20 Tips for a Better Tuning Experience with Holley EFI (applies to any ecu)

let's go over some of the most overlooked things you may not have taken into consideration leading up to getting your cartoon some of these are for Holly specifically especially the first few but you can apply any of this to any car or ECU really hopefully this will save you guys some frustration and more importantly some money there are 20 different tips here in no particular order so I'll try and go through these all as quick as I can and these will also apply to anybody tuning your car and are not specific to just me tip number one make sure you have the correct injector data for your injectors this maybe doesn't apply if there's just a drop down for the injectors that you're using but do not assume that the tuner has the injector info for your injectors you don't want to make the tuner spend time searching for the data for your injectors you just want to provide them with it and if you are unable to find it then more than likely that means they won't be able to find it either and it also might mean that it just simply doesn't even exist injector data isn't nearly as important with Holley as it is with some other ecu's especially OEM ecu's but the injector data is one of the core building blocks of the two soon so it doesn't really make much sense to guess or start with something that isn't accurate if you can help it tip number two in a perfect world you would have your inputs and your outputs pin mapped and configured before going in for tuning but if you're unable to do that for whatever reason you must be able to let the tuner know which input or output you have wired to which pin on the ECU and you also need to let them know how it's configured like is it a 12 volt or a ground input or output for example just saying that you wired it to the blue wire doesn't help any at the very best case scenario then they're going to have to go digging in and figure out which color wire that is and it may not apply to your ECU it's just a mess so let them know exactly the pin number and what the input or the output number is I can't count how many times I've had cars come in and have a handful of different inputs and outputs wired they say they have XYZ wired up and I'm given no documentation or any sort of a clue on what was wired where the process to figure this out after the fact is very long and tedious and I'm not sure if there is a bigger waste of time than trying to sort out the situation tip number three if you're using a Holley input and output expander make sure the things that you're wiring to the expander are actually supported by the expander for example you can't wire your boost control into the expander do your homework on this ahead of time and do that homework before you start the wiring process to make sure that you get it right tip number four make sure that your ECU your handheld your dash and whatever else you might be using are all updated to the most recent software and firmware versions and if you're not sure on how to do that or you don't know what the newest version is or maybe you don't want to use the newest version for whatever reason just let whoever is doing the tuning know the situation ahead of time sometimes firmware updates can take a really long time they can be a pain in the butt and you have to unplug everything in the network in order to perform the update so just expecting your tuner to do that isn't really fair to them and can really disrupt their workflow and potentially cost you extra money tip number five this is actually a bit of an add-on to the last tip and I see this one all the time but make sure your can connector is accessible and let whoever is tuning know where that connector is there's nothing worse than going to plug your cable in just to realize you have no idea where it is and after you search the whole car top to bottom for 20 minutes you realize that the connector is tucked up under the dash it's impossible to get to and you need reconstructive spine surgery after finally getting the stupid cable plugged in tip number six you just did 12 000 hours worth of work to the car there will likely be things that are not 100 correct or that you want to double check or you know whatever that looks like if you've mounted all of your stuff in the car in a hard to get to place consider not putting the car back together 100 until after the tuning is complete like maybe not installing the dashboard in the car for example if all of your stuff is mounted up under the dash there is nothing worse than having to stop your tuning session early because your Amazon fuse holder exploded and now you have to do 12 hours worth of work in order to be able to get to it tip number seven not meant to offend anybody but don't don't half-ass things and say that you're going to fix it after the tuning session there's probably less than a one percent chance that you're actually going to fix it and sometimes it can be dangerous or affect the tune one example I see all the time of this is when guys will not install a catch can and instead they'll just have the crankcase dumping directly onto the turbo manifold just waiting to catch the car on fire or the other one that I see all the time is guys will have something that's maybe not best case scenario and then they always say that they're planning on upgrading all these things after the tuning is complete the problem with that is depending on what you are changing and upgrading after the tune it can potentially require the whole car to be retuned all over again which again is just going to waste everybody's time and money and the scenario is a perfect intro into the next tip tip number eight is to quit rushing your car was just in chassis shop jail for three years the engine builder had the motor for two years paint and body had it for a year and a half I can promise you that the car does not have to be tuned today spend a few extra hours days weeks months whatever it takes to do everything proper early maybe that's a whole other video Topic in itself is I can show you guys how to save money when you're doing this stuff the number one way to waste money is to rush especially when it's for no good reason tip number nine I can't believe that I actually have to say this one but this turns into a situation several times a year when you bring a car to the dyno you have to make sure that there's actually gas in it also if you need to purchase race gas E85 or whatever else it is that you need I would recommend getting it on your own before you go to the shop that you're planning on have doing the tuning or at the very least you need to verify that the shop that you're going to has it in stock despite what it seems that people think most shops actually do not stock race fuel people have dropped off cars and just expected me and other shop owners for that matter just to have some of the craziest off-the-wall fuels in stock there is zero profit margin in selling fuel that's a big liability to stock it and most insurance companies would cancel your insurance if you stocked it also there are way too many different types and flavors to have an inventory of all of it nine times out of ten you're better off just going ahead buying the fuel that you need bringing it with you so you know you're covered again don't just assume that the shop will have it tip number 10 is actually the exact opposite end of the spectrum of the last tip but if you are doing a dual fuel tune or a flex fuel tune you're likely not going to want to fill your 97 gallon gas tank up with fuel discuss with your tuner ahead of time how much fuel they want you to bring in the car of the initial fuel type usually it's a giant help if you also bring whatever maybe like fuel lines and fittings and adapters and whatever you need to easily drain the fuel out of the tank and into whatever container it is that you're going to use a lot of times it's easier to just add a few extra gallons of say 93 for example than it is to spend half the day trying to drain a thousand gallons of fuel out of your car also another kind of overlooked part of that process is people always bring the fuel to put into the car but nobody ever brings a container to put the fuel that you're draining out of the car into so if you know you're going to need to drain 10 gallons of fuel out of the car make sure you bring enough containers and jugs or wherever it may be to get that 10 gallons of fuel out of the car tip number 11 discuss the pricing up front so there's no surprises at the end of the tuning session and always budget for more than that so if things pop up you don't have to stop the tuning session over a 25 part that you might need if you need to stay under a certain dollar amount let the shop or tuner know this number before they begin so that way they don't go over budget because something happened Midway through the dyno session they decided just to fix it because in their eyes it wasn't a whole lot of money and it made sense for them to fix it so they could finish doing the tuning but you don't want to be in a situation where that happens and then now you're actually over budget and you can't afford to pay them that situation gets ugly in a hurry tip number 12 this may be a little bit controversial but don't just search out the cheapest tuner anybody who has been doing this for any length of time can instantly and I literally mean instantly tell when all you're doing is shopping around for the cheapest price without a shadow of a doubt some most pain in the ass customers are also the ones who only care about the cheapest price and most not even tuners just humans in general are likely not even going to want to work with you if all you are after is the cheapest price I absolutely understand that everybody has a budget but if you are solely after the cheapest price on the tune you were likely after the cheapest price on everything else on the build as well and those cars are always a total disaster from start to finish and usually even long after the fact and after the tuning is complete as well there's a big difference between searching for the cheapest price and searching for the best value number 13 depending on the use and power level of the car the spark plug situation should probably be part of the pre-appointment conversation so I encourage you to talk to whoever's tuning about how many sets of plugs they want you to bring if they'll be changing them or are you going to be around to change them on the dyno or however else they plan to do it but the one consistent thing worth mentioning is is don't drop your car off somewhere with spark plugs that are already just fouled and dead and will require that them to be changed before they can even get started on the car if you demolish your plugs get in the car on and off of the trailer let the tuner or the shop or whoever know ahead of time that once you get the carp off the trailer and parked that you would like to put a set of plugs in it so they don't have to do it some cars are a royal pain in the butt and take a long time to change the plugs so don't just dump that into somebody else's lap and act like it was an accident or you forgot about it just do the right thing put a set of plugs in it so that they have something fresh to start with number 14 goes right in line with changing out spark plugs if you're a particular car or header requires you to use 13 different wrenches all welded together in order to get to that one hard to get to spark plug on your car just throw that magical tool that you made in the car so that if you or whoever else needs it it's available Golden Rule there is if you don't bring it you're gonna need it number 15 is a whole situation itself but basically if your spark plug wires are laying on your header tubes well the first thing that you need to do is fix that but assuming you're in a situation where you're not going to fix that for whatever reason and your car is going to be melting plug wires left and right make sure you bring an extra set of plug wires with you throw them in the trunk also make sure you bring whatever boots and whatever other miscellaneous stuff you need as a result of that I feel like I've seen about 500 Dyna sessions in short because spark plug wire melted or broke or fell apart and there were no spares tip number 16 if you're going to go to a hub Dyno make sure you bring your wheel lock key or if you have to take the entire rear end out of the car in order to get the rear wheels off because the car is so low make sure you have a conversation with the dynashop about that ahead of time it's also very helpful if you know your gear ratios tip number 17 if you're going to a roller Dyno make sure that you have the appropriate tires trying to make 1500 horsepower on a car with all season tires with steel belts blasting out of the side of them is not going to work very well also make sure you use a set of tires that you are okay with ruining drag radials can die pretty quick on a roller Dyno and slicks almost always die or even worse they just totally explode if you plan to use slicks on the die I know talk to the dyno shop ahead of time as a lot of them won't even let you use slickson Dyno as it's super dangerous and it makes a gigantic mess rubber literally flies everywhere and you put one car in the dyno with slicks and you'll be picking up chunks of rubber for the next three years tip number 18 this one is a bit superstitious but it is wildly consistent stop posting on social media ahead of time that you're going to the dyno and updating all of your crap during the tuning session it almost always results in things going south take your pictures take your videos whatever it is during the day and once the tuning session is complete then start dumping all that stuff onto social media the only thing worse than a bad day on the dyno is everybody questioning you and asking you why things went bad on the day of the dyno if you don't post anything leading up to it or during the Dyna session if things go south then nobody even knows you were there you can regroup and then do it all over again and then make all your posts and stuff after everything has gone smooth just trust me on this one tip number 19 kind of goes with tip number 18 but mentally prepare yourself ahead of time for a bad day if you just put an intake and an exhaust on your car things will likely go pretty well but if you just rebuilt the entire car and engine from the ground up it's not uncommon for things to go wrong especially if it's your first trip to the dyno with a new setup new car totally freaking out and throwing a temper tantrum is just uncomfortable for everybody and it isn't going to fix anything I've seen some of the craziest stuff in this regard full-blown adult temper tantrum meltdowns it's not the tuner's fault that you wired your fuel pump with a piece of dental floss and your fuel pressure is dropping as a result of it spazzing out throwing things up against the brick wall and saying you're going to sell the car you just put together because one small thing went wrong the first time you got it up and running just is kind of embarrassing I've literally watched grown men cry over this and I've even had guys say that their wife is going to divorce them as a result of the car not performing well it didn't feel like the appropriate time to ask the 30 questions that popped up into my head is a result relative of that statement but yeah I've literally seen and heard some of the craziest stuff so just prepare for yourself for the worst and then you can be really happy when things do go well last but not least we have tip number 20. different tuners are going to spend different amounts of time on your car some are more thorough than others some are great at the Full Throttle part throttle stuff and maybe they don't get an opportunity to spend time on the cold start or any of that stuff because you brought the car in the middle of the summer you waited for it that day and they just were not given an opportunity to start the car when it was 30 degrees outside and it was the first start for the day but at the end of the day nobody is going to be able to iron out all the little nuances and really dial in your car exactly the way that you use it in the way that you drive it better than yourself so if you're looking to learn how to put the last finishing touches on your professional tune or you're just interested in learning to tune your Holley EFI system completely by yourself make sure you check out this video on the screen now to learn more foreign

Channel: Joe Simpson

Views: 12,593

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Id: niH6ljkkdXQ

Length: 14min 0sec (840 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 29 2023