So glad I finally did it
Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2019 2:42 pm
8 years ago I pulled the old 3F carby engine out of my 80 series Landcruiser & bolted in a 5L from a VT Clubsport.
I did not have access to the original PCM or loom.
Instead I used an 808 & VN loom & the matching intake manifold & dizzy.
It drove ok, but was not great.
At the time I found this site, but was convinced by other sources that it was best to go with a Haltech Interceptor to achieve the changes I wanted.
I have been running the Interceptor since & although the engine performance has been better, I have not been 100% happy.
In 2012 I injured myself at work. It took me 3 years to learn to walk properly again. As a result, I did not do any work with the Landcruiser in that time.
In 2016 I forced workcover to allow me to return to work, however I have had to go into a totally different field. This demanded a lot of my focus & again the Landcruiser got no attention, apart from oil & filter changes for almost 2 years.
November 2017 I decided I was ready to face the challenge of a long drive to visit my parents on the West Coast of South Australia. I say challenge as I struggle to sit comfortably for any more than 1/2 hour at a time since my accident. The drive to my parents is 8 hours.
This meant I needed to bring the maintenance on the Landcruiser up to date & look at improving the tune.
Long story short the trip went ok, however I still was not happy with the tune & whilst at my parents I revisited this site whilst looking for options.
At this stage I contacted a couple of people on this site who I found to be very helpful.
This lead me to looking into other options & I got everything prepared to set the car up with VT wiring, PCM, etc.
However, before I could do this, things happened that prevented me from converting to the VT set up.
Anyway, January this year I decided it was time to do something more with the tune & decided to contact Antus for an NVRAM, & USB Comms board to suit the 808.
Over the last month I managed to find some time to modify the 808 & fit the comms board.
This morning I have been able to fit it all & have started making some adjustments. I am extremely happy to be able to make changes to settings that I have wanted to change for the last 8 years.
I still have a long way to go, but am thrilled that the small changes I have made to date have made a notable improvement already.
I have found the process to be much easier than I recall thinking it would be when I first visited this site looking for options. No doubt this is due to the effort you have all put in to this site & the development of software & tools by those involved in this area.
I have learnt much from this site & I am grateful to everyone involved for their contributions & approach towards sharing their knowledge. I thank you all.
If anyone is looking at being able to tune their engine themselves, but are unsure of using the Delco unit due to input from others who suggest it is not possible or that going with an aftermarket system is better, or are unsure about how to go about it, I encourage you to give it a go.
I wish I had done so much sooner, as not only would I have been happier with the performance of the 5L sooner, but my back pocket would have been much better off also.
I did not have access to the original PCM or loom.
Instead I used an 808 & VN loom & the matching intake manifold & dizzy.
It drove ok, but was not great.
At the time I found this site, but was convinced by other sources that it was best to go with a Haltech Interceptor to achieve the changes I wanted.
I have been running the Interceptor since & although the engine performance has been better, I have not been 100% happy.
In 2012 I injured myself at work. It took me 3 years to learn to walk properly again. As a result, I did not do any work with the Landcruiser in that time.
In 2016 I forced workcover to allow me to return to work, however I have had to go into a totally different field. This demanded a lot of my focus & again the Landcruiser got no attention, apart from oil & filter changes for almost 2 years.
November 2017 I decided I was ready to face the challenge of a long drive to visit my parents on the West Coast of South Australia. I say challenge as I struggle to sit comfortably for any more than 1/2 hour at a time since my accident. The drive to my parents is 8 hours.
This meant I needed to bring the maintenance on the Landcruiser up to date & look at improving the tune.
Long story short the trip went ok, however I still was not happy with the tune & whilst at my parents I revisited this site whilst looking for options.
At this stage I contacted a couple of people on this site who I found to be very helpful.
This lead me to looking into other options & I got everything prepared to set the car up with VT wiring, PCM, etc.
However, before I could do this, things happened that prevented me from converting to the VT set up.
Anyway, January this year I decided it was time to do something more with the tune & decided to contact Antus for an NVRAM, & USB Comms board to suit the 808.
Over the last month I managed to find some time to modify the 808 & fit the comms board.
This morning I have been able to fit it all & have started making some adjustments. I am extremely happy to be able to make changes to settings that I have wanted to change for the last 8 years.
I still have a long way to go, but am thrilled that the small changes I have made to date have made a notable improvement already.
I have found the process to be much easier than I recall thinking it would be when I first visited this site looking for options. No doubt this is due to the effort you have all put in to this site & the development of software & tools by those involved in this area.
I have learnt much from this site & I am grateful to everyone involved for their contributions & approach towards sharing their knowledge. I thank you all.
If anyone is looking at being able to tune their engine themselves, but are unsure of using the Delco unit due to input from others who suggest it is not possible or that going with an aftermarket system is better, or are unsure about how to go about it, I encourage you to give it a go.
I wish I had done so much sooner, as not only would I have been happier with the performance of the 5L sooner, but my back pocket would have been much better off also.
