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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[@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.

[@depthsounderdave]

This

[@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.

[@Str8sixfan]

You're the mad scientist the car world needs.

[@michaelblacktree]

The humor was on point! Well done. 👍

[@CreeperCustomPaintball]

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

[@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.

[@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.

[@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!!!!

[@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.

[@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.

[@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!

[@PetrucciIsKing]

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

[@fatbubba2097]

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

[@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.

[@KarelBeelaertsvanBlokland]

WOW, your perseverance is unmatched! Well done

[@witcher71]

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

[@BuildaMan]

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

[@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.

[@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.

[@Twofrogsonecup]

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

[@BeyondEllisBeck]

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

[@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...

[@jamesfogartysr2156]

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

[@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.

[@MotorSwapDan]

Excellent video

[@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.

[@METAL-FARMER]

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.

[@tri00azerath]

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

[@AraCarrano]

Love when the Erik Satie composition is used

[@jcooper702]

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

[@PullStartStables]

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

[@Jbomb-ep4jr]

Some of the best content on KZbin!

[@chriss-ng9mk]

Hilarious editing man! Love it!

[@JeepTJay6]

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

[@boostbogan]

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

[@WRIGHT-GARAGE]

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

[@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.

[@The_Painter31]

Since Holley won't give you the time of day, I would contact Haltech and Microsquirt.

[@Calvin-Nelson]

I have a plan! Stay tuned

[@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.

[@crazylarryjr]

The problem is, Holley isn't looking at it the right way. They are looking at as so few people will actually do this, that it's not profitable. But if the same unit could do both then it'll add to their profits not lower them. This is the thing keeping me from trying this, I prefer the holley over the other stuff because let's say it, everyone uses it, it's established and proven. Cleetus McFarland has gone 6.45 with his Elcamino on a holley setup. If they got it working, then added a universal harness (IE key it yourself) they'd add not subtract to their fanbase

[@Calvin-Nelson]

You just summarized why I am choosing to fight through it and use a Holley.

[@Retrocomputernerd]

This is awesome in so many ways 😂 Great callout

[@Calvin-Nelson]

Thanks!

[@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!

[@kmaclub143]

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

[@snivesz32]

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

[@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.

[@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

[@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!!!

[@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! ;)

[@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!

[@SkinnyPedalMotorsports]

This was golden

[@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

[@jeremiahjohnson3018]

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

[@HomeMadePowa]

LOVE THE FLEXIBLE FUEL LINES

[@BoostedCajun]

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

[@ThmsPtrsn]

Nah, Let them be ignorant and not support the next growing engine swap. It will help smaller ECU companies who don't focus solely on a certain demographic of consumers.

[@2hacksinashack]

It’s rather sad that Holley doesn’t seem to appreciate innovators. As much as I like their products. I’m guessing you’ve tried using custom settings in the ignition parameters. You can tell it to look at the rising or falling edge of the cam. I just went through this plus other issues to get a 1JZ non vvti to run on a Holley Terminator. Best of luck, I hope you get the support from Holley.

[@Calvin-Nelson]

I've tried everything.

[@2hacksinashack]

@@Calvin-NelsonI figured, but I thought I’d ask. I recently did similar research about the rising and falling edges for the cam sensor.

[@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.

[@SteveMacdaddy]

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

[@fetusness]

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

[@winstonpratt604]

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

[@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.

[@steveyoutube1709]

Outstanding troubleshooting explanation Happily subscribed

[@BuiltByLondonRacing]

It was the you capping for me 🤣🤦🏾‍♂️

[@jimskatr103]

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

[@Calvin-Nelson]

Do it!!!

[@cb84capri]

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

[@Calvin-Nelson]

This made me laugh!!

[@xDropzerox]

Holly is the equivalent of pay to play, your just stuck behind a pay wall. But a pay wall they haven't tapped yet. Keyword Yet! Mega squirt and haltech ftw

[@Calvin-Nelson]

I hear you, but I have a plan

[@Bajahaha70]

Thank for doing what you do!

[@n3lee]

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

[@maxxlr8tion578]

Looking forward to this one for sure.

[@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

[@ryanm3749]

Shots fired!

[@GMCJay_lly]

Commenting for support!!

[@timothydurm4366]

Have you reached out to other manufacturers? Fuel tech is constantly pushing forward, and i hear Motec is big in the 2jz world. Keep up the good fight, I enjoy the content.

[@bvward]

Haltech is in the ring, too...

[@andrewmontgomery1763]

Motec and Haltech are far more expensive I think.

[@Calvin-Nelson]

I have.

[@garyhowe88]

Motec is a very odd situation, when you buy an ecu, you get your distributors version of software on it. Fueltech also don't do anything fancy at all, just good at marketing and giving away Ecu's 😂

[@garrettchapman8170]

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

[@Tht1Dude]

Since I’m getting a 2002 GMC Envoy as my first car, I’ve been falling in love with the 4200, and I think that when I blow that engine up in it, hoping the block is okay, I’m gonna entirely redo it and make some power out of it. Could easily just LS swap it but 4200 is different.

[@williamlinder6418]

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

[@wellery]

You should try Fueltech ECU, their support for every little thing that you need is simply amazing. If something doesn't work, they will try their best to make work

[@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!

[@tragicnomadic]

Remember holley is the biggest supporter of carb legal modifications to your engines. They've been pushing for emission enforcement to drive competition away. They don't care about hot rodding they care about money.. Support link. Support Cobb. Support literslly anyone else.

[@Кто-тоНонея-у2я]

A good release. Keep up the good work.

[@jb6222]

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

[@ZEPRATGERNODT]

Well done!

[@Calvin-Nelson]

Thanks!

[@MrDynoking]

Got Haltech it will do everything you need for that motor

[@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.

[@ericbengtson3490]

That was a classic. Thanks Calvin 😊

[@thechris84567]

Damn I was thinking about swapping a 4200 in my camaro if I blew up the V6. Too bad you beat me to it.

[@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.

[@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

[@ALR74]

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

[@BuffMyRadius]

Speeduino is frustrating, but not being beholden to a company for feature support on more interesting swaps is priceless

[@Calvin-Nelson]

Never again. Nearly blew an engine when I tried that.

[@BuffMyRadius]

@@Calvin-Nelson I definitely understand, there's absolutely zero guardrails in place. I actually have a voltage dependant relay that I run on the ignition system wired to a completely independent wideband after a big afr scare. I don't use it so much any more, but jumping into a big change sometimes I still break it out.

[@jacobmoses3712]

If the Holley won't, a Haltech will

[@BLKMGK4]

VVT is pretty damn useful, there's good reason why the OEM have it and I'd want it on any motor I setup that was capable. Come on Holley! Pretty sure Haltech supports this, ProEFI did on my vehicle...

[@BoostedCyclePerformance]

Fucking. Brilliant. I highly approve this level of mockery. Coding isn’t something I’ve leaned to do YET. But hot rodders will always find a way to outsmart the engineers at their own game.

[@joshbagby3784]

I'm loving it dude😂

[@Jack-im2wd]

I'm a little surprised you're choosing to go the Holley route after all these years. Short of making some custom hardware to invert the cam position sensor signal, it seems like it's a waiting game for Holley to do something on their end.

[@Calvin-Nelson]

I have other ideas, but I did think of that. Lol

[@Jack-im2wd]

@@Calvin-NelsonI'm very interested to see what you come up with. This is quickly becoming my favorite build you guys have done yet, can't wait for the next video!

[@coreydavis1038]

This video is freaking hilarious. But you thought they didn’t want to help the 4200 platform before, Holley watches this you know their gonna shut the door😂😂😂

[@Calvin-Nelson]

Ha! You're probably right. How dare I question their holy benevolence!

[@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.