Tunerpro RT V5 Tutorial

[gregrob]

I decided to make a tutorial since I was getting so many questions on getting this up and running for an LT1. This will cover installing and setting up the Tunerpro V5 software to work with your LT1, and using Winflash to load the tunes.


First off we will go to tunerpro's website and download the V5 version of the program Here is a direct link

Now install the program as you would install anything else, and when you end up with an icon on your desktop, open it and you should see this:



Now after the timer counts down to zero, click continue. *Note, you can donate the very small amount of $30 to Mark and remove this initial count down startup screen. However, the version you have downloaded is fully functional, just a 10 sec time out every time you use it.




Now we will need to load the definition file so tunerpro can properly display lt1 bin files. We first have to go to the tunerpro website and download it.







Note you will need to Right Click and Save as if you just click on the link it will display a bunch of code in your browser. Save the file to a place you can easily find it. Such as the desktop, or a folder you have created for LT1 stuff, etc.


Now that we have the file saved, go back to tunerpro and we will load it.




Now navigate to where you saved the file before, and click on it, then click Open



Now you should be able to open an LT1 .bin file, and edit it...



as you can see I have a folder called "Calibration Files" where I save my bins



On the left is the called the Parameter tree, this is where you will select Scalar data, Switches, and Tables to edit in the tune. Note you can toggle this on > and off by pressing F6




Click on a table, the Ext Spark Table for example.






This is the Function list, you will choose how to modify the selected contents of the cell with this menu. For example the further most top-left cell is selected in the screenshot, so only that cell will be modified. You can select entire rows, entire columns, groups of cells, or entire tables, and modify them.

• Offset (+/-) this function is basically Increment or Decrement, meaning it will ADD or SUBTRACT the selected cells, by the amount you type into the box. For example if we start with a value of 25.00 and type 1.00 into the cell, and click "Execute" while this Function is selected, the cell will change to 26.00. If we type -1.00 in the box however, and click "Execute", the selected cell becomes 24.00, simple.
  
• Multiply just like it sounds. This function multiples the selected cell(s) by the amount you type in the box. For example, lets say you want to add 10% to an area you have selected (that's a lot by the way, you should make smaller changes if you're just getting started) you would type in 1.1 and click "Execute", if we started with 25.00, the new value would be 27.50. If you wanted to reduce by 10% you could either type in .9 and click "Execute", or you could use the next function
  
• Divide just like it sounds. This function divides the selected cell(s) by the amount you type in. An easy way to remember it is that it does the opposite off the multiply function above.
  
• Cpy from Cmpr this one has to do with the compare function that tunerpro has. I'm not going to go into great detail with it at this time, but the concept is simple enough. You load a compare file by going to Compare > Load Compare File, say a stock one and you can compare it to the file your currently working with, say one you have already modified. You can load up to 4 bins to compare to the one with which you're working. The Cpy from Cmpr function would work like this. Lets say you have only 2 tunes loaded, the on you're working with and the one you want to compare to. You would select say a row of cells, choose Cpy frm Cmpr, and then in the box you would type a "2". This would copy the contents from "bin 2" into the area you have highlighted. If you have 3 or 4 bins loaded you could put a 3 or 4 there and it would copy those cells, from that table in tune 3 or 4. Just be careful, but this could be confusing. This can be very useful though, say when coverting a tune from auto to manual, after a TH 350 or 400 swap perhaps.
  
• Fill w/ Value this function simply fills the selected cell(s) with the value you type in the box. Easy enough to figure out, just play with it.
  
• Smooth this function attempts to smooth out the values in a selected range by moving cells with greatly differing values closer together and "splitting the difference" so to speak. This is helpful if you're tuning in 3D mode (which we'll cover later) and see an area of a table that looks choppy, or peak. You can select that area, and use the smooth function to "smooth" it out. Remember this uses a percentage, so you must type in a value between 0.1 - 0.99 to choose the "level of smoothing". A little smooths a little, a lot smooths a lot. Just play with it and see if / how it works best for you.

3D Mode, you can display tables, and modify them in 3D mode. Some tuners prefer this, and it does help you to see a graphical representation of your changes sometimes. To display 3D select the little squiggly line icon at the top of the table.






I wont go greatly into detail about the functions of 3D mode right now. The few tips I have are you can infinitely rotate the graph by holding CTRL and using the left mouse key and you can select multiple points on the graph by holding CTRL and clicking. There are several other 3D modes such as Select all points, Compare Graphs, Color Mapping, and Wireframe view. These are the icons at the top of the graph menu, again just play with them and see if they are something you can make use of.

Now I will cover Logging ALDL data. To do so we must first download the proper ADX ALDL Definition file from the Tunerpro website. Again go to www.tunerpro,com > Downloads > Definitions.



**Note, if you are a manual or non computer controlled transmission, choose "EE_Manual.adx" If you are stock 4L60E, choose "EE_Auto.adx". You will also need to Right click and "Save as" on these just as the file earlier, otherwise it will just show you a bunch of weird code.




Now go to Tunerpro and choose Acquisition > Load Definition File.



Navigate to the place you saved the .adx file and select it.

Now that you have the correct definition file loaded, you should be able to see ALDL data if you have an OBD cable for your vehicle. Note, this only works with OBD 1 LT1's...

Let's get the cable set up to talk to Tunerpro. Go to Tools > Preferences > Data Acq. / Emulation and you should see this menu



Under Interface Type make sure "Use Plug-In" is selected.

Now go down and click Configure Plug-In Component, you should see this menu. You will need to select "Standard Serial" (unless you're using an emulator which isn't possible on an LT1 PCM) and below that you will need to select the COM port your OBD cable is installed on, then click OK.



Now go to the bottom and click OK to save the preferences. This should allow your OBD cable to talk to Tunerpro.

Go to the top now and click this icon to Connect / Recieve ALDL data.



Now you need to turn on Data List Views to see if we are recieving data, remember to make sure your key is in the ON position and let's have the engine running just for the hell of it.



You should see this screen now, go to the top and change it to F Cars if Corvette is already selected, unless you're in a Vette ...



Obviously you should see data moving around now.

[gregrob]

Now that you can recieve ALDL data from your car, let's get a nice little dashboard going so we can do some datalogging and tuning in style instead of the boring list view.

Go to the top and click this icon




and if you're cool like me, this will pop up



NOTE You will not have a dashboard installed unless you modify your .ADX file, this will NOT automatically appear at this point in the game, so dont panic.

Here's how the dash board thing works. Tunerpro stores the code for the dashboard in the .adx files. The ones you download from the tunepro website do not contain any dashboard files so NOTHING will be displayed on your dashboard. However there is a GUI interface built into tunerpro that allows you to CREATE the dash board on your own. I'm not going to go into how to create the dash boards right now because that's a whole nother barrel of cats. But here is a shot of the menu that you need to use. I will also post a link to some info that will help you in creating your own dash boards.



You will access this menu by going to Acquisition > Edit Definition

FORTUNATELY I am a hell of a nice guy and I have edited two .adx files that give you my "nightdash" dashboard and made them available for download here:
EE_Auto.adx
EE_Manual.adx



Remember, choose auto if you are a 4L60E car, Manual if anything else.

You can send me custom requests for different dash board data to display. I find this one has all the feedback I need to tune my car with, except injector duty cycle. (I'm working on adding that to tunerpro). However, you can play around with my existing platform if you wish, by right clicking, and changing the values on a given gauge, or status indicator



Loading the tune

You will need to download Winflash from the tunercat website. Here's a direct link



You will open this, go to Setup > Comm Port and select the comm port where your OBD cable is installed

Then go to Program > Read. This will pull the current tune off of your current computer. Just choose a file name and location and follow the on screen instructions.

When you're ready to load a tune, you will go to Tools > Program, select the bin file you want to load and then hit ok.

Note, this is a very sensitive process and you should read up on it to find out the do's and dont's of loading a tune to the ECM. You want to make sure you have a good OBD connection, unhook anything that would interfere with the datastream such as a Scanmaster, or aftermarket ignition box, and make sure you have adequate battery power in both your car and laptop. You dont want anything causing a big power drain while loading the tune either, such as an inverter, stereo, headlights, etc... I have had success using and inverter in the car while the tune is loading, because my laptop battery is weak, but only do this if your car battery is very healthy. If it is weak and you drop too low on voltage while loading the tune, it will crash and corrupt the rom chips in your PCM. If this happens, I can repair them for you for a small fee, Ion at madtuner does this is as well...



That's about all I have for now. If you have other questions send me an email via gregrob20 at gmail.com and I will see what I can do about addressing it and adding it to this tutorial if it becomes a common enough question.

Enjoy!

[gregrob]

Reserved

[MeanGreen94Z]

ummm im getting a 404 not found...

[gregrob]

ummm im getting a 404 not found...

Which one? I just tried them all and they worked for me

[SchaefZ28]

Up from page 2. This should really be stickied.

It is very informative, and I found it to be a lot of help in getting me started out. Plus gregrob has put a lot of time in it! Thanks

[proace4]

i say sticky too!!! Thanks man.

[BIGT94z]

quick question.

i need to get a akm cable, then i need to download the vcp driver so i the cable will read the pcm and be seen through the computer ( http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm ) right?

edit: i just read though ur tutorial again looks like u cover how the cable/labtop is going to connect with the pcm



now if i just want to datalog and be able to read ses lights what all do i need to do? does this software let u read your ses lights like datamaster? if so how? do i need to follow this step by step guide to do what i want to do right now? im a newb at this on my own pcm reading so bear with me

[proace4]

ok i finally figured out how to get it past the 404 screen... but, now I cant get it to connect. it will say connecting and then go back to yellow and say not connected. I have set it up as com3 and saved it. idk whats going on?

[Paulster2]

ok i finally figured out how to get it past the 404 screen... but, now I cant get it to connect. it will say connecting and then go back to yellow and say not connected. I have set it up as com3 and saved it. idk whats going on?

Are you sure your USB on your computer is using COM3? Mine is like COM7 I think. If you go into the device manager on your and find the USB, it will tell you which COM port your computer is using. You can also just try selecting a different COM port in the setup. Also, I think when you disconnect your cable, the COM port it is actually attached to will go away in the selection (and thus will appear when reconnected). So, unplug it, check to see what is available, then plug it in and check again. When you figure it out, I think there is a button to check to make sure the cable is working correctly as well. Hope this helps.