I'd like to offer a strong word of caution about using Alvin for anything other than a cookie-cutter style tune.

If you need something other than a basic tune, I'd suggest finding another outfit to deal with because Alvin either doesn't have the ability or motivation to do so. He told me before I even bought the parts that he could do a decent tune. He assured me that he had tuned many combinations just like the one I was going to be using. Well, after well over a year, he didn't even get the tune close...NOWHERE CLOSE. There were countless emails/voice msgs. that went unanswered, sometimes waiting over a month only to find out that he "forgot", along with a long list of other issues. When he did actually reply, it was generally one or two words at best. Many times he told me that there was a mechanical issue, but it turns out that it was all in the tune. There was an issue with a valve, but that was fixed and he continued for over a year to tell me there was certainly a mechanical issue. Well, after taking the car to another tuner, it turns out the mechanical issue was actually Alvin himself. His tune plain sucked. The car went <10 miles in the last 1yr.+ and it was all because I relied on Alvin to do his job. To make the situation even more aggravating, he suggests that I am the one that would go for long periods w/o getting in touch with him...just his usual BS routine. I spent HUNDREDS of dollars just on overnight shipping of parts, but he says that I am the one that would go for long periods of time w/o contact.
Finally, he offered me a refund...only to tell me that he can't find where/how I paid him. I guess he's claiming that he did all of this work for FREE.

I'm sure that Alvin and his partner/wife will chime in here with some bull****. This has been my experience with Alvin at PCMforless of NC and there is nothing they can say that will change the truth. For 7-8yrs. I suggested that people use Alvin....that has now changed.

***To clarify, these comments in no way are directed at Bryan Herter and the 94+ tunes offered by PCMforless. Bryan has never done any work for me but has been very helpful over the years. I've met Bryan several times at dyno days and he's a great guy to deal with. You 94+ guys are lucky to be able to have Bryan do your tune...for 93 owners, Alvin is a waste of time and money.***

 

hey sent you a PM

 

what kinda motor combo are you running? i have a pcmforless tune ready to plug in and now im afraid to

 

List of current mods.

 

I did a pcm_for_less obd1 conversion (from obd2) on a blown 383. Did not work well for me. I think the knock retard was triggering a timing roll back. It ran great untill full on boost was triggered. I think pcm for less did the best they could with a mail order tune with my application. I still think the best way is to purchase LT1_edit and do it yourself. I've since converted back to OBD2 PCM. You do learn alot the way, and, you can always make changes to the flash when you do mods. If I want to use the OBD1 PCM, I will purchase an akm cable and LT1_edit software. 300 dollars. In the end, the OBD1 conversion mail order did not work for me.

 

I had a similar experiences with Alvin a few years back, wouldn't want a tune from him for free!!!
I bought all the equipment needed to do the tune myself. It took longer but at least I'm satisfied with the result.

 

TTT...for the next 18 months.

 

Its a shame, he worked real hard to help me tune my LT1 396. WOrks fine. I had tuning problems for a while, and he kept working with me. Turned out it was a bad IAC. IACS do not give a code, and tts datamaster as well as other scanning software shows what the ECM is telling the IAC what to do, Not what it is actually doing. After replacing the IAC, engine idled much better, and after idle AF ratio, driveability etc worked and ran fine.
Its just a thought, but maybe a tune cant fix something, and maybe, just maybe you have something mechanical wrong causing the tune to be "bad" in your eyes.
Also, an LE4 cam is rather large, have you talked to LLoyd about a tune? Or others with same combo to compare tunes?
Just a thought, especially with a GOLEN engine.
Another thing to, Alvin is doing a lot of LSx type stuff with Bryan I believe. Maybe he just doesnt have time to work on older stuff?

 

New parts were replaced with new parts...all bases were covered. Just look at my FS thread and see how many almost new sensors I have piled up chasing a "mechanical" problem. "Bad" in my eyes was bad in the eyes of people much more knowledgable about this than I am...it was not even remotely close. The details are in the old posts so I am not going to rehash previously discussed information...Alvin's tune was 100% of the trouble for WELL over a year. Maybe, just maybe the tuner that wasn't Alvin fixed something mechanical with his non-Alvin tune? Alvin not only dropped the ball on this one...he took a dump on home plate...and then blamed me for doing it w/ a smile on his deceptive face.
LE4 is big, but LE/Alvin/Golen all agreed that these parts would work great together. Alvin was the guy that I trusted to get the car on the road enough to drive to a dyno. He assured me that he had tuned the same combo before and it was possible to get a decent mail order tune w/ the aid of datalogs. By "decent", I mean can drive the car to the dyno...that's all I wanted. Alvin was the only person that I considered, or consulted, related to the tuning and we discussed the cam well before I bought it. Those things being known, why would I use a cam if the tuner didn't think it could be tuned somewhat close??

This story has been told in DETAIL previously in old threads/posts so I am not getting into the back and forth again. I just want people to know my experience using Alvin. I'd also suggest to others that may be having issues with one of Alvin's tunes to try another tuner....it fixed my problem.

Until the next TTT in a few months....

 

Send me both the bin files for your tunes and I will look and see the differences.
Its sad you got hurt by the financial issue due to a poor tune.
But we all live and learn.
So, to reiterate, the tuner that fixed it, did he work on the car at all, or was this all done with you sending files and getting a tune back? Or how was it finally fixed.

 

Is this the thread you dealt with?
https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=622147

 

I feel your pain!! I am about $20K into my motor/tranny build and still having issues that I shouldn't!!

 

I had the same issue with another tuner, I won't mention any names.... was not alvin.


most of these guys do not have a clue and the other ones just find something they have thats close enough in there eyes and use that. Very dissapointing.

 

Theres two sides to this story, For the record many people who know me and have worked with me know which side they should believe.

I honestly thing Matt just wants to blame others for his misfortune. Is it not also a little strange to others that Matt parted his car out only after 300 miles another tuner had it for a couple of months to tune it and supposively fixed it.

Theres a limit to what I can do across the country. Some setups are two wild, others have to many problems to be able to fix others are just things we can't see in a datalog.

Matt, Do you want to show me where you have paid me for my services?

I'm not going to argue with you. Good luck to you in your future

 

You're the man when it comes to deflecting, and BS'ing. I'm not getting into it w/ you or your lady friend "partner"...and isn't it about time she chimes in to help you spin a web of crap? If only your "tune" was the problem...
Ignore, or as you call it "forget" some more customers for MONTHS and I'll continue to get PMs from those people about how you raked them over as well.
300 miles huh? Pull the head out and breath some reality...or stay in "Alvin World" for all I care. Your tune sucks, and your two-faced ways have become your true talent...good luck with that.