ctrow Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 Alright, I'm going to be subjective as possible. Keep in mind, I only have 12 miles on the new PCM so it's still learning my 'style' of driving. I have a 26 mile drive to work tomorrow to do some more testing, especially highway driving. I'm going to be pretty conservative about my results for now until I get a few more miles on it. Total miles on the truck right now are at 1700(in 2 weeks, damn!). Power - feels like more kick to it, especially from a rolling start. Sorry, no dyno so no exact figures. I'm going to let my dad drive it and see what he thinks maybe tomorrow or this weekend. He's also got a friend that has a red SS that I'd like to run against. Anyway. Transmission - firmer shifts, higher shift points Throttle response - still a little sluggish but I'm going to wait to see once I get the supposed 30 mile learning curve done. I remember when I first got it, it took awhile to learn my driving style. Same thing with my 5.3L. Kick downs - it seems to kick down at a higher MPH but it's not consistent. The 2-3 shift is now at 77 instead of 70 which is good. However it sometimes only goes down to 3rd gear even though I'm below the 77 MPH. Again, waiting to see what happens when I get some more miles on the PCM. Mileage - who knows, my best so far has been 288 miles on a tank. Good thing gas is $1.49 for premium in OK. Hopefully that will improve. Have I left anything out? Like I said before, let me get some more miles and I'll report on it again. To be continued..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenKey Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 Mileage - who knows, my best so far has been 288 miles on a tank. That's it?! Man your foot must stay into ALL the time. I've hit as high as 395 to a tank, not all highway either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctrow Posted June 25, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 I swear, I don't drive it that hard. Maybe I do but....I don't think so. If I could part with it, I could let my mom drive it for a week. I KNOW she wouldn't drive it hard! In fact for testing purposes, I'm going to NJ again for a week. I'll trade with her and see how I do then. I drive 26 miles one way to work so I get a lot of highway miles. I don't know what to think. That's why I had a post previously asking on what everyone else was getting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgar Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 Thanks for keeping us posted ctrow. It'll probably be easier to do a comparison of before and after the PCM when you get back to your original style of driving and open the throttle up some more. The ideal comparison would be if you raced that red SS, try your best to set that up. Keep in mind, I only have 12 miles on the new PCM so it's still learning my 'style' of driving. I feel like we're talking about something living, let's just call the PCM Johnny 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctrow Posted June 25, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 Forgot to mention, Westers includes stickers for you rear view mirrors that says "Objects in Mirror Soon Disappear" Thought it was a nice touch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgar Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 That is a nice touch. Sticker + Product = HP..........Now we know Wester's is for real. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridnlow135 Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 The sticker is the real secret to the HP.. its not the PCM.. so the ricers say Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwest1975 Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 Cool. Sounds good so far! Keep us posted on what you think. As already mentioned, get with that red SS and see how it compares! Justin PS- If the red SS wont play....come to Maine and I will! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 I'm going to show my ignorance here (some of you might say that's nothing new ). I did not know that chips "learned" anything. I have seen that statement on two boards now. I always thought a chip was programmed to a certain set of parameters and that was it. I saw on the other board where Westers recommends you get on the vehicle hard at least 5 times in the first 30 miles so the chip "learns." Okay, all that's easy but I don't drive my wagon hard. There are times I really get on it but most of the time my passing does not require foot to the floor and I'm over the newness factor now so I don't slam it hard just for the hell of it. If that's the case, I will get a new chip, break it in for power, and then drive normally most of the time. Does that reduce performance? I want the extra power there for when I need it (and to play a little) but I don't drive like that all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lrymal Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 ....I did not know that chips "learned" anything. I have seen that statement on two boards now. I always thought a chip was programmed to a certain set of parameters and that was it.... You are right, but..... The foundational program code is set in the PCM, but it has the ability to adjust and trim for changing conditions. The driver who gets on it will have those parameters trimmed more toward performance. Typically, it takes about 30 minutes if past experience serves correctly and that probably changes, too. This is really good. If you have very bad, wet weather for a few days, your truck has done some slight adjustments for that, for example. Major modifications done to a vehicle today will see quicker results in adjusting if the battery is disconnected the night before. The computer will be learning from scratch. Now all of this is from personal experience and I'm sure this sort of thing changes as new code and advances in this stuff occurs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigTex Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 The PCM has the stock operating parameters saved in tables that dont change. But, under normal driving conditions, like Irymal stated above, the PCM adjusts the output. If everything is fine (no knock retard, cool temps, etc...) the PCM dishes out the normal fuel and spark. But, when you are hard on it and the PCM sees knock, high temps, etc... it will alter the output giving you less timing (and less power). Here is the big thing - The PCM looks for a pattern and will attempt to adjust the values BEFORE they happen again. Example: say you make 10 hard starts from a stop and run it up to 100 mph. You get a little knock retard at 4200 rpms and some during the shifts. The PCM will learn the pattern of seeing KR at 4200 rpms and shifts and will attempt to lower timing on future runs before you reach 4200, so it will not have KR. It also goes in reverse. If it has learned an event, such as knock, if it doesn't see KR, it will slowly give back that timing until it sees it again. This is by design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 Thanks, guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWT Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 Very interesting. Thank you for the knowledge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctrow Posted June 25, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 Drove it 2 blocks at lunch and it seemed more responsive after the 26 miles to work. Passing gear seems to kick in more like I want to. Talked to Lyndon today also. He said 30-50 miles to relearn and adjust. I asked about what grade of fuel to use. He said whatever. He said when ever you start up it does a test to see if there's any knock and if so pulls back timing. Therefore it doesn't really matter but I'm still going to choose high octane. I asked how I should break in the new PCM and his answer was "Drive like you just stole it!" I also told him about the sluggishness of the throttle response compared to my 2002 5.3L. He agreed that it's probably due to the throttle by wire. Sometimes it just doesn't do what I want it to. He said if I wanted to I could pull off the parts from a 2002 truck and he could program a computer for it also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctrow Posted June 25, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 Another thing I forgot is that core is $640 if I remember from my invoice. Seems like someone said it was around $900 at one time. Maybe he's getting a better supply of them now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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