats about all you can hope for.

You will want a wideband for WOT.

Got a starter lying around? haha im jk, but my car needs one now. Gonna try the wagon starter on the gp and make sure its that first. Gonna do 7500 RPM once its running again. Got the crossover on though (boy was that old one warped:P). I found out the light weight lifters I get for the LQ1 are good to 8300 in another application. muhahahahahahahahahaha! Also, the comp springs I am using aren't bothering the belt one bit in racing duty

[robertisaar]

use DF. Nast1 is awesome but its over the top for fuel tuning RPM/kpa points.

for the moment.... finished my testbench today, so now i can finally implement in the 3BAR stuff and bring N/A down to 2 tables.

[SappySE107]

awesome, i can't wait I need it for the wagon, and will want it for the camaro 3500 swaps as well

[pocket-rocket]

That's awesome news about the lifters I figured instead of doing the top end update to the cams/thrust plates in the car I'll just take the cam/carriers off the crate engine for now and throw those lighter lifters in it and be done with it. Seems like the easiest and most logical way of doing it.

How do you go about locking the BLM? For now I'll tune the idle. I have a backup of the final tune you did on it, plus I didn't modify that MEMCAL for the Ostrich, I used the one for the 91. I'm just trying to get where I know how to tune it right now. Reason being idle only for now is the car needs some work right now before I call it good for road duty. Things like struts (front struts will fall under the warranty on the 91's fronts lol), tires and I have a full ACDELCO parking brake cable set coming from rockauto. I do not want it sitting parked without a parking brake. Besides, I want to get a new alarm for it and parking brakes are nice to have when you have remote start. I ended up getting the front cable, the drivers rear, 2 passenger rear (didn't know if I had 1st or 2nd style, it looks like 92 falls in the crossover range), an equalizer and the connector to connect the front cable to the equalizer and rear cables for ~$93. I'll probably end up trying to sell the passenger rear I don't need on here, or return it.

As a side note, I plan on buying a new laptop next weekend. This old Vaio still works, but it's seen better days since it was produced right before Win XP came out... Then it will be easier to size the dash to be able to see it and tables at the same time vs resizing the dash all the time when I make a change, but at least it still works...

[SappySE107]

set min and max blm to 128. Wish I had a parking brake setup that worked...may fix that someday.