MicroTuner and OBDII readers (Mike)
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From: Springdale, AR.
MicroTuner and OBDII readers (Mike)
Mike, Since I have had the Micro tuner program installed (use to have a single bank Superchip) the OBDII readers will not pull my VIN#. Is this a common problem and what other problems might I encounter.
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Joined: Mar 1998
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From: Virginia
Hi WF,
Briefly.............
1.) You do NOT need to pull up the VIN number to retrieve OBD-II DTC's, except with very low end and/or poorly designed products (Ford's WDS being a good example). Any diagnostic package that can't pull DTC's without pulling up the VIN is a poor product and should be replaced, very few are that limited.
2.) More importantly, you need to return the PCM to it's stock program before doing any diagnostics, that's very basic 101 stuff and should always be done. It doesn't matter if you use a Superchip module, a Micro Tuner or whatever, or whether it connects to J3 or uploads via the ALDL port, you need to return to the stock program prior to any diagnostic scanning.
It doesn't matter that you can in fact still retrieve any OBD-II DTC's with the Superchips tuning installed regardless of whether it's the chip or the Micro Tuner (and we do that all the time with Autotap, NGS, etc.), the bottom line is, return the PCM programming to stock *BEFORE* doing any diagnostics.
Give us a call to go over this if you like, we'll be happy to go into detail over the phone with you, & talk about what you're using, etc.
Briefly.............
1.) You do NOT need to pull up the VIN number to retrieve OBD-II DTC's, except with very low end and/or poorly designed products (Ford's WDS being a good example). Any diagnostic package that can't pull DTC's without pulling up the VIN is a poor product and should be replaced, very few are that limited.
2.) More importantly, you need to return the PCM to it's stock program before doing any diagnostics, that's very basic 101 stuff and should always be done. It doesn't matter if you use a Superchip module, a Micro Tuner or whatever, or whether it connects to J3 or uploads via the ALDL port, you need to return to the stock program prior to any diagnostic scanning.
It doesn't matter that you can in fact still retrieve any OBD-II DTC's with the Superchips tuning installed regardless of whether it's the chip or the Micro Tuner (and we do that all the time with Autotap, NGS, etc.), the bottom line is, return the PCM programming to stock *BEFORE* doing any diagnostics.
Give us a call to go over this if you like, we'll be happy to go into detail over the phone with you, & talk about what you're using, etc.
Last edited by Superchips_Distributor; Nov 20, 2002 at 07:51 PM.
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Joined: May 2001
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From: Springdale, AR.
Well Mike, I wanted to check to HO2's with the performance program installed. I know these are narrow bandwidth sensors but wanted some more info!
Last edited by wfstewart; Nov 21, 2002 at 09:59 AM.
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From: Virginia
Hi WF,
Ahh, I see, & please forgive me for not properly understanding you before. Like dummy in a rush, I just took it to mean you were trying to do diagnostics, not looking at real-time sensor data as you actually meant, thanks for straightening me out on that.
Sure, you can pull up the info on your O2's with the performance program installed, that shouldn't be a problem at all with almost any diagnostic setup other than Ford's WDS & a couple very low-end products that we see only rarely, in general.
You're absolutely right, the factory O2's are narrow-band (due to cost), Bosch supplies those units to Ford, and being narrow band units they aren't very accurate significantly beyond stoich (where you will be only during no load to light load conditions in closed loop), but you can indeed get things like O2 voltage, fuel trims, MAF data, etc. & much more.
In general, you can see what the various engine sensors are doing with the tuning installed, so you should be able to do what you want to do. What you can't see when you can't pull up the VIN are generally the extended manufacturer-specific data, which goes far beyond things like O2 sensor voltage, fuel trims, etc., so while I don't know what you are going to be using to pull that data, with most packages not being able to pull up the VIN shouldn't prevent you from seeing what you want to be able to see.
We do this all the time even with Autotap, and you can do that with the NGS Star Tester that Ford dealerships use (along with WDS & SBDS) as well, of course. Again, I don't know what you're using, but with Autotap for example, when you connect to the vehicle it first tries to pull up the VIN#, exactly as you mentioned. With the tuning installed, it cannot pull up the VIN#, but that's no problem because as soon as it determines that it cannot pull up the VIN, it then asks you if you want to connect *without* the VIN (which is what we do if a vehicle is not running on it's factory program), and that will allow you to see everything you've mentioned so far & much more, so hopefully you should be just fine!
If you connecto Ford's WDS to say, an F-150 5.4 with a performance chip installed, you usually get the WDS saying it's a 3.0 V-6 Ford Ranger and then it just locks up altogether, WDS has a number of problems & many Ford techs hate it, preferring instead the older SBDS system
If you would like to go over any of this in more detail, maybe discuss what you are using & the kinds of things you want to know, or do data logging, etc., please feel free to give us a shout if you feel that might help in any way.
Good luck & sorry I misunderstood your original post!
Ahh, I see, & please forgive me for not properly understanding you before. Like dummy in a rush, I just took it to mean you were trying to do diagnostics, not looking at real-time sensor data as you actually meant, thanks for straightening me out on that.
Sure, you can pull up the info on your O2's with the performance program installed, that shouldn't be a problem at all with almost any diagnostic setup other than Ford's WDS & a couple very low-end products that we see only rarely, in general.
You're absolutely right, the factory O2's are narrow-band (due to cost), Bosch supplies those units to Ford, and being narrow band units they aren't very accurate significantly beyond stoich (where you will be only during no load to light load conditions in closed loop), but you can indeed get things like O2 voltage, fuel trims, MAF data, etc. & much more.
In general, you can see what the various engine sensors are doing with the tuning installed, so you should be able to do what you want to do. What you can't see when you can't pull up the VIN are generally the extended manufacturer-specific data, which goes far beyond things like O2 sensor voltage, fuel trims, etc., so while I don't know what you are going to be using to pull that data, with most packages not being able to pull up the VIN shouldn't prevent you from seeing what you want to be able to see.
We do this all the time even with Autotap, and you can do that with the NGS Star Tester that Ford dealerships use (along with WDS & SBDS) as well, of course. Again, I don't know what you're using, but with Autotap for example, when you connect to the vehicle it first tries to pull up the VIN#, exactly as you mentioned. With the tuning installed, it cannot pull up the VIN#, but that's no problem because as soon as it determines that it cannot pull up the VIN, it then asks you if you want to connect *without* the VIN (which is what we do if a vehicle is not running on it's factory program), and that will allow you to see everything you've mentioned so far & much more, so hopefully you should be just fine!
If you connecto Ford's WDS to say, an F-150 5.4 with a performance chip installed, you usually get the WDS saying it's a 3.0 V-6 Ford Ranger and then it just locks up altogether, WDS has a number of problems & many Ford techs hate it, preferring instead the older SBDS system
If you would like to go over any of this in more detail, maybe discuss what you are using & the kinds of things you want to know, or do data logging, etc., please feel free to give us a shout if you feel that might help in any way.
Good luck & sorry I misunderstood your original post!
Last edited by Superchips_Distributor; Nov 22, 2002 at 05:08 PM.
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Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
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From: Virginia
Hi WF,
OK, so you're looking for the effect of the X-pipe on the A/F's, it sounds like. X-pipes can add as much as 15 hp in these trucks, with a sharp tune & open intake & exhaust, you will usually see at least 8-10 more HP rear wheel from the X-pipe alone. Of course, this depends on the X-pipe, as design effectiveness varies.
Good idea, the X-pipes can affect tuning in some of these vehicles, they don't always cause a need for tuning changes, but sometimes they can, and we can tweak the tuning for H-pipes & X-pipes & usually pick up a bit more power. If you have any "before" data to compare your present data to with the X-pipe, that would be ideal, of course.
Good luck with that, & we'd love to hear what you find!
OK, so you're looking for the effect of the X-pipe on the A/F's, it sounds like. X-pipes can add as much as 15 hp in these trucks, with a sharp tune & open intake & exhaust, you will usually see at least 8-10 more HP rear wheel from the X-pipe alone. Of course, this depends on the X-pipe, as design effectiveness varies.
Good idea, the X-pipes can affect tuning in some of these vehicles, they don't always cause a need for tuning changes, but sometimes they can, and we can tweak the tuning for H-pipes & X-pipes & usually pick up a bit more power. If you have any "before" data to compare your present data to with the X-pipe, that would be ideal, of course.
Good luck with that, & we'd love to hear what you find!