5.3L... TUNED!

[bartonmd]

Now that I'm out of the 5/100 warranty, I went together with a buddy (with a TBSS) and got the HPTuners setup (2 vehicles each), and we both got the PCM4less email tunes.

O. M. G.! (as the kids say) It's quicker than it was stock (without the 10-ply tires, armor, etc), the throttle opens when I push the pedal (the 5.3L has a huge delay, stock), and I got 19.5mpg on the way home from work, including the cold start, where I'd have been getting 17-17.5 with this level of tire/weight/aero modification.

The nice thing about the email tune is, they sent me a tune of my stock program, then I took a data log and sent it to them, then they made a couple tweaks to the fueling for MY engine, and sent it back.

Also, to get rid of the PWM/slip on the TCC, I kept the max PW% at 97-99%, but moved the minimum from 11-13% to 90% across the board. Boom, the apply isn't harsh, and the slip is between 0.2% and 0%.

Mike

[navigator]

good info Mike!

[bartonmd]

Yeah, and as an update, I really like driving/towing with the tune, trans tune, and TCC 0-slip mod in the tune!

The trip down to my bike meet in East-TN/NC, it was 1020 miles, and I got 14.7mpg on the trip, towing at 75mph on the interstate, 1/2 the trip in the mountains, and 2-lane mountain roads for ~200 miles of it. All with my 5x8 trailer, 1/2 with 2 bikes on it, and 1/2 with just my bike on it. All the extraction stuff, my tools, and bike stuff were in the back of the TB, as well. To sit level, I have 25psi in the Airlift 1000 bags.

As a frame of reference, completely stock, from here to NEPA with the same trailer and just my bike, with almost no 2-lane roads, and interstate travel at 70mph, I got 15.5mpg.

Mike

[Trail X]

The TCC improvement is awesome for sure.

The throttle thing is mainly a psychological change, right? It just remapps the petal press input to a higher throttle opening curve, right?

I would also venture that the mileage improvement is 95% due to the TCC lockup, as I saw similar gains with my shift kit.

[bartonmd]

The TCC improvement is awesome for sure.

The throttle thing is mainly a psychological change, right? It just remapps the petal press input to a higher throttle opening curve, right?

I would also venture that the mileage improvement is 95% due to the TCC lockup, as I saw similar gains with my shift kit.

Yeah, the lockup in the tune basically gets you out of opening the transmission valve body up to replace the valve. Mine isn't worn out yet, but even if it was, this would get it out of the worn section, and should start operating normally, again.

No, the throttle is not a psych change! The 5.3L is HEAVILIY torque managed from the factory! It was scary to pull out into traffic, because of the long averaging cycle they had on the pedal. You'd pin the throttle from a stop, and the throttle would open very slowly and wouldn't be anywhere near WOT until ~3500rpm, maybe 1.5-2 seconds after you pin the throttle (lower stall speed converter on the V8, so it takes me much longer to get to 3500 than you. Yours hits 2k when you hit the gas, where I'm accelerating when it's above 1k). This is BAD when you're crossing traffic on a blind corner or something. There's a bad blind corner that you turn across to get to my house, and when you're in 2nd, going across traffic at light throttle, see a car come around the corner, and pin the throttle, the transmission would basically go into neutral, slowly rev up (~1+ full second), then 1st would slowly engage, THEN you'd have full throttle in 1st gear. It's horribly scary to basically be coasting in neutral with your foot to the floor, watching a dump truck come at you! Now, when you pin it from a stop, the throttle opens RIGHT NOW (spins tires on dry pavement, where it wouldn't ever spin them on wet pavement before, because it came on so slow), and when you pin it from low rpm in 2nd, it does like you would expect, opens the throttle, grabs 1st, and you take off.

I'm certain that some of it was the mileage improvement was the TCC lockup, but the tune also advanced the timing from the horribly conservitive stock tune. It's this way on the I6, too, and is why I6 and V8 TBs both see 1-2mpg (highway) from a tune, without the TCC lockup mod. Mine would NEVER pull timing (knock retard) on 87, stock, but it would pull timing on 87 before it would downshift going up hills(with the trailer. It literally has to be a mountain for it to downshift without a trailer. I only dropped lockup on 2 hills on the way home from TECORE last time), after the tune. I ran 89 in it for the second 2/3 of the trip, and there was basically no KR any more. Maybe helped .1-.2mpg on the trip, based on where and how it was pulling timing on 87.

Mike

[v7guy]

So the moral of the story is that us guys with the I6 should find out what needs to happen to swap in the 5.3 to get more power and better milage.

[Nakashige]

I6 With 4.88 will Spin a Set of 37s Iroks

[HARDTRAILZ]

I want to drive it....hahahaha

I rode w big ed and a 5.3 tuned is mean...

[bartonmd]

I want to drive it....hahahaha

I rode w big ed and a 5.3 tuned is mean...

You are more than welcome to drive it!



As an aside, yesterday, driving with no winch, all my extraction/emergency stuff in the back, no A/C, and a good mix of 72mph highway, 65mph highway, and rural driving (45 miles each way); the Scangauge said 19.7mpg going out there from a cold start at the house, and 21.7mpg on the way home, a couple hours later (warm restart). No way to tell how accurate it is in this duty cycle, but it was within 0.5mpg on the fuel-ups on my trip with the trailer last weekend, so I can only assume it's close.

Mike

[fishsticks]

I want to drive it....hahahaha

I rode w big ed and a 5.3 tuned is mean...

You are more than welcome to drive it!



As an aside, yesterday, driving with no winch, all my extraction/emergency stuff in the back, no A/C, and a good mix of 72mph highway, 65mph highway, and rural driving (45 miles each way); the Scangauge said 19.7mpg going out there from a cold start at the house, and 21.7mpg on the way home, a couple hours later (warm restart). No way to tell how accurate it is in this duty cycle, but it was within 0.5mpg on the fuel-ups on my trip with the trailer last weekend, so I can only assume it's close.

Mike

Your MPG is above my I6's by a good margin.

Hatred.

[bartonmd]

As an aside, yesterday, driving with no winch, all my extraction/emergency stuff in the back, no A/C, and a good mix of 72mph highway, 65mph highway, and rural driving (45 miles each way); the Scangauge said 19.7mpg going out there from a cold start at the house, and 21.7mpg on the way home, a couple hours later (warm restart). No way to tell how accurate it is in this duty cycle, but it was within 0.5mpg on the fuel-ups on my trip with the trailer last weekend, so I can only assume it's close.

Mike

Your MPG is above my I6's by a good margin.

Hatred.

You are also running 35" tires, and I'm running 30.5 tires. You also have a body lift, so you have more frontal area. You also don't have basically flat roads to drive on.

But yes, hate away!

Mike

[fishsticks]

You are also running 35" tires, and I'm running 30.5 tires. You also have a body lift, so you have more frontal area. You also don't have basically flat roads to drive on.

But yes, hate away!

Mike

I also hate your logic..............