Lost Old Tune...

[svl77]

I have an 03 Cobra that lightly modded 10 years ago (2.76 billetFlow pulley, Bassani cat-back, K&N CAI, and mail-in Kurgan tune loaded via Predator handheld). The car has been tucked away in storage for the last 8 years, but now I want to start driving it again. Before I can re-register it, need to pass emissions (failed first attempt due to tune) so I used the vintage Predator to load the stock tune back in and passed.

When I go back to load the custom tune it is no longer on the Predator, reached out to Kurgan to see if he still had a copy of the 10+ year old tune, got the response I expected (no and good luck).

Question: Will I be fine just loading the Predator "Pulley Tune"? Don't plan on racing the car, just cruising and ripping around a bit.

Having been out of the game for quite some time I appreciate any input you have.

 

[4sdvenom]

If it were me, I would spend the money to get a new tune specific to your mods. A canned tune may work but do you really want to risk it?
I wouldn’t. Just my opinion!

Edit: I just read your mod list again. As long as the “pulley tune” is for the same pulley you’re running you would probably be fine. I would still get it checked somewhere if you could. (If it we’re me)

Ken

 

[svl77]

If it were me, I would spend the money to get a new tune specific to your mods. A canned tune may work but do you really want to risk it?
I wouldn’t. Just my opinion!

Ken

Was thinking the same thing, but don't even know where to start shopping for a

If it were me, I would spend the money to get a new tune specific to your mods. A canned tune may work but do you really want to risk it?
I wouldn’t. Just my opinion!

Ken

I was thinking the same thing, but have been out of the game so long I don't know who's doing custom tuning these days. Checke3d the vendor section, see that Lethal has $250 "custom" tunes from several vendors based on mods. Any recommendations?

 

[4sdvenom]

04Sleeper and MalcomV8 both members on here do tunes for people. Everything I’ve read from everyone who posts about them have nothing but great things to say about both of them.
I would look to one of them first!!

Decipha is another one on here. If I spelled his screen name right! I’ve heard great things about him too.

Ken

 

[svl77]

04Sleeper and MalcomV8 both members on here do tunes for people. Everything I’ve read from everyone who posts about them have nothing but great things to say about both of them.
I would look to one of them first!!

Decipha is another one on here. If I spelled his screen name right!

Ken

Perfect - Thank you sir.

 

[03cobra#2]

Hi, I was going to start a thread but I am having pretty much the same problem. I went to get a E-check here in Ohio today and they use the OBD II plug in method and the vehicle keeps coming up "not ready". The technician said it is showing "CAT reject" in their system. I'm thinking that when my custom tune was done they disabled he rear 02's, even though I do have cats on the car. I have not driven it a lot this summer and was on a battery tender last winter so I'm hoping that I can throw a few more miles on the car and complete the drive cycle. If not looks like I'll need to get another custom tune from scratch as my programmer didn't have my file from so long ago when I called him. The thing is that 2 years ago my car passed, and the years before that I wonder what the difference is this time around, is the state doing a more advanced check? I would appreciate any input. Thanks!

 

[TerminatoRS]

OP...I'd say there are too many unknowns even with the OTS pulley tune. Not to mention, if it's been 10+ years and she was sitting for most of them, she could use some freshening up too (plugs, fuel filter, belt(s)...etc). Additionally, the Diablosport Predator is also an older unit and I'm willing to bet there have been some positive tweaks done to available OTS tunes in the last decade. If you're up for the drive and want a solid dyno tune, check out Marv at Brew City Boost in Hurbertus, WI. Probably a shade over two hours from Chicago. He's a no BS kind of guy, so don't let his seemingly grumpy demeanor scare you off. lol He knows his Terminators.

 

[TerminatoRS]

03Cobra#2... The car has passed previously on the same tune with the same mid-pipe? How much did you drive it before taking it for the test? I've been down this road before with a different vehicle.

 

[01yellercobra]

Smog checks have changed recently. The guys that passed before are suddenly having issues. My recommendation is to get a new tune with everything turned on. It's pretty easy if you're a basic pullied car with cats.

 

[03cobra#2]

Smog checks have changed recently. The guys that passed before are suddenly having issues. My recommendation is to get a new tune with everything turned on. It's pretty easy if you're a basic pullied car with cats.

Nothing has changed on the car since I put the KB on back around 2006. I have put about 200 miles on the car since I took it out of storage back in the spring. Sat in the garage with a battery tender on it all winter. No changes to anything on the car. That's why I'm hoping that a little more driving solves the issue, if not then the tests must have gotten more complex.

 

[TerminatoRS]

Which programmer are you using? Some - maybe most by now - allow you to read the readiness of all the systems they test. Beats getting your hopes up and going in for a retest just to get the same result. After 200 miles, though, everything should be ready.

To slo984's point, my '96 GT without cats didn't throw a CEL and passed every time...15 years ago. My piddly Focus ST with a catted downpipe received the same result as you're getting; I didn't outright fail, but the test results would come back incomplete due to the after-cat O2 sensor being deactivated. Long, long story of frustration on how I determined that.

 

[03cobra#2]

I had it tuned and flashed with a SCT XCAL 2 at the time. Right now I have nothing, but I'm entertaining the thought of buying a used unmarried XCAL 4 off ebay or the marketplace to have something ready to go just in case I need to get a new tune from scratch. I did talk to a local shop and they said in my area he has been getting a lot of calls because they changed the criteria for testing this year. I'm waiting to get a call back from their tuner so I can talk to him directly. In the mean time I am going to continue to drive / test in hopes it will pass. If not looks like I'm going to have to drop some $$$$ on potentially a new programmer / tune, and maybe even new cats if they are not performing up to par.

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

I had it tuned and flashed with a SCT XCAL 2 at the time. Right now I have nothing, but I'm entertaining the thought of buying a used unmarried XCAL 4 off ebay or the marketplace to have something ready to go just in case I need to get a new tune from scratch. I did talk to a local shop and they said in my area he has been getting a lot of calls because they changed the criteria for testing this year. I'm waiting to get a call back from their tuner so I can talk to him directly. In the mean time I am going to continue to drive / test in hopes it will pass. If not looks like I'm going to have to drop some $$$$ on potentially a new programmer / tune, and maybe even new cats if they are not performing up to par.

1) look up the instructions that have been posted on how to complete what Ford considers a drive cycle, if you dont meet certain criteria during your drive you'll never get achieve a "ready" status

2) beyond looking for codes a lot of places now check the status of various monitors. When they turn off the rear O2s and such you end up with some of them coming back "not ready". How many "not ready" you're allowed to have varies. I believe it was common practice to just turn em off incase someone went offroad midpipe later or high flow cats they wouldnt have to spend time on a re-tune. Most aftermarket cats will still trip the CEL

 

[03cobra#2]

1) look up the instructions that have been posted on how to complete what Ford considers a drive cycle, if you dont meet certain criteria during your drive you'll never get achieve a "ready" status

2) beyond looking for codes a lot of places now check the status of various monitors. When they turn off the rear O2s and such you end up with some of them coming back "not ready". How many "not ready" you're allowed to have varies. I believe it was common practice to just turn em off incase someone went offroad midpipe later or high flow cats they wouldnt have to spend time on a re-tune. Most aftermarket cats will still trip the CEL

I have a feeling you are right about the tune I have....they may have just turned the rears off. I just looked at my emissions history online and I passed every 2 years since 2005 like clockwork, not a single issue. So either the changed the test, there is a problem with the cats / one of the sensors, or I just need to drive it a bit more. We'll see.

Also I thought I saw online somewhere that you can tell by the check engine light on the dashboard when you turn the key on if the drive cycle is complete by the check engine light staying steady or flashing. Can anyone comment on this?

 

[01yellercobra]

Nothing has changed on the car since I put the KB on back around 2006. I have put about 200 miles on the car since I took it out of storage back in the spring. Sat in the garage with a battery tender on it all winter. No changes to anything on the car. That's why I'm hoping that a little more driving solves the issue, if not then the tests must have gotten more complex.

That's why I said smog has changed. The new computers know how many monitors should be available. What I said had nothing to do with your car.

You need to scan for the P1000 code. The check engine light won't tell you anything at start up. The best bet would be to get a scanner and see what monitors are currently available.

 

[03cobra#2]

I tried to read codes using a xcal 4 for another Ford vehicle and it says no codes found. Do I need to run up to a auto zone or something where they may have a more advanced scanner?

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL

 

[03cobra#2]

Here is my an of attack. I ordered a cheapie hand held scanner that will give me readiness status so I'm not wasting my time. I'll continue to drive the car for another week or so to see if I can get everything to set. If not I'll be buying a XCAL 4 and having a tuner do a basic emissions tune so I can pass. Plan is to pull the custom tune off my car with the new tuner, drop in the new emissions tune with all the sensors turned on, hopefully pass emissions then drop back in my original custom tune. Anyone see anything wrong with this?

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL

 

[P49Y-CY]

Here is my an of attack. I ordered a cheapie hand held scanner that will give me readiness status so I'm not wasting my time. I'll continue to drive the car for another week or so to see if I can get everything to set. If not I'll be buying a XCAL 4 and having a tuner do a basic emissions tune so I can pass. Plan is to pull the custom tune off my car with the new tuner, drop in the new emissions tune with all the sensors turned on, hopefully pass emissions then drop back in my original custom tune. Anyone see anything wrong with this?

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL

yes this sounds reasonable as long as the tuner you go to can closely duplicate a stock factory tune

 

[03cobra#2]

Update: My cheapie code scanner showed up today. According to the scanner only 2 of the Readiness monitors showed OK, the other 9 showed not set. Wow. So I'm thinking when they did the tune back in 2006 or so they turned off a bunch of stuff. Back then they put my car on the rollers for the test. This year they obviously changed things. I've done absolutely nothing to the car it 12 years and have done plenty of driving to compete a drive cycle.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

if you flash the new tune I think you'll have to complete the drive cycle process but youve got a scanner to verify now