Offroad Trailblazers and Envoys

A little bit of PCM hell

Trailblazer and Envoy related, but not off-road related...

by Mooseknuckle » Sun Jan 16, 2011 1:02 am

My girlfriend bought me the PCM tune from PCMforless. I took my PCM and sent it to them in NC. I recieved an email from PCMforless notifiying me that two of the tabs on the blue connector were broken off and that the PCM might not fit on properly once installed back in the TB. I finally got the PCM back from NC and I installed it and sure enough it started but not running correctly rpms were going from high to low and I stepped on the gas pedal and got nothing it wouldnt rev and my gas tank read empty when I have a full tank. I went over and wiggled the PCM connector that is missing two tabs and the truck stalled wiggled it again and the truck started. I contacted Kelly from PCMfor less told her the situation and they are shipping me out a new tuned PCM only problem is now I need a case re-learn. So the 100 tune is turning into a small fortune,depending on how much a case re-learn is. Purely my fault it was dark when removing the PCM and they were a bitch to get out. Lesson learned. I'm gonna go throw up on myself right now but I figured I would share the story. :wallbash: :puker:
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by HARDTRAILZ » Sun Jan 16, 2011 2:12 am

I broke tabs on mine but had a backup ebay pcm I traded w them. When I screwed up and broke mine they had me a new one in 18 hours...called paid a bit of shipping and promised to send my extra core then literally had a tuned pcm at my door in 18 hrs. I waited 6 months for the case relearn and got it done at dealer after hours for 25. Good luck man.
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by mikepeters1983 » Sun Jan 16, 2011 3:08 am

Hey Hardtrail, just wondering how much did the case relearn cost you?
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by fishsticks » Sun Jan 16, 2011 4:30 am

My truck didn't set a 'CASE relearn needed' DTC (I believe is P1336) when I installed my PCM. I've heard reports on the interwebs of various folks on other models not needing one as well. You may get lucky like me.
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by mikepeters1983 » Sun Jan 16, 2011 6:21 am

fishsticks wrote:My truck didn't set a 'CASE relearn needed' DTC (I believe is P1336) when I installed my PCM. I've heard reports on the interwebs of various folks on other models not needing one as well. You may get lucky like me.



I hope that is my luck when I get mine. Be nice not having to pay that extra cash to get that done to.
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by HARDTRAILZ » Sun Jan 16, 2011 9:11 am

mikepeters1983 wrote:Hey Hardtrail, just wondering how much did the case relearn cost you?


25
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by mikepeters1983 » Sun Jan 16, 2011 9:27 am

HARDTRAILZ wrote:
mikepeters1983 wrote:Hey Hardtrail, just wondering how much did the case relearn cost you?


25



Oh that aint that bad at all. I would be game for doing that when I get my tune.
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by janesy86 » Sun Jan 16, 2011 9:51 am

fishsticks wrote:My truck didn't set a 'CASE relearn needed' DTC (I believe is P1336) when I installed my PCM. I've heard reports on the interwebs of various folks on other models not needing one as well. You may get lucky like me.


I almost want to say I remember Kelly saying that they turned off the light for the CASE relearn, but you still will need to get it. I'll try to find somethin on the OS tho to confirm this, I did the loaner program, so I know I didn't need one.

Edit: I guess your in the clear then, after reading PCMforless thread on the OS, I guess only the light was disabled, but the code would still pop up. But since your don't have the code popping up your good.
Last edited by janesy86 on Sun Jan 16, 2011 1:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by Zero » Sun Jan 16, 2011 11:05 am

i think i was charged .5hrs labor by the dealer for my case relearn. it really takes them no time....try to go in when they arent bussy
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by fishsticks » Sun Jan 16, 2011 4:40 pm

janesy86 wrote:
fishsticks wrote:My truck didn't set a 'CASE relearn needed' DTC (I believe is P1336) when I installed my PCM. I've heard reports on the interwebs of various folks on other models not needing one as well. You may get lucky like me.


I almost want to say I remember Kelly saying that they turned off the light for the CASE relearn, but you still will need to get it. I'll try to find somethin on the OS tho to confirm this, I did the loaner program, so I know I didn't need one.

Edit: I guess your in the clear then, after reading PCMforless thread on the OS, I guess only the light was disabled, but the code would still pop up. But since your don't have the code popping up your good.



Yeah I read about the light being disabled on the loaners at least.

There's also a way to do a CASE relearn without a scan tool... although I don't know if it works for our platform. It involves holding various vehicle speeds and allowing the truck to decelerate on it own for specified periods of time. Again I don't know if it's applicable to our trucks, but it's out there.
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by Mooseknuckle » Sun Jan 16, 2011 9:53 pm

HARDTRAILZ wrote:I broke tabs on mine but had a backup ebay pcm I traded w them. When I screwed up and broke mine they had me a new one in 18 hours...called paid a bit of shipping and promised to send my extra core then literally had a tuned pcm at my door in 18 hrs. I waited 6 months for the case relearn and got it done at dealer after hours for 25. Good luck man.




Thanks I'm gonna need it. They would have had one here overnight but we are in the weekend and Monday is MLK day so I wold be lucky to get mine tuesday or wednesday. 25 for a case relearn is awesome. I guess its hit or miss. I have heard of doing it yourself without a scan tool also but not sure that would work with my truck. While I wait for the PCM I'm cleaning the throttle body 50,000 and that thing is black as hell.Hollowed out the air box till I get money to get a volant. Changed the oil and filter clean Amsoil inserted. probably have time to do the diff's as well.
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by Mooseknuckle » Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:28 pm

Just got an email from Kelly at PCMforless.com the new tuned PCM is on its way overnighted..it went out today. Kelly and Alvin are the champs talk about bending over backwards for me. Cant wait to get the PCM.
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by The Roadie » Mon Jan 17, 2011 2:39 pm

Exactly why I landed so hard on the cheap-ass on the other site who just couldn't bring himself to pay their asking price for a tune, but DEMANDED to get a discount.

That's like holding his breath until THEY turn blue. :angry whip:
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by Zero » Mon Jan 17, 2011 2:56 pm

aside form the speedo issue, kelly and alvin are very good at keep customers happy, and getting a reliable product to us. I am sending my pcm back for some issues, and only have to cover shipping. thats fair to me.
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by fishsticks » Mon Jan 17, 2011 3:09 pm

The Roadie wrote:Exactly why I landed so hard on the cheap-ass on the other site who just couldn't bring himself to pay their asking price for a tune, but DEMANDED to get a discount.

That's like holding his breath until THEY turn blue. :angry whip:



There's this thing called list price. We use it for people who "refuse to pay full price for anything" to show them what a deal they're getting. :mrgreen:
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by Mooseknuckle » Mon Jan 17, 2011 6:23 pm

Zero wrote:aside form the speedo issue, kelly and alvin are very good at keep customers happy, and getting a reliable product to us. I am sending my pcm back for some issues, and only have to cover shipping. thats fair to me.

:Iagree: ...I'm hoping for no issues this time. I'm sure everything will be cool. I think what I paid was very fair, essentially I'm paying a 100 for a new PCM tuned and 50 for them to overnight it.They didnt make me pay for another tune which IMO is great. I'm Happy. There is always that one A-hole who thinks he or she never has to pay the price that everyone else is or tries to get it cheaper when it's already at a discounted price.
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by Mooseknuckle » Thu Jan 20, 2011 1:46 am

I got the PCM yesterday. I came home last night after work (1130ish) opened the garage. Hooked the PCM back up the black and grey connectors went right in no problem,the blue connector another story I think I might have actually broke one tad off trying to lock it in place. Freaking thing there is no leverage to really put some strength into it. Needless to say I finally got it dont it took me like twenty minutes. Did the cycle for the security learn,she fired right up. The idle is off just a hair,doesn't stall or anything I think it might be either adjusting to the throttle body getting cleaned or the need for a case relearn not sure. My speedo is pretty much dead on even at 80. I can tell a pretty big difference in performance. All in all I'm glad I did the tune. Stage 2 with no torque management. Tb Moves now!
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by DJones » Thu Jan 20, 2011 6:46 pm

fishsticks wrote:My truck didn't set a 'CASE relearn needed' DTC (I believe is P1336) when I installed my PCM. I've heard reports on the interwebs of various folks on other models not needing one as well. You may get lucky like me.

I never got the code either, and right now I have the stock PCM in. I had to send back my tuned PCM back because they forgot the P1481 code removal. I wonder if they forgot anything else.

I THINK it was after I put in the tuned PCM in that I started getting crappy gas mileage. Very bad. 5+ MPG's loss.
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by fishsticks » Thu Jan 20, 2011 7:19 pm

My mileage was about the same (terrible) when I first installed the new PCM. Now after some time to learn it seems to be improving over stock.
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by Mooseknuckle » Fri Jan 21, 2011 12:23 am

Which tune did you guys go with?
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