ECU Tuning: What You Need To Know

You've done all those mods to your car without knowing if you need a tune, or why you even need one. It's time to learn.
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[@lowkey87685]

In the first 5 minutes of this video I learned more about fuel trims than all the research I've been doing for months.

[@benjurmind1318]

We gotta boost this guy and get him to 100k followers. You got that quality and knowledge 🙌

[@BlackthumbTV]

Thanks a ton!

[@papamauryc2300]

this is one of the hidden gem channels on yt. Props to you mate and keep up the fantastic work

[@isaaccerreto8662]

really is I've ataully seek this guy out

[@azazelakira12]

If I could I would like this video several times...

[@corneliofehr8001]

Wizard man's up to his shenanigans again. How wizard man make me smart?

[@rickw84]

These videos are the perfect example of how quality content is way more important than production value (no shade, the guy even said he paid $1 for his "green screen" in another video, respect!)

[@JoshuaGuerrero-fi7di]

I just put a thorton performance chip in my cavalier . It tunes and adjusts my car to the mods I add . Easy loophole around computer tune . Now don’t get me wrong . A tune could definitely improve performance. I’m just being cheap at the moment. Very informative video , thank you very much .

[@joemaggio6806]

One work around is if your car uses a map sensor and it’s not boosted, you can generally install a mildly larger intake(within the 15 percent increase range) and have your car run okay. Not to say you’ll see full power benefits, or even any, especially at WOT. But you’ll be able to safely enjoy the cool noises of a short ram without getting a tune! Again, wouldn’t recommend it, but should be safe

[@masongiles8443]

Love the content man thank you!!

[@noahstevens6427]

You’re killin it, keep up the good work

[@kelalkelal]

This video is amazing. Specially how you explained everything. Muy buen trabajo!

[@VincentBladen11]

I’m newbie in car modification industry.I want to understand dyno ECU tuning badly.This guy help me out a lot.Really appreciate it.Thanks to you, I didn’t need to research that much and know all the basics.

[@Horus69ss]

I changed the air filter and exhaust on my TC88 Harley. It was quite a bit of a show when it was running. Finally, I installed a piggyback Power Commander, and has that made a change? She runs smoothly, gear change meets the torque. It just feels right. I've built another bike and getting the right air intake was a bit tricky. Now I am in the process of doing some simple mods to my car and talked to some car guys. My car is NA. Nah mate, you don't need a tune for that is what they all have said. Even a guy from a dyno shop. It was really confusing, coz the engine is engine... same principles all across. I think there are a lot of that kinda myths as dyno run is expensive. And I'm guessing that people rather tell ya that you don't need a tune because they have done some mods and a car still runs without it so they feel like they are saving money. They really just skipping on the full potential of the given mod. It's not always about HP.

[@soconoha8495]

TECHNICALLY you don't NEED a tune. You SHOULD get a tune, but your car will run with different intake or exhaust. There will likely be ZERO performance gain without a tune, possibly even a loss of performance. All comes down to how you define 'necessary'.

[@Horus69ss]

@@soconoha8495 Oh I know that from my motorcycles. What had hit me hard was an opinion of "car guys" and one lad who runs a dyno. Another thing is that there is zero info about an engine I have in my car. Therefore nobody has done anything with it. So why? For some reason it is not popular or there is no point getting into it. So I started asking around and just an amount of false information has got me into investigating further.

[@Mike_44]

Such an underrated channel. Much appreciate the time you’ve taken to explain all in these long videos. I myself wanted to learn tuning but found it quite complex, I was always told leave it to the pros. But you clarify so much in simple terms. Thank you very much!

[@YukiLuka03]

I love your video! It;s very easy to understand❤

[@dragan3290]

So easy the way you explain this! Even though I have had my brother drum this into me. This is easier to understand. Cheers from Australia subbed and liked 👍

[@Zubbbz]

that chair looks comfy as fuck

[@eriksontovar3386]

Just finding about this channel.. I like this guy already, breaks it down and grows my little brain haha 👍🏻

[@steveguest8028]

This guy has a gift for explaining things in easy to understand terms keep these videos coming 👍

[@BlackthumbTV]

I appreciate that!

[@michaelfarris1639]

More dude….. I am an rx8 noob… but the ls has me wondering.. I’m all for this channel. Thanks for the videos

[@chingyy]

You're sooo under-rated. 🙇‍♂️

[@Mike_44]

Looking forward to watching your future Ignition Timing video.

[@justsomeguy2918]

God I wish you had been making videos years ago, you are amazing at explaining

[@BlackthumbTV]

Glad you think that, I try my best!

[@christiandecker4387]

Thanks teach

[@WhooptyDoo]

"we were so rich we just couldn't keep going" - life goals

[@the.pirate_memer]

My boy i just found you today first video i watched is vtec vvt vvl in your subie it was awsome

[@gregmaggert8561]

So you talk about why you need a tune, and all of that makes perfect sense to me. Now, do you have a video of what I need to be able to tune my vehicle (OBS subaru in my case) for said exhaust and intake modifications? Also, still love your videos and haven't gotten bored with one yet

[@BlackthumbTV]

Maybe in the future I'll put something out like this, but for now I feel that there's better videos and resources out there than I can provide.

[@spiredminotaur6213]

I found this channel the other day by chance and it’s quickly risen to the top as one of my favorites.. keep up the great content Got an rx8 myself and one of my dream cars is a gc8. Love it

[@jacobrzeszewski6527]

This is super interesting. I have a 2012 Ford Focus and people have dynoed the NA 2.0 without a tune with various intake arrangements and found power increases without a tune. For example, a Snorkle delete and K&N/Green filter gives a 7 hp or so increase. And even an AEM CAI resulted in 15 hp. I know Ford has a pretty versatile ECM, but it makes me wonder how it manages to figure out the fuel trimming so quickly. Or maybe it's not. I really want to plug in a live data scanner and see what the fuel trim and ratios are doing. Thanks for making me curious.

[@duhfc]

Quality! Wish I knew 1/10th of what you know

[@RafRagg]

this really showed me alot! I was going to do i/h/e without a tune. now i feel really stupid lol

[@DylanL69]

Can also burn a piston going to lean or a valve

[@JFish5]

What a spectacular way to visualize air and fuel in a engine cylinder

[@reissfullspeedahead]

Thanks man! I'll be tuning my 04 wrx wagon DD as soon as my laptop comes in. Is your DD running a standalone as well?

[@BlackthumbTV]

Yeah, it's running a Haltech Elite 2500. For no good reason though, just had a spare one. Makes getting data for videos like this much easier, so that's my excuse for now.

[@reissfullspeedahead]

@@BlackthumbTV I aspire to have a spare haltech laying around lol. For now I'm just sitting on a plx wideband and tactrix 2.0 until my buddy sends me his old laptop.

[@Dansyoung]

Are you happy with the choice of going with the Haltech for your ls swap rx8? Did you use one of the adapter harnesses to attach it into the rx8 can bus or just wire it in. I’m doing a very similar swap and am weighing my options between the Haltech and something like the Holley terminator x. The can bus integration is a huge plus, but I could just retain the factory ecu and run the terminator x in combination (going with the ls1 swap kit, so crank position sensor should read off the modified harmonic balancer). Thanks for the great videos!

[@BlackthumbTV]

Excellent question! Short answer: Yes, it works great! I wired everything in by hand, a manual harness merge of the Haltech, to the RX8 and to the LS. I like to take the time to get all the functions in a car to work. Thus things like the electric power steering, all the dash cluster gauges, and even cruise control work in this car. Long answer: One thing I've noticed is that tuners will say something like "Go with (Some ECU), they're the best." when what they should actually say is "Go with (Some ECU), it's what I've got the most experience using." And I'm no different. I've been using Haltech for a long time, so I usually just pick Haltech right off the kick. However, this car was different because of the CAN BUS. I knew the Haltech ECU could speak the RX8s CAN BUS, but how well? Did it have the right CAN messages for things like engine temp? What about electric power steering? Or vehicle speed? None of that is documented, so it's kind of a toss up until you actually commit and wire it all together. Thankfully I know how to write code to translate CAN BUS between two different formats. I already know the Haltechs CAN BUS format they use for things like their LCD dashes, and I was able to find a CAN BUS log and decode of the RX8. So basically, the plan was to try out Haltechs RX8 CAN BUS emulation. If that didn't work, I'd write my own code and do it myself. Thankfully, the Haltechs RX8 CAN BUS emulation worked fine! The only thing that doesn't work is the oil pressure gauge, despite me having an oil pressure sensor wired in which I'm willing to live with. But, as always, make sure your tuner is comfortable with whatever ECU you're getting!

[@Dansyoung]

Can the Haltech use the factory rx8 accelerator pedal signal and drive a drive by wire throttle body on an LS? I think I am going to have to do a deep dive into the Haltech computers to understand all the potential available.

[@BlackthumbTV]

Short answer is yes, but long answer is that you should do some additional research. Wiring standalones from hand can be daunting, but it's worth learning how to do so!

[@Dansyoung]

@@BlackthumbTV thanks! This won’t be my first standalone installation (my old rx7 had a turbo swap and micro tech lt10s). Definitely not as concerned with the installation portion but more so the compatibility of the Haltech to the rx8. If the Haltech can bus emulation is strong enough to run the factory cluster (control the CEL, tach, coolant temp) receive inputs over can from the rx8 ABS module (which could lead to the ability to setup traction control through the Haltech) then I am sold. I also wasn’t sure if the Haltech would be picky with the accelerator pedal input, to be able to use as much factory rx8 components as possible is a huge plus (any cost savings also helps justify the additional price of the Haltech).

[@BlackthumbTV]

@@Dansyoung Suffice it to say that everything from the firewall back is effectively RX8 still. I merely merged the three harnesses together (RX8, LS, Haltech) to get everything going. From what I read the factory DSC still works with a Haltech, but don't quote me on that. Best of luck!

[@hoowoo4832]

If it's just a new intake alone, doesn't the ECU will adjust the fuel trim automatically? I remember there are a lot of ECUs got a fuel trim table which allows up to 20% fluctuation.

[@BlackthumbTV]

Yes, but many ECUs only use the learned values during idle and cruise conditions. So during WOT it does no learning, which I'd probably when you need it the most. It does this because the learning is not meant to compensate for aftermarket parts. It's to help with emissions.

[@motionlessproductions2478]

i have a question, i am planning on modifying my peugeot 206gti(yeayea euro car i know) with a bigger intake manifold(that of the 206 RC), bigger throttle body and equal length headers catback system. when doing this will i still be able to drive lets say 40 odd minutes to a tuner to get it tuned and proper dialed in or am i already severely risking my engine doing this? im planning on getting it all installed in one go so i dont have to hassle a lift for multiple times. cheers!

[@BlackthumbTV]

Honesty, it'll probably be fine. When you first start it up and drive it after the mods, if it's running like shit (misfiring or hiccuping etc) then def don't drive it. Otherwise just don't hit boost and be gentle.

[@motionlessproductions2478]

@@BlackthumbTV it's an NA engine I should've specified sorry! But thank you for the reply! I'll come back to this comment when I have it done with the mods! I hope to get it from 135 to abouts 170 hp!

[@davecolquhoun9315]

Ok, so I must be missing something, isn't the O2 sensor there to adjust the items you mentioned? If we are comanding the ECU to 14.7 and the O2 says it isn't , should the ecu not adjust?? Please help!!

[@BlackthumbTV]

The long and short of it is that the ECU has a maximum learning limit, learns slowly, and that usually that learning won't apply under heavy load (IE under wide open throttle, when you need it most). My video on E85 has more info on this if you're curious.

[@bendover-uf9st]

Show us how to tune.

[@BlackthumbTV]

There's much better people out there that can teach you than me. I myself am still learning