Unregistered Vehicle error when trying to write.

[bgallagher]

Hi all, new to tuning here so forgive my ignorance. I recently tried to tune my 4.8l ls and disable vats/etc in order to complete my ls swap. I am working with a 4.8 psi standalone and 5.3 suburban ECU (P01) but my motor is out of a 4.8 Silverado so i wanted to change the tune file to that of a 4.8 with Vats disabled so that it would work with my motor, and i was under the impression that the only difference between the 5.3 and 4.8 ECU was the tune so i could get away with just changing that. After that i downloaded the necessary stock 4.8 Silverado tune from the tune repository and modified it to remove vats and fit my build, but when i went to write it after navigating the pop ups and spending 2 credits it said that my vehicle was unlicensed. When i visited my license info menu i could clearly see i spent 2 credits on a serial number matching my ecu and when i go to re-license on a new tune file it says i have no credits. Did i waste my credits or what; in the menu it says if you are not using the stock file and modifying it you may need two licenses but i cant seem to find where to even buy the second license. I am very confused as to why i cant write my file after spending the necessary credits, i hope someone can enlighten me.

[2xLS1]

When writing you always have to have a license for what is in the PCM and the file you are writing to the PCM. To do what you are trying to do, write a file from the repository to your PCM that has a different file in it will require licensing both, so 4 credits. Normally you are writing a file based on what was read and licensed from the PCM so that is when it requires only 2 credits. What you should have done is licensed the file in the PCM and then copied the differences from the 4.8L file to it then wrote that already licensed file back to it.

[bgallagher]

When writing you always have to have a license for what is in the PCM and the file you are writing to the PCM. To do what you are trying to do, write a file from the repository to your PCM that has a different file in it will require licensing both, so 4 credits. Normally you are writing a file based on what was read and licensed from the PCM so that is when it requires only 2 credits. What you should have done is licensed the file in the PCM and then copied the differences from the 4.8L file to it then wrote that already licensed file back to it.

So basically i have to go into the base 5.3 files and change every parameter to match the 4.8? Thats alot of work, and im afraid i am going to irrevocably damage the tune or motor if i F something up or miss something. Is there no other way? it seems a little weird that i cant just download a file of the repository and write it to the already licensed ecu.

[5FDP]

It's not really weird, it's a money thing for HP Tuners. They don't want to to be able to take any tune file you want and use it for free. They let you reference them for free, just not write them.

There is a faster way to copy data over.

Open your tune and then the tune you want to copy data from using the compare feature. Click compare again and click view comparison log. I think in that new window you can collapse all the boxes so it just shows engine, engine diag, trans etc etc. Then right click the engine icon and it should let you copy over all differences in one shot.

[2xLS1]

So basically i have to go into the base 5.3 files and change every parameter to match the 4.8? Thats alot of work, and im afraid i am going to irrevocably damage the tune or motor if i F something up or miss something. Is there no other way? it seems a little weird that i cant just download a file of the repository and write it to the already licensed ecu.

You haven't yet licensed the 5.3L file that is in the PCM if I understand what you've done so far so whatever you do now that file/PCM is going to have to be licensed. That should have been licensed first, not the repository file. Then you could have used the compare feature to copy the repository file parameters to the file read and licensed that is in the PCM. It's a rookie mistake and is going to cost you 2 more credits no matter what you do now.