Holley EFI: Can It Control A Vortec 4200 Engine?

Today we explore the struggles of getting a Holley ECU to run a Turbo Vortec 4200, which we are swapping into a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS.
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[@danielcarroll5667]

I highly approve your level of sarcasm...

[@Lloyd973]

Yep

[@NBC_NCO]

Agreed.

[@Whosaids0]

The sarcasm is kinda like watching tree sap cover a mosquito that will later be exhumed for the DNA used to develop a t-rex.

[@paulfisher8700]

This is Moat Happel level of sarcasm.

[@deegan727]

It won’t cost Holley anything to have one of their programmers that are already being paid to fix it. Then for nothing their product expanded. Hopefully Holley sees this and understands that this video is getting out to some potential customers. I understand the 4200 market would be a drop in the bucket and they don’t care, but for every person that goes to another brand when doing a 4200 build Holley loses a few grand for something they can fix with a few minutes on a keyboard. If I was on board I wouldn’t like hearing about losing money over an extremely cheap fix.

[@TheGorf]

Those of us in the efi scene have fought Holley for years over their crappy EFI systems. The laundry list of stupid things they do in their systems is long. Look no further than the garbage they shovel on to the market in the form of the Sniper. Get serious, get into the nuts and bolts. I will never go back to anything other than Megasquirt.

[@AWD_DSM_FTW]

@@TheGorfMS isn’t my cup of tea, but you’re right. Watching this video while having a Haltech in the garage made me happy I made the right decision.

[@bearsstuff]

@@AWD_DSM_FTWI'm replacing all my Holley EFI with Haltechs. The R3 and R5 is too enticing.

[@Saltyoldguy-]

Right. The profit margin is negligible, but the actual cost to add this in is so much lower that it's a no brainer.

[@TurboVisBits]

@@AWD_DSM_FTWHaltech has the same problem megasquirt does.. they built a product that has a "CANNED" set of uses.. if you want a truly flexible ECU that can do everything Emtron and Motec are the best options. Emtron has products more affordable than haltech too.

[@mrb2917]

As someone who works at a software company, here's my take on why Holley won't fix this. The Dominator software is more than likely written on some barely strung together code that was never intended to be as flexible as it already is. Fixes and patches are just barely holding it together. The dev that wrote it has long since left the company and any new devs they have hired since, want to start over with scalable code base written in a more modern language but that would take ages to develop and test. So Holley has the devs continue to patch the rusty old pile of code, and their support team offer 'workarounds', because people still buy it for their LS projects and that's all the Holley really needs to make money.

[@michaelblacktree]

The humor was on point! Well done. 👍

[@kevinengland4042]

The mildy sarcastic side of calvin is quite entertaining! Its also sad that holley doesnt understand that adding the 7x pattern also opens the market for every gm efi v6 made before the onslaught of 58x cranks.

[@seancollins9745]

The factory ECU's for those engines are more than capable enough for the use cases you will encounter.

[@eclipsegst9419]

@@seancollins9745 That's probably true for most cases, but as Holley, if you have a piece of hardware, that can do more things with just a few lines of code added to the software, why not do it? It adds value and increases sales.

[@tuningwithstyx]

Would love to see Holley support more crank sensors like.... every other aftermarket ECU out there...

[@victorthecarguy3126]

Makes sense to me, Holly must want everyone to use any other ECU out there.

[@kellythomas125]

I can only imagine how frustrated you were to fine the trigger issue. To get that far down the road, only to findout the ECU is the issue. Welcome to modern engineering and lack of accurate documentation. I have been there. It sucks. GREAT VIDEO!!!!

[@Str8sixfan]

You're the mad scientist the car world needs.

[@macanic21]

Best video you've ever made. No excuse for this from Holley, just greed. Thankfully they are getting smashed on price now by competitors.

[@CreeperCustomPaintball]

I clicked on this video because boosted straight 6 in a Camaro. You're a legend, sir

[@dmack6043]

Hence the reason I sold my Dominator setup and bought a MaxxECU Pro for my turbo LS. The level of support and software capability is night and day.

[@fatbubba2097]

I may be a v8 guy at heart, but I love the idea of this project! Amazing video too!

[@theguy9234]

Always great info about the 4200. I want put one in my 300zxTT.

[@Calvin-Nelson]

Do it!!

[@eclipsegst9419]

Do you have the length in that engine bay? I mean anything is possible but i knew a guy with one of those and i don't recall there being 6cyl in a row worth of length there, it was designed with a short and low nose to look like a Lotus or Lambo of that era. The Ford 3.5 Ecoboost might be a better choice. Or if you want GM LF3 or LF4 TT V6 from a Cadillac, but those are pricey and Ecoboosts are in tons of junkyard F150s. That all said your VG30 is not a bad engine by any means. Best Nissan for a 4200 imho would be a Skyline, like the base model that normal people can afford not a GTR.

[@Bad_Idea_Mike]

Can I introduce you to the wonderful world of Haltech?!?!

[@justion337]

Hopefully the Rebel LS ECU will get a lot more people to leave the Holley world and enter the wide world of much better ECUs.

[@Calvin-Nelson]

I have a plan, but I'd much sooner go with Maxxecu. Much more powerful.

[@wvision1433]

fueltech>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[@Bad_Idea_Mike]

@@Calvin-Nelson really! You might need to do a video explaining that one. I'd watch it.

[@fast240sx]

@@Calvin-Nelsonwe sell many many maxx. Great ecu. Emtron is also a wicked choice if you wanna spend a bit more and get a whooooole lot more.

[@Superb_Owl80]

LOL this is one of your best videos. Y’all will get there for sure. True pioneers 💪🏻

[@2muchspl]

Ive sent this video to all my car guys, this was truly brilliant and hilarious. Its amazing how companies say 'we dont want to expand'... The 80/20 principle has ruined so many great businesses. Every dollar is a good dollar.

[@Calvin-Nelson]

Thanks man!

[@BeyondEllisBeck]

7:52 Hold on...do I hear Gymnopedie/Gogo no Nemuri? I wasn't expecting that at all.

[@AraCarrano]

Love when the Erik Satie composition is used

[@tri00azerath]

What a good couple of chuckles mixed with good info. Keep em comin!

[@PullStartStables]

Thank you for all these explanations, VVT promotions and awesome content in general!

[@JeepTJay6]

I’m a Jeep guy and I don’t know the first thing about race engines. That said, this was awesome.

[@beauvrt]

This is currently one of the most exciting and favorite builds on KZbin. Hell, yeah dude, been waiting for you to do another build, you have a niche man. Keep going brother, love the channel and the content...

[@KarelBeelaertsvanBlokland]

WOW, your perseverance is unmatched! Well done

[@jamesfogartysr2156]

I allmost fell out of my chair THAT WAS FUNNY.GREAT VIDEO.

[@boostbogan]

Damn, editing and comedy is on another level in this one! love your work mate

[@davidpawson7393]

This is part of why my disdain for woodgrain in the 80s is now something I find cool because I know I can fix it like my washer, dryer, refrigerator, dehumidifier and window AC for example. I do regret not taking electronics and computer courses but I recently bought a welder and have an excellent teacher which opened up a whole new world of things I can fix, make or modify. I'm also a huge fan of straight 6 engines especially with a big ass turbo so I will not be going anywhere other than the beer store. Come on Holley, don't forget your roots.

[@hendo337]

An extra cool thing about this is that the Camaro 5 is a Zeta platform, which means if the 4200 fits and works in it, the same should be true about swapping a G8, Caprice PPV or SS sedan of the VE, WM or VF series, the best candidates are the unloved V6 G8s and PPVs that go really cheap or a V8 car that was canniballized for it's V8 and is still in decent shape, all that would he different would be the length of the drive shaft and the exhaust is slightly longer and axle back bends are slightly different, even though you would probably just have a big single exhaust if it's single turbo. I wanted to use something like Holley if I swapped my 2004 GTO, so this is excellent you are cracking this, the only pain in the azz now will be adapting the bell housing to the T-56 and making the flywheel, clutch and everything work. Great stuff, I watch all you videos, this channel is criminally underrated. Even your LS/LT V8 info is priceless, rather than doing the LQ4 I have in my yard under a tarp, I was considering building an L8T 6.6L short block and buying a cheap L83/L84 to cannibalize for the heads, intake and anything I didn't use new or improved parts for if a 4200 isn't in the cards. It's a shame an L8T is not going to be a junkyard find and the bare blocks are so expensive, when they first came out I saw them for like $1000 new, now they are $2300, about the same price as an LS3 block, a 6.2/6.4 Hemi block is like $1800-2000 and a 6.8/7.3 Godzilla block is $995, which made me wonder how much it would cost me to buy everything and assemble a 7.3 Godzilla then either buy a Ford Modular bolt pattern T-56 or adapt to my existing T-56, at least it wouldn't require an expensive 10speed auto or a built 4R70W that has the ability to be tuned with a Holley. A Godzilla or an L8T would definitely be just as exciting as a 4200 in a GTO.

[@cmattdabrat]

Hahah, loved the comedy in this one. You always have some cool content but was awesome seeing a different side of you. I can hear the academy calling.

[@Twofrogsonecup]

the fact that this engine is so unknown and that it was shoved into trailblazers proves that its a gem. the Chevy barra

[@steveyoutube1709]

Outstanding troubleshooting explanation Happily subscribed

[@jcooper702]

Wow! A very informative and extremely frustrating video to watch. You gave Holley a proper (and respectful) roasting!

[@kmaclub143]

Saw y'all at Bradenton sick week keep up the great work.

[@witcher71]

Come awn Holley! Don't suck anymore. Here's your chance!

[@Jazz3006]

Sounds like a great time to move on to a new ECU supplier that actually allows for the flexibility you'd expect with a standalone, not just the bog standard cookie-cutter LS engines.

[@Jbomb-ep4jr]

Some of the best content on KZbin!

[@metalfarmer9286]

Love it. Some people just cannot see the entire picture. They work on their part of the whole, and rock at their part, but not so much on other parts. Common sense to a systems thinker is not so common to others.

[@frederickjeremy]

My wife is home driving my 05 blazer with a 4200 with 300,000 on the clock while her newer less used ride is in the shop. I am a fan of this little engine. I can see why you enjoy hopping them up. I’m mostly happy with stock these days. I get excited when something fires up and runs as it should these days. Especially if it really shouldn’t. That poor blazer was used and abused by a couple of its owners before I got it. It has had every excuse to quit, but refuses. I think I can get another 100,000 out of it.

[@chriss-ng9mk]

Hilarious editing man! Love it!

[@jb6222]

I really enjoyed this video. Thanks for all the info.

[@PetrucciIsKing]

Absolutely great video! the Holley skit had me dieing lmao🤣

[@mattbaygents6508]

Great video! Recently joined the fb group too. Hopefully Holley gets with the program as I already have a dominator and Im wanting to use it on my swap!

[@BuildaMan]

This is by far the best funniest video i have seen from you guys. I love it

[@user-ek3iq9pf4q]

A good release. Keep up the good work.

[@MrDynoking]

Got Haltech it will do everything you need for that motor

[@user-tr7us4zc5p]

Awesome video my friend. Your knowledge leaves me with no doubt you'll figure out your equations 😅

[@BuiltByLondonRacing]

It was the you capping for me 🤣🤦🏾‍♂️

[@Bajahaha70]

Thank for doing what you do!

[@fetusness]

Such good info on this channel- really appreciate you brother 🫡

[@n3lee]

I see you took the high road on this one; and I appreciate it ;)

[@madmodsgarage1179]

I'm totally NOT living in the "Holley market area" so it doesn't matter that much to me but duuuude, that was a GREAT VIDEO and I totally get and feel your confusion and anger that they don't allow this to work! It seems so obvious to me that every ECU lets you choose whichever edge of the signal and same time so stupid not to put it in the software... damn you Holley! ;)

[@WRIGHT-GARAGE]

the way you said fuel rails in the tangent... feheul Rhails had me on the floor.

[@hewhohugs]

AMAZING! I love it. Keep it up!

[@HomeMadePowa]

LOVE THE FLEXIBLE FUEL LINES

[@BigPermGarage]

Slowly but surely more people will realize the benefits of keeping VVT. Im sure you know about it but Fueltech can handle multiple Variable cams. You are free to pretty much set it to read any number/position/type of teeth. They also have a tooth decoder which works well. Be sure to use hall effect though, dont go through what I did trying to use the stock VR sensors.

[@jclaybaugh2]

Amazing editing!

[@jeremiahjohnson3018]

This is approaching Ronald Finger levels of lore and editing. I love it.

[@williamlinder6418]

Beautiful content brother hyped up to see the next vid more knowledge the better

[@stoker20]

I'm surprised you're not getting some sponsorships on parts and such. Holly's image isn't what it used to be. I hope to see the Camaro running like you want it very soon. Keep up the great work!

[@winstonpratt604]

Such an informative video bro 💯 with No sarcasm lost here 🤣🤣

[@ericbengtson3490]

That was a classic. Thanks Calvin 😊

[@philbetthauser9547]

Great video !

[@StreetLethalRacing]

We normally use HP Tuners for tuning the Atlas 4.2 Vortec engine. Almost positive Jeremy over on the Faster Proms channel dyno tuned one recently as well…

[@Calvin-Nelson]

Yep. I was talking to him on the phone just before they Dyno'd that one. Cool guy

[@garrettchapman8170]

Brother just discovered you.. And instantly subbed.. Your gonna be huge bro.. Keep at it.❤❤❤❤❤

[@maxxlr8tion578]

Looking forward to this one for sure.

[@FuelInjectionSucks]

Glad to see you've snapped since the last video.

[@Calvin-Nelson]

Lol! Fully and completely snapped!

[@justinrichard6837]

Love the video and thank you for the information.

[@Retrocomputernerd]

This is awesome in so many ways 😂 Great callout

[@Calvin-Nelson]

Thanks!

[@jimlathrop8603]

Well done!!!

[@snivesz32]

The best way to get them to do something is to market the virtues of a competitors superior product.

[@BoostedCajun]

FuelTech would surely help you. Haltech likely would too. Love this video!

[@MotorSwapDan]

Excellent video

[@ZEPRATGERNODT]

Well done!

[@Calvin-Nelson]

Thanks!

[@ALR74]

I think this should be titled the Holly SNAFU 😂 Great video!!

[@cb84capri]

I'm like, gonna call Holley and tell them i'm rizzing bro!

[@Calvin-Nelson]

This made me laugh!!

[@paulmaigler289]

Holley seems to be more worried about bean counting nowadays, it is a shame because they have good products but like you said, doesn’t mean they can’t be better!!!

[@vcalv9354]

Your channel has me strongly considering dropping a 4200 into my 84 cutlass surpreme instead of like a lq9 and this answers my ecu questions aha.

[@Calvin-Nelson]

Hopefully we can get them to fix it. Holley support would be a game changer.

[@jimskatr103]

Every time this guy post I wanna rip my 240k mile trailblazer apart

[@Calvin-Nelson]

Do it!!!

[@WhiteManXRP]

The channel name should be GROUND BREAKERS

[@screaminlead]

Thanks for saving me a bunch of time. Betteridge's law of headlines says that any headline ending with a question mark can always be answered with No.

[@Thehouseofboost]

I’d run a Holley on my Honda but Haltech has the vvt figure out.

[@5lcalais1]

Don't waste your time with Holley, haltech all the way, far superior product than literally anyone else, only thing on par is motec but motec is more for all out race car applications 👍

[@joshbagby3784]

I'm loving it dude😂

[@americanfreedom6417]

Great stuff and approve of KZbin / Google feeding me this. Imagine all I did was look up Holy efi and then like magic over the next few weeks I get everything relating to Holy. Blows my mind man

[@GMCJay_lly]

Commenting for support!!

[@LuntzelMods]

This is why I use FOME open source standalone. You want to do it? Sure? Leading or trailing edge on cam sensors? Easy peasy.

[@Calvin-Nelson]

Yep. For sure.

[@ryanm3749]

Shots fired!

[@LordTheodore04]

great video

[@stormtropper88]

This is a interesting build I like it

[@Nefariousrouge]

Too bad you didn’t start this project 6 months ago. You could have marched to their booth at SEMA and dropped a WTF on them. Nice video!

[@Calvin-Nelson]

I kind of did at PRI. Lol

[@cookedmarbles4888]

I've loved your series so far! I want to supe up my GMC envoy, but my current weakness is tuning. Could you maybe do a video looking over some different tunes you've ran for the engines?

[@Calvin-Nelson]

I actually did a video a while back on tuning. It didn't perform very well, but maybe you could get some use out of it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iWHJaJ2GqdGbsLssi=W_eqByELba39nEAn

[@crazyjon1tire854]

Gotta love big business with tiny brains🤦‍♂️. Hopefully they see this video and feel foolish for not finding it themselves and then fix it. Absolutely loved the video!

[@eloos74]

Awesome job

[@steventurner476]

Duuuuude this is friggin hilarious 😂😂😂😂

[@GarageItYourself]

I find Holley funny as they really only bother with the US market and not the rest of the world plus they go with what's popular instead of having truly modular ECU's like Link, Haltech, Motech, heck even the Speeduino. Even the Sniper can be problematic for dizzy triggering. Having to using an industrial trigger sensor instead of a factory hall effect or VR sensor is just one of the crazy things Holley do. If only the firmware and software could be hacked :)

[@Calvin-Nelson]

Yeah. Holley is really good with what they support, and you can do a lot with them, but they lack few things that would make life a lot cooler and easier. We'll make it work.

[@FastSheetGarage]

Welp,……that definitely answers some questions on what ECU I’m looking for for my build……damnit.

[@Nikko780]

ECUmaster, Fueltech, Haltech, Motec, Maxxecu, etc..... can do this stuff for the same or less than a Holley setup. Holley is (and always was) the fuel system for people that want "good enough kind of" without having to think too hard.

[@jacobmoses3712]

If the Holley won't, a Haltech will

[@cc23001]

So, I'm no expert, not even a novice lol, but is there a way to build a standalone vvt controller? Like, is it PWM? If so, then can a dongke sweep the cam (provide the necessary voltage to the vvt solenoid) based on RPM? Would be archaic but simple once it's worked out..?

[@Calvin-Nelson]

That's essentially what I'm going to end up doing.

[@jp2246]

Good stuff!

[@elijahguzik4618]

calvin why not us a maxxecu like you did for the wagon that seemed to work pretty good for you. also that little skit near the end reminded of rick from rick n morty, it was hilarious

[@Calvin-Nelson]

Thanks.. My solution involves a Maxxecu. You'll see. Lol

[@williamhurley6081]

Would it be possible to use a different reluctor wheel or manufacturer a reluctor for the cam that would work with the holley? I have no experience with the 4200, but it sounds like a really cool swap for my pickup

[@Mr._Flunky]

That skit was dope.