HP Tuner - How do I get a engine tune etc?

[Turbo Cow]

If it were me, I'd return it to the FRP tune. Then use PCMTec to read it and you can start making changes at will. Skip-shift is very easy to get rid of. If you want to discuss what does what, post your questions up here and we can discuss.

I tried to understand PCMTEC but there's so little info and the forums didn't seem too active. Plus isn't it expensive? Its like over 900 bucks right?

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[engineermike]

I tried to understand PCMTEC but there's so little info and the forums didn't seem too active. Plus isn't it expensive? Its like over 900 bucks right?

Pcmtec is cheaper, around $150 for the software and another $150 for the dongle. It works similar to hptuners. It reads and writes the calibration and you can make changes. There are pros and cons to both. I have both but use Pcmtec 95% of the time.

 

[Turbo Cow]

Pcmtec is cheaper, around $150 for the software and another $150 for the dongle. It works similar to hptuners. It reads and writes the calibration and you can make changes. There are pros and cons to both. I have both but use Pcmtec 95% of the time.

Which one do you think is more user friendly?
Which one has more support?
It took me forever to learn the Holley EFI tuning software for my blown 90 mustang. I really want something simple. I'm just wanting to adjust transmission shift points. Maybe engine idle, some timing, stuff like that. Learning a new software that does more than what I need is just tiring at this point. I really don't know what to choose.

 

[Cobra Jet]

You can also use Forscan and tap the shift strategies to improve the feel…. If you haven’t, hit this main thread I posted a while back, many other 10R80 owners have helped to add to it with just 10R80 discussions.

in it, if you go to this link (Post 1, Page 1) and go to Fact #3, the linked threads are there for the Forscan info to tap the valve body shift strategies.
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...tions-to-harsh-or-no-shift-conditions.135463/

The thread eventually ballooned with a ton of 10R80 info supplied by many users of this forum, so there may be other interesting or good info in it too if you have time to go through the pages of responses.

You can also search on this site by using “Forscan” and “10R80” as the 2 main search criteria for a single search and you’ll get a lot of thread results where others have DIY’ed the 10R80 shift points using that software modifier.

Hope that is helpful.

 

[Turbo Cow]

You can also use Forscan and tap the shift strategies to improve the feel…. If you haven’t, hit this main thread I posted a while back, many other 10R80 owners have helped to add to it with just 10R80 discussions.

in it, if you go to this link (Post 1, Page 1) and go to Fact #3, the linked threads are there for the Forscan info to tap the valve body shift strategies.
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...tions-to-harsh-or-no-shift-conditions.135463/

The thread eventually ballooned with a ton of 10R80 info supplied by many users of this forum, so there may be other interesting or good info in it too if you have time to go through the pages of responses.

You can also search on this site by using “Forscan” and “10R80” as the 2 main search criteria for a single search and you’ll get a lot of thread results where others have DIY’ed the 10R80 shift points using that software modifier.

Hope that is helpful.

I wish I could use forscan but I searched for an hour on that thread and found nothing about modifying the 2nd gear skip. I searched the forum and found nothing pointing to instructions.

 

[Turbo Cow]

Question: With HP Tuner, can I set the different drive modes to have different tunes? Say Normal mode is 'normal' , sport mode shifts harder, maybe different idle rpm, and track mode has burble tune?

 

[engineermike]

Pedal torque response, shift firmness, shift rpm, and active exhaust position can all be changed as a function of drive mode, but that’s about it. Burble, using the stock logic, can only be activated in sport mode. There are workarounds here but they involve hacking up stuff.

 

[Shepard]

IMHO, HP Tuners is simpler and you'll have an easier time finding people's past experiences in tuning on the forums. They have a "basic" mode that shows the most commonly used parameters. It's more than enough for what you're looking for. It's also free to download and play with. For someone with prior tuning experience it should be easy. I'd second starting out with the FP Tune and just writing out the skip shift. There's a lot of forum help for it and the process is pretty trivial in hpt.

That said, PCMTec has a lot more features, offline flashing, and lower overall cost. There's no shortage of information and guides. There is a website where you can plug in hpt parameters and find the pcmtec equivalent which made it more enticing for me since I could use any guides and knowledge from hpt users in pcmtec.

> Old discussion - https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/self-tuning-hpt-or-pcmtec.221739/

> Different drive modes can be set to have different shift maps completely. I know that engineermike was able to add burbles in sport mode https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/mode-selection-and-tuning.212183/

> In sport mode, skip shift is generally disabled if you leave the stock impossible values in the skip shift columns. 1->3 can be fully disabled by swapping the "10,000" values in 1->2 to the 2->3 columns and moving the 1->3 values back over. You can do the same for the other modes (like drive "base"). This is a screenshot of hpt but you can convert values over to pcmtec if you decide to go with it and don't know where to look. https://hpttotec.com/

*This is someone else's file and I don't think skip shift is ever enabled on sport mode stock but I may be wrong? Hopefully it's still helpful.

 

[Pistol_91]

Why don't you just contact Lund and see if they will accept your request? It sounds like you're about to go down a rabbit hole for something very simply done. If you aren't interested in tuning your car further than just a skip shift then I'd ask the tuner to change it.

 

[Turbo Cow]

So if I wanted to go with PCMTEC, is this all I need to purchase?

 

[Shepard]

There are only a few cables that they recommend. I've heard of some people trying others out with mixed success so I would choose one of these:

We have tested, support, and recommend the following J2534 Cables:

• OBDX Pro FT (64-bit Editor Support)
• Tactrix OpenPort (32-bit Only)
• Drewtech Mongoose
  • Mongoose-Plus (Wired) - Available
  • JLR and Ford - No Longer Produced
• Scanmatik 3

 

[Rolls]

So if I wanted to go with PCMTEC, is this all I need to purchase?

You need an OBDX FT, the cable you linked is not a J2534 supported cable. There are many other supported cables however the OBDX is the cheapest and most widely used with our software. It also allows full 64 bit use of our software.

https://support.pcmtec.com/kb/article/3-pcmtec-flashing-hardware-requirements/

 

[Rolls]

Technically any J2534 cable should work however most are professional scantools and thousands of dollars.

The Scanmatik, Peak, CarDaq, Ford VCM3 etc would be my picks but are $2k+ and the OBDX FT works just as well at a fraction of the price.

 

[Turbo Cow]

I'm still confused as to what software I need to purchase for PCMTEC. Is it the thousand dollar version if I want to tune my transmission also?

 

[engineermike]

I'm still confused as to what software I need to purchase for PCMTEC. Is it the thousand dollar version if I want to tune my transmission also?

No, the typical user only needs the ~$200 version to access engine and transmission. The transmission isn’t separate.

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