FAQ: Tuning a 1996 Riv SC?

Another possibility may be to take say the 97 Bonne SE bin and a 97 Riv bin. Combine the 97 Bonne trans properties with the 97 Riv engine management to get a 96 Riv file that would need to be burned as a 97 Riv. Theoretically it should work.

Does HP Tuners have all L67s unlocked [except the 96 riv ] ? Or do you pay for a single car/model/year?

I was going to make a poll to see if anyone was interested in chipping in towards a shared 97 tuner, but I didn't feel like having to install mozilla to do it.

update: the open L67 software will not work on 96 L67 riv's tried it today.
so if HP Tuners doesnt support it, open l67 won't work, and dhp is no longer made...is there no other option?
if i got a used DHP PT would i still be able to get the unlock bin for a 96 riv?
i really want to be able to make adjustments before i get more mods. not to mention 108 comes up awful fast.

Bump to answer above question.

TTT?
Drew, can you help some fellow 96ers??

Come on , someone has to know something. We're desperate here.

I don't wanna be a 14 second riv forever...

will a standalone ECU work?

Standalone technically should. But it won't be as good as a tuned pcm.

Seriously.. Check your pinouts at the pcm between 96 and 97. They should be close. Then add in the trans wiring from a Bonnie bin and see if it matches up with the 96 Riv trans pins at the pcm.

From there..you put in all the data for the 4T60hd trans and 97 L67 from a riv and you are all set.

Mr.Riviera wrote:

update: the open L67 software will not work on 96 L67 riv's tried it today.
so if HP Tuners doesnt support it, open l67 won't work, and dhp is no longer made...is there no other option?
if i got a used DHP PT would i still be able to get the unlock bin for a 96 riv?
i really want to be able to make adjustments before i get more mods. not to mention 108 comes up awful fast.

Yes

I wonder if it would be possible to upgrade to a 97 or newer pcm. I can look into it more if need be.

i think i would have to sway out the tranny too.

Yeah when my tranny goes out , i'll probably swap to a 97-99 pcm and tranny.

So at the moment, are there any tuners that will work for the '96 Rivs at all? I don't want to be limited to 108 when the speedo reads 120...

You can get a used DHP powertuner. I also have a 96 riv DHP 1.5 file


If anyone is interested in hosting my 1996 Ribviera DHP 1.5 file please PM me.

oldsman105 wrote:

Mr.Riviera wrote:

update: the open L67 software will not work on 96 L67 riv's tried it today.
so if HP Tuners doesnt support it, open l67 won't work, and dhp is no longer made...is there no other option?
if i got a used DHP PT would i still be able to get the unlock bin for a 96 riv?
i really want to be able to make adjustments before i get more mods. not to mention 108 comes up awful fast.

Yes

you're positive about this? because im on the verge of buying one if thats the case... Ive heard you can download any unlock bin from a forum or something? is that how it goes?

This is true. Plus, Olds said he has the 96 1.5 bin file which is all you would need along with the DHP tuner you mentioned picking up.

As i'm sure some of you are sick of hearing, i want a powertuner , but unfortunately clubgp hasn't approved my membership so i have no way of getting in touch with the people who are selling powertuners , so if someone would go to http://www.clubgp.com/newforum/tm.asp?m=4408823&p=1&tmode=1&smode=1
and give this guy my email it would be appreciated. thanks!

pm me your email and I'll send it to him

done. Good luck.

Thanks again.

cool!

Reply from guy i want to buy a tuner from:

"I'm wondering what they meant about downloading the software to tune a 96.
There are not different versions of the software for different cars.
Everyone gets the same version of the software, and each release had more
cars mapped into the software, so that the latest version has the most cars
mapped into it. However, I did not think that the wide-open feature included
1996 cars.

Here's how it used to work, and how it works now:
When the Powrtuner was first developed and sold, you could specify 1 or 2
cars to be tuned (by model, year, and engine) and those cars would be coded
into the Powrtuner hardware. So I specified a 1997 Regal GS L67 and a 2000
Regal GS L67, and that's all that I could tune. My Powrtuner hardware had
those 2 cars coded into it, and in addition, the software, which is the same
for everybody, needed to include PCM maps for those 2 cars.
The software would check the hardware and only let you tune the cars you
specified when you bought the tuner.

Later, DHP decided to open up the Powrtuner software to ignore which cars
were coded into the hardware and let you tune any car 1997-2003 that was
mapped into the software. However, supposedly you could still not tune 1996
or 2004 unless they were coded into the hardware. If you bought the
Powrtuner and specified a 1996 or 2004 car, it was coded into the hardware,
and you could tune it.

Later, some people claimed that the latest version of the software (1.2.4),
would allow any year to be tuned, as long as the PCM is mapped in the software.
I don't know if this is true, because I have no way of testing it.

So, what I'm saying is that there is no such thing as software that can be
downloaded to tune a particular year. Everybody uses the same software,
and it includes all the maps for all the PCMs that have been mapped, and I
don't know for sure whether the current software is wide open for 1996 or
if you need to have hardware that was specified for 1996.
I recommend asking people who are tuning 1996 cars whether their Powrtuner
was originally ordered for a 1996 car"

So to Bill , oldsman or drew, or anyone who knows , i just need the 1.5 bin and then i can tune right? i have two guys willing to sell right now and money is not a problem due to overtime , holiday pay and a nice bonus.

Stupid question, where can you buy these things at? How much do they run?

You have to buy them used from people on forums , they run anywhere between 325-400 , depending on whos selling , most ask 400 shipped , a few are nice and take 350.