jmchevyman

[QUOTE=98sivlerbullet;4621022]I have heard u cant tune them as much as the new ls motors. I would do headers and a vette servo see how u like that then get a tune. buddy of mine had a old l31 put headers on it woke it right up[/QUOTE

i have pacesetter headers and plan on gettin the vette servo asap. i get that part from the chevy house right? C4 vette servo 1-2? is it hard to put in. i have very little experience with transmissions. i was hoping to do a transgo or b and m shift kit with the servo. thx for ur help!!

99TransAmLS16Spd

iTrader: (8)

It doesn't cost any extra to tune 98-00 black box PCMs if you have efilive. Cost the same as any other vehicle.

My butt dyno on my 98 felt like it picked up more when i tuned it vs my 06 LQ9. I was very happy with the results on both trucks, tuned by me with efilive.

With the mods you have (OP), you don't really need a dyno tune but it wouldn't hurt. Depends on what it costs in your area to dyno tune - If the cost difference is over $100 (and it probably is), the gains may not be worth it.

meangreenburban

I have a Wheatley tune on my truck with the L31 Vortec. Brings all the other mods together great IMO. I've heard good things about Black Bear too.

krambo

iTrader: (4)

Interesting info Hog. Using HP Tuners, I was easily able to tune a 98 Vortec in a Suburban at no extra cost. The file has alot less tables to work with however after a mild cam swap, I feel it picked up a little...not nearly as responsive as a newer LS / LQ motor to tuning though. I didn't need to shift it any higher than 5900 so next time I see the guy, I am going to see if I can get it to shift over the 6k limit.

hog

This is from the EFILive site. You have to have V2, you cant tune Vortec 98-2000 blackbox PCm's with V1. No 1996-97 support for the trucks, as well as the 1996-97 Lt1 F-bodies(Camaro/Firebird) and Y-bodies(Vette) or 1996 Impala SS Lt1 (iron head).

FlashScan V2 Stream: S-L31 - 1998-2000 Vortec (L31)
Price: US$999.00

I tune via Tunercat CATS, which isnt licensed to individual VIN's or PCM's, so unlimited tuning for the vehicle run like 96-97 trucks, or 98-00 GMT400 305/350 trucks, 96-97 LT1 etc etc. To get unlimited support with EFILive it does cost extra, I should have spelled that out. To tune an individual Vortec vehicle, it does cost the same as any other single vehicle you can tune with EFILive.($100 for the engine, then another $100 if it has a TCM).

One of the reason guys swap from the 96-97 and 1998-2000 blackbox PCm's to the 411 PCm and 01-02 express van calibration is to get the ability to rev over roughly 5900rpm. I know a 411 convert that revved to 6300rpm on his twin turbo Vortec 305.
Injector pulsewidth will zero out at a bit over 5900rpm on the blackbox V8 PCM's, no matter who or what does the tuning.

So far as dyno tuning, it all depends on the tuner. If they are just doing WOT blasts then there's not much to offer if the price is steep. If they are going to take a 1/2 a day or a day and run through the part throttle stuff, then yes. But thats going to be more than a few hundred bucks.

peace
Hog

hog

PCMforLess has a nice program that found an additional 20 hp over a Fastchip tune on the dyno.

The best tune, will come from a tuner that has access to your vehicles sensor data, and the result of any changes, be it 1/4 mile mph(for WOT tuning) or braked chassis dyno data for part throttle tuning, all topped off with a street drive to polish it all off.

I netted 3/4 of a second with LT headers, and a mild PCM tune that only leaned the PE mode multiplier slightly and disabled TM 100%.(those were the only 2 calibration changes that contributed to increased power production, or decreased the amount of power that was removed via TM and TM like tables)

peace
Hog