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Planning for transmission and engine work; what is best timing for ECM upgrade?

J

JayTheCPA

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Burb is coming up on 150K miles and am going over repairs, upgrades, and when I am able to pay for it all. Need to do the mods and repairs over time while using the Burb as my daily driver, so what is the collective experience on the best time to upgrade the ECM and not have it done at least twice? Based on TC lockup, am confident that the ECM is stock but did not open the dash to prove it. From searching around, am leaning toward Heath’s tune but Kojo is an option as well.

Here is the project list in priority order:
Tranny:
> Overhaul / rebuilt
> GearVendors

Engine:
> Fuel Delivery (injectors, feed the beast, IP, etc) + turbo mod (definitely vacuum delete, but not decided on turbomaster or non-wastegate)
> 18:1 compression (maybe, still considering whether I want to do this as I will need to add an exhaust brake, but also not certain it has an effect on ECM tuning)

I realize that there are a fair amount of additional details in each phase (ex: type of injectors, POP pressure, lift pump, etc) and am also doing other upgrades, but from what I am able to tell there are only a few major items that an ECM tune will directly affect based on the things I want to do; naturally if I am missing something, am confident that y’all will let me know :D
 
DONT do the 18:1 modification not worth it trust me I know from first hand knowledge. 19 to one would be the lowest I would go
 
Brooklyn Tow said:
Exhaust.....
Click to expand...
Yup, already there and pushing the wife’s limits as she likes quiet. Only thing left to improve the exhaust is a straight-pipe, and I prefer to keep my neighbors happy with me.

NVW said:
Forget about an exhaust brake, the 4l80e trans won't like it.
Click to expand...
Slim Shady said:
DONT do the 18:1 modification not worth it trust me I know from first hand knowledge.
Click to expand...
Good to know as my mechanic was not hot on the 18:1 (or any compression lowering) idea in the first place. By skipping the18:1 and engine brake mods not sure I just avoided any expenses as the project just got a new twist to get better engine braking from the 4l80e. Am looking to tow ~8K# with the Burb and do not like riding the brakes on long downhills, so looks like the tranny is going to need some more researching.

What I am seeing is to re-order the series by doing the engine first, but am sensing that the pending tranny rework (thinking about TRANSGO HD or similar) will effect the ECM tune when I finally get there, correct?
 
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