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More Unichip woes.............

7K views 69 replies 19 participants last post by  GORILLA 
#1 ·
Let me start by saying that I fully expect gorilla to post an " I told you so" somewhere in this thread.

Some of you may have read my post earlier this year, back in Jan., that I was going to get a custom tune!! I was pumped, got pics of the rig on the dyno and they were going to post the dyno results on there site when we finished. As you can see there are no pics or links posted as of yet. Everything started out great, did a couple of test runs to get a base and then the tuning began. We started at 188 rwh and with a few adjustments we were at 20+ gains to the rwh!! I was like a kid, then he tells me he needs to adjust the a/f ratios and I should get more power and better fuel mileage. I'm thinking to myself that this is the greatest thing I have ever done, more power and better mpg!!Then the whispering and huddling over the laptop. Oh crap, what is going on? I got there at 8am and didn't get home till almost 4pm, that's with a 45min drive both ways. There was zero excitement on the way home, just hope and disappointment. For whatever reason they couldn't adjust the a/f ratio, no matter what they did it just wouldn't let them change anything. According to the tuner all the info and updates had been downloaded and they had support from unichip, still nothing. We decided to call it a day and I would pull the chip out and send it to the tuners so they could do more work with unichip on the phone and I would get it back in a week or so..............................Now I knew they were going out of town in the start of February so I didn't expect the chip till the end of the second week. So here we are in the middle of March and I got the chip 2 days ago via fedex! Here we go, its finally time to get the power that I've dreamed about for soooooo long. After I closed the shop on Wednesday I got to work on getting that bad boy in there, by this time I'm a pro at installing these things in our trucks. Get everything wired up, reconnect the red top ( Thats a whole nother story for a different day!!!) and now is time to crank that sucker up...................do I hear the sound of sweet exhaust? The rumble of the magna flo's, NOPE!! Just the sound of the starter, over and over and over and over, you get the point. Not a damn thing happened, nothing! All this time and the damn thing wouldnt even start? Pissed isn't even close to describing my mood, add that to the fact that my wife is on strike right now and you can imagine how emotional I was. I grab my phone and email unichip and the tuners and tell them what is going on. I have to say too, this whole time I never once got ugly, impatient, rude, or bothersome, just sent emails every week to see what the progress was. The email on Wednesday was the same, just explain what is going on and ask for help. Unichip replied in about 20mins, I was told that it sounded like a connection issue and I should reinstall making sure that all the connectors click. I'm ok with that, I could have rushed to get it in, very unlikely but possible. So today was the second install, I even downloaded the directions just in case my 31 year old memory was failing. Guess how this ends???? Yep, same damn thing happened again. So I have emailed the same group of guys that I emailed Wednesday, and I did not get a 20 minute response, hell I haven't even gotten a response yet, that was 3 hours ago. So the waiting and disappointment continues and if either the wife ends her strike or they fly to my house and fix the problem y'all might see me on the news later....I'm interested in the responses and like I stated at the start of this post, we should see gorilla on here pretty soon to give me that " I told you so".
 
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#3 ·
i'm glad to hear that you had some good gains but... not glad that you can't start the truck with the unichip installed and the not so great costumer support that you are getting right now.
let us know what happens.
btw x2 on the gorilla response and good luck with the strike:sad3d: i hope that she settles and then you can be like:laughing3d:;)
 
#5 ·
Don't worry, my unichip failed also, and I am about to remove it and deliver it in person to them. Mine first symptoms were same as yours, and then it quit all together. When I unplug my unichip my truck starts just fine. With unichip it won't even crank engine at all.
 
#6 ·
Unlike the people who did gorilla's tune mine guys don't do this full time. I could only wish that I lived close to japtrix, and the closest place to me besides whos doing it now is 4.5-5 hours one way. These guys are great guys, I wasn't bashing them, just the situation that I'm in, and the lack of training unichip provides to there " tuners". Another thing I want to mention, when my chip was on the laptop there was nothing on the map B. I mean 0, when you look at the maps there is something like a spreadsheet with numbers everywhere, not on my map b section. Either it was never there or my guys didn't know what they were looking at or for? It still puzzles me that when I first got the chip it made a HUGE difference, power and mpg, the drawback was that it wouldn't start all the time on the first crank, sometimes I would sit in a parking lot for 15-20 minutes. So I had to send it back and get it reprogrammed. When it came back it seemed like it had a little bit of increased power on the top end, not anywhere close to the first time. You can forget about a mpg gain on the second install. Now just a waiting game to see where the Fedex box will land. Back to the tuners for who knows how long or to unichip and get a cookie cutter tune that will leave back where I was at the beginning with a lighter wallet.
 
#7 ·
Don't worry, my unichip failed also, and I am about to remove it and deliver it in person to them. Mine first symptoms were same as yours, and then it quit all together. When I unplug my unichip my truck starts just fine. With unichip it won't even crank engine at all.
I have heard good, bad, and not sure on this mod. Not slamming Unichip, but,
does the mod deliver, or does it take "precise" tuning to very exact parameters to
get the value of this mod. Curious on whether I should jump into the pool, or
stay dry, and work on my tan. I do not think I would have the patience to play...let's try this, and then let's try that routine. Anyone have the short answer here?
 
#8 ·
wow you got me thinking about buying one :confused: good luck hope they respond soon
 
#9 ·
I have heard before that they make a big difference on the vvt-i motors, not so much on the older motors. I think the vvt-i is 04 and up, or was it 05 and up? I'm not sure, time for a beer.
Sorry to hear about your troubles Cajun, that is why I can't bring myself to get the Unichip, fear of the unknown.
 
#11 ·
realy sry to hear all this cajun , i wish you luck in all this getting it resolved in a way that you make out !!


I have heard good, bad, and not sure on this mod. Not slamming Unichip, but,
does the mod deliver, or does it take "precise" tuning to very exact parameters to
get the value of this mod. Curious on whether I should jump into the pool, or
stay dry, and work on my tan. I do not think I would have the patience to play...let's try this, and then let's try that routine. Anyone have the short answer here?

agreed on that jbtoy , i have been thinkin of one also but heard mixed reviews , but i would want it tuned correct to get good results but, i dont know of any one who tunes them on long island . Also i cant fined any used ones and the new one aren't worth the money they want just for a 20hp increase or so , i can b getting that increase with my CAI plus trd headers . . . .
 
#12 ·
My buddy had a juice box on his GMC HD 2500 diesel, he was towing his 31' 5th wheel camper on the highway when his box crapped out. Truck just turned off, no brake lights or anything. I almost ran into the back of him. Let it sit for a while and presto, back on the road. It only got worse from there. Sometimes it wouldn't start at all. He ditched that thing after a month of messing around with this and that, and never had a problem since. I guess my point is all of these tuners and chips fail at some point. Good luck to you guys, I just don't see how 20 extra hp on the side of the road is helpful. I will not be adding this to my truck.
 
#13 ·
I guess I got lucky, I got one of the 1st ones that uni-chip did,I was bugging Jack to do something, Mine has
three switches on mine, lots of extra wire to hide, 1 switch on/off -2nd swith map a/b-3rd switch govenor removed.......kinda a guinnie pig for them.....went back one time when it first arrived as the govenor was still there, I got it right back and have put about 90,000 miles on it issue free....and no Ivan it(my truck) has not been fixed yet....it goes in on monday.......
 
#14 ·
Sounds to me its cutting off the fuel for some reason..
That's exactly what it sounds like. That's also what it sounded like the first time I got it, but at least then it would start. Still no word as of 10:30 central time???
 
#15 ·
I would buy unichip again. I am not bashing them, I think they are great company. I am just saying that mine failed at this time (after 120,000 miles). Unichip guys took care of most fellow members that had problems with their units. Only reason I am going to drive up there, since I am in WA state (at this time) and OR is not that far away, so might as well go there and deliver it in person.

I have one of the older versions of Unichip as well. And for what I am running 9+ pounds of boost plus governor removed, and rev limit is up to 6000rpms, there is nothing else for factory ecu. I don't want to run stand alone units, like some members have done.

Again, I believe Unichip is a great company and I would recommend them to my friends and family any day.
 
#16 ·
hi i have to chim in, i can't help myself here.
if you own a 2000 to 2003 you should have a trd s/c period. and forget about everything else.
the only way a 2004 will allow the trd s/c to run is use the unichip to run the truck.
if you own a 2005 or 2006 buy the unichip.
all i can say is there are many of us, that have the unichip, & love it.
many have emailed me, messaged me, and will not post here, because they don't want to hear the BS!
and i of all people understand that.
i'm glad mine gave the the gains i got with my mod's.
i'm so sorry for those who have or have had issue's.
i'm not a mean or bad guy.
i have feelings for all of you.
that is why, i tried my best to inform you all about what to look for, what the unichip screen should be, and how to get to the a/f ratio to change it.
what it should look like, etc...
i know i seen it.
all i was trying to do is help.
but i see on some case's , it get's twisted, & i become the bad guy.
o.k. than so be it.
i have yet to see ANYONE chim in and tell you what the charts look like, or what to look for.
fully custom tuned unichip for a 05 with volant cai, headers, cat back, 4sale 5g's. ;-) just kidding.
good luck, i hope it works out for you all.
gorilla
P.S. by the way, 20RWHP is alot. but i got that just with my custom tune on top of what i already had.
i'm not rubbing it in, just stating the facts in my case.
 
#17 ·
Man Rew,

Sorry to hear of your woes. I was all excited to hear about the unichip after you told me about it and disappointed that it has not delivered. Hopefully the guys at unichip will step up and make things right for you. Pretty frustrating when dealing with anything tied into the ECU.

Keep us posted brother.

Toby
 
#19 ·
brother that sux. ive had mine for over a year with absolutely no issues since original install( it stalled once)
good luck with the wife.
 
#20 ·
hi, i'm not saying that this is your case.
but i was in my friends car witha unichip.
it stalled.
i said what happened? i never had that happen.
so i looked over he had about 100 keys on his key ring.
i said take off just the start key.
start it up and now run it. it never stalled.
i bet in his case, it was the keys shutting off the vehicle.
now he only drives with 1 key, & clips his keys to his pants loop.
& his vehicle never stalled, & o've course he has the unichip.
regards,
gorilla
 
#22 ·
I have mixed emotions on the UNICHIP, but so far over the last few years I have replaced Cat converters on 4 -1st gen tundras that had the UC. I decided to try it on my S/C truck after my TRD ECU took a dump...no luck there either. Couldnt get the engine light to go out, was running to lean all the time. UC wasn't much help, except to tell me to find another tuner. There are none in LV.
I also just had to opportunity to diagnose a 2008 tundra stalling issue last month for another TS member......his UC was the root cause. I know they work for some, thats why I have mixed emotions.
 
#23 ·
I don't think that unichip is bad, I know it works it worked in my truck. It needed just a little tweaking when I first sent it in, but I think they did more than that and the more I think about it I should have sent it back to them with the specs that gorilla gave me and had them try to get close to that. Instead I went to the tune shop, really only to be able to prove my gains and have some #'s for myself. As for the customer service, they have always been helpful and quick with responding. I did receive an email from them this morning to let me know that the guy I deal with was out of town and he would call me on Monday. All hope is not lost, I think they will be able to help me out in some way, they have all the graphs from my time on the dyno so maybe they can tune it off of that. The real disappointment is that I have yet to hear from the tuners, they are the ones who got paid to do this, I would like to think that if you pay someone for something like this they would be quick to answer and try to help resolve the issue. I'm not going to bash them( yet), but if I don't get some kind of response it'll start and I will post the name of the shop. As soon as I get some concrete plan of action I will post it, you guys have a good weekend.

Thanks

P.S. THE STRIKE IS OVER!!!!!!!!
 
#25 ·
hi simplely because you spent alot already. and recieved alot of gain. but if you want you could drop alot more for the trd cai,trd headers, trd cat back exhaust, & the unichip.than do a custom tune. yes, by all means if you have it($$$$$) go for it. it would be a MONSTER than. but i said it due to funds. most people would have spent alot doing the trd s/c. to add all the other's would be great but it would be upwards of 10g's.
now how many would do that. that is why i said just trd s/c it & forget about the rest.

would i go for it all, yes, but i'm the type of guy, that wants the most power i can possiblely get. i was hot for the f lexus, a flop, according to the mag., another flop was the GT-R, it once was 25g's over sticker. now look them up on ebay, they went from 125g's to 70g's, a drop of 50g's. something is wrong with both of these picture's.
the jury is still out on several other vehicles. don;t get me wrong, i happen to love them both. but i wonder whay the price has gone down that much.:confused:
i get alot of mag, in the mail. i read up on everything. when they reach my locked mail box. somewhere they disapprear.humm.. did they send them, or did they get clipped.
regards,
gorilla







I know this subject is dear to your heart. I agree on the SC, but, why
do you say forget about the chip. Just curious.
 
#26 ·
hi, to cajuntundra your stated message, your 1st line,in short i told you so.
& rzintegra another member said: btw what ever that means X2 on gorilla response.
maybe i took it wrong.

i know for a fact there are many so many member's here that have there unichip's custom tuned.
not 1, ever said anything, to help enlighten other brother member's , about the tuning process.
i was the only 1. & also i spent countless hours with members on my cell phone, with other members helping them with the install of there unichip. a step by step process. it's nice to have a direction sheet, but nothing like having a live person to help guide you. i did it several time's, without any expectation of any return, just a member helping another.

maybe you not aware of how many members we lost, were banned, or just got tired of being made fun of. due to there questions, due to the grammer, there spelling, what someone didn't like, etc.
i have a stack of emails sent to me, from cencerned brother's about what was being said about me, behind my back. they fowarded me the emails. i know how you are.
it's all good. i could careless.
i'm here for 1 purpose to help, since i did alot to my tundra.
i don't know everything, but what i do know i share it.
thats all,
gorilla
 
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