I used HP tuners and was very happy with the program. You have full control over everything. I really liked using the tow/haul programming to activate different tunes and shift points. You can have the grocery getter mode as default and then activate a performance tune with the push of a button. sweet stuff and well worth the investment.
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
I used HP tuners and was very happy with the program. You have full control over everything. I really liked using the tow/haul programming to activate different tunes and shift points. You can have the grocery getter mode as default and then activate a performance tune with the push of a button. sweet stuff and well worth the investment.
thatcabledude
GOLD Star
That is exactly what my buddy did on his swap. Best part is tow haul button is activated/deactivated by a simple momentary ground. Gen 3 at least.
I've heard different things on the tow/haul function. I'm not sure the GenIV's have that feature. Does anyone know for sure? I looked at a bunch of trucks and all the 6 speed trucks just have the up/down buttons for the trans. One tuning/ harness shop said they don't have it.
bloc
SILVER Star
It is definitely on the wiring diagrams for GenIV HD pickups, and IIRC on the Escalade though I need to verify that. Also it is activated through the bcm in stock config. Since it's a TCM program vs ECM I don't know if it's possible to reassign an ECM pin for the function.. might be worth asking on the HPTuners forums.
Edit: see following wiring diagram, far right
http://lt1swap.com/pictures/6Lx0 Transmission Range Signals and Driver Shift Request.gif
Edit 2: I missed a post or two and didn't realize why people were asking. HPTuners definitely allows different tunes on GenIV through use of the "flex fuel" signal wire, direct to the ECM. Not sure if this will impact transmission function. Also it may require use of the "custom OS" function which will eat up a couple of the 8 credits the unit ships with.
Edit: see following wiring diagram, far right
http://lt1swap.com/pictures/6Lx0 Transmission Range Signals and Driver Shift Request.gif
Edit 2: I missed a post or two and didn't realize why people were asking. HPTuners definitely allows different tunes on GenIV through use of the "flex fuel" signal wire, direct to the ECM. Not sure if this will impact transmission function. Also it may require use of the "custom OS" function which will eat up a couple of the 8 credits the unit ships with.
Last edited:
bloc
SILVER Star
HPTuners is the s***!
First off, pro tip: the VATS (anti-theft) delete is only visible if you are in "advanced settings" instead of basic. I was going crazy looking for the option.
Second.. the truck fired right up. Extremely loud with open headers, and I have no water in the cooling system while I finish that, so I didn't leave it running for long.. but.. appears my harness works.
Also..
A little digging around in the advanced settings.. there IS an option for "oil starvation mode". Listed as [ECM] 247 - Oil Starvation Enable: Master enable/disable for Oil Starvation protection feature.
I'm reading a thread where a guy set up a "fake" engine via Arduino to be run by his ECM to watch all the outputs vary with different settings.. since he didn't have a fake oil pressure signal it kept shutting the engine down until he figured this setting out.
I want to find out more about how it works before enabling (was disabled on my factory escalade tune) but it looks like it might be a reason to keep the GM oil pressure sender on GenIV swaps... especially since we are giving up the low oil light normally on our engines.
First off, pro tip: the VATS (anti-theft) delete is only visible if you are in "advanced settings" instead of basic. I was going crazy looking for the option.
Second.. the truck fired right up. Extremely loud with open headers, and I have no water in the cooling system while I finish that, so I didn't leave it running for long.. but.. appears my harness works.
Also..
A little digging around in the advanced settings.. there IS an option for "oil starvation mode". Listed as [ECM] 247 - Oil Starvation Enable: Master enable/disable for Oil Starvation protection feature.
I'm reading a thread where a guy set up a "fake" engine via Arduino to be run by his ECM to watch all the outputs vary with different settings.. since he didn't have a fake oil pressure signal it kept shutting the engine down until he figured this setting out.
I want to find out more about how it works before enabling (was disabled on my factory escalade tune) but it looks like it might be a reason to keep the GM oil pressure sender on GenIV swaps... especially since we are giving up the low oil light normally on our engines.
I do recall that now. I disregarded it because i'm not using the bcm. It seams it might be beneficial if wiring harness makers incorporated the use of a bcm into the harness's they are selling. The few added features of the bcm would be nice to have
bloc
SILVER Star
That's the thing! In terms of wiring, adding it isn't difficult at all.
Literally the only wires that need to run from the Engine harness are the two GMLAN wires that go to the interior OBDII port already, the brake signal wire, and possibly the low-speed serial data wire.. I'll be testing whether that last one is necessary but my gut is saying no. Outside of that you just give it ground and ignition power on the BCM terminals that need it and according to what I'm reading you should be good. Then add appropriate wires for cruise, tow/haul, TUTD, reverse lights, etc.
The one big gotcha is apparently it needs the same VIN and coding as the ECM/TCM to avoid communication problems. This means either grabbing the unit from the powertrain donor vehicle, or having it flashed by GM or one of the companies doing custom BCM programming.
I know my swap is progressing slowly but a major goal of mine is to get the BCM integrated, show how useful it is, and especially that it isn't very difficult. Personally I think it will make genIV swaps even more appealing with all of the built-in features and being able to avoid paying speartech/dakota for these expensive cruise and TUTD modules. Those outfits are doing great work but these features are already built in!
One little note about tow-haul mode.. the trigger switch is momentary to cycle the mode, and the light on the dash of a GM vehicle is activated via GMLAN. That means unless you integrate the cluster you won't know whether or not tow-haul is activated without a good memory. It does reset with a key cycle so worst case you can just do that to make sure it's off.
Cruise is on my list and avoiding the $400 price tag for add on cruise would be nice. I would like to keep the toyota cruise lever/switch. I have the TUTD wires in my harness but haven't gotten around to wiring them up yet either. At least I have the speartech gear installed and can report that after 3 or so months it has worked flawlessly
still here.... im waiting for winter to go away to finish... anytime I think im about to make headway it snows like 2 feet of snow..... the wonders of being in canada
so so so so true.....
the worst part about not having bought the home I wanted and bought the one the wife wanted.... she wants the house I wanted now and the garage doesnt fit the cruiser very nicely..... soooooo working on my back in the driveway sucks.... so much under vehicle work to do, run lines (fuel, oil, trans, power steering, brakes), I need to finish bolting the last of the accessories on, really it never ends....
bloc
SILVER Star
It never ends. I've spent a day and a half on the fan shroud and it's not done. Waiting on exhaust parts.. downpipes done but cats on way, still don't know what to do about muffler. Needing a 3.5" or greater exhaust after the merge and not liking baffled or fully straight through mufflers is making simply choosing parts difficult... One thought is don't merge and keep dual 2.5 all the way out the back.. but that's $360 just for the two mufflers I'd run.
RE: tow/haul - it shows up in HP Tuners as 'performance mode' in the tables. Essentially it's two tables (one for standard and one for performance). The standard table is the default and the performance is activated by using a momentary push button switch to ground a circuit. The PCM will then switch to this table until the button is pressed again or the ignition is turned off (which resets back to the default standard table). I don't know if this is the same process with the GEN4 PCM.
bloc
SILVER Star
What are you guys doing for Power Steering fluid?
My engine calls for a specific clear power steering fluid (Amsoil Lists "PS004") But the toyota engine/pump/steering box used Dexron II or III.
I know they'll function similarly but will putting Dexron III in this pump make any seals leak? My box is kicking along at 300k with no leaks and I'd like to keep it that way.
Edit: decided to search and found this in the 60-series section:
V8 guys - Power steering fluid or Transmission fluid for steering?
Lots of different opinions. Seems ATF might harden the GM Pump seals.. but personally I'd rather reseal the pump than the box, so I'm going to go with ATF in mine.
Still curious what others think
My engine calls for a specific clear power steering fluid (Amsoil Lists "PS004") But the toyota engine/pump/steering box used Dexron II or III.
I know they'll function similarly but will putting Dexron III in this pump make any seals leak? My box is kicking along at 300k with no leaks and I'd like to keep it that way.
Edit: decided to search and found this in the 60-series section:
V8 guys - Power steering fluid or Transmission fluid for steering?
Lots of different opinions. Seems ATF might harden the GM Pump seals.. but personally I'd rather reseal the pump than the box, so I'm going to go with ATF in mine.
Still curious what others think
Last edited:
thatcabledude
GOLD Star
I have wondered the same.
bloc
SILVER Star
I posted in that thread to see if anyone had problems with ATF in the six years since it was active.
I'd think that the pump is much more sensitive to what type of fluid is run in it since it spins at a relatively high RPM. The box not so much since none of it's parts move terribly fast. I'd run what the pump calls for. IMO, If your box has 300k on it, it deserves a reseal/rebuild anyway.
