1998 corvette PCM concerns

I am new to HPtuners. Currently I have a 98 corvette that I would like to make minor adjustments to the cooling fan set speeds and transmission shift points. My concern comes from reading a post about the PCM's of these vehicles becoming "bricked" and no longer operatable after adjusting parameters and writing the new file to the PCM. What can be done to eliminate, or at least minimize, the chances of this happening. I know PCM voltage is critical but what other factors or steps should I be aware of. Any feedback or personal experiences with this would be greatly appreciated.

I read that if you use a bench harness that it eliminates the issue for the most part. I hear that writing an OS from a different PCM will brick your current. Voltage drops and Communications losses are obvious reasons why a bench harness is a more stable way of doing it. Ive even read that at one point there was a bug and if you didnt upgrade to the newest updated VCM suite (circa2015) then you really werent protected from it. I havent had the pleasure of playing with a 97-98 PCM yet, so this isnt first hand experience, just what ive researched on the GOOGLER

Anyone with recent experience with this?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/11609933411...mis&media=COPY

You can always upgrade to a p01. Much more options for custom os and better tune ability.

That is what I would like to do, eventually. For now I just want to change a few parameters, but fear bricking the computer......

There's a risk of 'bricking' anything during reprogramming, whether it's a '98 PCM or an E38 or a guy in the dealership with all the factory tools reprogramming a passenger door module. Nature of the beast. There is no way for anyone using any tools to have zero risk of problems reflashing a module.

Yep, nature of the beast. I have a 99 and 00 with P01's and between the two, I've reflashed them several hundred times and never an issue with an MPVI2.

I have had to bench flash nearly every single 03 silverado ive tuned.

I guess I'm just looking for a little peace of mind. The silverado example is great information! I haven't heard this about the 98 corvette, but wondering if others have had common problems with it. Thanks everyone for the great info

Definitely build you a bench at least.

Great advice, thank you

https://www.customecm.com/tune-file-...arness-pinouts

https://www.ebay.com/itm/11619018159...mis&media=COPY

https://www.ebay.com/str/gelectronic...mis&media=COPY

The guy with the power supplies is awesome. Ive bought literally hundreds from that seller. Im biased to the netgear branded ones. If you are going to be playing with pcms it doesnt hurt to have extra connectors and some 12v supplies. I actually pulled a 5v ref from a p59 to test a throttle body under juice, fun projects.

Pulling the corvette pcm to do on the bench everytime seems like a pain, hopefully that's not the road I have to go down

I run a spare DLC basically just for tuning 03-06 trucks because they are terrible about flashing/reading

You could do the same.

I've never bricked a 98. Just a FYI. You could always try finding a spare first.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 04silverado6.0

I have had to bench flash nearly every single 03 silverado ive tuned.

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Get an MPVI 1. It will solve this issue

Quote:

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Originally Posted by STAGEUP

Get an MPVI 1. It will solve this issue

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i have one, all i ever had for the last 10 or so years.
still have to bench a few ECUs

Im using the 2+. Just fixed a p59 in a 03 2500 today that bricked from tis2000. Tried to ground the pin into recovery mode with no success. New pcm it was.

Bench flashing a C5 PCM every time you need to change something is not really a viable option considering where they are located. I've flashed the 97-98 Vette and 98 F-body PCMs (same PCM) hundreds of times over the past 20 years, many with the old HPT Serial cable and have never bricked one.

Right, what a pain..........I'll get an extra just in case. I knew there would be someone that had some experience with the early C5, thank you for a little reassurance!

Last time I saw any of those PCMs even available to purchase they were $500 and higher. (Ebay) They are becoming rare and people that have them know it. Be aware I use older HPT equipment and software, not what they are selling now that some people are having a lot of problems with on the older vehicles. So take my experiences with a grain of salt. It is pretty rare now days I'm even asked to program one of those.

I can get one for $300 but at that point I might as well upgrade to a 411, we'll see what happens����*♂️

You do know that requires re pinning almost all the wires in both connectors. And if the 0411 is not already programmed with a Vette file you will have to license that file that is in it plus the Vette file you will be writing to it so 4 credits total.

Yes, the repinning I can do. The lisencing of files I will have to figure out when I get there. I was assuming my current file could be written to a new pcm using 2 credits but I will do whatever needs to be done when/if the time comes.

You can't write a 98 PCM file to a 0411 PCM.

I have alot to learn. I'm sure I will have more questions when it comes time!

Wtf over half a year later and here you are still wringing your hands. Just write to your damn ecu. It'll be fine.

�� thank you, that's the encouragement I need!

I didn’t realize that it was OP that was asking about “current” information. It not like there will be a lot of change or anything new for these early ECMs. At least not in a few months.

I have a tendency to sit on the fence for awhile, a little too long if you ask the wifey! Was just looking to revive the conversation with anymore input, and that's excacly what I got, thank you everyone that gave information. That's what I'm liking about the forum, great interactions of sharing experience and knowledge. You might here from me in a few more months hahahaha

If you plan on doing lots of tuning or modifications definitely do the 0411 swap i linked. Proper startup tunes included.