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08 LNF. Switchable tune ECU locked?

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Old 05-06-2022, 05:23 PM
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I will try to offer my help.

Yes, the Trifecta tunes are "locked" in that they cannot be read by any software outside of Trifecta proprietary stuff.
I am a "non-practicing"(?) Trifecta dealer;
I say that because I was an active dealer when the company was sold to WOT;
WOT quickly made the old system of dealers obsolete (I got the feeling that they didn't care to do updates for me or my clients either);
Dealers, even ones forced to retire like myself should have the means to flash you back - I keep a database of all the tunes I flashed, and when I sold t he tune I told my client that I offered lifetime support - and I intend to keep it that way.
We were never offered any kind of buy out (for our V1 cable that we paid for0 so unless the dealer gave away or tossed their cable, they should still have it.

Did you buy your car privately?
If you did maybe the last owner still has the Trifecta stuff - or he has the contact information for whom ever reflashed it.

The only thing I would be concerned about for you with going back to a stock (as in the last tune GM has in their system for your vehicle) is if the MAP sensors were changed to the GMS1 style at the time of the Trifecta tune;
If that's the case, your car is liable to quickly go into limp mode unless you have the correct MAPs for the GM tune.

There is nothing wrong with the switchable tune - it was there as a double safegaurd:
1) when you brought your car in for servicing to a dealer, your tune code matched their files
2) if someone else was driving your car, it would have been in "stock" (aka: lower power mode) unless the dirver knew how to change it.
For it's time, it was pretty clever, and really cool.
My last couple updates from Vince included the tune be on full time - which was a rarity, as the hidden/switchable tune was a Trifecta exclusive.

As to the question about setting up a second computer;
That would be purely plug and play - as your car on startup would see that everything was fine.
You would need a GM dealer, or someone with HPT (and credits available; or who bought the rights tun tune as many of those vehicles as they wish) to change the vin on any ECM you would buy;
If you find an HPT dealer, the GMS1 tune is out there - incase you have the GMS1 style MAPs.

Originally Posted by USMCFieldMP
And good luck... I've always heard Trifecta is a PITA to deal with.
Unless the Trifecta name ect was resold after WOT bought it, I can say this is 100% correct.
With the original owner (Vince) things were great - he would be swamped with emails, but always took the time to reply.
If you look through threads here, he was even an active member for some time - how's that for committed!
Then again that's what businesses will do - start up, get a great reputation, and sell when things are going good - the next guys take it to the crapper - lol
I wish I could say that I saw it coming - but I did not.

Last edited by soundjunky; 05-06-2022 at 05:37 PM.
Old 06-23-2022, 03:15 AM
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I am pretty sure the E69 ECM is a MED 9.6

You do not need to have a "buddy" at a GM dealership to flash GM calibration files. You need a VCX NANO which is a little bit over $100.00 USD on Amazon. make sure you get the one for GM Tech2. This will allow you to install and run Tech2Win and also SPS2. SPS2 is the "online cloud" that GM now uses for handling programming and calibration files.
You need to visit this GM website

https://www.acdelcotds.com/subscriptions

The top item is for SPS2, in the drop down box select "1 vehicle". You will have to enter the VIN of the vehicle and register to use the site but it is open to the general public. It has a cost of $40.00 USD and it will allow you to download the calibration files for your vehicle for up to 2 years. Use the SPS2 software for the VCX Nano to access that subscription and flash the file to your ECM. This will overwrite anything that Trifecta has done. Tech2Win is the same software that GM uses to service your vehicle. There is a whole lot of things you can do with it. You will need to know the chassis code for your car which I believe is either the 3rd or 4th digit in the VIN.

The dual tune feature that Trifecta has is flawed. It is now causing problems on vehicles that have had their tunes installed for many years. This is the flaw. Where is the second tune being installed? Well it is being stored in memory that is for the purpose of replacing memory blocks that go bad where the OS and associated tables are stored. The E69 ECM is a learning computer. It stores information in it's memory about the running state of the vehicle so it is writing information all the time. This memory doesn't last forever so when a block comes up as being bad a pointer get set to a block in that reserved area where trifecta has stored the second tune data. Well guess what happens? eventually portions of the trifecta tune will get over written. We have seen vehicles that have been running Trifecta tunes for over a decade all of a sudden stop functioning properly. All kinds if different problems show up and it's completely random what the issues are. In every single case writing the factory calibration back onto the vehicle corrects the problems.

Trifecta's tune was made the way it was for the only purpose of the original vehicle warranty. That time has come and gone so it no longer needs to be done that way for your vehicles. Plus it would only work properly if you had all OE parts. so no upgraded MAP sensors, no upgraded turbos. This is because when you start the car it is defaulted to the stock tune and if anything is non stock it can trigger a DTC. Plus you have to either put the TC in competition mode or turn on the cruise control in order to activate the performance tune. Not only does it limit what you can do to the vehicle you would also have to remember to turn it on. I personally would find that to be an annoyance.

Old 06-23-2022, 03:25 AM
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To know what MAP sensors you have go and look at them. If they have 2 bolts in them they are stock. of they have 1 bolt they are upgraded. If you have the upgraded sensors you will need to put the factory ones in to be able to run the car using the factory tune. I do not know if GM released a GMPP upgrade for the Cobalt or not. If they didn't you can get the one for the Solstice from the HPTuners tune repository and copy and paste the MAP tables from it into the tune file for you car. You will then be able to use the upgraded MAP sensors. You would also want to copy any changes made in other tables (except transmission) to get the performance increase. Unless you have changed out the turbo to something other then the BorgWarner K04 there is no need to use the upgraded sensors anyhow. The turbo is not going to be able to max out the factory sensors without causing damage to the turbo.

Old 06-23-2022, 10:38 AM
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Originally Posted by kgschlosser
... I do not know if GM released a GMPP upgrade for the Cobalt or not. ...
It absolutely was released for the Cobalt;
There were a series of delays, and only the 'Stage 1' was released for the Cobalt.
There were other kits in the works, but GM's near bankruptcy, and shutting down the 'Performance Division' for a spell meant that all future kits, not matter how far into development they were (and believe me, they were there), they were cancelled.

https://www.autoblog.com/2008/12/18/...y-redline-and/

GM releases turbo upgrade kit for Solstice GXP, Sky Redline and HHR SS

The Pontiac Solstice GXP, Saturn Sky Redline, and Chevrolet HHR SS are plenty of fun with 260 horsepower underfoot, and we can only imagine that the joy quotient increases as power improves. General Motors' performance division knows as much, and it's now offering an LNF Turbo Upgrade kit to kick its 2.0L turbo direct injection engine into gear. The kit consists of a new engine calibration and MAP sensors that will push your turbo four to 290 horsepower and up to 340 lb-ft of torque with the six-speed manual transmission (315 - 325 lb-ft with a slush box). The new factory turbo kit also keeps the precious warranty intact, which is a huge bonus over other aftermarket setups.

The LNF Turbo Upgrade also gives the GXP, Redline and SS the same "no-lift shift" functionality as the Cobalt SS Turbo, which enables you to shift without taking your foot off the accelerator. The kit also bumps the redline by 200 to 6500, but the hulkified 2.0L engine will now demand premium fuel to deliver its increased power delivery. The General is also working on a similar upgrade kit for the Cobalt SS, and it should arrive at your local Chevy dealer during Q1 2009. The LNF turbo kit delivers some added pop to three already fun vehicles, and it can be purchased at a GM dealer for $650. Is it worth the extra coin? It's up to you, but we're guessing it couldn't hurt. You can check out assembly instructions for the LNF Turbo Upgrade kit here.
I bought the Stage 1 kit for my car, and still have all the paperwork for it.
I never did change my fuel sticker though...

If you look at the forums here, I am sure that it has been documented into minutia - I just can't quickly discern to good from the bad discussions.
I will say that the GMS1 for the LNF Cobalt did have issues - the kit as sold required cutting and splicing the factory MAP pigtails for the ones included in the kit, and many people had issues because the lower MAP socket seemed to often not get the best wiring;
Crate Engine Depot offered a version of the GMS1 kit which came with "plug and play" pigtails;
Once the parts were installed, the car was driven to the dealership, and reflashed.
I believe that once the car was flashed with the GMS1, then that tune WAS that car's tune.
The biggest feature of the kit was that the GMS1 tune eliminated most of the learn down;
The release of the GMS1 for the Cobalt/HHR also coincided with GM revising the torque rating for the F35; the torque rating was increased to match the kit's torque rating.

I do not know how this all relates to fetching tunes from GM's database.
Old 06-23-2022, 10:48 PM
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If you have the GMPP tune for your vehicle it will show up in the list of calibrations that are available for your VIN number. only a dealership is able to link your VIN with a GMPP calibration file so the GMPP tune would have to have been dealership installed originally.

Old 08-16-2022, 10:41 PM
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Originally Posted by stone4779
Bought an 08 LNF Coupe back in 2019 or so(?)

It has a switchable tune, activated byusing the Traction Control button to activate Competition Mode...and then I always keep holding it until ESC off displays on the DIC..

Most likely a Trifecta tune, but I have heard there are in fact at least one other that were doing these types of tunes.

HPT was unable to read, and I did contact Trifecta..and got this reply:

"Hello, Thanks for the inquiry. I can only imagine Our calibration files are not in a format that you can modify. We don't use HPT or EFI live. We use our own software and calibration file types. No way for you to go back to the factory tune without you having the original calibration that would have been issued for the vehicle to the original customer. You'd also need to have our ez flash cable and software in order to even use that file to flash it back to stock unfortunately. Thanks, Michael TRIFECTA Performance Support"

Is there really no way to modify this tune?

Can I open the ECU and use BDM100 (or something?) to do a read and attempt to just get a binary file and poke around?
I do have a BDM100 coming for another project.

Thanks
Nope if it's locked , ur ECu is a brick without trifecta software or original file. Kinda sucks that trifecta keeps this software to themselves, cause they can do more stuff then hptuners it seems. Really did like that dual tune. Only issue with the traction control switch one is, if u have a wheel sensor issue and it disables traction control due to the malfunction, ur tune turns on. Lol
Old 08-17-2022, 09:35 AM
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I just learned another thing about Trifecta and the tunes they do. They will not tune an LNF engine over 24PSI of boost. Doesn't matter what you have done to the engine. You can get 24PSI of boost with the factory turbo so having a turbo upgrade you will not be able to utilize it fully is you have Trifecta do the tune. The other thing is if you live at high altitude like I do 24PSI of boost at sea level is 28PSI of boost where I live. They would tune my vehicle 4 PSI lower so if I drive my car to sea level I would only be getting 20 PSI of boost.


I also hate the ECU locking thing. If I pay for a custom tune I am the one that should have ownership of the tune. With a custom tune no 2 vehicles should have an identical tune. Locking the ECM like they do is hiding from warranty claims. So if someone ends up with a blown motor there is no way to verify if it was the fault of the tune. They say that they don't want anyone modifying their work or duplicating their work but I believe the real reason is so that if something goes wrong it's so there is no way to prove it was their fault. If you do a good job with a tune why would you care if someone could view it?

Lock the ECM so it cannot be modified, that would be fine to protect your work. but locking it completely so it cannot even be viewed.. That's hiding something. Not having a contact phone number is also an issue for me. I need to be able to puck up a phone and speak with someone. A guy I know recently bought a custom tune from trifecta. It's taking about 2 weeks from when he uploads a log file to when they send him a new tune file. That is just plain bananas.


Old 08-17-2022, 11:15 AM
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Originally Posted by kgschlosser
I just learned another thing about Trifecta and the tunes they do. They will not tune an LNF engine over 24PSI of boost. Doesn't matter what you have done to the engine.

...
That's the "new" Trifecta - not the old (aka: Vince's) Trifecta.
I have several 24+psi tunes in my database that I installed.
Old 03-18-2023, 12:41 AM
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Originally Posted by kgschlosser
The dual tune feature that Trifecta has is flawed. It is now causing problems on vehicles that have had their tunes installed for many years. This is the flaw. Where is the second tune being installed? Well it is being stored in memory that is for the purpose of replacing memory blocks that go bad where the OS and associated tables are stored. The E69 ECM is a learning computer. It stores information in it's memory about the running state of the vehicle so it is writing information all the time. This memory doesn't last forever so when a block comes up as being bad a pointer get set to a block in that reserved area where trifecta has stored the second tune data. Well guess what happens? eventually portions of the trifecta tune will get over written. We have seen vehicles that have been running Trifecta tunes for over a decade all of a sudden stop functioning properly. All kinds if different problems show up and it's completely random what the issues are. In every single case writing the factory calibration back onto the vehicle corrects the problems.

Trifecta's tune was made the way it was for the only purpose of the original vehicle warranty. That time has come and gone so it no longer needs to be done that way for your vehicles. Plus it would only work properly if you had all OE parts. so no upgraded MAP sensors, no upgraded turbos. This is because when you start the car it is defaulted to the stock tune and if anything is non stock it can trigger a DTC. Plus you have to either put the TC in competition mode or turn on the cruise control in order to activate the performance tune. Not only does it limit what you can do to the vehicle you would also have to remember to turn it on. I personally would find that to be an annoyance.
Originally Posted by soundjunky
Yes, the Trifecta tunes are "locked" in that they cannot be read by any software outside of Trifecta proprietary stuff.
I am a "non-practicing"(?) Trifecta dealer;
I say that because I was an active dealer when the company was sold to WOT;
WOT quickly made the old system of dealers obsolete (I got the feeling that they didn't care to do updates for me or my clients either);
Dealers, even ones forced to retire like myself should have the means to flash you back - I keep a database of all the tunes I flashed, and when I sold t he tune I told my client that I offered lifetime support - and I intend to keep it that way.
We were never offered any kind of buy out (for our V1 cable that we paid for0 so unless the dealer gave away or tossed their cable, they should still have it.

The only thing I would be concerned about for you with going back to a stock (as in the last tune GM has in their system for your vehicle) is if the MAP sensors were changed to the GMS1 style at the time of the Trifecta tune;
If that's the case, your car is liable to quickly go into limp mode unless you have the correct MAPs for the GM tune.

There is nothing wrong with the switchable tune - it was there as a double safegaurd:
1) when you brought your car in for servicing to a dealer, your tune code matched their files
2) if someone else was driving your car, it would have been in "stock" (aka: lower power mode) unless the dirver knew how to change it.
For it's time, it was pretty clever, and really cool.
My last couple updates from Vince included the tune be on full time - which was a rarity, as the hidden/switchable tune was a Trifecta exclusive.
Selfish "hijacking" of this thread temporarily as I am trying to get the attention of these two users. Please DM me or respond to my already sent DM/Emails. I think you can help me with my issues over on this thread: AFR 18.0 at WOT Specifically about what issues are being seen with decade old Trifecta tunes and how to remove them. Thanks!
Old 06-21-2024, 12:16 AM
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I Also Need Help with My '09 Stock Computer HP Tune - Car is Sputtering at WOT

Originally Posted by GroupA242
Selfish "hijacking" of this thread temporarily as I am trying to get the attention of these two users. Please DM me or respond to my already sent DM/Emails. I think you can help me with my issues over on this thread: AFR 18.0 at WOT Specifically about what issues are being seen with decade old Trifecta tunes and how to remove them. Thanks!

I have a NEW motor after the 1st blew up because of a bad rebuilt head. The 1st motor always had sputtering at full throttle, before AND after an HP tune by Term2.

12 years and 160k miles later, I allowed a garage start up to rebuild the head and, right after, the turbo blew up and killed the whole engine.

So he put in a brand new LDK motor and guess what, same sputtering issue.

I'm convinced it's a bug in the computer as I've tried everything else.

What do you guys think?
Old 06-26-2024, 12:55 PM
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Originally Posted by GroupA242
Selfish "hijacking" of this thread temporarily as I am trying to get the attention of these two users. Please DM me or respond to my already sent DM/Emails. I think you can help me with my issues over on this thread: AFR 18.0 at WOT Specifically about what issues are being seen with decade old Trifecta tunes and how to remove them. Thanks!
Sorry for my delay in replying - I saw the post, but took a while to remember to come back when I was on a computer.
(BTW; I never received and private message or email.)

There are three ways to remove the trifecta tune:
1) find a local who still has their Trifecta cable (& program to match that cable), to see if they can help you out - if it is an olde dealer, you just might hit paydirt, because I for one have ALL the tunes emailed to me while I was an active dealer)
2) find a local HPT user, and pay for credits to get a new tune to overwrite what is currently stored (trifecta tunes are masked so they cannot be read with HPT)**
3) go to a local dealer, and have them reflash your car*
* = WARNING if your car is NOT a GMS1 car, but has the GMS1 MAP's you will get into limp mode if you make boost.
** = an HPT user should be able to find a stock tune, or the GMS1 tune to put on your car. I believe that the tune repository was deleted, but there are ways for users to share tunes. I saved multiple tunes from the repository many years ago.

A WOT AFR of 18.0 would freak me out too.

I did run for a brief time a beta Trifecta tune which was coined something like "Enhanced Charge Prediction" - it was intended to assist users who wanted to remove the MAF from the intake iirc - anyway it was too lean for my likings at anything nearing WOT, so I went back to my regular tune;
I suspect that my Trifecta tune is still good because I never ran a "hidden" tune.

Last edited by soundjunky; 06-26-2024 at 01:10 PM.
Old 06-26-2024, 12:59 PM
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Originally Posted by daveyboy
... I'm convinced it's a bug in the computer as I've tried everything else.

What do you guys think?
NO offense intended;
It sound's like you're "throwing darts" to deduce your issue.

You could get another ECM to eliminate it, but I suspect that there is something happening to cause the stutter that the ECM doesn't register.

I don't know how tough ECM's are to get these days, but I have some spares if you're interested - They have been sealed in my basement for well in excess of ten years (eg: I didn't exactly get them cheap; but they should be perfect.)
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