how to tune?
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The word tune does get thrown around here in a pretty generic way. I'm in a similar boat as you.
Aside from boost my understanding is that all there is to tune is mixture and spark curve.
Spark curve is in the chip and mixture is fuel pressure, so I wouls guess that by reading the scanmaster after a run you can learn where the car was at and tweak accordingly.
I'd sure like a veteran GN/tuner owner to set me straight also.
Aside from boost my understanding is that all there is to tune is mixture and spark curve.
Spark curve is in the chip and mixture is fuel pressure, so I wouls guess that by reading the scanmaster after a run you can learn where the car was at and tweak accordingly.
I'd sure like a veteran GN/tuner owner to set me straight also.
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what you are trying to do is run as fast as posible without knock retard or leaning out or being too rich .
sm will provide you with kr and o2
most will say there is no magic 02 number but i shoot for 760-780 at the top and no KR
start low and add boost if you encounter knock back off boost or try to add fuel or alky
if your rich at top try some more boost
use your mph at the trap to determine if your moving in the right direction , if it goes up and no kr and 02 still good try a little more timing , repeat over and over .
a logging tool like directscan or turbolink helps in this process because you can watch your progress and tune it even further and have some data to have your next chip burned .
widebands and egt gauges can further help tune as the stock 02 sensor isnt as reliable reading at the top end ,
sm will provide you with kr and o2
most will say there is no magic 02 number but i shoot for 760-780 at the top and no KR
start low and add boost if you encounter knock back off boost or try to add fuel or alky
if your rich at top try some more boost
use your mph at the trap to determine if your moving in the right direction , if it goes up and no kr and 02 still good try a little more timing , repeat over and over .
a logging tool like directscan or turbolink helps in this process because you can watch your progress and tune it even further and have some data to have your next chip burned .
widebands and egt gauges can further help tune as the stock 02 sensor isnt as reliable reading at the top end ,
I do not have any experience with the new tuning tools, such as this ME chip and all. However, I'll chime in since most the guru's are not responding, and I agree that the word tunning gets used like the most popular girl's...phone # in school. In the old days, The numbers of choice were 760-790 O2 counts read by a Scanmaster or 1550-1600 degrees fahrenheit measured by an Exhaust Gas Temperature Thermocouple. The best method that I came up with is turn up the fuel pressure to a moderatly high amount. Get out on a long stretch of highway, place the car in third gear, for this is the gear that you will be in for the longest time at the track and it is this gear that the motor will be under full load the longest. Floor it and run the RPM' s up as much as your bravery will allow. Record the higest O2 count and EGT reading. Hopefully this will indicate a rich condition exist. Then start uping the boost in increments and repeat the third gear blast, until the desired transducer levels are obtained. Add these recordings to what you know about the chip parameters ie timing, injector pulses, etc and make the appropiate changes and repeat the process until you obtain the desired HP levels measured by the seat of pants. Then go to track and lay down some numbers to quanitify the HP figures. Of course make sure that you have the best fuel in the car for the boost levels that you are going for. It is also a good idea to beable to see the fuel pressure during the third gear blast. I am sure those days are over, NOW to all the modern day GURU's how do you tune if you dare?
I am not a guru, but I will tell you how I tune. I tune at the track using a Scanmaster as my only tuning/monitoring tool. My goal is to run as fast as possible while not hurting the motor. I usually start off at a moderate amount of booost for the gas I am running say 22# with race gas and a race chip with 26* timing. I also start out at a realatively high fuel pressure of 45# static. When I make a pass I am looking for KR of 1 or less (my car runs fastest with 0.7 KR at 85 mph) and O2s on the big end of 770 - 780ish. (That is what my car likes - yours may be different) If after that pass I have no KR and high O2's I will add 1# of boost and make another pass and keep repeating. If I get KR over 2 I let off the gas and either lower boost or raise the fuel pressure and try again. If I hit my target O2 at say 24# of boost with 0 KR, I will add 1# of boost and 1# of fuel. If I hit max boost (26# in my car) and my O2s are still high, I will take a pound of fuel out. I keep a record of all my runs so my next time at the track I can start closer to my ideal tune from last time - maybe with 1# less boost and 1# more fuel to be safe in case the atmospheric conditions have changed. I have gained 5 mph by adjusting only FP when my car was running rich - O2s of 850 or so.
That is how I tune. I know that only having a SM and using a narrow band O2 is not the most affective way, but it's worked OK for me with over 100 passes and no engine failures.
I tune for the street in a similar mannor but usualy just up to 80 mph or so since I rarely, if ever, exceed that speed on the highways.
That is how I tune. I know that only having a SM and using a narrow band O2 is not the most affective way, but it's worked OK for me with over 100 passes and no engine failures.
I tune for the street in a similar mannor but usualy just up to 80 mph or so since I rarely, if ever, exceed that speed on the highways.
The term *Tuning* varies by user.
IMO, tuning is adjusting all aspects of car to get the best performance possible. You can tune the car's, suspension, brakes, and engine. ie tune the suspension for drag racing, and launching well, vs a road racer, vs a cruiser.
As far as engine tuning, you have fuel, spark, IAC, EGR (if used), Deccleration Fuel Cut Off, Power Enrichment, and the TCC stuff.
Tuning a car, correctly, IMO, means being able to optimise all aspects of all the calibration data to, get the max performance, and enjoyment from a car.
You can use chips, you can tuning systems (Translator+, ME), edit you own chips, or write your own code. The *chip* contains about a 1/3 of the programming that the car actually uses. There is even a way to remove, the *on board code*, and then write you own complete for the engine to run on. Once you get to writting your own code, then you can get the engine *tuned* exactly the way you want.
As for tuning tools, a good data logger, WB, and EGT just make life easier, and tuning faster and more accurate.
Generally, the street guys are limited by octane so you want to just keep the motor out of detaonation/ preignition, and get all the power you can. There's a thread labed Abnormal Combustion that discribes what detonation and preignition really mean, and how they tear up an engine.
IMO, tuning is adjusting all aspects of car to get the best performance possible. You can tune the car's, suspension, brakes, and engine. ie tune the suspension for drag racing, and launching well, vs a road racer, vs a cruiser.
As far as engine tuning, you have fuel, spark, IAC, EGR (if used), Deccleration Fuel Cut Off, Power Enrichment, and the TCC stuff.
Tuning a car, correctly, IMO, means being able to optimise all aspects of all the calibration data to, get the max performance, and enjoyment from a car.
You can use chips, you can tuning systems (Translator+, ME), edit you own chips, or write your own code. The *chip* contains about a 1/3 of the programming that the car actually uses. There is even a way to remove, the *on board code*, and then write you own complete for the engine to run on. Once you get to writting your own code, then you can get the engine *tuned* exactly the way you want.
As for tuning tools, a good data logger, WB, and EGT just make life easier, and tuning faster and more accurate.
Generally, the street guys are limited by octane so you want to just keep the motor out of detaonation/ preignition, and get all the power you can. There's a thread labed Abnormal Combustion that discribes what detonation and preignition really mean, and how they tear up an engine.
I tune about the same as above, except i have a few more options. I can add extra fuel with my 7th injector (actually a fogger like no2, uses jets). I can also add extra fuel/octane with my Alky kit. Keep in mind that your stock Mass Air flow meter will stop reading air around 20PSI, or somewhere near there. So if you are running over that, your chip needs to dump in some extra fuel when the MAF gets up to Max. reading. Red Armstrong (Quad Air) does a good job at describing this, and working with you and your combo untill you are happy. I use his chips, and i told him I wanted to run XX boost with XX parts. He hooked me up. It was close. If I wanted to run more than XX boost, then I just add a little more fuel. Start off on the rich/low boost setting, and go up slowly. Keep raising boost, looking at knock, A/F ratio (o2 readings), and an EGT if you have one.
If i run a chip for around 30PSI, and I only want to run 21PSI on the street, It will be pig rich, you need to swap chips from track to street.
If i run a chip for around 30PSI, and I only want to run 21PSI on the street, It will be pig rich, you need to swap chips from track to street.
psycho6cyl
Ponies Are For Lil Girls
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Most importantly make sure your car has the usual done. Ie spring cleaning from.gnttype.org and read over http://www.vortexbuicks-etc.com/ now.make sure fuel.pump.is.good etc. Valve springs and timing chain. It sounds crazy but you are giving.yourself a decent foundation. Also.common.if running stock.chip.is to ditch it and get a newer chip. This may have been beaten to.death already but I think.its important. And also.a.scan.tool. once tuning make sure you write down.what u did.and how car reacted and do things one.at a time
I tune at the track. I get a base tune on the highway. Now I dont go out on the highway and try to hurt myself or anyone else. I roll into WOT for a few seconds and go home. I log the information with Powerlogger. I can sit in my chair at night and take a long look. Next I go to the track and make a hit. Log that run and go back to the trailer and look through the log and make adjustments. You can have a good tune with Scanmaster. Until I had logs to look at I just got close. You can never have too much information. I have made small adjustments all summer and the car keeps getting faster. I havent met the cars potential. I just bought FAST XFI for even more tuning ability. Some guys tune for no knock and can stop there. I tune to just go faster and make more power safely.
GNONYX
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X2 on this and also you might want to replace the cam sprocket gear since it's a nylon gear and 25 +years it's time to replace it with cast iron gear.
