Remote tune or not??

[sse1990]

The truck is a 2017 GMC sierra with the 5.3L, L83 and a 6L80 trans. 80,000kms. Only has an Airaid MIT along with the muffler replaced. No other mods yet.

The reason I purchased HP tuners was because I wasn?t happy with the Trifecta tune in it and wanted to learn how to do it myself. The truck just had a new torque converter and trans oil pump installed, lasted a week and it?s back in the shop. It also has the GM lifter tick which should be getting fixed in the next month or so.

I?m using the bluecat software for my shift scheduling tables.

I?m mostly looking for better shifting, better throttle response (driver demand table), and better fuel economy. It?s a truck, not a race car so I don?t expect much for HP gains.

Having the lifter tick, would that be picked up as knock?

If I decide to go remote tune, those who have done it, who do you recommend? I know I?ll get a bunch of replies saying they can tune it. I?m looking for some feedback on tuners also. One other thing is I do not want a locked tune as I plan to keep making changes as I learn but want a starting point.

[Ben Charles]

Look on this forum, do some research and you’ll see who you should and Shouldn’t go with..

But remote tuning is fine if the tuner is qualified, same as you can take it to a dyno and be a complete disaster.. it’s all about WHO does it

[Alvin]

I think you likely get a better result from a email tune than most average dyno tuners.

For example.. We might have 3-12 logs getting your car correct. Just however many it takes... That is a lot of driving and a lot of feedback over several days. Seems like a lot of dyno tuners have you in and out in the same day.

Driveablity is by far the most time consuming/hardest part. Making power on the dyno is fairly simple.

[sse1990]

I think you likely get a better result from a email tune than most average dyno tuners.

For example.. We might have 3-12 logs getting your car correct. Just however many it takes... That is a lot of driving and a lot of feedback over several days. Seems like a lot of dyno tuners have you in and out in the same day.

Driveablity is by far the most time consuming/hardest part. Making power on the dyno is fairly simple.

I do not have access to a dyno in my area. So email is the only way I can get it done, or do it myself. I’ve done email tuning previously with Diablew on a previous vehicle. Their “canned” tune made a nice difference and further tuning after logs sent in, didn’t do much that I could see/feel.

I do have a trifecta tune file that I had installed on this truck for a few weeks then bought hptuners so I could have some control over a tune as I make changes to the vehicle.



Is there a way to unlock/read the trifecta file? I’m guessing probably not.

[GHuggins]

As long as they didn't change the OS you should be able to install it then read it out with hpt. Might be surprised with what little they do though. There's a lot to be gained on these with the 5.3's and 6sp with a cai. You just need to decide if you want primarily fuel economy, power or both but not fully both if that makes sense.

[sse1990]

As long as they didn't change the OS you should be able to install it then read it out with hpt. Might be surprised with what little they do though. There's a lot to be gained on these with the 5.3's and 6sp with a cai. You just need to decide if you want primarily fuel economy, power or both but not fully both if that makes sense.

So I should be able to re-load my trifecta tune and re-read the vehicle? When I go to read vehicle, it's greyed out since I read it already. Or is there another way to read it that I am not aware of.

I do realize I cannot have both fuel economy and power. I mostly want it more responsive and whatever trifecta tune did, is good enough for power. I did notice that when I put stock back in and tuned the transmission with HPT and the number I got from BlueCat software it seemed to help fuel economy.

I'm not trying to build a race truck, but I still like to have it responsive if that makes sense.

[Alvin]

I'm going to go against the grain and say that a tune optimized for efficiency will by default offer the best economy.

[GHuggins]

There are things you can change in these that will "focus" only on power and pedal response that typically cost you about 2mpg. OR you can take some of both worlds and only lose 1mpg and this is all compared to the full mpg gain that you will get from a good tune - not the original stock mpg. A full on performance oriented tune will typically put you back down around stock mpg readings. Of course this all depends on how it's driven too...

As for it being grayed out - you have to close the current tune file in order to read a new one

[sse1990]

Tried to read the trifecta tune, but as I thought, it’s locked.

I get “Controller Unlocker: x11 Service Not Supported”

[GHuggins]

Yep, she's locked - there are ways around this, but they don't always work. Best just to tune it or get it tuned yourself. It'll most likely turn out better anyway especially if you're having repeat transmission issues running it.

[sse1990]

Yep, she's locked - there are ways around this, but they don't always work. Best just to tune it or get it tuned yourself. It'll most likely turn out better anyway especially if you're having repeat transmission issues running it.

The transmission issue I originally had with it was the oil pump cracked so it was pulling in air. I had it back for a week then acted up again. That ended up being debris in the valve body. Now to drive it around for testing. But the truck goes in next week for the famous GM lifters. So until the engine dies throw false knock, it’s hard to see any real results.