Newbie Tuning an 09 Silverado

[SASTBone]

Hello all, new guy here. pretty new to tuning and could use some advice here. I bought the truck with a bad trans, go figure in a 60e. had a decent rebuild done, Trailblazer converter and shift kit, nothing horribly fancy. i have some work yet to do with the blue cat tuner when i get my new tires. initially i had some lockup issues with it hunting but i believe it worked that out which you should see in the tune file.

Next on the list was after the trans redo the engine spit out a wrist pin on startup, was real neat. gave me the oppurtunity to replace the 200k DOD/AFM 5.3 in exhcange for a 40k 08 5.3 without DOD/AFM. i removed the error codes and disabled it in the tune and have been driving the trucks. heres my struggles.

the overall feel of acceleration sucks, i imagine there's some sort of timing reduction or torque management at play, in my reading im told there isnt much to tune on the dbw system? Not sure how true that is but i haven't found what im looking for yet there either in the tune. under 3k-ish it seems so limited like its just hesitant to accelerate like it wants and is just easing into it. i could use some pointers here on how to improve or reduce it as to not kill my trans which im reading some conflicting stuff out there as well.

Next is at idle, regardless of cold or warm itll hunt slightly, idle will get a little rough and it comes back. fairly intermittent, but happens regularly. looking at my data log i noticed my TPS is above 0% there's some conflicting info that this is normal and its not. initially i figured a tps reset, MAF clean and crank relearn might help and ultimately it lowered the tps, and now the rpm fluctuatio are less aggressive. i have noticed my B1 o2 is slower, or one is slower than the other. im on sensor number 3 and the issue persists there as well and im not sure if it has any part in this. also tried unplugging the MAF as my mechanic buddy said the truck should still run, it in fact does not run at all with the MAF unplugged

other things i messed with. downstream o2 MIL code removed, just wouldnt go away!!! power enrichment lowered from 5kish stock to 3500.



i would ultimately consider these all driveability items, id like a bit better driving feel out of the truck and im looking for some guidance in doing so if anyone is up to helping. hopefully this makes sense and isnt too scatterbrained. Ive attached my current tune and the trucks base tune. theres two logs for idle one without the cleaning and resets and one with, also logs 2 and 3 are just generic driving logs if its helpful.

09n silverado base tune.hpt
09n silverado no codes-chnged shifts-pe.hpt
idle log no adj.hpl
idle log cleaned tb and reset.hpl
2.hpl
3.hpl

[5FDP]

So you did a DOD delete on the new used engine you got? All of the 5.3's had DoD unless someone installed an aftermarket camshaft, 4.8's never had DoD though.

On DBW trucks, the throttle blade is always open. It needs to be for it to idle, they is no IAC motor anymore as the blade controls the amount of air.

Usually if you increase the idle to 600-650rpm, that will smooth some engines out. Idling at 525-550 never seems to be super smooth. I don't see much of any real timing pull under normal acceleration, it looks pretty normal for what you are doing. Fueling isn't that far off per the fuel trims either, could use a little work but not a ton.

You can make PE way better too. Lower the hot pedal enable to 65%, raise the KPA enable to 80kpa and lower the EQ ratio to around 1.200 from 3,250rpm to redline. A little leaner fuel mixture but while still a little rich is what most engines like.

[SASTBone]

i was told this was a 5.3 opening the valley showed there was no DOD/AFM in it. ill be somewhat upset if its truly a 4.8 but it came out of a truck vin'd as a 5.3 per the GM build sheet. the motor was pulled at 48k in exchange for an LSA which is sorta a hobby of his.

i sorta anticipated the idle thing might have been why but im not sure why it dropped 6% after cleaning, that little amount of buildup somehow restricted 6% of airflow? thats wild but forseeably reasonable.

question, would my fueling and spark tables be vastly different if this was a 4.8L somehow? id estimate yes due to actual difference in displacement but im guessing it wouldnt effect it a ton.

any tips on adjusting to a slightly leaner fuel mixture. ill dig into figuring out what youve suggested before this.i think i misread were you stating 1.2 for power enrichment is gonna lean it out or lean out some of my regular fuel trims as a whole?

you mentioned torque management doesnt seem to be doing much, is that common for the gmt900s? curious why it feels so sluggish
down low as im accelerating. not making sense of that if it isnt torque management related.

can you look this over as to your directions so i can verify i did that correctly lol. still a bit hesitant with myself but thank you for the help
pe2.hpt

[verlon]

All of the 5.3's had DoD unless someone installed an aftermarket camshaft

5.3 LMF does not have DOD

[blindsquirrel]

LH8 as well, used in Colorado/Canyon/H3.

[SASTBone]

update i took the suggestions here. response for power enrich is way better, idle is seemingly happier at 600 right now more to come. acceleration until around 40mph is still super sluggish i really do not like it. i have the blue cat trans tool so i need to try that out but ill get a log together and start diagnosing better why the heck it feels like a gutlass wonder under light acceleration from a stop. appreciate everyones help thus far

[horsepowerguru427]

update i took the suggestions here. response for power enrich is way better, idle is seemingly happier at 600 right now more to come. acceleration until around 40mph is still super sluggish i really do not like it. i have the blue cat trans tool so i need to try that out but ill get a log together and start diagnosing better why the heck it feels like a gutlass wonder under light acceleration from a stop. appreciate everyones help thus far

Your timing tables suck. I'd Give it some timing and go retest...Also, not all your VVE tables match.

[SASTBone]

Your timing tables suck. I'd Give it some timing and go retest...Also, not all your VVE tables match.

so some nervousness there. where to start? this is where my lack of knowledge and ultimate downfall begins. what do we mean by VVE tables dont match.

I figured base timing tables may have been problematic however looking at them means nothing to me thus far, what would be an improvement under which table? if i start screwing with timing tables wont i need to wideband datalog all that? or is there a safe degree where i can improve without hopefully starting an avalanche of adjustments elsewhere

my navigation of all this is still developing, concept to application still growing so bear with me please.

in addition my research and such last night i came across an issue with the communication between blue cat and HP. i need to assign a tire rev per mile value however im not sure which box that needs to populate in. the hint box says the same thing for all three.

some addition of trans data-untested
pe2+trans log+bunch of pe tqmngmt, revise 611.1551 speedo.hpt


blue cat tire rpm.PNGhp tuner vss cal.PNG

[horsepowerguru427]

so some nervousness there. where to start? this is where my lack of knowledge and ultimate downfall begins. what do we mean by VVE tables dont match.

I figured base timing tables may have been problematic however looking at them means nothing to me thus far, what would be an improvement under which table? if i start screwing with timing tables wont i need to wideband datalog all that? or is there a safe degree where i can improve without hopefully starting an avalanche of adjustments elsewhere

my navigation of all this is still developing, concept to application still growing so bear with me please.

in addition my research and such last night i came across an issue with the communication between blue cat and HP. i need to assign a tire rev per mile value however im not sure which box that needs to populate in. the hint box says the same thing for all three.

some addition of trans data-untested
pe2+trans log+bunch of pe tqmngmt, revise 611.1551 speedo.hpt


blue cat tire rpm.PNGhp tuner vss cal.PNG

When you go to edit tab> virtual volumetric efficiency: There is a drop down box that is VVE (open), VVE(closed), VVE (DOD Open), VVE(DOD closed).
If youve tuned your VVE then you should be copying that finished table into the other VVE tables so theres not a chance of it referencing a table that you didnt tune.

As far as timing, Ill just post a picture for reference. The image is ballpark where youd aim for, which, compared to your stock tables is a big difference!!gen 4 spark table.jpg
Use this as a reference for the high octane table and either put it in for the Low octane as well or lower the timing some if you dont run high octane all the time. Most LS engine are very happy in the mid 20's for WOT timing.

[SASTBone]

When you go to edit tab> virtual volumetric efficiency: There is a drop down box that is VVE (open), VVE(closed), VVE (DOD Open), VVE(DOD closed).
If youve tuned your VVE then you should be copying that finished table into the other VVE tables so theres not a chance of it referencing a table that you didnt tune.

As far as timing, Ill just post a picture for reference. The image is ballpark where youd aim for, which, compared to your stock tables is a big difference!!gen 4 spark table.jpg
Use this as a reference for the high octane table and either put it in for the Low octane as well or lower the timing some if you dont run high octane all the time. Most LS engine are very happy in the mid 20's for WOT timing.

so if DOD is removed then i dont necessarily need to worry about those? consdering its copy/paste it still wouldnt be the end of the world

i havent yet tuned my VVE yet so i probably shouldn't be copying anything into other tables currently, instead i need to figure out what that involves.

[SASTBone]

so back at this some. pulled plugs today, strap is almost entirely white, the drivability has sucked trying to get it to get out of its own way sometimes. In response to some previous comments i bought a bore scope and it is indeed a 4.8, it has flattops and no DOD AFM. im pretty upset about it tbh. it does however have the stock 5.3 injectors and intake. should i blindly start swapping everything in every tab over to a 4.8 compare file?

i looked into the VE stuff above and honestly im lost. been watching alot of goatrope garage and matt stanford, and im just not picking up on this stuff by watching, they need some sort of interactive course for this stuff.

[blindsquirrel]

Gen 4 5.3s all had flat tops. Since they all have flat tops and the same cylinder heads, 4.8 is 9.08:1 and 5.3 is 9.95:1.

[SASTBone]

Gen 4 5.3s all had flat tops. Since they all have flat tops and the same cylinder heads, 4.8 is 9.08:1 and 5.3 is 9.95:1.

oh for hecks sake.........but it doesnt have the dod afm valley cover which to a previous point had to be a 4.8L? how the heck do you tell what it is otherwise? tried bore scoping the back of the block for a casting number under the pass head but no avail

[blindsquirrel]

There were several Gen 4 5.3 RPOs that did not have DOD hardware.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_LS_...vector#5.3_L_2

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...an+cover,13188

[SASTBone]

There were several Gen 4 5.3 RPOs that did not have DOD hardware.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_LS_...vector#5.3_L_2

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...an+cover,13188

right and i believe we went over that in an earlier post that being that this is an iron block it wasnt one of the examples of a 5.3 built without dod afm. it would in fact have to be aluminum to fit the bill such as the LH8. the LMF might be applicable however this came out of an unmolested half ton truck which means it wasnt found in the van it was suppose to?

i made a template to try and swap to 4.8 stuff in hopes maybe itll run better with one than the other in hopes to figure out which this is, and then get back into why is the driveability so poor.

[SASTBone]

ok maybe im back to square one. buddy told me about resetting ltft. something i apparantly missed and maybe i need to paste a comparison, it just comes down to time however with the 4.8/5.3 mystery i changed just the displacement to what a 4.8 would be and logged a breif trip up and down the street with the reset ltft (btw that will become a new part of my ritual of logging files, i feel dumb) this is what i get. i have yet to get to the templated tune swapping everything to a 4.8 so this is still 5.3 tune wth 4.8 displacement. anyone have any insight?ltft reset 4.8 displ.hpl