Trans Tuning, Stock PCM

[Charles]

So I'm finally up and running on this 02 Auto PCM, and after about an hour of flogging the normalizers into respectable shape and another hour in the driveway the engine is about 90% nailed.

But.... what crackhead wrote this trans tuning strategy? And how do you make the converter LOCK!!!

Doesn't seem to matter where you put those lines for converter lock, the thing stays unlocked until stupid high mph, like 50+. I want converter lock at like 25! in SECOND GEAR!

Anybody help a brother out?

TNAA


(Who said PCS.... :lookaround

 

[Vader's Fury]

Mine wouldn't either. This was 4-5 years ago but it always waited till 50-55 to lock. I ended up putting in a switch for when I needed it to lock early.

Knowing what I know now though, I would have gone to a PCS.

 

[Charles]

Somebody knows how this works.

I snagged some stuff from one of Bill's files that came with the template and on one of his with the converter lockup mph set at like 127mph the G'damn thing locked right up (scratches head....), like snuff charger, locked in 3rd gear at like 30mph....

Still wouldn't lock in second, but it's a move in the right direction. And obviously didn't need locked 3rd at 30mph, lol.

I'm obviously missing the convention here or something. Do the lines not mean the mph at which it locks for a given TPS???

Conversely meaning the mph at which it unlocks in the unlock tables??????

Cause it sure as hell doesn't WORK that way!


Is this one of those deals where the PCM has 5 things doing the same task and I'm only changing one of them, and it's playing the do it, don't do it, do it, don't do it game internally?

Forgot how gay Ford's software engineers were...


Anyway, how do you control lockup on an 02? Pretty dumb not being able to go down the road.

 

[Mark Kovalsky]

I can't see what you're seeing, but when I did trans tuning at Ford here's how those tables worked.

There is one lockup and one unlock table for each gear. The second gear unlock table MUST be lower MPH than the second gear lock table or it won't lock. As I remember it second gear also had a single parameter that controlled the minimum pedal position to allow lockup. That parameter isn't used in third or fourth gears. No, I don't remember what it is called. The last time I looked at that it was in a different century. My memory doesn't go back that far.

 

[Charles]

I appreciate your reply, and your logic and mine are the same. I do have a table for lock and unlock in each gear, and I did ensure that the unlock is set at a lower mph than lock.

In fact, the last thing I did was to set 2, 3 and 4 to all lock at 25mph and all of them to unlock at 15mph to avoid any weirdness. Straight across the tables so all pedal positions react the same, purely mph based.

Still, the truck runs right up over 50mph no matter the pedal before it will lock. Except when I used some of Bill's stuff from one of his files, where it locked at like 30mph in 3rd gear.

I'm clearly missing some of the logic here in how this is functioning. Just knowing that it CAN lock down low (as it proved) has eased my level of frustration tremendously just knowing it's possible.

I will look harder into what was different on that one calibration that locked until someone tells me the error I'm making.

 

[Charles]

I should add, after it does lock, it stays that way.

 

[JoeDaddy]

I seem to remember someone saying that the mph needs to be lower on scale with the gear. I took that to mean the mph to be set consecutively higher with each gear.
Like....
1st - 10mph
2nd -20mph
3rd - 30mph......
Anything to that Mark?

 

[golfer]

see this a lot..definitely related to pedal position.

not ideal..but you can increase mass fuel desired at low pedal to shift the "driving" range lower in the pedal...

was actually thinking of asking Mark this today...

my Excursion seems to 'follow the tuning' map at 17% pedal position or lower...anything over 18% pedal and it won't lock in 3rd until OD (shift and lock stacked...frustrating).

 

[Charles]

see this a lot..definitely related to pedal position.

not ideal..but you can increase mass fuel desired at low pedal to shift the "driving" range lower in the pedal...

was actually thinking of asking Mark this today...

my Excursion seems to 'follow the tuning' map at 17% pedal position or lower...anything over 18% pedal and it won't lock in 3rd until OD (shift and lock stacked...frustrating).

That's not the problem here. I took my foot completely off the pedal numerous times to verify that it wasn't APP related.

Do we have accurate templates?

 

[Charles]

I'm thinking I'm going to flash the bone stock code just to see if it works or not. If not, then I can conclude that I have some sort of corruption taking place. Cause right now I can put the little lock line anywhere I choose and it changes not a single thing...

I may be flashing it to the tweecer wrong and messing it up. The trans tuning is probably on a big chunk of the bin file that I've never cared about before (manual stuff till now).

 

[Charles]

Alright, flashed the stock file and the truck would not crank. Unloaded, reloaded and flashed again, truck would not fire. Loaded Bill's 65T program, truck fired and ran down the road with normal TC lock.

Reloaded my original file from just before the stock file and the truck fired, and drove exactly as before, no lockup until way high mph.

I then dropped the lockup mph to 10mph in 2,3 and 4. Set shift points to 1-2 at 20mph, 2-3 at 30mph and 3-4 at 40mph for simplicity of diagnostics using speedo for verification.

Truck went 1-2 at 20, no lockup, 2-3 at 30, no lockup and 3-4 at 40, no lockup....

At the next stop sign I took off hard and it locked on the 1-2 at 20mph and stayed locked right on through. Let off, still locked.... drove this way for at least 10 minutes with probably 6 take-offs all working this way.

I then bumped the 2nd gear lockup to 30mph and the 2-3 to 40mph with the 3-4 at 50mph. After taking off I had no lockup until 50mph in 3rd, and OD couldn't be found, even with a full lift. Also, no coast clutch operation in 3rd. Od was only found after a run up over 60mph...

I then reloaded the program from right before and shifts resumed as before with lock on the 1-2 at 20mph holding all the way out...


What.....the..... ***....



Only thing a buddy suggested was the fact that my stock PCM has some kind of flash on it (came that way) may be causes some kind of issue.

As for that......

When I got this truck I drove it all the way back to Ga from Tx and it was a total dog. Like worse than stock power all the way. Wouldn't break 81mph to the floor. I just figured I forgot how pathetic stock was...

When I got back I tossed the scanner on to see why it wouldn't go in low range. As soon as the scanner connected I put it in low range and popped the accelerator to verify whether or not it had gone in, at which point it BLEW the tires off, NOT in low range I might add. Had TONS of throttle response. I took off and the truck was blowing smoke and felt like a 100hp tune. Trans shifts were firm and converter was locking up down low unlike before which was nearly never with any throttle.

Fast forward.... I now realize that any time you remove power to the PCM (change batteries for instance) you revert to the "stock" tune. Simply plugging in the scanner makes it "tuned" again.

WTF is that about? And can a flash on the EEPROM affect a program coming in through the J3?

 

[Charles]

I found a parameter called maximum fuel during crank or something along those lines and the value was 0 mg/stroke. I had changed that to 100 in my file not knowing how the truck would run otherwise. I suspect this might be why the truck would not crank on the "stock" file? If so.... why is that in the stock file?

 

[ghohouston]

All I can say is I hated the way my 2002 shifted stock. Got a little better with Gearhead tunes, even better with the bts, BUT still never felt "right"

 

[ghohouston]

Did alot like what you describe

 

[Charles]

Is it 2002 all over again? Can't get the PCM to do what it's told? I assumed we had gotten past all this sort of nonsense for good.

I have to assume I'm just doing something wrong.

 

[ToMang07]

I know the stock tuning I've had on my 02 VDH4/5 PCMs sucked, seemed like the TC never locked. The PHP tunes.... any... are leaps and bounds better, and the biggest reason is the firm shifts, combined with locked TC at most RPMs.

Probably not helpful input... but that's my (limited) experience.

Sent from the pocket porn device.

 

[Dieselboy.]

I've ran into this on my daily. (Pmt1) where she will lock whenever she feels. I can set lockup at wot to 15 mph in 3rd and roll on Hard in 2nd to wot. And it won't lock till over 50 or OD.
Makes me appreciate my pcs. It does what is programmed every time.
Charles have you changed the tc lockup delay on shift or wot parameter :s (this factory trans stuff is new to me ) pcs all the way

 

[CurtisF]

Charles when I get to my other computer I'll pull some screen shots of my tunes and post them here.

I have a race tune that I run that will lock the TC in 2nd any time the pedal is more than 50%. My normal daily driver tunes lock the TC in 3rd. Running VDH5.

 

[Charles]

After having the truck continually just blatantly ignore not only lockup but actual shift point changes, I'm starting to think I may not even be writing to blocks of memory that the PCM is even looking at when determining these things.

This is a reeeeeal easy task here. If I have to put my PCS on a bone stock truck that's gonna be a sad day.

I mean, if I change a shift point I'll lose all lockup down low. I NEVER can make it lock except ON a shift.... boy is that super, lol. Everbody knows that ON the shift is the most comfortable time to lock. Engine loves it, passenger's love it, grocery's in the back love it, lol.

I'm getting flashbacks from a decade ago trying to get decent tuning for AWA... Never thought I'd be back there again just stabbing in the dark wishing the PCM would listen.

 

[TurboM700]

After having the truck continually just blatantly ignore not only lockup but actual shift point changes, I'm starting to think I may not even be writing to blocks of memory that the PCM is even looking at when determining these things.

This is a reeeeeal easy task here. If I have to put my PCS on a bone stock truck that's gonna be a sad day.

I mean, if I change a shift point I'll lose all lockup down low. I NEVER can make it lock except ON a shift.... boy is that super, lol. Everbody knows that ON the shift is the most comfortable time to lock. Engine loves it, passenger's love it, grocery's in the back love it, lol.

I'm getting flashbacks from a decade ago trying to get decent tuning for AWA... Never thought I'd be back there again just stabbing in the dark wishing the PCM would listen.

Not to change the subject complete put with a PCS can you tell it to lock the converter during shifts?

The only way I can see how todo this is is have your shift points and TC lock up value the same.