[teddyca]

I assume if you took the time to get your TCM tuned you have other mods lol. I hadn't driven my Camaro for a couple months (have a modded C7 and C8) so the poor Camaro has fallen off the back burner lol. It has a maggie, catback, etc. and makes about 575rwhp if I remember correctly. None the less I have been driving the hell out of the C8 as my daily and decided to jump in th e Camaro yesterday for a little road trip. Damn I hate that transmission. You pin the gas and the RPM's hang, the shifting is god awful, you name it. I know comparing it to the C8 isnt fair and I get that, but damn it needs to be better. Last year I bought a HP tuners unlocked TCM for the car and I have HP tuners for all the cars, wondering if anyone has tuned their transmission and has similar mods to me or just bolt ons and made a huge difference. Thanks for the chat.

[Joshinator99]

Originally Posted by teddyca

I assume if you took the time to get your TCM tuned you have other mods lol. I hadn't driven my Camaro for a couple months (have a modded C7 and C8) so the poor Camaro has fallen off the back burner lol. It has a maggie, catback, etc. and makes about 575rwhp if I remember correctly. None the less I have been driving the hell out of the C8 as my daily and decided to jump in th e Camaro yesterday for a little road trip. Damn I hate that transmission. You pin the gas and the RPM's hang, the shifting is god awful, you name it. I know comparing it to the C8 isnt fair and I get that, but damn it needs to be better. Last year I bought a HP tuners unlocked TCM for the car and I have HP tuners for all the cars, wondering if anyone has tuned their transmission and has similar mods to me or just bolt ons and made a huge difference. Thanks for the chat.

It’s well worth tuning the TCM, even stock! Hook up with King or Megahurtz and get it done lol. The shifts will be quicker, firmer when under power, and just all around better manners.

[arpad_m]

I have a supercharged setup with a tuned 8L90, and the trans is acting normally, no rpm hangs, no weird shifts, no strange delays either, WOT / PSM shifts are crisp and powerful, tour mode is smooth as expected ... it's definitely possible to get good performance out of this transmission.

Mine was tuned by Ted Jannetty using HP Tuners, but since I'm not a tuner, I will suggest that you contact a pro (there are many other performance shops that tune the A8, especially in California, or even experienced guys here in the forum). I know Ted does remote tuning as well.

[rcoe]

My trans tune was stock when I purchased my car, less than ideal on a fully modded 750hp car.

King retuned the car and the trans, huge difference. Shifts are very crisp and solid, the best part for me is the auto upshift at redline when in manual mode.

[teddyca]

Thank you for the replies fellas. That is great news. I just sent King a PM about possible tuning, but shit I got to thinking I might have been sitting on a fix. 2 years ago I bought a HP Tuners unlocked T87A TCM here on the board. I never installed it and put it on the shelf. My intent was to install it and use my HP tuners to have it remote tuned. I have HP Tuners already for my Camaro and C7. My thing is this. If one goes through the headache of buying a unlocked TCM from HP Tuners, the only reason one would do this is to have it tuned. LOL I just messaged the seller. If he indeed had his transmission tuned, that file should be sitting on the TCM I would assume. If all I have to do is plug the focker in I am going to kick myself in the ass. LOL If I am all wrong and it needs to be retuned for my vin, will I need more HP Tuners credits for the TCM? My Camaro is already married to my HP tuners. If someone were to send me their TCM tune I assume I can just upload it to my car like the engine tunes. Correct

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=605630

[bdavies11]

Originally Posted by arpad_m

I have a supercharged setup with a tuned 8L90, and the trans is acting normally, no rpm hangs, no weird shifts, no strange delays either, WOT / PSM shifts are crisp and powerful, tour mode is smooth as expected ... it's definitely possible to get good performance out of this transmission.

Mine was tuned by Ted Jannetty using HP Tuners, but since I'm not a tuner, I will suggest that you contact a pro (there are many other performance shops that tune the A8, especially in California, or even experienced guys here in the forum). I know Ted does remote tuning as well.

What prompted you to have your A8 tuned? Was it having weird shifts? RPM hangs? Did you also have the torque converter replaced or are you on the original?

I ask because mine will randomly have odd shifts where the rpm hangs or it bucks into gear real hard. And it seems to happen more often in the summer months when the weather gets hotter. How can I tell if i need a new torque converter or if just a tune is enough? I've taken it to my dealer and of course they say they can't reproduce or recommend a fluid flush, which i have done in the past twice. Neither have helped the random odd shifts.

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by bdavies11

What prompted you to have your A8 tuned? Was it having weird shifts? RPM hangs? Did you also have the torque converter replaced or are you on the original?

No, I didn't have any problems with the 8L90, just wanted stay ahead of its potential quirks. Earlier I'd had an 8L45 that had the typical jerky cold morning 1 -> 2 shift, plus a very clunky 3 -> 1 downshift when driving up a slight incline; alas, my driveway was just the "specimen" to exhibit this behavior. No shudder though, and the 8L90 in my current car behaved very well for the first couple hundred miles.

I'm still on the original TC. When I bought this Camaro in 2018, I already knew a bit about the shudder and wanted to steer clear of it, so I requested a dealership trans flush after break-in, then once again in early 2019 when the new (and latest) fluid came out.

In the meantime I decided that I was the warranty and got Ted's shop to add a Magnuson to the car with an engine and transmission tune. Yes, I know it's a bit strange and a gamble, I'm just stating facts, not making recommendations. Basically I trusted Ted and his team to do quality work that will last me well beyond the powertrain warranty, which they did (the car is 6+ years old now), through several modding "sessions", see my signature for the final setup.

When I went back to the dealership for the 2nd flush, I came clean about all the mods and told them I didn't expect any warranty coverage even before they opened the hood, not that they wouldn't have noticed the changes. As I stated earlier, they gave me the royal treatment all along, loved my mods and cherished my car while I was living in their state.

Originally Posted by bdavies11

I ask because mine will randomly have odd shifts where the rpm hangs or it bucks into gear real hard. And it seems to happen more often in the summer months when the weather gets hotter. How can I tell if i need a new torque converter or if just a tune is enough? I've taken it to my dealer and of course they say they can't reproduce or recommend a fluid flush, which i have done in the past twice. Neither have helped the random odd shifts.

In your case, although I'm sure a professional's ECM+TCM tune will fix all your shift problems, I'd try a trans relearn before going that route. You can trigger this with a proper scan tool, or ask the service department to do it for you. This basically resets all the adapted shift data the TCM learned from your driving (yes, the 8L90 has this feature), and you can "teach" the transmission again to shift smoothly with your gas/brake pedal application. If it learns "bad habits" again, meaning the problem is beyond what the relearn procedure can do, well then I'd dive right in and get tuned

[dmcmahan60]

Originally Posted by teddyca

Thank you for the replies fellas. That is great news. I just sent King a PM about possible tuning, but shit I got to thinking I might have been sitting on a fix. 2 years ago I bought a HP Tuners unlocked T87A TCM here on the board. I never installed it and put it on the shelf. My intent was to install it and use my HP tuners to have it remote tuned. I have HP Tuners already for my Camaro and C7. My thing is this. If one goes through the headache of buying a unlocked TCM from HP Tuners, the only reason one would do this is to have it tuned. LOL I just messaged the seller. If he indeed had his transmission tuned, that file should be sitting on the TCM I would assume. If all I have to do is plug the focker in I am going to kick myself in the ass. LOL If I am all wrong and it needs to be retuned for my vin, will I need more HP Tuners credits for the TCM? My Camaro is already married to my HP tuners. If someone were to send me their TCM tune I assume I can just upload it to my car like the engine tunes. Correct

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=605630

Just a bit of advice. You will have to copy the stock calibration files from your stock TCM and then upload them to the unlocked TCM or it will throw all kinds of CEL's. If i am correct it has to be associated with your VIN. When I ordered mine from HPTuners, they programmed it ti my VIN. Good luck and hope this helps.

[bdavies11]

Originally Posted by arpad_m

No, I didn't have any problems with the 8L90, just wanted stay ahead of its potential quirks. Earlier I'd had an 8L45 that had the typical jerky cold morning 1 -> 2 shift, plus a very clunky 3 -> 1 downshift when driving up a slight incline; alas, my driveway was just the "specimen" to exhibit this behavior. No shudder though, and the 8L90 in my current car behaved very well for the first couple hundred miles.

I'm still on the original TC. When I bought this Camaro in 2018, I already knew a bit about the shudder and wanted to steer clear of it, so I requested a dealership trans flush after break-in, then once again in early 2019 when the new (and latest) fluid came out.

In the meantime I decided that I was the warranty and got Ted's shop to add a Magnuson to the car with an engine and transmission tune. Yes, I know it's a bit strange and a gamble, I'm just stating facts, not making recommendations. Basically I trusted Ted and his team to do quality work that will last me well beyond the powertrain warranty, which they did (the car is 6+ years old now), through several modding "sessions", see my signature for the final setup.

When I went back to the dealership for the 2nd flush, I came clean about all the mods and told them I didn't expect any warranty coverage even before they opened the hood, not that they wouldn't have noticed the changes. As I stated earlier, they gave me the royal treatment all along, loved my mods and cherished my car while I was living in their state.



In your case, although I'm sure a professional's ECM+TCM tune will fix all your shift problems, I'd try a trans relearn before going that route. You can trigger this with a proper scan tool, or ask the service department to do it for you. This basically resets all the adapted shift data the TCM learned from your driving (yes, the 8L90 has this feature), and you can "teach" the transmission again to shift smoothly with your gas/brake pedal application. If it learns "bad habits" again, meaning the problem is beyond what the relearn procedure can do, well then I'd dive right in and get tuned

I didn't state it in my original question but i have also had my dealer do a trans re-learn. Didn't help anything. Maybe a tune is the way to go. I will say though, at WOT, the shifts are still crisp and smooth, no issues there. It's only at light to medium throttle where the trans seems to sometimes have trouble, usually in the lower gears. Anyway, any idea on how much a tune may cost? If its much less than a new torque converter I might want to try that first.

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by bdavies11

I didn't state it in my original question but i have also had my dealer do a trans re-learn. Didn't help anything. Maybe a tune is the way to go. I will say though, at WOT, the shifts are still crisp and smooth, no issues there. It's only at light to medium throttle where the trans seems to sometimes have trouble, usually in the lower gears. Anyway, any idea on how much a tune may cost? If its much less than a new torque converter I might want to try that first.

I'm not a tuner, so it would be irresponsible to give you even ballpark numbers.

One of the unavoidable costs is HP Tuners credits, of which you will need 5, I think, since your car is a fortunate 2016 with a factory unlocked TCM (2 credits for the ECM, 2 for the TCM, 1 for the FSCM), and I think they cost $49.99 per credit. It might be possible to only tune the TCM and have success, but I know that many transmission settings are intertwined between the ECM and the TCM, so I'd get a full tune if this were my car. Again, something you need to find out from a pro.

Beyond that, it's whether or not you want to buy the MPVI3 device itself or want to rely on the tuner's unit (but then you won't be able to change it yourself later) and of course the tuner's fees for creating and testing your tune.

[teddyca]

Well I am half way there. I have HP Tuners. My Camaro and C7 are both tuned and are married to my personal HP Tuners. My spare TCM is not tuned. I bought it right here from a member and it is apparently unlocked. I asked the seller if he left the tune on it or sent it back to stock but he never replied. I guess I will have to install it and find out. Ultimately it sounds like I need 2 more credits for my TCM. I assume my FSCM was tuned while my ECM was during the Maggie install. I had a shop do it all.