Reprogramming

**sweet_revenge** · 03-22-2010, 10:31 AM

Ok, so I have a 2002 35th anniversary edition Camaro LS1 z28. I have been told it has been programmed, which I hate because when I race it likes to bounce around in the box way too much before shifting out... I need to know how I can get my car programmed back to factory/default whatever and after that how can I have my car reprogrammed correctly... is this something that I can do, can I buy a chip with different settings, car is pretty much bone stock except for what i am starting to change now, so any help is greatly appreciated!

**pajeff02** · 03-22-2010, 10:38 AM

Originally Posted by sweet_revenge

Ok, so I have a 2002 35th anniversary edition Camaro LS1 z28. I have been told it has been programmed, which I hate because when I race it likes to bounce around in the box way too much before shifting out... I need to know how I can get my car programmed back to factory/default whatever and after that how can I have my car reprogrammed correctly... is this something that I can do, can I buy a chip with different settings, car is pretty much bone stock except for what i am starting to change now, so any help is greatly appreciated!

You need to use something like HP Tuners or LS1 Edit to tune the PCM in our cars -- that's above most people's abilities and costs quite a bit. Best bet is a mail order tune through someone like Frost (site sponsor). He does great work and has a fast turn around time. Other than that, you can look for a tuner in your area to take your car to.

**67CamaroRSSS** · 03-22-2010, 03:54 PM

And just so you know: ALL 2002 Camaros have that 35th Anniversary badge above the radio.

And what do you mean by "Bounce around in the box before shifting out?" Sounds to me like wheel hop, which is deadly to the spindly 10 bolt we have.

When I do a burn out I back it up to the edge of the water box - never go thru the water - leave it in OD, give it gas (not full throttle) and let it shift to 2nd then 3rd. By that time the Mickeys are smokin hot and sticky. I have some suspension work done so no wheel hop for me.

**sweet_revenge** · 03-22-2010, 05:38 PM

Well cost is no issue this is officially my project car and I do apologize I am learning. This is also my first project car. I have never officially raced the car myself because i have not got comfortable enough with it yet. 100 mph and I let out of it. I was recently dating a mechanic and the lingo I use is what he told me. I am very familiar with other chevy trucks but haven't quite learned the new camaro yet.

When I say bounce around in the box I mean when he did a burn out he put the car in 1st and manually shifted my automatic car when my car hits 2nd gear it would rev all the way up to like 7 grand bounce around n the red box on my rpm then would finally shift. The guy I purchased this car from said he had it reprogrammed and the shift points changed. Personally I think they suck and that's what I want to reprogrammed back to facotry until it becomes necessary for custom shift points.

Sorry if I seem vague. Thanks for allthe help. I learn fast and can't wait to show up all the mustangs around town ha ha ha just a lil friendly competition

**00z28bubba** · 03-24-2010, 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by sweet_revenge

Well cost is no issue this is officially my project car and I do apologize I am learning. This is also my first project car. I have never officially raced the car myself because i have not got comfortable enough with it yet. 100 mph and I let out of it. I was recently dating a mechanic and the lingo I use is what he told me. I am very familiar with other chevy trucks but haven't quite learned the new camaro yet.

When I say bounce around in the box I mean when he did a burn out he put the car in 1st and manually shifted my automatic car when my car hits 2nd gear it would rev all the way up to like 7 grand bounce around n the red box on my rpm then would finally shift. The guy I purchased this car from said he had it reprogrammed and the shift points changed. Personally I think they suck and that's what I want to reprogrammed back to facotry until it becomes necessary for custom shift points.

Sorry if I seem vague. Thanks for allthe help. I learn fast and can't wait to show up all the mustangs around town ha ha ha just a lil friendly competition

never manually shift an auto. and never let anyone do it to the car either. OD is the best for the car performance and longevity wise. no chips for these cars. they are plug and play. look in our sponsor section for tunedbyfrost. if you think there is a problem with your tune find out what is currently done to the car, as far as mods go, and send it to him with the list of mods you have. he will get it back to you within a week with a proper tune. but again never manually shift an auto. our trannies arent all that strong to begin with so dont put any extra wear and tear on it like that. unless you have one waiting to be installed and you just wanna wreck the current tranny. with a proper tune you will never get more out of the tranny manually shifting vs OD in performance and fuel economy. its a 100% fact. which is why a proper auto tranny beats all manual cars at the drag strip. before you do anything to the car mod wise make sure and do you maintainance first. all of it not just an oil change.

**sweet_revenge** · 03-25-2010, 04:53 AM

I know this is gonna sound stupid but how can I find out if it has a program and what all has been changed?

**pajeff02** · 03-25-2010, 04:56 AM

You would need tuning software -- something like HP Tuners or LS1 Edit to see the changes. You would also need to know what the settings are for a stock tune for comparison. Best bet is to have a pro take a look at things if you think there is an issue.

**Frost** · 03-25-2010, 05:53 AM

Sounds like the real issue was the guy who thought it was a 1970s Camaro and that he should be trying to manually shift it vs. leaving it in OD...

**00z28bubba** · 03-25-2010, 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by sweet_revenge

I know this is gonna sound stupid but how can I find out if it has a program and what all has been changed?

find a local tuner if possible and have them look at it to see if it is different from the stock tune. if someone near you has hptuners it wont cost anything to just look over the tune for comparison reasons. otherwise i dont know how you would check just because i am skeptical to see what a dealer says about a car lol. im sure someone in your area would at least be able to tell you what bolt ons your car has. if not research will probably be your best friend. for example looking for some bone stock engine bay pics, which you should find pretty easily, and looking up some sponsor sites to see what they sell. they usually have pictures and a lot of aftermarket stuff is fairly easy to spot save for like an underdrive pulley. if you plan on using a certain shop for your maintainance they should be able to tell you about some of the bolt ons, assuming they are a performance shop or they do a lot of lsx work.

**00z28bubba** · 03-25-2010, 10:22 AM

i just noticed your in kentucky. one of our sponsors is kyspeed, look up their info. they might be right next to you. but then again they could be across the state lol. reading up on them wont hurt though.

**Smittro** · 03-25-2010, 11:09 AM

Though I don't manually shift my auto and had it reprogrammed a few years ago. I don't see how manually shifting any auto is going to hurt it. UNLESS, someone is over reving it, OR using the gears to slow the vehicle down, both of which are'nt good for the trans.
But 1,2,d,od are available to the driver for some reason are'nt they?

**00z28bubba** · 03-25-2010, 11:23 AM

Originally Posted by Smittro

Though I don't manually shift my auto and had it reprogrammed a few years ago. I don't see how manually shifting any auto is going to hurt it. UNLESS, someone is over reving it, OR using the gears to slow the vehicle down, both of which are'nt good for the trans.
But 1,2,d,od are available to the driver for some reason are'nt they?

for what reason i dont know. because mine shifts at the same spot at wot all day long. why risk shifting just shy of peak power or over reving when you can get consistent performance 100% of the time. if your car is tuned properly there is no reason to manually shift. that is just from a performance side. knowing that our autos are pretty weak from the factory manually shifting could just cause extra wear and tear which is the consensus that i gathered from the forum. one thing is for sure though. our trannys will go out before the rear end in an a4 car when more than stock power is made.

**Smittro** · 03-25-2010, 11:40 AM

Originally Posted by 00z28bubba

for what reason i dont know. because mine shifts at the same spot at wot all day long. why risk shifting just shy of peak power or over reving when you can get consistent performance 100% of the time. if your car is tuned properly there is no reason to manually shift. that is just from a performance side. knowing that our autos are pretty weak from the factory manually shifting could just cause extra wear and tear which is the consensus that i gathered from the forum. one thing is for sure though. our trannys will go out before the rear end in an a4 car when more than stock power is made.

I gotcha, I'm no expert with the 4l60e just was curious is all..

**pajeff02** · 03-25-2010, 01:19 PM

We have only manually shifted our car 2-3 times. It actually hangs in second gear after the shift for a bit. Scared the crap out of me the first time it happened. There's a thread posted on this somewhere from early last year.

**Knight** · 03-25-2010, 01:32 PM

Could always throw a manual valvebody in it if you wanted to have to shift. Did that in my Roadrunner. Not too expensive or hard to do either.

**sweet_revenge** · 03-25-2010, 09:10 PM

well, as I said I am learning and honestly just saved my car from someone that seriously didnt know what in the hell they were doing, actually the past 3 male drivers have been extremely hard on this car and even though one of them was a mechanic, I know there is more wrong with the car than what I have been told. Circumstances just recently changed for me and my project car has come to a major slow down due to me just getting accepted to college. So if anyone is interested I want to get a few videos of my car and post them on here or youtube and get some ideas of what yall think. My car isnt paid off yet and wont be for quite sometime now (i wayyyyy over paid) anyways, I am not looking to race, as this is an every day driver now (especially with college around the bend) sooo... yea if yall could help better with some good videos let me know what ya think. And I do live in kentucky, but I live about 85miles from anything remotely close to a city and that is Louisville, Ky. Anyways, I just want the stupid car to run right and run good, and then I can worry about all the mods... I guess that would be the best way to handle it.

Also, this week I am ordering 2 o2 simulators and keeping my cat on (after much debate), I know that my o2 sensors have to good (not sure if they are or not) but if one of them is bad will still read bad after I put on the o2 simulator and have the exhaust leak fixed wont it? Or does the o2 simulator trick the computer into reading good whether the sensor itself is good or not? and again thanks for all the help!

and I will never shift my auto car again, I do NOT want to have to get another tranny, ill save the shifting for my 95 5.0 5 speed mustang lol

**67CamaroRSSS** · 03-25-2010, 09:39 PM

You really only need the front O2's as they tell the engine what A/F ratio it's at. The rear O2's only tell the PCM what the efficiency of the cats are. You could delete the rear O2's and have them tuned out.

Regarding the cats: 2002 has a TB out on them. A notice was sent to all owners stating that they (GM) were extending the warranty on the cats to 10 years/100k miles. If one or both are defective they will replace them at no cost within the specified time/mileage period.

I have long tube headers and no cats on my 2002. it runs better and sounds better too.

**sweet_revenge** · 03-25-2010, 10:51 PM

Originally Posted by 67CamaroRSSS

You really only need the front O2's as they tell the engine what A/F ratio it's at. The rear O2's only tell the PCM what the efficiency of the cats are. You could delete the rear O2's and have them tuned out.

Regarding the cats: 2002 has a TB out on them. A notice was sent to all owners stating that they (GM) were extending the warranty on the cats to 10 years/100k miles. If one or both are defective they will replace them at no cost within the specified time/mileage period.

I have long tube headers and no cats on my 2002. it runs better and sounds better too.

My poor 02 camaro has 143,000+ miles so I dont quite think I qualify for that... but thanks! So I can put in o2 simulators on the front and how do I have the back ones tuned out? I am going tomorrow to have the codes read and I will post the results asap...

As far as the cat goes, i was opting to leave it on because my other alternative was straight pipes in their place... cheap but effective for the sound I want. Havent gotten a quote on that, as there is only one exhaust shop anywhere near me that will even touch my car...

and even fewer mechanics... Who knows... I dont know the exact wording but I know right above my cats (closer to the motor lol) the pipes arent just cracked, they are completely broken all the way around, i honestly dont know how they are still on there. i was told the only way that could have cracked completely around the entire pipe was they got really hot and then were cooled way too fast... how much truth there is to that? well i dont know either, but I will have the video up tomorrow so I can show what I cant exactly explain.... i just need my own personal mechanic on call lmao

oh and btw I have recently found out the shift points have been changed on my car... so I plan on taking it to the chevy dealer here in town and having the program removed (or whatever) and everything set back to stock for now... I figure until i know the motor is running right, no mods need to be on there... my poor car... I wish i could explain how rough it really is... anyways, its late... thanks again, you guys are like my best friends now, I cant explain my gratitude!

**sweet_revenge** · 03-26-2010, 12:51 PM

and the results are!!!!
p0137
02 sensor
circuit low volts
(bank 1 sensor 2)

p0161
02 sensor heater
circuit malfunction
(bank 2 sensor 2)

p0430
catalytic efficiency
below threshold
(bank 2)

**Cutlass** · 03-27-2010, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by sweet_revenge

So I can put in o2 simulators on the front and how do I have the back ones tuned out? I am going tomorrow to have the codes read and I will post the results asap...

No you need to keep the front O2 sensors operational. No simulators. If you want the thing to just be stock without the rear O2s then just replace whatever exhaust part is cracked with a used stock replacement part and send your computer to Frost (one of our site sponsors) and have him do his mail order magic.
http://www.tunedbyfrost.com/