Hey guys, been a long time since I've been on here, and I have new one for you.... I know that there is going to be about 6 people saying it is a tuner locked PCM, but I can guarantee it is not. For everyone that says that it is, they owe me a dollar.
Here is the scenario:
Customer comes in last week: I last touched up the tune about 4 years ago. No one has touched the car since. 2000 Pontiac Firebird with 17k miles. I pull the file, save it to the laptop, make my changes to the file for the changes he has done, I save that file with a new name. I try writing it and I get the error "x36 Exceeded Number of Attempts." I then remove the PCM and try my bench harness. Same thing.
No biggie, I've started to see these more and more as these older computers are starting to show their age. We get a new computer delivered on Saturday. Last night, I pull the file out of the new computer, and I write the file I wanted to put into it the previous week, and it loads without a problem on my bench harness. Customer picks it up the new PCM this morning, brings the car for me to get it on the dyno this evening. This evening, I log the file, pull the file, make changes, and then attempt to load the file into the new computer that the car drove here with....
"x36 Error: Exceeded Number of Attempts." Pull the PCM out of the car to try on my bench harness; "x36 Error: Exceeded Number of Attempts."
Probe the car's PIN20 wire (PCM BATTERY) and it's at a 12.12 volts. I have no issue getting another computer, but I do not want to do each rendition of the tune with a new computer, or having to use the bench harness to load each rendition. Worst case, I will just run new wires from the PCM to an auxiliary ALDL port and bypass that wiring in the car.
(It should also be noted that the same laptop and HPTuners cable was used on 6 other cars between last Thursday and this evening without a problem.)
Everything is telling me that it is something with the car. I've had three "x36 Errors" in the past 2 years where I just changed the PCM out and continued tuning without a problem. This is unusual because this car has done it twice with two different computers back to back.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.... If you're right, you can collect your prize from those that said it was tuner locked.
Mike