Any suggested mods for a stock 85 gn?

[T-Bone 67]

Just acquired a 1985 buick grand national. after redoing the fuel system to make it run. I was wondering what mods are the cheapest to do. also what modifications are needed (I.E. fixing existing problems). Thanks for the help!

 

[charlief1]

There's a sticky in this section that has a bunch of mods for a HA car. Might want to read it as well as the basic HA info post.

 

[Wahoo]

There's a lot to do, I'm in the same boat, first thing is get a scan master, then a boost gauge, fuel pump hot wire kit and a more powerful fuel pump. Then you can convert the ECM, there's a ton to do!

 

[billy 420]

win aldl will work fine for you with an 85 ecm and is alot cheaper than a scanmaster ,(it also can be removed easily from the car) 56$ compared to ????with the addition of a boost guage you will have almost all the info needed to tune this car

 

[billy 420]

if it has flowmaster muffler or anything else with baffles get that crap off of your car, you need a flow through design , this may include replacing your cat(if it has one )with a straight thru pipe to avoid more obstructions in the ezhaust path

 

[billy 420]

If its anything like the 84 ive been working on you will find it helpful to keep a written record of everything you do to the vehicle , it only takes a few minutes and helps alot if trouble arises after tuning .Without this its easy to forget whats been done , when it was done and by whom.

 

[Wahoo]

win aldl will work fine for you with an 85 ecm and is alot cheaper than a scanmaster ,(it also can be removed easily from the car) 56$ compared to ????with the addition of a boost guage you will have almost all the info needed to tune this car

Wish I heard of this before I spent a few hundred on parts, whats so special about this program? You can tune with it too?

 

[T-Bone 67]

There's a sticky in this section that has a bunch of mods for a HA car. Might want to read it as well as the basic HA info post.

I have no idea what a sticky section is. I'm new to forums of all kinds. Also if you could send me a ling to both things mentioned it would be greatly appreciated. thanks alot for the help!

 

[charlief1]

I have no idea what a sticky section is. I'm new to forums of all kinds. Also if you could send me a ling to both things mentioned it would be greatly appreciated. thanks alot for the help!

Stickys are at the top of each section so you can find them easily. When you click on each section you will see the beginning highlighted and above that you'll see the "stickys".

 

[T-Bone 67]

win aldl will work fine for you with an 85 ecm and is alot cheaper than a scanmaster ,(it also can be removed easily from the car) 56$ compared to ????with the addition of a boost guage you will have almost all the info needed to tune this car

how does it work? is it hard to use? how much power can you gain from using it? also my car is currently straight piped. the previous owner cut the old exhaust system out to install a new one and never did. so i have a clean slate to work with. I keep insanely good records of everything that is done to any of my vehicles. from when i installed the new air filter to where i filled up my tank and how much it took.

 

[billy 420]

Wish I heard of this before I spent a few hundred on parts, whats so special about this program? You can tune with it too?

nothing special about it other than it works on the 84-85s , if you get one be sure to ask me for assistance setting it up to read your car , others will not be so helpful

 

[billy 420]

yes i use it to tune a bone stock 84 t type and it works very well

 

[billy 420]

you download the latest version of winaldl to your laptop and install it ,then you open the configuration screen and match your ecm to its list of ecms, change your baud rate to 4800 ,and your com port to 3 i believe . Once configured you can connect the usb to your laptop and the aldl to your car . this program gives you all your values that your sensors are reading , it gives you short and long term fuel trims , knock counts ,everything but boost is listed .
It is a bit of a challange to get configured but it works awesome for me ,i had a backfiring ,lean running ,almost overheating t-type that wasnt reading anything correctly when i started using this program a few months back . the car now runs and drives perfectly (keep in mind i work about once a week at it , not everyday ). you may want to check out (win aldl screen shots ) on your browser it will show you every screen in this program . this is a diagnostic program and although after tuning your car to the proper settings it will run more efficiently and be easier on gas than a non tuned model , it does not add power to your car , it simply gets the most power out of what you have and directs you to problems that might be occuring under your hood

 

[Wahoo]

What can you tune with it? Hows the tuning work?

 

[turbonut85]

Win aldl does work. The only reason people say to get the scanmaster is because the sm is a stand alone system that is permanently installed in the car and does not require a laptop to be connected in order to use it. And the sm is a heads up display of o2 readings and KNR, and all the other readings as well, that's always in front of you. Plus the sm has a faster update rate than win aldl I believe. The best overall tuning setup is to run the powerlogger with the scanmaster connected directly to it. It displays much more detailed info, and it records at a rate of 17 frames per second....so you can go back and review all the different parameters of the car in any given frame, at any time during the recorded run. With the sm connected directly to the pl, it updates much faster than being a stand alone.

Having a heads up display while your driving without having to take your eyes off the road is safer and alot easier IMHO. I agree, both the powerlogger and the scanmaster are expensive....but a total of $500 for both systems will save a ton of headaches and frustration in trying to nail down driveability issues. Just my .02

 

[IhaveAcarSickness]

hey you guys forgot 1 thing,make sure he buys a extra walletjust for the car

 

[billy 420]

the kit i bought off ebay works on obd1 gm cars ,youll have to check it out yourself to see what vehicles are covered by it . It works and your car doesnt resemble a taxi inside when your done using it .

 

[billy 420]

the laptop will display engine parameters while driving or sitting still with win aldl , it updates fairly quickly .You then use these readings to assist in the tune . first you need to bump in a few sensors to set readings , then you test . if the engines is rich or lean you still need to find the cause yourself ,although this program will point you in the right direction and confirm if you find the problem . you will still need to read alot

 

[billy 420]

I believe its also available with a bluetooth reciever for the car so you can use your cellphone as the screen also if trouble arises on the road

 

[turbonut85]

The main difference between win aldl and the powerlogger is the update speed (pl is at least 5x faster) and you have the ability to record, save, share, and review files from the comfort of your easy chair. That makes it possible to compare back to back runs and see the difference your changes made while tuning. Not trying to be an ass here, but comparing win aldl to powerlogger is like comparing a brick phone to an iPhone....both get the job done, but the latter is much more user friendly...