Tuner says he can't tune my car.

[bzubke1]

So i took my car to a reputable tuner in my area and he says he can't tune my car perfectly because it burns too much oil. I'm fine with lower hp numbers but the driveability of the car sucks. It bucks and hesitates at low rpms and the idle surges a little without the a/c on but when i turn on the a/c the idle with kick up and come back down every 10 or so seconds. I'm starting to think he just doesn't want to spend the time to tune it properly. My set up is basic, a trickflow stage 1 cam with LT's in an otherwise stock longblock cobra. The car ran perfect before I put the cam in besides burning a little oil. I will eventually get the motor rebuilt but is there any reason the car cant drive without the bucking and idle issues in the meantime. By the way I have taken the car back to him once to fix the problem, but he only made it slightly better.

 

[ShortThrow50]

He was probably just worried about the condition of your engine. Whats the mileage? Probably just needs some valve guides. Usually when i go to a dyno, i have to sign something that makes the dyno operator not responsible if my engine takes a dump. Didnt he have that form for you? If so, he should have thrown it on the dyno if you really wanted him to. Yes you can drive your car with idle surge and some bucking. The bucking would drive me crazy though. 95's had the 5.0 engine right? How much intial timing you running? What did the tuner say could be causing your bucking? You change the fuel filter? What tb and maf you have? whats your fuel pressure? So many things

 

[bzubke1]

Sorry I wasn't very clear. He did dyno tune the car but said he couldn't get it perfect because it burned too much oil.

 

[ShortThrow50]

I suppose the oil coming through the exhaust could throw off the a/f readings but i dont know for sure man becuase i never had that problem on the dyno. Im sure that is plausable though

 

[bzubke1]

It sounded plausible to me at first. But I had no issues stock so I can't see why I would now.

 

[KazooGS-T]

It sounded plausible to me at first. But I had no issues stock so I can't see why I would now.

Well, he did change the tune... Tons of problems can arise from a bad tune.

Many times people don't have issues while stock, it's when you upgrade parts.

 

[bzubke1]

So do you think it would be in my best interest to take it to someone else and have it tuned?

 

[Nightmare302]

So do you think it would be in my best interest to take it to someone else and have it tuned?

Your best intrest would have been be to repair the car instead of spending money on a cam then a tune... But that's come and gone. So I'd suggest saving the money it would cost for the tune, tuff it out and then fix the car. You won't like that, so instead just ask the guy to fix the idle issue. I'd imagine he is worried about high rpm loads on the engine with it being damaged already.

 

[KazooGS-T]

So do you think it would be in my best interest to take it to someone else and have it tuned?

Honestly, it's probably best to fix the oil consumption problem you have, before it turns into something big.

 

[bzubke1]

I am starting to build a separate motor so I will be fixing the oil consumption issue. I just want it to run decent because I will have to drive it for 9 months to a year before the new motor is done. My tuner said if i switch to a fox computer and put in an msd ignition box it would be a little easier to tune. Is their any truth to that?

 

[2DXTRM]

I am starting to build a separate motor so I will be fixing the oil consumption issue. I just want it to run decent because I will have to drive it for 9 months to a year before the new motor is done. My tuner said if i switch to a fox computer and put in an msd ignition box it would be a little easier to tune. Is their any truth to that?

HA!! When a tuner tells you to get rid of the 94-95 Computer and swap in a fox A9L computer, thats a RED FLAG! By those comments it seems quite clear that he is not competent enough to tune the 94-95 computers. Not that its rocket science to tune to a 94-95 computer!!

Find someone else to tune it.

 

[KazooGS-T]

I am starting to build a separate motor so I will be fixing the oil consumption issue. I just want it to run decent because I will have to drive it for 9 months to a year before the new motor is done. My tuner said if i switch to a fox computer and put in an msd ignition box it would be a little easier to tune. Is their any truth to that?

What are you doing to the motor for it to take a year? I mean you can get a junkyard engine for 150 bucks and fix your oil consumption problem, spray the hell out of it and still run fine.

 

[mwolson]

Oil in your combusion will only have the effect of lowering the octane of your fuel somewhat. It should have no effect on idle and part throttle tuning. Your tuner needs more training.

 

[RoadZOmbie]

That's the problem I'm having. I have came to a final conclusion that the oil consumption in our cars throgh the comb. chamber may cause lower octane levels which in turn causes pinging. I believe he was trying to save u some trouble and an engine? A fox swap is not necessary. I say keep building the other engine and drive the current until it fails or your ready to swap motors.

 

[F8L BYT]

Tuner is an idiot if he cant tune it b/c it is burning oil. What a douche nozzel

 

[RoadZOmbie]

He should be able to tune it into a driveable state even though it's consuming oil*

 

[mwolson]

The oil should not cause any issues at idle or part throttle. It might cause a small problem at the top of a WOT run, but that can be solved with a little less spark advance and/or a little more fuel.

 

[heavychevy]

i see you're in DFW also, whose tuning the car? just curious...

 

[goat-ee]

SCT X3 LiveWire Dyno Performance Chips LaSota Racing Ford Tuning Mail Order can give you what you need via email...your tuner is as worthless as my old one!!! You'll be talking to Don, he is the man and cheap!!!

 

[PGreenSVT]

Your tuner sucks! Fox ECU and MSD is BS. Run. Do it now. Don, as stated above can fix you up. So can Willie Lynch at dirtydirtyracing dot com.