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Help Identifying an EPROM chip

D

DieselAmateur

She ain't revved 'til the rods are thrown...
Messages
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Location
Upstate NY
Hi Everyone,

First post here, but been browsing the forums for the past two years. Grateful for the wealth of information archived here.

I purchased the truck in my sig in the spring of 2016, and it came with an extra tune. I was told by the owner that the truck currently has a "buddy" chip in it, which form reading the forums here I discovered meant that the chip came from the member named Buddy. I have no problems with buddy's chip, but I'm curious to know what this other mystery tune is.

The chip is stamped with the following:

BNTK
1621
5278

If anyone can identify the chip based off that information, I'd appreciate the insight.

thanks!
 
Frankly this is NOT the place to find info on "Buddy" tunes without getting into detail. You will have to contact him elsewhere if you need too. Far as I know he isn't in the chip tune hobby market anymore. The numbers on the *custom* chip are now irrelevant other than the OEM tune the truck had: and it doesn't have that anymore.
 
Please allow me to clarify-

I am not seeking info on Buddy's tune. That tune is currently in the truck's ECM. I'm looking to find out what the spare tune is that came in the glove box. It could be the stock one or any other kind for that matter. I just want to know what it is so I can decide whether to hang on to it or not. The previous owner told me it was a "towing" tune, so before getting all giddy that I was given a free KOJO tune I sought help here.

There's a picture of a KOJO tune chip on walking J's website, and the numbers are different from what is on the spare tune. Perhaps I incorrectly assumed that all of a certain tune would be stamped with the same #s to make identification easier.

If the #s are irrelevant WarWagon, is the only way to identify by sending to someone with the software to read the chip? Do you or anyone else know what the #s on a stock chip from this year are?

If this should be posted in the towing or performance section, let me know so I stop making rookie mistakes and further embarrass myself :/
 
I would call walking j and Heath and whoever else makes tunes for these trucks and give them the numbers and see if anything comes up.

Whoever made it should be able to tell you what kind of tune it is.
 
Welcome to the site. We are a great bunch here. However you stepped on a land mine with your first post - you had no way of knowing. Short of it is Buddy is not on this site anymore.

There was no standard for aftermarket chips. Buddy marked his as he pleased. I suspect you may be looking at the OEM stock chip, or maybe a different tune hand marked by him. (I have one of his 6 banger tunes.)

So as a "public service announcement" you need to contact Buddy and see what you have.
 
Sounds like the chip that you identify may be the stock tune chips that come with the truck?
I am not sure if we can actually dump the data and read it, though.
There should be a software/app but I am not sure if that is widely available.
What you can do is try to get in touch with somebody who have access to the apps to read the data.
May be Buddy, KOJO or Quadstar.

As far as finding if the one installed in your truck now is Buddy's, you need to get a hold of him directly.
Again, members here do not have that capability.
 
The 4digits and numbers look like a GM oem chip, BUT anybody could have erased it and flashed there own tune onto it. In that situation there is no way of knowing what it is. If I understand you correctly, you have the ye who shall not be named chip in it now, but you're trying to identify the spare chip that came with the truck. Most aftermarket tuners normally start with either a new BLUE blank, flash it, and hand write the info on it, or they use a chip that doesn't resemble the stock eeprom at all, and use that one. Some tuners would re-use oem chips, erase them, then flash them with a custom tune, and use it. You may jave one like that, or it may be a stock chip. You're looking at around $100 in hardware from Moates to be able to read the tune, then you have to hope you can find somebody with a stock BNTK bin file to compare it to so you can see if yours is stock or not. Otherwise there isn't much of a way to find out as there isn't many out there with the stuff to work with these chips, and even fewer with the files and willingness just to check a chip to seeif it's stock or not.
 
Thanks for all the info everyone. I realize the whole eprom things isn't as cut and dry as I assumed it to be. Seems that the best route is to just save up the $$ for a tune specific to my setup. Just another item on the wishlist :D
 
Probably start a new thread with your setup and what you want out of it. What do you use the truck for: towing, daily driver, sled pulls? IMO you may want more than just a tune because you already have a tune that does something. Easy power from a tune isn't on the table anymore.

The ATT is a towing turbo and the MT gearing ratio, RPM drops, sucks in general. (I have a NV5600 6 speed that has better gear splits on my other ride. Reverse still needs to be a lower ratio.) So curious as to how you arrived at wanting an ATT? As I rev my engine up and need every bit of it with towing and grades I love my ATT. I converted it to DD hot rod use with a high stall converter. Did I mention extremely short tire life?

Alternative fuel can get expensive quick - just see my posts of bugs in biodiesel.
 
Where should I start the new thread? Although I'll offer up a few things here...

Truck is daily driver, but also for towing. I'm a farmer so sometimes I have 2000 pounds of lime or fertilizer in the bed. I also have a 7000 pound mini excavator that I haul around for side work, so excavator plus trailer is nearly 10k to tow.

What do you mean by MT gearing ratio? If referencing my NV4500, I also don't like the jump between 3d and 4th. I live in the finger lakes of upstate NY, and it's very hilly and sometimes quite steep. So really my desired tune/ turbo combo would be for safe towing in these conditions, and from what I've read the ATT suits towing well.

Know of anyone who successfully mated a NV5600 to a 6.5? From what I've read it won't bolt directly to the 6.5 and takes some custom work to shorten the driveshaft to accommodate the longer transmission housing.

I had another truck with 3.73s that I really liked for long drives, saw much better mileage to what I have now with the 4.10s, but given what I tow I figure the 4.10 is the safer option. Thoughts?
 
Yes the intended use would benefit from an ATT.

Biggest thing I see when swapping turbo's is the need to explain you are trading RPM. Simply put the ATT doesn't really light off below 2000 RPM, but, after 2000 RPM it pulls like a freight train past redline. The automatic's converter is forgiving somewhat allowing the engine to slip up to and past 2000 RPM quicker. Simply get used to using higher RPM's and less of a lugging range at lower RPM before you need to shift. I have programmed my auto to downshift sooner on grades. The GM3 is lit off from the starter till 2200 RPM where it simply becomes an asthma attack. This is the trade you are making NA no boost performance from a light till around 2000 RPM then hard pull till redline vs. quick start and then "GAG!" after 2200 RPM.

I would look at doing a BD Spool Valve before swapping transmissions. Just be aware of the gearing and wide RPM drops you have to overcome. Some other turbos out there as well, but, needing full power you are not wrong for going big.

Pulling a long grade is a hell of a lot better when you have power rather than feeling the engine fight running out of air with high backpressure. Loaded isn't so much, but, towing flat out I went from 33 MPH stock to 43 MPH at the limit of the GMx. With an ATT I hit 55 MPH the speed limit on the 7% grade. My setup with NA heads leaves a lot on the table for power.

You would need a new tune. Some tricks are out there to light the ATT off at a lower RPM like retarding the timing at a specific RPM to light it off. When I had a BD Spool Valve this felt like a flat spot in the tune.

At cruise 65 MPH with no fuel the boost can drop off to 0 with the ATT. With the GM3 it would be choking the engine with 6 PSI of boost from airflow alone. The drive pressure on the ATT is lower so with 14 PSI I had near the same power as I did with 24 PSI on a HX40II. (You have an electronic controlled GM turbo that can open the waste gate to drop boost at cruise. But the point is it is more of a restriction.)
 
DieselAmateur said:
I had another truck with 3.73s that I really liked for long drives, saw much better mileage to what I have now with the 4.10s, but given what I tow I figure the 4.10 is the safer option. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

In general the 4.10 gear ratio uses more fuel than 3.73 gear ratio.
So, you are correct.

The 4.10 gear ratio will have more torque than the 3.73 gear ratio.
So, you are correct to keep 4.10 for towing for better torque power.
 
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