Reliable Tuning Software info request

I'm looking for any feedback on EFI Live or any other reliable Gen 3 GM tuning software on the market.

I have a 2003 Cadilliac Escalade 11:1 LQ9 Ported Heads, Cams, Injectors, Headers blah blah blah dead in my driveway for the third time this year. I keep getting a "controller unlocker timed out" error. It appears to be a problem since atleast 2016 although it has only been a thorn in my side since fall of 2019.

MPVI2 Latest software, freshly synced, tried two USB Cables.
Disconnected Battery. Yup until I was afraid of wearing out the threads.
Pulled fuses. Yes all of the recommended ones to the point I barely need to read the fuse box cover for location.(And the one in the side of the dash).
High Speed/Low speed. pssshh doesn't matter Controller Unlocker Timed Out is the end result.
Help Desk Tickets. Yes quantity of two. I'd rather off this thing then do a third and get good tuning software that won't leave me stranded.
The only thing that seems to work is letting the battery die until the point I have to reprogram my key fobs.Then it will finally write.

I'm not concerned with the cost of new reliable software that flat out works. I'm looking for anyone that has a better experience with other software.

My original thought process was, getting HP Tuners was cheaper then hitting a tuner repeatedly through the phases of the build would be cheaper then the professional tuner costs. I didn't expect to be dead in the water 3 times on my daily driver due to software issues. Although It has probably taken about ~20-30 tunes thus far.

Does EFI Live or any other Tuning Software have these issues?

Does it have a factory radio and alarm system too?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 5FDP

Does it have a factory radio and alarm system too?

---

It has an aftermarket radio. I pulled the radio and amp fuse.

It does have a factory alarm. Not sure which fuse that runs on.

Try using a bench harness to rule out a wiring issue.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bill@HPTuners

Try using a bench harness to rule out a wiring issue.

---

I just ordered a Gen 3 Bench Harness from Painless. I'll give feedback either way if it works or not.

I have both EFI & HPT, 95% of my tuning is done with efi as i had that first & am thus more familiar with it's capabilities. Lord knows the scanner to editor integration is still years ahead of hpt, So im not sure why HPT haven't done it yet.

Downside to EFIlive is the user base is much smaller & so forum activity to bounce idea's/troubleshoot is harder, so it's probably more tuner/workshop orientated. EOD they are both a tool so what you do in 1, you can do in the other.

Can't say I've ever had any issues with software/hardware from either but I'm still using the MPVI 1 cable since i stick predominantly with GM & some Aussie ford crap.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bill@HPTuners

Try using a bench harness to rule out a wiring issue.

---

Any wiring diagrams for that ECU? I am curious, because I built a VERY nice multi-purpose bench harness, and cannot find SOLID info on which pins to apply my grounds, 12v, 12v Switched, etc to on my e78. I have a short stack of them, they all work, and I cannot get a SINGLE one to actually work on the bench. Buying a harness cannot be the issue, because it's just wiring. I have a bench power supply (a damned good one) and have checked the wiring ad nauseaum. I know there is something floating around on efilive's forum, and I tried it, and it will flat out not read. When benching, is it reading from the CAN bus? Or is there some other method (Pin 1 for gmlan? That seems odd of so). I have been hitting my head against the wall for a while because there is nothing out there on das web to tell us how to actually bench a newer ecu

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RoninDusette

Any wiring diagrams for that ECU? I am curious, because I built a VERY nice multi-purpose bench harness, and cannot find SOLID info on which pins to apply my grounds, 12v, 12v Switched, etc to on my e78. I have a short stack of them, they all work, and I cannot get a SINGLE one to actually work on the bench. Buying a harness cannot be the issue, because it's just wiring. I have a bench power supply (a damned good one) and have checked the wiring ad nauseaum. I know there is something floating around on efilive's forum, and I tried it, and it will flat out not read. When benching, is it reading from the CAN bus? Or is there some other method (Pin 1 for gmlan? That seems odd of so). I have been hitting my head against the wall for a while because there is nothing out there on das web to tell us how to actually bench a newer ecu

---

My ECU is a P59. It took the calibration after the second time my battery completely died. I have a hunch there is a capacitor hidden in the system somewhere that is keeping it from resetting with the ground disconnected. It failed twice in high speed and took the calibration in low speed two days ago.

Today's update. My standalone harness came in the mail, so I felt brave and enriched the AFR at bit with a new tune. I pulled no fuses, it failed at high speed but wrote at low speed.

On my next Controller Unlocker Timed Out error, I'll pull the ECU and use my new Painless standalone harness and report back if it works or not.

Pull the radio and unplug the chime adapter you are probably using from the factory dash harness. I would bet that is your problem. Some chime adapters are great and cause no interference issues and some are complete shit.

I'll look into the door chime adapter. I was under the impression it ran through the BCM, but I could be wrong. I tried to load a calibration today to record/adjust the VE and I got the Controller Unlocker Timed Out again. It connected to log data prior to failing.

I pulled the ECU out of the vehicle and the Painless Wiring bench harness part number 60550 doesn't fit the ECU. The P59 ECU uses blue/green connectors an the Painless harness for Gen 3 ECU's is Blue/Red. The red side doesn't fit into the P59 ECU. It appears the pin locator gates are in the wrong location.

So my next steps are to call painless on Monday, and wait for my battery to die then charge it and then reflash it.

Bench harness only requires the blue connector for both P1 and P59 PCMs. There is no need for either red or green connector for reading or flashing. Power, ground and data are all on the blue connector. Aftermarket remote starts that tap into the purple wire on the ALDl will interfere with communication also. A/M chime adapters are the biggest issue on 03-07 classics.