Worst shop/tuning experience ever, Need a new tuner/shop ( live in NY )
Oct 30, 2014, 12:24 PM
#1
Newbie
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: ny
Posts: 82
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Worst shop/tuning experience ever, Need a new tuner/shop ( live in NY )
Ive been on and off with the evo game since 05 when i got the car, due to just the lack of professionalism or just being ripped off by the few shops I've been to. So a little over a year ago i decided to give it another shot, brought the car to a shop that ill keep nameless because I'm not sure how the rules are on here about discussing these matters, i brought it to repair a motor from the previous tuner putting too much timing in the car and melting the head to the block and just completing the build on the motor and a few other things. So about 8 weeks later or so, and the car is ready to go. He tells me i have to put a base map on the car during the break in period. Long story short, the break in map was just a random map uploaded into the ecu without even testing it. The day before picking up the car he asked for a few specs of the car,injector size, fuel pump, etc. The following day i met up at the shop, got there a bit early. He comes along with the ecu in his hand and says he had to goto jersey for the tuner to throw the base map on it. So my base map was apparently created in someone else's car lol. So the cars easily the dirtiest its ever been in its entire life, inside and out, none of my gauges were even working, battery was dead, and wouldn't even stay started without being revved. He claimed it was ok and would be fine during the break in period. Also i noticed i only had 1 mile extra since the car was dropped off. Is a mile enough testing after a car is completely taken apart and rebuilt?New clutch also. Also Ive never had a break in map before so i wouldn't know if thats how its supposed to be done or not. Others are telling me their cars were actually put on dynos for the base tune for the break in period. Also i had to pay in full for the base map ( 500 plus tax ) Oh well, so the car ran like absolute **** for 1000 miles, afr all over, idle all over, and cold start not even possible, had to rev until it was warm for it to stay running. So finally a year later ( took me a year to do 1000 miles lol, busy schedule ) I decided to call up for the 540$ tune i had already paid for. Had to schedule it about 3-4 weeks in advanced and they only tune on wednesday. So i had a friend bring it over, they did 2 pulls and it had misfire and it was immediately pulled off the dyno and another car was put on. So they had him wait on the side for about 3 hours before a tech came to look at the car and diagnosed it has a bad coil. Not knocking them for doing this, but are all shops quick to pull a car off the dyno like that now? without even attempting to look at the plugs or anything? Just curious. Back when i use to tune they seemed to put more effort into cars, but ok, lets fast forward some more. So i put the spoolincop in to fix the problem, car feels 100x better just from that, a lot smoother, less lag. Call up and schedule my next tune, 3 weeks go by and my friend is there with my car for round 2. He mentioned to him all the issues, cold start, lag down low between 1000-2500. So then apparently prior to getting ready to tune, his laptop dies and doesn't have a charger ( lol ). So few more hours go by before borrowing one from someone and then its ready to go. 5 pulls and 40minutes later the car is done. Hands over the keys and says its good to go, but that i should get larger injectors. By the time i get to drive the car is about maybe 6-7 hours later, right from start up still stalls, ok cold start still sucks, great. So like I've been doing for the past year i give the car small revs the car until its warm and then drive around a bit. Just from cruising the car is very rough, sputtering, and can't even go wot past 5500 or so without some serious miss fires. So based on everything i have to say its probably my least favorite shop I've ever been to, id honestly rather have big al tune my car lol, at least al seemed to try. When i used to tune my car with ivey, or al, it would always take like 90minutes to 2 hour range, sometimes even longer depending on what was going on with it. So my question is are tuners that quick these days? 40-45minutes seems pretty quick considering how ****ty my map was to start. Also do tuners no longer take cars out on the street and datalog or road tune after the car is done? I was always use to my previous tuners going on the road with it after the dyno tune. So thats it, time to search for a new tuner/shop i suppose. Any recommendations?
Last edited by r3dtr1ckz; Oct 30, 2014 at 02:43 PM.
Oct 30, 2014, 02:07 PM
#4
Lol, but seriously...
But since you are looking for feedback and are in NY I would recommend you take your car to STM. CBRD and Buschur are also both great shops but no need to travel any further, not to mention the fact that your car probably wouldnt make the treck from the sounds of it...
But since you are looking for feedback and are in NY I would recommend you take your car to STM. CBRD and Buschur are also both great shops but no need to travel any further, not to mention the fact that your car probably wouldnt make the treck from the sounds of it...
Oct 30, 2014, 02:27 PM
#5
Evolving Member
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Clarksville, TN
Posts: 499
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
STM is in NY state, they would have been the better option.
Oct 30, 2014, 02:53 PM
#7
Evolving Member
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Clarksville, TN
Posts: 499
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
No, tuners are not that quick. My car is slated for up to 3 hours of tuning once all mechanical work is finished and it goes on the dyno. Also, my current shop, when they thought my car was ready for dyno, fired it up and let it idle off of the dyno and checked it for any leaks (boost, exhaust) and anything else. Upon doing so they heard noise from the valve train they weren't comfortable with and immediately turned the car off. Turns out I had some bad valves, leaking valve seals, and leaky HG. All of that is being fixed now and then should be ready for tuning. This is good practice, IMO, to fire up the car off the dyno and inspect before actually putting it up there.
Also, a COMPETENT tuner, especially one who does many tunes of the same types of cars, will have a standard base tune for each platform he has tuned previously. A competent tuner and shop will also have all the details of your setup (fuel pump size, injector size, etc) prior to tuning and the tuner can likely adjust his base tune for those items and then adjust real time once on the dyno for the final tune. That shop you went to is garbage.
Also, a COMPETENT tuner, especially one who does many tunes of the same types of cars, will have a standard base tune for each platform he has tuned previously. A competent tuner and shop will also have all the details of your setup (fuel pump size, injector size, etc) prior to tuning and the tuner can likely adjust his base tune for those items and then adjust real time once on the dyno for the final tune. That shop you went to is garbage.
Trending Topics
Oct 30, 2014, 05:13 PM
#9
Newbie
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: ny
Posts: 82
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
No, tuners are not that quick. My car is slated for up to 3 hours of tuning once all mechanical work is finished and it goes on the dyno. Also, my current shop, when they thought my car was ready for dyno, fired it up and let it idle off of the dyno and checked it for any leaks (boost, exhaust) and anything else. Upon doing so they heard noise from the valve train they weren't comfortable with and immediately turned the car off. Turns out I had some bad valves, leaking valve seals, and leaky HG. All of that is being fixed now and then should be ready for tuning. This is good practice, IMO, to fire up the car off the dyno and inspect before actually putting it up there.
Also, a COMPETENT tuner, especially one who does many tunes of the same types of cars, will have a standard base tune for each platform he has tuned previously. A competent tuner and shop will also have all the details of your setup (fuel pump size, injector size, etc) prior to tuning and the tuner can likely adjust his base tune for those items and then adjust real time once on the dyno for the final tune. That shop you went to is garbage.
Also, a COMPETENT tuner, especially one who does many tunes of the same types of cars, will have a standard base tune for each platform he has tuned previously. A competent tuner and shop will also have all the details of your setup (fuel pump size, injector size, etc) prior to tuning and the tuner can likely adjust his base tune for those items and then adjust real time once on the dyno for the final tune. That shop you went to is garbage.
Oct 30, 2014, 08:02 PM
#12
unfortunately this type of stuff seems to be more and more common lately. There arent many good shops or tuners left. A large majority of tuners arent able to diagnose anything they cant manipulate with their laptop. They lack basic diagnostic skills and will just start recommending replacing components.
Ive seen tuners play around for hours on the laptop trying to adjust this or that wondering why its not fixing it.... Well maybe because if you have a malfunctioning component no amount of ecu tweaking will make it operate correctly.
Im not saying tuners need to be master techs, but basic understanding of the combustion engine should be required. I wont even go into detail with some of the hackery Ive seen at some the shops I been to. Its sad and frustrating and is one reason I do all my own work.
/rant.
Ive seen tuners play around for hours on the laptop trying to adjust this or that wondering why its not fixing it.... Well maybe because if you have a malfunctioning component no amount of ecu tweaking will make it operate correctly.
Im not saying tuners need to be master techs, but basic understanding of the combustion engine should be required. I wont even go into detail with some of the hackery Ive seen at some the shops I been to. Its sad and frustrating and is one reason I do all my own work.
/rant.
Oct 30, 2014, 10:04 PM
#13
unfortunately this type of stuff seems to be more and more common lately. There arent many good shops or tuners left. A large majority of tuners arent able to diagnose anything they cant manipulate with their laptop. They lack basic diagnostic skills and will just start recommending replacing components.
Ive seen tuners play around for hours on the laptop trying to adjust this or that wondering why its not fixing it.... Well maybe because if you have a malfunctioning component no amount of ecu tweaking will make it operate correctly.
Im not saying tuners need to be master techs, but basic understanding of the combustion engine should be required. I wont even go into detail with some of the hackery Ive seen at some the shops I been to. Its sad and frustrating and is one reason I do all my own work.
/rant.
Ive seen tuners play around for hours on the laptop trying to adjust this or that wondering why its not fixing it.... Well maybe because if you have a malfunctioning component no amount of ecu tweaking will make it operate correctly.
Im not saying tuners need to be master techs, but basic understanding of the combustion engine should be required. I wont even go into detail with some of the hackery Ive seen at some the shops I been to. Its sad and frustrating and is one reason I do all my own work.
/rant.
I don't work on cars for a living but my line of work has similar issues with diagnosing and addressing problems. I can sympathize with tuners.
None of this is to take away from the OPs experience. Just to say with stock ecu things aren't as straight forward unless you are very familiar and experienced with it on many different setups.
Oct 31, 2014, 08:48 AM
#15
unfortunately this type of stuff seems to be more and more common lately. There arent many good shops or tuners left. A large majority of tuners arent able to diagnose anything they cant manipulate with their laptop. They lack basic diagnostic skills and will just start recommending replacing components.
Ive seen tuners play around for hours on the laptop trying to adjust this or that wondering why its not fixing it.... Well maybe because if you have a malfunctioning component no amount of ecu tweaking will make it operate correctly.
Im not saying tuners need to be master techs, but basic understanding of the combustion engine should be required. I wont even go into detail with some of the hackery Ive seen at some the shops I been to. Its sad and frustrating and is one reason I do all my own work.
/rant.
Ive seen tuners play around for hours on the laptop trying to adjust this or that wondering why its not fixing it.... Well maybe because if you have a malfunctioning component no amount of ecu tweaking will make it operate correctly.
Im not saying tuners need to be master techs, but basic understanding of the combustion engine should be required. I wont even go into detail with some of the hackery Ive seen at some the shops I been to. Its sad and frustrating and is one reason I do all my own work.
/rant.
cb