Tuning Series II NA Engine PCM (Park Avenue)

Ive been hearing that dhp doesnt support some cars, the main one ive heard is lesabre. I really hope this will work with my park avenue but i cant find any info on whether it will or not. I guess i wouldnt be too mad if i couldnt cause i could always use it on my girlfriends regal ( i plan to either way), but if anyone knows how to find out if it will work short of plugging it in when i get it, i would really appreciate it.
I would kind of like to assume that the reason lesabres wont work with dhp is because there was never a s/c option for the lesabres like the riv/regal/gp, the park avenue on the other hand had that option and im hoping there is support for my car.

That's interesting about the LeSabre.. I was always under the impression that DHP would work with any 3800 car from 98-2002 (also most 97 and 2003 with OBDII). Wonder if it works with the LSS...

DEMonte1997 wrote:

That's interesting about the LeSabre.. I was always under the impression that DHP would work with any 3800 car from 98-2002 (also most 97 and 2003 with OBDII). Wonder if it works with the LSS...

I always thought that too, thats why i bought the tuner. From the info ive been able to find (havent looked too hard) it looks like ill only be able to tune the girlfriends regal until i top swap and put the ultras pcm in, according to this list anyway...

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0ArM4Ja-Pr4cBcGQ0X0stYVdabjFfSzAzNG95Sm9NVVE&gid=0

lol

16238447 1996 3.8 V6 L67 Buick Riveria

16243817 1997 3.8 V6 L67 Pontiac Riveria

So I shouldn't get rid of my XP laptop just yet I guess. Is it worth getting the tuning software without doing a lot of other mods? Do I need actual hardware other than a connector?

97 park ave wrote:

Ive also been hearing that dhp doesnt support some cars, the main one ive heard is lesabre. I really hope this will work with my park avenue but i cant find any info on whether it will or not. I guess i wouldnt be too mad if i couldnt cause i could always use it on my girlfriends regal ( i plan to either way), but if anyone knows how to find out if it will work short of plugging it in when i get it, i would really appreciate it.
I would kind of like to assume that the reason lesabres wont work with dhp is because there was never a s/c option for the lesabres like the riv/regal/gp, the park avenue on the other hand had that option and im hoping there is support for my car.

I've tuned a 98 park avenue ultra. DHP did not have a 1.5 bin for the 98 PAU, but it was supported.

jlaw wrote:

Is it worth getting the tuning software without doing a lot of other mods? Do I need actual hardware other than a connector?

yes, and yes. The tuner doubles as a scantool. Invaluable for troubleshooting/diagnostics.

Jason wrote:

97 park ave wrote:

Ive also been hearing that dhp doesnt support some cars, the main one ive heard is lesabre. I really hope this will work with my park avenue but i cant find any info on whether it will or not. I guess i wouldnt be too mad if i couldnt cause i could always use it on my girlfriends regal ( i plan to either way), but if anyone knows how to find out if it will work short of plugging it in when i get it, i would really appreciate it.
I would kind of like to assume that the reason lesabres wont work with dhp is because there was never a s/c option for the lesabres like the riv/regal/gp, the park avenue on the other hand had that option and im hoping there is support for my car.

I've tuned a 98 park avenue ultra. DHP did not have a 1.5 bin for the 98 PAU, but it was supported

So mine might be supported after all? Is the only way to know is to just plug it in when i get it?
Whats the point of the DHP bins if other cars are still supported?
I guess im still kind of confused on why you cant just tune the stock file...

97 park ave wrote:

Jason wrote:

97 park ave wrote:

Ive also been hearing that dhp doesnt support some cars, the main one ive heard is lesabre. I really hope this will work with my park avenue but i cant find any info on whether it will or not. I guess i wouldnt be too mad if i couldnt cause i could always use it on my girlfriends regal ( i plan to either way), but if anyone knows how to find out if it will work short of plugging it in when i get it, i would really appreciate it.
I would kind of like to assume that the reason lesabres wont work with dhp is because there was never a s/c option for the lesabres like the riv/regal/gp, the park avenue on the other hand had that option and im hoping there is support for my car.

I've tuned a 98 park avenue ultra. DHP did not have a 1.5 bin for the 98 PAU, but it was supported

So mine might be supported after all? Is the only way to know is to just plug it in when i get it?
Whats the point of the DHP bins if other cars are still supported?
I guess im still kind of confused on why you cant just tune the stock file...

It might, you can post on the DHP forum to see if the 97 PA is supported to be certain.
the DHP 1.5 is a tweaked tune, not really a performance tune per se. Some parameters are a nice starting point for custom tunes, others less so.
You can tune the stock .bin file, provided DHP supports it. If it's unsupported you won't be able to open it to modify it.

I don't like anyone else's tune. Read your PCM and change the things you want to change.

Can't you just read your PCM's tune with DHP and then write to it once you've scanned? I don't think you need a 1.5bin to do any of that.

DEMonte1997 wrote:

Can't you just read your PCM's tune with DHP and then write to it once you've scanned? I don't think you need a 1.5bin to do any of that.

Thats pretty much what im wondering, cant i just scan my car as is, tune the file, and load the new one? Why do i have to do anything with DHPs bin? They list a 97 PAU but mine is a base l36.

FYI, when I tried to scan my Riviera's stock BIN, I couldn't get it to work. Once I received the 1.5 BIN and OEM BIN from DHP, everything was fine. Maybe I did it wrong, but I was never able to capture the original program that came with my PCM (the OEM version supplied by DHP should be the same one).

Jason wrote:

You can tune the stock .bin file, provided DHP supports it. If it's unsupported you won't be able to open it to modify it.

The reason some tune's aren't recognized is because they have a different (usually older) OSID. DHP usually only keeps the most recent.

So since a 97 L36 park ave isnt on the list its probably not supported? Sorry guys im really confused...

I was able to modify my Riv's PCM by reading it, saving the .bin file, changing that and then writing that to the PCM. Worked okay... although the Riv has an odd hiccup in that every time I write a new code to the PCM, I get an SES light when I start the car after. Have to clear codes and then it's fine. :/

DEMonte1997 wrote:

I was able to modify my Riv's PCM by reading it, saving the .bin file, changing that and then writing that to the PCM. Worked okay... although the Riv has an odd hiccup in that every time I write a new code to the PCM, I get an SES light when I start the car after. Have to clear codes and then it's fine. :/

And you can do this with any car without a 1.5 bin? So basically if it will hook up and read/scan the stock pcm, then i can edit and flash the stock file?

I think you'll be all right. I know there is a guy on the DHP boards who tuned a Park Ave.

AA wrote:

I think you'll be all right. I know there is a guy on the DHP boards who tuned a Park Ave.

Only park ave ive seen on there so far is "kshef" with a 98 ultra.

Yes, I talked with Kyle about it. He said "powrtuner is unlocked for all makes and models." I assume he knows about it, having some experience with tuning. He also mentioned tiny tuner would work (using DHP).

AA wrote:

Yes, I talked with Kyle about it. He said "powrtuner is unlocked for all makes and models." I assume he knows about it, having some experience with tuning. He also mentioned tiny tuner would work (using DHP).

Thanks aaron, i hope hes right. Youll be hearing from me later this week about that laptop.

Kshef and I both tuned 98 park avenue ultras, which were supported in the "98-02 wide open" package. I Recommended you post on the DHP forum to find out if your car was supported. Since you did not, I did to settle this once and for all.

Again, you do NOT / NOT require a dhp 1.5 .bin tune to tune your car. If your car is supported and you have the latest OSID, then you will be able to read/edit/write your stock .bin file. If not, you will only be able to read the file, and will receive an "unsupported file type" error.

So if the PCM i have for my top swap is from a 98 ultra i can for sure tune that but if my 97 l36 park avenue wasnt part of the unlocked group im screwed until then?

97 park ave wrote:

So if the PCM i have for my top swap is from a 98 ultra i can for sure tune that but if my 97 l36 park avenue wasnt part of the unlocked group im screwed until then?

Look, I'm sure we all want to help you but you can't leave out details. There's NO information in your post or signature on when you intend on doing a top swap with the 98 pcm lying around. Describe EXACTLY what your plan is, in THIS thread. That opens a whole new can of worms. I have no idea what the implications are of swapping a 98 PAU pcm into a 97 NA PA are. Did the 97 have pass key 3 (PK3) as well or was it running PK2 ?

For your 1997 L36 pcm, we don't know if it is supported by DHP. I told you to join the DHP forum and ask, and you did NOT. I asked DHP, and will let you know as soon as I find out.

You dont have to get pissed im simply asking questions, nobodys making you help me. My plan is to top swap eventually, the PCM that came with some top swap parts is from a 98 ultra. Im damn near positive ill be able to tune that PCM, WHEN i top swap. I have a tuner NOW and would like to start learning on my 97 l36 PCM that is currently in my car so when i do my top swap ill know a bit about tuning. Make sense now?

I'm not pissed at you for asking questions, but I'm less than impressed that you haven't been reading the answers. In this thread, you've asked 3 times if you could tune your car without the DHP 1.5 .bin file. I answered you three times, and DeMonte1997 answered you twice.

DHP`s answer regarding support:

Quote :

The NA 97 Park Avenue is not supported, although it could be as the 97 NA Grand Prixs are. The SC 97 Park Avenue is.

Unsupported means just that: if you scan your car and get an unsupported file type for your 97 NA PA, you're SOL.

That being said, the reason Aaron couldn't open his stock .bin for editing is that he did not have the latest OSID in his stock .bin. The DHP 1.5 .bin and stock .bin he received from DHP did.

You are correct though, no one asked me to help you. Good luck with the top swap and subsequent tuning.