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Is this where a PCM (eg JET 79927) would go?

D

dchawk81

CEG'er
Joined
Jul 24, 2013
Messages
122
This is right under my glove box. It looks to me like it's the right port.

umegy5az.jpg
 
I don't even know that I'll get one but I want to keep my OBD port free for my scanner and don't want to do any real programming/wire splicing since it's still an all stock car.

I've got a bug in my ear for the JET though. My car runs great now but I'm curious about how much more I can get with minimal effort.
 
I don't follow what you are getting at. Keep the obd port free? Most people do not use chips anymore.

What most people use is an XCAL from SCT. You can get a generic/mail order tune or get tuned on the dyno. The XCAL flashes the PCM and then the obd port remains free.

imho, minimal effort and tuning do not go together.
 
You asked me why a chip. My answer is I don't want to use something that occupies the OBD port full-time and I don't want to program (although I might anyway). I've also seen things that look like you have to splice them into the lines somewhere. Those seem to be the only options other than plugging a chip into the computer itself, which I'm okay with doing.

The JET simply plugs into the computer. Unplugging takes the tune right back "out" and puts everything right back to stock. To me that's the very definition of minimal effort.
 
To attempt to clarify, I've seen four distinct options:

1. Flash via XCal device
2. Install PCM chip
3. Install OBD2 "chip"
4. Splice wires somewhere (cheap eBay modules)

1 I didn't want to do, but I might anyway. But an XCal costs more than a JET chip. 2 is what I planned to do via JET chip because it's hidden and can be undone without flashing anything, and it's cheaper than an Xcal device. 3 is the same premise/concept as 2 (plug & play) but hogs the OBD2 port and I do NOT want that because I use Torque via an adapter. 4 is sketchy at best and not a real option as far as I'm concerned.
 
I have never heard of a obdII chip. Also its well know the wire splice items on ebay are fake and crap.

Basically chips are not used anymore. Why go with a canned tune when it can be street tuned or dyno tuned via an xcal?
 
BrApple said:
Basically chips are not used anymore.
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Well, JEGS still makes chips so I'd guess that some people still use them.

BrApple said:
Why go with a canned tune when it can be street tuned or dyno tuned via an xcal?
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The obvious, glaring reasons are cost and convenience. I'm still weighing all the others pros and cons.

Maybe I won't even bother doing it at all, but I'm looking into it before I decide.
 
The reason I like the JEGS Jet chip is that, according to the description, it's dynamic and doesn't require any user input. Literally plug & play, and if you don't like it, unplug and unplay.
 
imho, at near $300 for a chip that will not be optimized for your vehicle, I would save up alittle more and get a real tune. A used XCAL2 can be had for less then that price, and getting a tune should be that much more.

Also the PCM itself is dynamic and self learning, which doesn't require user input also. Nothing in the description of the JET chip really talks about what it does. As I recall from the past the best thing that say a superchip would do it firm up shift points on an ATX.
 
The chip is $220 and the XCals I've seen were almost double.

I know what you mean about having a custom profile though. I'm not making any sudden moves.
 
I decided to dig into the Xcal/Custom tune option and it's looking to be even more expensive than I thought. I called a local SCT dealer/performance shop and I'm looking at at least $125 for an ECM unlock code or whatever for the 3015, $379 for the 3015 itself, and then $125 an hour for Dyno time. That's a minimum of $629.

Are you guys really paying that much??
 
dchawk81 said:
I decided to dig into the Xcal/Custom tune option and it's looking to be even more expensive than I thought. I called a local SCT dealer/performance shop and I'm looking at at least $125 for an ECM unlock code or whatever for the 3015, $379 for the 3015 itself, and then $125 an hour for Dyno time. That's a minimum of $629.

Are you guys really paying that much??
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What do you have done to your car? And what car do you have?

I think people really misunderstand how much of a difference a "tune" makes. The only reason I now have an SVT ECU in my car is because I basically have the entire SVT setup minus cams. UIM/LIM/TB/MAF/19# injectors. Unless you've got all that stuff and also headers, there isn't much reason for putting money into a "tune". The OEM ECU can reasonably account for an intake and exhaust (not headers). It is MUCH better to spend the extra coin and have a flash done on a dyno for YOUR car and modifications. I just don't see what a generic "plug and play" chip is going to do for your car. Hell, half the time a "mail order tune" that was done by someone familiar with our cars and done for our cars doesn't even really work to its full potential. Dyno tune is the best way to go.
 
azbobbybooshay10 said:
What do you have done to your car? And what car do you have?

I think people really misunderstand how much of a difference a "tune" makes. The only reason I now have an SVT ECU in my car is because I basically have the entire SVT setup minus cams. UIM/LIM/TB/MAF/19# injectors. Unless you've got all that stuff and also headers, there isn't much reason for putting money into a "tune". The OEM ECU can reasonably account for an intake and exhaust (not headers). It is MUCH better to spend the extra coin and have a flash done on a dyno for YOUR car and modifications. I just don't see what a generic "plug and play" chip is going to do for your car. Hell, half the time a "mail order tune" that was done by someone familiar with our cars and done for our cars doesn't even really work to its full potential. Dyno tune is the best way to go.
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^^This about sums it up.
To add to the above... A tune should only be used to account for changes that the ECU cannot cope with, or to fine-tune a carefully built engine. Certain changes cause different parameters fall out of the scope the ECU is designed to run within i.e. Turbo, Injectors, MAF, significant displacement increase, aftermarket cams, etc...

A chip or tune doesn't magically add power, and it should be the last thing you do, to bring all your mods back into scope for your ECU and get it to run optimally for the parts you've installed, and the fuel you're running.

Also, adding a chip to your J3 port on the ECU isn't minimal effort. Read the install instructions. you'll have to clean all the water-proofing resin off of that J3 port, which requires dis-assembly of the ECU, and in some cases, you'll have to solder some jumpers on the ECU mainboard just to enable use of the J3 port. :blackeye:

If you want to spend several hundred $$ just for a shift point adjustment, and/or to run premium fuel, go for it, against the advice of the more experienced members of the board.

Many people have already been down the road of tuning. The less popular options are less popular for a reason. make it your job to find those reasons, and make your own decision. :cool:
 
I get what you all are saying now and my replies were based upon an ignorance of what a tune is and can do. I was under the impression a tune could even help a 100% stock vehicle by optimizing everything about it, and now I realize the computer already does that. I didn't know a tune was only (or primarily) intended to compensate for changes made to the vehicle.

I have no intentions of changing my car from its current as-from-the-factory state. I'm just a regular guy with regular commuter needs who happens to own a wonderfully underrated little vehicle. The most I've done and ever intend to do that isn't factory spec is spark plugs - they're laser iridium now as opposed to the original double platinum. I've only done that so I don't have to change them ever again...hopefully. :D
 
dchawk81 said:
The most I've done and ever intend to do that isn't factory spec is spark plugs - they're laser iridium now as opposed to the original double platinum. I've only done that so I don't have to change them ever again...hopefully. :D
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Be careful; most Iriduim plugs do not have an Iridium ground electrode - only a center electrode. So if you got one of those brands, they will probably start misfiring pretty soon.

Double-platinum is recommended for the Duratec with good reason - because BOTH electrodes are platinum, not just the center electrode. It's the only solution for long-term reliability with the Duratec's waste-spark system, which fires in BOTH directions and will quickly devour any other type of plug.
 
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