when you tune your car, what do you excatly do?

l always wondered, people always say that got it tuned or the car needs tune.. what is that? what excatly do you do to car? replace all the wires?

well, a "tune up" has taken on different meaning over the years as cars have typically become more reliable/ able to use parts longer due to computers/ improvements in electronics.

Of course, ever car is different, but a tune up traditionally consists of replacing:

-spark plugs
-spark plug wires
-distributor cap/ rotor
-air filter
-pcv valve
-possible oil change
-check belts/ hoses, replace if needed, etc..

they used to check the timing and replace points/ condensor or set the dwell on them, but with electronic ignition (HEI, etc) that has gone away

same with carburator adjustment.

then there's things like a "lube job" (adding grease to all the zerk fittings under the chassis), coolant flush, etc that you can do. check brakes, tires and pressure, etc.

nowadays things like the optispark on an LT1 doesn't need a "cap" replacement every "x" amount of miles. the LS1 had rid itself of a distributor altogether...

your owners manual should list everything GM prescribes for your car and the general miles/ range it should be done in

I do all the applicable things to my car as I listed above. I also look at the hoses/ wires for possible cracks/ wearing out.

I believe he's talking about tuning the car, you know after you do upgrades such as exhaust, cam, ect ... I don't exactly know what they do to the T/A's but usually it has to do with changing factory settings on the computer using an OBII (ob2) scanner to optomize the performance of the car. Usually this is done by someone with a dyno or at a track to get the best performance out of the car. For an auto car they might be able to change the shift points, for all cars they can control the air fuel mixture (I think). Some of the drag racers could probably shed some more light on this subject.

A tune is usually done to take full advantage of all the changes done to a factory car (like bolt-ons, cams, etc). A tune changes the computer to compensate for all the new parts. Say, you install a cat-back on your car. The engine has less back-pressure, and therefore doesn't have to pump as hard to do the same amount of work. So, the facotry setting has your engine running a bit rich. What a tune will do is knock the A/F ratio back down to optimum levels to take advantage of fuel you can save. And this goes with any part, CAI, heads, cams, etc. Tunes can change rev limiters and top speeds, to timing a heads/cam package.

thanks guys.. finally l got an idea about this tune thing. so performance tune is changing the computer and etc.. good to know this..

Put it on a dyno, plug in HPTuners, and go.

Of course, I don't know what to change, so I had a friend do it.

Put it on a dyno, plug in HPTuners, and go.

Of course, I don't know what to change, so I had a friend do it.

Some of those tables on the 'do it yourself' laptop programs look difficult to use. I was watching horsepower tv on spike and they were tuning their procharged LS1 with their own laptop. Changing the timing and a/f ratio looked complicated.

Exactly why I didn't do it.
I know how to use the software, just don't know what needs to be changed.

Hell....I have the software, just no cable to connect it to the car.

thanks a lot for the help..

Exactly why I didn't do it.
I know how to use the software, just don't know what needs to be changed.

Hell....I have the software, just no cable to connect it to the car.

I just found an article in my latest GM High-Tech mag that talked about a class the writer took on dyno/computer tuning. It was called 'EFI-101'. Good article too. He took it through www.efi101.com. They have classes all around the nation. Its hands-on learning and sounded interesting.
Some of the tables and graphs were in propogating waves and he tried to explain them in the captions, but I was like, WTF?

I know what the graphs do, I know how to change them correctly.
I just don't know what to change them to. :lol:

Much info here....
http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=287094

Ls1.com's domain as been suspended? l cant get in the web site.

Something is up.
One of two things are happening right now.
1. Owner failed to pay bill.
2. Owner is switching ISP's.

oh.. l love that web site. l hope they will do something and solve this problem quick.

also thank you so much for the infos Curtis.. when are you coming to IL?

There is a thread in the Off-topic section Erdal.
Racing at Cordova Sept. 1st.

l never clicked off topic sections.. because l didnt know there were threads there.. it looked like empty to me..

If you go in through the Camaro forums, they show up.
That is the only way to set it up between the two forums.