96 OBD2 tuning/programming questions
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Pro
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96 OBD2 tuning/programming questions
What is available to tune/program the OBD2 computer on a 96 Vette? I've found a bunch of reprogrammers for C5 vettes with the OBD2 system but nothing for the 96 C4. Will the ones for a C5 work? Any help is appreciated.
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2016
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From: N.E. Ohio OH
Finalist 2020 C4 of the Year - Modified
To actually tune the 96's (not just stick an add-on on) you will need Jet's Dynamic Spectrum Tuner. It runs close to $400. Then you will need a laptop to run it on. A dedicated WinXP installation is best. There are folks running it on later versions of Windows, but you have to run it in "WinXP emulation" mode. Sometimes it will crash running it on later versions of Windows and take out your ECM.
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2016
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Likes: 1,059
From: N.E. Ohio OH
Finalist 2020 C4 of the Year - Modified
I bought a dedicated WinXP Pro laptop to get around some of the issues. It was developed on XP.
Le Mans Master
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From: St. Charles MO
I agree 100% with everything drcook wrote. Jet DST is your only option now, and it's best to run it on a machine that actually runs XP. Jet DST is essentially the OBD2 version of Tunercat. The good news is that it works very well and there is some knowledge base out there (especially if you refer to Tunercat info).
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Pro
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I agree 100% with everything drcook wrote. Jet DST is your only option now, and it's best to run it on a machine that actually runs XP. Jet DST is essentially the OBD2 version of Tunercat. The good news is that it works very well and there is some knowledge base out there (especially if you refer to Tunercat info).
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Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 4,648
Likes: 1,059
From: N.E. Ohio OH
Finalist 2020 C4 of the Year - Modified
it is software that runs on the laptop/desktop, a cable, an interface box. you connect the cable to the OBDII port, which goes to the interface box, which then is cabled via a USB plug to the laptop. then software is run that extracts the current ECM image and saved to the pc. then after the cables are disconnected, the editting software is used to make the changes to the image.
then you hook the pc back up to the car and download the editted image back to the ECM/PCM, ie: reflash the car.
it is just like flashing the BIOS on a computer if you have ever done that. the car battery has to be fully charged and so does the laptop. I am going to get a spare battery and run 2 in the laptop I have. if there is an interruption in the reflash process, the chips are damaged.
You can look at all the different tables and plan out what you want to do without actually making any changes. If you go this route, I suggest making at least 1 backup copy of the original image so that you can always start over if need be
then you hook the pc back up to the car and download the editted image back to the ECM/PCM, ie: reflash the car.
it is just like flashing the BIOS on a computer if you have ever done that. the car battery has to be fully charged and so does the laptop. I am going to get a spare battery and run 2 in the laptop I have. if there is an interruption in the reflash process, the chips are damaged.
You can look at all the different tables and plan out what you want to do without actually making any changes. If you go this route, I suggest making at least 1 backup copy of the original image so that you can always start over if need be
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 512
Likes: 62
it is software that runs on the laptop/desktop, a cable, an interface box. you connect the cable to the OBDII port, which goes to the interface box, which then is cabled via a USB plug to the laptop. then software is run that extracts the current ECM image and saved to the pc. then after the cables are disconnected, the editting software is used to make the changes to the image.
then you hook the pc back up to the car and download the editted image back to the ECM/PCM, ie: reflash the car.
it is just like flashing the BIOS on a computer if you have ever done that. the car battery has to be fully charged and so does the laptop. I am going to get a spare battery and run 2 in the laptop I have. if there is an interruption in the reflash process, the chips are damaged.
You can look at all the different tables and plan out what you want to do without actually making any changes. If you go this route, I suggest making at least 1 backup copy of the original image so that you can always start over if need be
then you hook the pc back up to the car and download the editted image back to the ECM/PCM, ie: reflash the car.
it is just like flashing the BIOS on a computer if you have ever done that. the car battery has to be fully charged and so does the laptop. I am going to get a spare battery and run 2 in the laptop I have. if there is an interruption in the reflash process, the chips are damaged.
You can look at all the different tables and plan out what you want to do without actually making any changes. If you go this route, I suggest making at least 1 backup copy of the original image so that you can always start over if need be
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 512
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Because I would like to have the ability to make more changes as needed. Besides, I have two '96 vettes, for what it would cost to have both of their computers reprogrammed I could buy the programmer and software and be able to play with their programs as often as I want.
