Blackbear Tune on Saturday

[Gambler]

I'm driving down to Alexandria this weekend to get a Blackbear tune from Justin. I'm trying to decide whether or not to have him reflash my control modules (yes as in plural) or to purchase replacements from him. It is 200 for the tune and 220 for the two control modules. Do you guys think it is worth it to keep around the backups for trips to the dealer, or wouldn't you worry about it? What did those of you who have gotten tunes from him do? TIA

 

[Black Dog]

That is the big question. When I get mine I will probably get the extra cores, just because you never know if the dealer will re-flash it whenever. But in your case if you're close enough to drive there, you could always go there for it. I believe he does free updates/flashes, just pay shipping if applicable. Also, I could see an advantage to using the same core always, to show a continuous history, but then again they could probably find the modded history in it anyway. Tough call but being on the west coast i'll take the cores, if I could drive there then probably not.

 

[ucsbguy19]

I didn't get the extra set, and if i ever go to the dealer i'll tell them not to touch the computer. If you can befriend a service guy or two at your local dealer, i'm sure they'd take care of you.

Since you're within driving distance, it would be easy to cruise down there and have justin re-set your tune--he does offer free re-tunes for life. I'm planning on a new exhaust set-up over the summer, and was going to meet up with him again later this year to have him make any adjustments.

And congrats on the tune, you'll love it!

 

[Gambler]

what octane did you guys have your tune done with?

 

[ucsbguy19]

87... I saw regular for $4.11/gallon today.

 

[Gambler]

And you noticed a big improvement without premium?

 

[ucsbguy19]

Yeah, throttle is a LOT more responsive than stock. Justin got rid of i think 75% of the torque management (whatever his 'usual' is). I mainly wanted the boost in MPG since i commute about 75 miles a day. Got about a 2 MPG bump using regular 87. If gas comes back down, which i doubt will happen anytime soon, then i'll run 89 or 91.

 

[S.V.T.]

a tune will most definitely void your warranty, and it is something they will check if you have some sort of catastrophic high dollar failure.

 

[Black Dog]

a tune will most definitely void your warranty, and it is something they will check if you have some sort of catastrophic high dollar failure.

Oh sometimes they say they'll void the whole warranty, but they actually have to prove that the modification directly caused the failure. With that said, a lot of tunes would be responsible for it. But I pity the dealer who tries to void my whole drivetrain warranty just because I optimized the operating efficiencies of the motor, where I drive it so carefully and care for the maintenance better than most. But I hear the danger you're saying though.

 

[Gambler]

a tune will most definitely void your warranty, and it is something they will check if you have some sort of catastrophic high dollar failure.

That is definitely an inaccurate statement. I agree with what BlackDog said. Also I saw in another one of your posts that you have a programmer. There is absolutely no difference between the two except that the custom tune is done for your specific vehicle, not a cookie cutter tune that will work on all Tahoes. All they have to do is look at the checksum of the module and they can tell that you changed something. They won't know if it is from a custom tune, or a programmer, but they can tell you did something.

However, you are correct in that they could cause a ruckus and for me it is worth the extra cost to not have to deal with that. I decided to get the replacement sets of pcms and stick those in when I go to the dealer. That way they won't be able to tell if anything has changed EVER. The programmer can't return the PCM exactly the way it was originally, which is another reason I'm going with the custom tune now.

 

[Gambler]

Well, I decided to get new control modules from Justin and its a good thing too. We had some issues programming my Tahoe. He said he's done many 07 Tahoes but hasn't had a problem with any until mine. He was very professional about it and said he will get it to work another way. He was able to do the transmission control module with no problems, and that alone is a big difference. We had one engine tune working for a little while, and the performance gain was pretty significant. It was hypothesized that either my aftermarket remote start or my PAC adapter for my new audio system could be contributing to the problems. But he is going to go about it a way that will circumvent that issue. I'll give an update once we try it again, he said it would probably be a week or so before he can get a specially programmed module for my VIN#

 

[Gambler]

Ok, today we got everything figured out and I'm all set now. He got new hardware and a subscription to GM's programming suite so that he could completely reflash the new module with the latest from GM for my specific VIN. I got the impression he is going to do this as standard procedure now. From there he installed the new tune with no hitches. There is a definite improvement in both power and mileage. I reset the mileage indicator and when I got home it read 19.5mpg, which is a HUGE improvement even over our 100% highway trips in the past, not to mention I had the AC cranked as it is pushing 100deg here today. The best I've ever gotten is 18mpg and most of the time it is closer to 17mpg on the highway. I'll report in a week or so once I get some of my daily driving in.

Seriously guys if you don't want the replacement modules it will only run you $200 to have this done. $420 if you want the replacement modules. That is about the price of a handheld and you'll get much better results.

Justin is a great guy, and gave me a discount due to our initial troubles. I highly recommend him to you all.