I am starting to get to the point now of tuning my own car (with some help needed) which has benifits and drawbacks. I am sure Pro tuners must go to some type of school or some classes to learn what they have learned or do what they do. I am looking into it myself. Does anybody have any starting points for me? I am located in the Philly area.

I love working on cars it is my passion, I am very good mechanically I just built my own engine and working on the tuning/electronic part is hard but I love doing it. I am getting to the point now where I am really getting into the tuning world and I need more instruction, not that the people I talk to don't help me Sharif@Forged and Hal@Injected have been HUGE in helping me out I can't thank them enough, but I need some real lessons in tuning so I can get the full extent out of my engine and not hurting it in the mean time. I can do a pretty good job but I am no Pro Tuner. If anyone has any information or something I can look into please let me know!

Thanks
Chris

 

Whats up Chris,
I had a thread about any mechanic and tuning schools but all I got was like UTI and WyoTech. But they also told me to go to a community college which I think for us is Monco. Learn all the basics at Monco and then it is all experience from there. However I called Monco for me to do it but the lady said they do not offer a program, but she did not sound like she knew what she was talking about. I will let you know if I come across anything else. Maybe Philly Dyno Works could help you out (http://phillydynoworks.com/).
Thanks for all your help and everything on aim!
-AGThing1227

 

My friend had to hire a tuner to teach him how to tune. He said he had to to fly over to go meet this guy so the guy would teach him how to tune.

You'll kind of get the concept on how to tune when you go to a tech school on automotive technology.

 

Not a problem bro. I will talk to you on aim

I mean I know the idea of how to tune maybe it is just doing it more and more and getting more practice on it and slowly it will come. I guess I just have to read more on the different types of variables and controls in tuning.

 

my take on the situation is good luck. Tuning is such a niche profession. tuners dont want to teach other people the art bc that reduces their value. Just like guys that do port/head work. Its all "black magic" they will never share. They might give hints or pointers but never the experience.

I think experience will be the best teacher. I highly doubt that most of the tuners you encounter had any sort of training. Just hours on the dyno playing with the EMS of choice.

 

There are only two main sources for tuning education IMO. One is through MoTeC's periodic seminars. But they are few and far between, often in other countries and expensive.

The other option that would be better for you is EFI101. They offer courses from beginner to advanced that are pretty technically oriented. They are taught at a dyno facility and include detailed testing. They hold classes across the country on a regular basis. Their website is quite comprehensive.

I got started tuning before EFI101 became available, so I've found that their course offerings don't offer a whole lot to a technically educated (I have a BSEE), experienced tuner. But for a rank beginner, or someone lacking a technical education, the course work is quite useful IMO. It isn't cheap, but hey, that's why experienced tuners get paid the big bucks

SC

p.s. - we usually have no issues with customers sitting in on our tuning sessions on their cars. We answer all sorts of questions and won't hide anything from you. See if there are any tuners in your area that will do the same.

 

EFI Advanced will be at Forged Performance on Jan 26 It's $1195.

 

$1200 ????????

thats costly !!!!

There is no black magic to tuning . You learn an EMS and you tune it . The more time you spend doing it , the better you will be at it . There is no great big secrets that they keep from you . They dont tell you everything because if they did . More and more of us would tune our own cars and they would make less money .
People on this and other forums think these guys are gods . The ones that get more whp out of the cars they tune . Isnt maining because they are that much better of a tuner . Its because they have a high reading dyno . Or know how to make it read higher , or do a couple runs with less timing and get it to read high and then retard the timing again so it doesnt leave the shop ready to blow [ dynp queen ] .

Basic EFI classes
classes for each EMS
time spent tuning cars

Thats how you learn to tune

 

Booger, have you looked at the course description for the EFI101 classes? If not, I suggest you do before commenting as you have. Ben Strader started out as an experienced, educated tuner and decided he'd rather teach those skills than just tune single cars. He's constructed a pretty good combination of coursework and instructors.

Some of the things the average person won't learn on their own:

1) How to calculate a fuel map from scratch knowing only the injector size, latency, fuel pressure and engine size. If someone gave you an empty 12x12 table with load on one axis and rpm on the other, could you fill it in with injector duration numbers for a VQ? Exercises like that are part of the test to pass an EFI101 course. Given that most tuners out there couldn't do it, even with years of experience, I don't think the average person learning on their own will be able to either.

2) The fundamental theory behind detonation/pre-ignition and the various ways to control/eliminate it (how to set a knock sensor sensitivity curve)

3) The relationship between air fuel ratio, power, economy and pollution (not quite as simple as you'd think)

4) Boost control feedback theory (proportional and integral feedback control).

Now, if you've got a number of combustion theory textbooks on your bookshelf and an engineering degree like me, these things can be self taught pretty simply, especially if you have a dyno to play with. But for the average guy looking to play with his car, he'd have to invest in the literature and quite a bit of dyno time and trial and error to get there - how much does 8 hours of dyno time cost? The other option is to spend $1200 for a two day class with EFI101 and get 16+ hours of classroom education with a car on the dyno and an experienced teacher guiding you along.

I'm not saying that a lot of things can't be learned on your own, but if you're operating outside your sphere of knowledge (education wise) and you're having to pay for dyno time and experimenting on your own expensive vehicle, something like EFI101 might be a good starting point if you're serious about learning.

SC

 

 

I guess I shouldnt have said basic EFI classes . As I know there are several stages of thoughs classes . And that is where you will learn what you stated above

 

Thank you for the informative post. I have been doing a lot of reading and all and I might start looking into one of those classes. Even though it seems expensive I can use my college money towards it. I guess for right now I will be still working on my own but hopefully soon I will start taking some classes and getting to really learn everything.

And yes I am VERY serious about learning this stuff. I love it and it is my passion.

 

You most likely have seen this but if you missed it look at this thread. https://g35driver.com/forums/tuner-dyno/194568-what-makes-tuner-so-good.html
-AGThing1227

 

Not all tuner are selfish. Julian@MRC answered my questions regarding some minor adjustment I needed to know on my car or at least he give me an idea. Some will always say bring back the car to them so they can charge you.

First is you have to read some books to get you started, then talked to people and ask a lot of question. Eventually you'll get the hang of it and things will be much clearer.

Try these book first.

How To Tune And Modify Engine Management Systems by Jeff Hartman; Motorbooks Workshop. ISBN-13:978-0-7603-1582-8 Published 2003

Engine Management-Advanced Tuning by Greg Banish; CarTech SA Design books. ISBN-13 978-1-932494-42-6 Published 2007