reading a Diablo chip

[duhtroll]

Howdy -

Anyone know who is able to read on old diablo chip and copy the program off of it so I can get a copy to convert over to the right format for my XCal2?

Thanks!

[HwyCruiser]

I don't know if it is possible unless you can find someone who can read the existing tune while the chip is still in the vehicle. I know an SCT tuner can upload a flashed PCM and save it (had this done at MVIII), but will this work with a chip? :dunno:

Was your Diablo chip dyno-tuned? If not, you might be just as well off to start with a base SCT tune tweaked for your mods anyway.

[Power Surge]

Not likely that's going to happen. If it's a red chip, then it's a Diablo made program, and only they have it. If it's a black chip, then it's a CMR tuner made program, and the tuner should have it. Either way, a Diablo dealer/tuner can't read any of the 4 bank Diablo chips. I used to be able to read the first design single bank ones, but that was many years ago.

There is also no way for an SCT tuner to read a tune off a chip or device either. These companies have made a great effort to make sure of that.

The ONLY hope you have of converting your existing tune from Diablo to SCT, is if the original vendor is a dealer for both. And even then, they may not do it.

I am a dealer/tuner for both of those brands, and I have had people switch from Diablo to SCT and ask me to "just convert" their Diablo tunes. There is no "conversion". You have to just open each program and manually copy the settings over. And even that is a PITA, because Diablo and SCT use different units of measure for a lot of things, so you'd have to do math on a LOT of parameters.

Better off just starting fresh with the SCT.

[Dennis Reinhart]

Howdy -

Anyone know who is able to read on old diablo chip and copy the program off of it so I can get a copy to convert over to the right format for my XCal2?

Thanks!


It is two differnt type file formats, Diablo files are not the same as sct if you can get the Diablo file I can convert it, I can not read a Diablo chip

[duhtroll]

Yes, this was a dynotuned program, and yes I want to keep it. I have a base tune in my XCal2, and when I switched from the chip to the base tune, I lost 0.3 in the 1/4 mile. Not acceptable.

Math doesn't bother me - matter of fact it's actually kinda fun figuring stuff out like that.

I don't care if I have to learn trig again. This has to be possible. Even if someone has to read the settings to me manually using two cups and a string, and I input them with an abacus.

"So just put the chip back in." Sure, until I do another mod. Now that I have the tuner it'd be nice to use it.

So in essence I need to buy another dynotune? That's a last resort.

Too bad no one in this backwater state even has a dyno, much less someone I would trust to do the tuning.

I smell an impending road trip somewhere. Dammit.

OK, can someone read the chip and PRINT the settings? Write them out in crayon on a cocktail napkin? I'll handle the conversions - I'm good at that sort of stuff.

There has to be a way.




I don't know if it is possible unless you can find someone who can read the existing tune while the chip is still in the vehicle. I know an SCT tuner can upload a flashed PCM and save it (had this done at MVIII), but will this work with a chip? :dunno:

Was your Diablo chip dyno-tuned? If not, you might be just as well off to start with a base SCT tune tweaked for your mods anyway.

[Power Surge]

Yes, this was a dynotuned program, and yes I want to keep it. I have a base tune in my XCal2, and when I switched from the chip to the base tune, I lost 0.3 in the 1/4 mile. Not acceptable.

Math doesn't bother me - matter of fact it's actually kinda fun figuring stuff out like that.

I don't care if I have to learn trig again. This has to be possible. Even if someone has to read the settings to me manually using two cups and a string, and I input them with an abacus.

"So just put the chip back in." Sure, until I do another mod. Now that I have the tuner it'd be nice to use it.

So in essence I need to buy another dynotune? That's a last resort.

Too bad no one in this backwater state even has a dyno, much less someone I would trust to do the tuning.

I smell an impending road trip somewhere. Dammit.

OK, can someone read the chip and PRINT the settings? Write them out in crayon on a cocktail napkin? I'll handle the conversions - I'm good at that sort of stuff.

There has to be a way.

Nobody can read that chip except Diablo, and I can tell you they won't do it for you.

The other thing to consider, is that even you DID somehow get the settings off that tune, and you DID do all the conversions to the SCT format (I am assuming you have the PRP?), it's STILL not going to be the same tune. I can tell you that from first hand experiance of going through it myself. The way each brand's programs work are different, and just copying the settings over will not get you the same results.

Trust me dude. I have been EEC tuning Ford's for over 10 years now and I have used all the brands of tuning software. You are not going to be happy with the end result of what you are trying to do. Just start with the new SCT tune and redyno it. Or better yet, spend the $$ on a wide band, and do all your tuning on the street. The trip to the dyno will just be for numbers at that point.

[Dennis Reinhart]

There has to be a way.


There is its called SCT

[duhtroll]

OK, next step then.

Minneapolis, or Chicago are the two closest. Who has experience with a dyno tuner in these cities? I want someone reputable of course, preferably someone who has worked on Marauders.

I'd also like a copy of the program when we're done so don't have to go through this again. I might just get the O2 sensor while I'm at it along with the CRD1 database for the PR software.

Incidentally, the chip is up for sale in the classifieds, and it has a primo program on it for CRD0/CRD1 and 4.10s. . .

Heck, it's better than my current SCT program. :o

Thanks


Nobody can read that chip except Diablo, and I can tell you they won't do it for you.

[HwyCruiser]

A, where did you get the chip dyno'ed? Sorry to say it bud, but you're holding on to old technology (that and being stuck out in the cornfields of Iowa).

I have an old SCT 9100 laying around somewhere and my Predator is probably going to be obsoleted any day now if it makes you feel any better. If I wasn't being taken care of by my Diablo dealer I'd be all over the SCT PRP. That was some pretty cool stuff TMF was showing me up there. Too bad Diablo hasn't gotten off square one with an end-user tuning software package.

[duhtroll]

Who is holding onto old tech? I have an XCal2.

My "old tech" program on the diablo chip currently OUTPERFORMS the new program to the tune of 3 tenths. Hence my problem!

I wanted the program off the chip to get those tenths back. I paid for 'em, after all. I'm told not that it can't be done, but that people don't want to do it, so I guess I want a new program for my XCal2.

Of course I could have just thrown money at the problem (i.e. just gone for a dynotune) without asking if the swap could be done but that is wasteful. I don't like waste.

(And the common denominator, difference in programs aside, is the computer in the car itself so it MUST be possible, but I digress.)

Jerry tuned this car while they were still called FordChips IIRC. If I can't get my meathooks on the program (which still doesn't make much sense other than folks just don't wanna) then I'll make a new one. I just figured I'd take the more logical route - using the one I already bought if possible.


A, where did you get the chip dyno'ed? Sorry to say it bud, but you're holding on to old technology (that and being stuck out in the cornfields of Iowa).

I have an old SCT 9100 laying around somewhere and my Predator is probably going to be obsoleted any day now if it makes you feel any better. If I wasn't being taken care of by my Diablo dealer I'd be all over the SCT PRP. That was some pretty cool stuff TMF was showing me up there. Too bad Diablo hasn't gotten off square one with an end-user tuning software package.

[merc6]

Tune is private for competition purposes iirc? Not enough vibrations from a 4.6 idling below 500 rpms to count how many people said they would pay me to flash their car(not just mm) with my Xcal2.

[HwyCruiser]

A, I'd hazard a guess that the Diablo chip provides a 3/10th's advantage over the base xCal2 tune because it was dyno tuned for optimal air-fuel ratio on your car and might have a little more aggressive timing tables. Base tunes are built with -or at least should have- a bit of a safety factor, leaving some power that dyno tuning (or at least wideband dial-in) could pick up.

[MitchB]

Use your XCal2 to datalog WOT A/F and spark. That's probably where the difference lies.

Mitch

[SergntMac]

-A...Look at a map and tell me if you can make it over to Byron, Illinois. If you can, e-mail me for more 411.

[duhtroll]

Yes, yes, I know. :)

Which is why I wanted to start with that optimized tune rather than the base tune I have.

Now the big question -

Go with just the dynotune and new program, or get a wideband and the database for PRP in addition to that? I figure with a decent tuner doing the work I shouldn't need to mess with it afterward, but it's always good to have options.

Mac, I'll get back to you on that. It isn't so much whether I can get there but when, and if it's before the snows get put on. :(

Maybe once TMF's car is done we can both go and make a day of it.

That is, if he wants to show the thing off when it's done - but I bet he won't want to show others all of his fine work. . . ;)


A, I'd hazard a guess that the Diablo chip provides a 3/10th's advantage over the base xCal2 tune because it was dyno tuned for optimal air-fuel ratio on your car and might have a little more aggressive timing tables. Base tunes are built with -or at least should have- a bit of a safety factor, leaving some power that dyno tuning (or at least wideband dial-in) could pick up.