3800 Ye Olde 42# injector/no tune/E85 trick

[v6buicks]

tuning

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

for DHP and HP respository.

Thank you good sir who I've never talked to before. I will have to open this up when I get home.

 

[GTPpower]

Here's some guides that will help you adjust your injectors and other simple stuff you need. These guides aren't perfect, but the fundamentals are there for the most part.

JerryTuningGuide

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

 

[Turbocharged400sbc]

tuning

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

for DHP and HP respository.

Hopefully that Dropbox has the newer database and tiny stuff

 

[GTPpower]

That gif is so awesome.

 

[Bake82]

It worked for me! I have used it for a few different laptops!

 

[v6buicks]

It worked for me! I have used it for a few different laptops!

Any of them Windows 11 by chance? I think I still have my old 7 machine, but it's very tired. lol

 

[1quick]

One thing to remember with e85 is that it cools cylinder temps and masks detonation so well that if you do actually see knock your probably gonna have something broken.

Personally I would rather play on pump gas because you can get into a couple degrees without destroying something and know where to stop much easier whereas e85 you basically need a dyno to watch where you stop making jumps in power to get to mbt.

It doesn’t mask detonation, it makes it almost impossible to happen, a combination of the cylinder cooling and high octane, generally you can make a little more power on e85 than you can 110

 

[sktchy]

That looks like the goods if I ever saw em. I had most of that stuff saved but I'm not sure if I

It doesn’t mask detonation, it makes it almost impossible to happen, a combination of the cylinder cooling and high octane, generally you can make a little more power on e85 than you can 110

But when it does detonate

Ask me how I know

 

[1quick]

That looks like the goods if I ever saw em. I had most of that stuff saved but I'm not sure if I

But when it does detonate

Ask me how I know

Generally that’s from too much timing, keep the timing stock and add boost

 

[1quick]

I was making in the 550-600whp range on a stock 3800 with e85 no issues till one of the fuel pumps failed

 

[sktchy]

It's definitely timing, but if we're trying to run a stock tune here that's going to be an issue. I like my 3800s between 10 and 15⁰ up top and as much air as I can shove in it until it starts to get pissy.

 

[bs009]

Any of them Windows 11 by chance? I think I still have my old 7 machine, but it's very tired. lol

I run Windows 10 in my tuning pc and have no problem with DHP working there. You'll need to download the .NET framework 1.1 pack for windows 10/11 but otherwise should work just fine.

There's only two things you'll want to edit for E85: either the Injector flow rate table, or the injector skew percent table, and also the cold startup table so you don't have to crank the thing over for a long time before it starts on very cold days.
There was a pretty good guide for E85 tuning that used to be on another forum that I summarized on the wiki:

E85 Tuning

3800wiki.com

Someone else probably knows but for an 04 GP you might have to use an offboard harness to tune the PCM, but DHP should still work with an 04 otherwise.

 

[GTPpower]

Yeah, pull the radio fuse on 04+ or you might brick the pcm.

 

[v6buicks]

I have a bench harness. Can I just use that?

 

[bs009]

Yup, that sounds like the same thing haha

 

[Bake82]

I have it working just fine on a Windows 11 laptop. As mentioned had to fine the .NET framework 1.1 pack for windows 10/11.

 

[SaturdaysGS]

I have a bench harness. Can I just use that?

04+ PCM is not the same as pre 04 as far as connectors go, FWIW.

 

[Pro Stock John]

So with 93 octane and the stock 3.8" pulley on my daily I was seeing knock when the engine is heat soaked on a pretty regular basis. I'm running E85 now though with 60# injectors(tuned) and a 3.4" pulley and have never seen any knock whatsoever even on long road trips when everything is really heat soaked. I'm sure I could go down to at least a 3.25" but I'm scared to break my completely stock transmission on it.

You could probably run a 3.0 pulley, but if you decide to go up a size a hub and modular pulley is like $100.
If you still have DHP you could put whatever injectors into it you want without wasting HPT credits. You'll probably want to save this link though unless you're taking your laptop with you everywhere you go or unless you've dialed your fuel trims into the midpoint between 93 and E85:

Alternative Fuels Data Center: Alternative Fueling Station Locator

I keep a google map of all of the E85 stations in the US in any place I've done a road trip in. A bit of an annoyance but it's not a big deal anymore to me.

That gas station locator is great, thanks for linking it. My regular go-to is on there but I see another option on there which is great to know.

Other nice thing about E85 is that even if you have the AF on the rich side it does not hurt power output as much as say C16. I hope what I wrote makes sense.

 

[sktchy]

Other nice thing about E85 is that even if you have the AF on the rich side it does not hurt power output as much as say C16. I hope what I wrote makes sense.

I can agree with this and that more of it helps wash the knock down to a certain point but as gassy as e85 makes oil as it is I'd hate to run it any thicker than necessary.

 

[10sec]

 

[sktchy]

Maybe I'm wrong, but as many bearings as I've spun I don't like it when the oil starts smelling like fuel lol

 

[Ron Vogel]

After doing a bunch of experiments on my BMW…I’d try a mix..like e40/e50. You won’t have to go as crazy on the fuel system…but on pump gas I was starved for fuel at a very early level on the 04+.

Not a fan of the returnless system. If you go big injectors/ low fuel pressure car is going to not be happy in the higher revs or with any kind of boost increase. Basically pissing into the wind

 

[TommyGloves]

That gif is so awesome.

It makes me laugh every time I see it. Such a good memory from that day on the dyno.