ok, haha I don't know what it all means. har har. great, now that the laughing is out of the way I have some questions, they are everyday things for some people... I've never even seen a dyno IRL.

dyno testing basically shows you the power output of your car, right? right.

Ok, so places offer "dyno tuning" I assume that just means you dyno the car, get some numbers, adjust some things (tune) then dyno it again and see how things worked out.

From that I have 2 questions...

1) do you have to have a special ECU for that? (ala AEM EMS)
2) do they do the tuning or do you do the tuning? (I would assume that since they charge more, they do it, but I haven't found any place that actually explictly says THEY do the tuning)
I ask #2 because I wouldn't have an idea of where to start.

so ha ha. yea I don't know.. now can someone answer my puny questions?

 

1) yes, not much can be tuned on 99% of the stock cars
2) they should be the ones doing the tuning.

 

http://www.bristoldyno.com/info/procedure.htm

of course not all dyno shops will be the same. but its a general run down.

 

1) No you don't need a special ECU
2) They'll do the tuning, unless you insist you have the knowledge and confidence to do it yourself.

I wouldn't recommend doing this unless your car is worked over pretty well and has parts that would compliment from tuning. If you insist on knowing what your car makes to the wheels, do a baseline run.

 

Unless you have cam gears, VAFC, programmable computer (hondata, AEM EMS, etc.)....a dyno tune isn't worth it. Spend 40 bucks and get a baseline run to find out how much power you are making if you really want to, but you have nothing to tune.

When they tune the car, they hook up a wideband 02 to measure the a/f ratio, and then tune for power and reliability. They make sure you wont detonate, and you get the most power out of the parts you have. Adjusting fuel, timing, cam gear timing, programming your engine management, setting the vtec crossover, etc.

 

so on a, mostly, stock car there's not much you can do?

wouldn't hurt, but not going to be much benefit if any eh?

 

There's nothing you could tune on a stock car.

 

ok so I'm asking questions but it might be more useful to input my main question and goal.

My 93 teg LS has over 173k miles (oh yea, time for an oil change too) and I want to find out how to tune it up. Most local places that do "tune ups" check/top fluids, change plugs, inspect hoses and belts, etc etc. Stupid stuff that I do my self.

I'm looking for more detail. Timing, A/F ratio, valve adjustments, spark(cap/rotor), etc etc. Stuff I don't know how to do and probably hasn't been checked since the last timing belt change, if not longer. I'd like someone with experiance to check over those types of things and make sure they are set where they should be and performing like they should be. But I don't know what to ask for.

 

Unless you have changed the ignition timing, it doesn't need to be inspected. A/F ratio does not need to be monitored on a stock car. If you were having a/f problems, it would show in the spark plugs. A cap/rotor change is simple, and places should do it with a tune up...if not, just ask them to do it. Valve adjustments are easy too, and most mechanics should be able to do one.

Dyno tuning and tune ups are two completely different things.

If I was going to be in PA longer I'd do your valve adjustment for you.

 

give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he'll never go hungry.

I want to learn so much but don't know where to start. I don't know anyone around here that is knowledable and willing to teach. it's quite frustrating.