Where is the best place to start ??

Holden/Delco Tuning. ALDL, OBD 1.5. Circa 1989 to 2004.
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Newtothisgame
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cars: VZ Commodore 3.6lt Allotec

Where is the best place to start ??

Post by Newtothisgame »

Hi guys, I am just starting to learn about tuning side of the industry (I a mechanic by trade) really
Interested to learn how ECU's etc work. I Have a VZ Commodore with the 3.6lt Alloytec Auto, & just wanted some advice on the best place to start ??
Thanks in advance, I haven't been a member for long but think it's awesome ur all willing to share ur knowledge & I look forward to learning ALOT
MAGP
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Re: Where is the best place to start ??

Post by MAGP »

Up the top right hand side of the page is a green square with FAQ in it. Click on it and read the information and follow the links.

Down the bottom of the forum there is a For Sale section which will show you the types of things you need to purchase to tune various Holden vehicles.

There are also 2 tuning guides written by Holden202T, with some assistance from a few others.

Apart from that read read and read all the topics that pique your interest and see what suggestions people make to those who are asking for assistance. If you want to go into other vehicles there are many different options (like HP Tuners, EFILive, SCT for OBD2 vehicles) so it may be an idea to tell us what your intentions are and people can offer advise from there.
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antus
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Re: Where is the best place to start ??

Post by antus »

Also note that the vz alloytec isnt a great place to start. Its not a delco/delphi like the earlier models (its a bosch) and not much information about it is available. You can tune it with commercial software but note that although most the tunerpro stuff in the FAQ will follow similar concepts the tools and details will be different.
Have you read the FAQ? For lots of information and links to significant threads see here: http://pcmhacking.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1396
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ar5boosted
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Commodore VZ SV6

Re: Where is the best place to start ??

Post by ar5boosted »

I have a VZ SV6.

Does this have a Bosch ECU also ?

Are there tuned files available for this one by any chance ? for sale at reasonable price ?
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antus
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Re: Where is the best place to start ??

Post by antus »

Yes, its the Bosch ECU. Tuned for what? Cam? Boost? Stroked?
Have you read the FAQ? For lots of information and links to significant threads see here: http://pcmhacking.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1396
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ar5boosted
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Commodore VZ SV6

Re: Where is the best place to start ??

Post by ar5boosted »

antus wrote:Yes, its the Bosch ECU. Tuned for what? Cam? Boost? Stroked?
It's a new car for me.

Tuned for economy and perhaps a bit more power so a bit leaner than factory map.

I'm a Commodore EFI noob, so not sure what's available. I am adding a turbo, so any knowledge in that direction would be helpful. But I just noticed I have a MAF sensor and not a MAP sensor. So that will be interesting.

I've uploaded tunes to other cars via the OBD port. There seems to be tunes for all other Holdens here except the VZ SV6 that I have. So .. em..
pman92
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Re: Where is the best place to start ??

Post by pman92 »

Best advice I can give is jump on eBay and buy a copy of "Designing and tuning high performance fuel injection systems" by Greg Banish.
Read it a couple of times. It explains the theory's and idea behind EFI, it is not vehicle specific so the same ideas apply to many vehicles.

Once you have done that jump on the FAQ up the top and start reading around here if your interested in the Delco stuff (this won't suit your VZ though).

When I first started reading around here it was a steep learning curve, and found the book by Greg Banish made everything fit together and make sense
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antus
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Re: Where is the best place to start ??

Post by antus »

Tuning for 'economy' and 'performance' usually isnt a big difference and you can have both. Power is usually to do with enrichment when the conditions are met and the pedal is far enough down, otherwise its always trying to save fuel. You wouldnt want to dial back the enrichment, its good to have power when you need it, its' better to just drive softer (if you can) hehe.

MAFs can handle boost, but Im not sure what options are available for the 3.6 alloytech. I think HPTuners might support the computer but I havnt really looked in to it much and am not sure if you would need one of their custom operating systems at more cost again.

If you were on a slightly earlier model with the delco computer you'd be able to use the1's enhanced code to do what you need.
Have you read the FAQ? For lots of information and links to significant threads see here: http://pcmhacking.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1396
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ar5boosted
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Commodore VZ SV6

Re: Where is the best place to start ??

Post by ar5boosted »

Thanks for that.

It's a bit of a setback for me that this stupid VZ doesn't have the correct* (delco) ecu then :? It's a big surprise that GM swapped ECU brands but I guess it's pretty normal. On my other car, a Renault, there were two or three ECM makers.

There's a lot of information on this forum and the detail of some of the projects is surprising in a good way.

I'm actually an Electronics/Hardware/software hacker myself so I have a reasonable grasp on making custom hardware and software.

I was just hoping there would be some 'open-source' maps like there are for Subaru for this car but obviously not. Oh well.
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