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2003/4 ECM programing vs 2005/6

6K views 27 replies 7 participants last post by  Night Hawk 
#1 ·
Can anybody tell me why the 2003 and 2004 jeeps ECM doesn't work well with aftermarket programmers? And is it possible to swap-install the 05 or 06 ECM.....Looking for a little more performance.
 
#2 ·
The difference between the 03/04 and 05/06 PCM is the transmission control module (TCM) is a stand alone module in the 03/04 model years. I think the only reason to do a custom tune is if you went to bigger injectors and different MAF sensor if you supercharged. Always the best way to start when looking for better performance is to regear.
 
#3 ·
I am very happy with my rig the way it is here in FLA. Planning on traveling out west Moab , Monument Canyon.ETC.. and will be pulling a 5 wide T@G approx. 12000 lbs. I am concern about pulling up the mountain grades and that has me thinking about a Banks Turbo kit. I am reading currently through ROF old post from back when Banks came out with the kit but I am just up to the 100th page or so.
Love to here how it would work on my 2003 Rubi 5 speed 33's and 4.10's. I guess I should have just posted that..........YAR!!
 
#21 · (Edited by Moderator)
I am very happy with my rig the way it is here in FLA. Planning on traveling out west Moab , Monument Canyon.ETC.. and will be pulling a 5 wide T@G approx. 12000 1200 lbs. I am concern about pulling up the mountain grades and that has me thinking about a Banks Turbo kit. I am reading currently through ROF old post from back when Banks came out with the kit but I am just up to the 100th page or so.
Love to here how it would work on my 2003 Rubi 5 speed 33's and 4.10's. I guess I should have just posted that..........YAR!!
Revisiting your first thoughts, you said you were pleased with your rig in Florida and seemed to associate the need for power with towing 12,000 1200 lbs. to the Moab area. Am I reading that correctly? I’m seeing issues with physics, braking, and cooling, not to mention wear and tear.
 
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#4 ·
If your's is programmed like mine the timing is horribly low. Level ground interstate it only has about 30 degrees timing. When going up any kind of hill and timing drops to low 20's and at wot at 2800 rpm it is at 16 degrees. As the throttle is opening any extra airflow is negated by reduced timing. It seems like after 1/3 throttle there is no difference in power.

I've heard Syked has software to tune 03-04 Wranglers. I think it is very similar to HP tuners software. I hope to get Syked software in the next month and see what gains can be had by playing with the timing tables. I may DIY a turbo if it still struggles on hills with a 1700lb trailer.
 
#5 ·
Welcome Brian! Some ROFers have Banks turbos, one has a Kenny Bell blower, I have a RIPP blower kit and another guy has another brand of blower kit.

The very first improvement for power is regearing - what size tires and what gear do you have?
 
#7 · (Edited)
….The very first improvement for power is regearing - …
Yes...

Regearing is on the list. It has 4.10s still with 35s. 5.38s are coming soon....
OMG! That has to be a dog. I have an '04 w/5 speed tranny. Went from stock 31" tires to 33's and lost fifth gear. When I put on 35's I re-geared to 4.88... Much better! 35's with 4.88 is actually just a little bit lower than (stock) 31's with 4.10.
Are you sure you want to go as deep as 5.38? I would think 4.88 would be fine or 5.13 with auto tranny.

Get rid of the re-programmers and anything changing PCM parameters/timing until you re-gear.
 
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#6 ·
Regearing is on the list. It has 4.10s still with 35s. 5.38s are coming soon. I'm not expecting much improvement at 70 mph because I'll be in overdrive at 2500 rpm vs 3rd gear at 2800 rpm now. On the interstate it may be a step back, but around town should be much better. I think with some tuning it will be great in Tennessee, but pulling a trailer in mountains will be right lane only.

I'll be going to an off road park in late March with a decent climb at lower altitude. I'll see how it goes then.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Just thinking here and not that experienced with Jeep tuning but...

I bought a motorcycle with good HP but it had a reputation for being jerky and it was.

I had it dyno-tuned by a race professional and that improved the bike's performance drastically and got more HP and smoother acceleration through the gears. Since then I have picked up from others that the jerky nature of the bike was due to the factory tuning it lean to meet EPA requirements.

I'm wondering if these Jeeps have the same situation. I know that the 2005 4.0 exaust needed to be redesigned and fueling tweaked to meet the EPA requirements by the factory back then.

Has anyone dyne-tuned a 05/06 Wrangler?

Just a note the motorcycle could be tuned with a program the allowed the PSM's fuel tables to be changed. Not sure if the Jeeps PSM will allow that.

Brian are you talking about the fuel tables in your above post?
 
#16 ·
I had my Rubi on the dyno before and after boosting but there was no real time diddling with the tune, never heard of anybody tuning the TJ/LJ in real time. There's no real point in doing that since it's not a high performance engine.
 
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#17 · (Edited)
Bob, I have not looked at the fuel tables at all yet. I am more interested in part throttle efficiency. Adding timing advance has decreased throttle opening and increased vacuum, both are signs of increased efficiency.

I have some experience in Megasquirt, but this is my first try at a factory ECU. I don't think lean AFRs, air fuel ratios will be an issue until it is near WOT. I have road raced motorcycles and high horsepower cars so my Jeep will never be able to satisfy need for speed.
 
G
#27 ·
Sorry for the slow reply. When I first got Syked software I was excited, but lack of support is it's biggest problem. Some software has descriptions of features if you hover over different terms. There is no real forum help and some of the labels are not obvious what they do. Syked also does not allow speedometer adjustments.

I have not changed much beyond the timing tables. Just doing that has helped a lot. There is more in it, but I decided during the summer tuning alone will not get me where I want to be power wise. I quit messing with it until after I rebuild the 4.0 to a 4.6. I will do a lot of tuning after the rebuild.

I really wanted HPTuners, but it was not available at the time and didn't seem like it was coming anytime soon. Apparently now it is available.

Bottom line is that Syked was good when it was the only choice. I wish I would have waited for HPT, but it didn't seem to be on the list of things to do. HPT seems like it is more user friendly.

As far as gearing, I am not sure 5.38s are much if any better than 4.10s. They are different, but I have trouble on the Tennessee hills 5.38s in OD. 4.10s with OD turned off raised the RPM from about 2500 to 2700 and did much better.

I'm about to start looking for my son a Jeep and will likely avoid any Jeep with a 42rle.
 
#28 ·
Thanks so much Brian for responding and the info on Syked . I will look into HPTuners and see what they offer. I am happy with my 5 speed and 33's but I might change gear to 4.56 from the 4.10's as well as timing the ECM. My Rubi only has 75000 miles on her and I am trying to stay away from an engine swap.
 
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