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1970 Olds Cutlass S Rat Rod Style

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So, I have had fun with this POS Holley Terminator X Max. It will not load tunes through handheld on a SD card. Even the basic shitty Wizard tune won't load. I took the saved tune that I added a 4L80E tune to Mark about a month back, loaded through the laptop. It completely lost any tune with the battery disconnect turned off. So I left the ECM connected overnight. Still had a tune, so U just removed the battery disconnect all together. I also had to add key on power to prime the fuel pump, changed the relay, no trigger power. Not sure why that stopped working. You can tell the tune was a month old, cold start stall and idled lower. I decided, just buying an accurate sensor for the oil pressure and not the 5" display, screw Holley, this system in meh at best.
 
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olds307 and 403 said:
So, I have had fun with this POS Holley Terminator X Max. It will not load tunes through handheld on a SD card. Even the basic shitty Wizard tune won't load. I took the saved tune that I added a 4L80E tune to Mark about a month back, loaded through the laptop. It completely lost any tune with the battery disconnect turned off. So I left the ECM connected overnight. Still had a tune, so U just removed the battery disconnect all together. I also had to add key on power to prime the fuel pump, changed the relay, no trigger power. Not sure why that stopped working. You can tell the tune was a month old, cold start stall and idled lower. I decided, just buying an accurate sensor for the oil pressure and not the 5" display, screw Holley, this system in meh at best.
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I respect you for working this hard to figure it out, I probably would've put a carb on by now.
 
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Sweet_Johnny said:
I respect you for working this hard to figure it out, I probably would've put a carb on by now.
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Considering I have custom tweaked Qjet by me that was rebuilt with all the good stuff, yeah very tempting. I did all the right things SEFI with the better Terminator X Max, even timing control with the high output EFI pump delivering a steady 63-63 psi and still is crappy running for the first start.
 
olds307 and 403 said:
Considering I have custom tweaked Qjet by me that was rebuilt with all the good stuff, yeah very tempting. I did all the right things SEFI with the better Terminator X Max, even timing control with the high output EFI pump delivering a steady 63-63 psi and still is crappy running for the first start.
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Write a scathing (but “cough”polite) review on their website? And see if you get any response. Like them eating it or paying for a pro tuning for free? Sometimes old school is just good after all the stress and struggle you put in.
 
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Ugly1 said:
Write a scathing (but “cough”polite) review on their website? And see if you get any response. Like them eating it or paying for a pro tuning for free? Sometimes old school is just good after all the stress and struggle you put in.
Click to expand...
I may just do that, not impressed with the cold start performance. I did figure out my cold start noise. I am almost positive one of the torque converter bolts has backed out. Wish I would have figured that out at my Daughter's place, on 4 jack stands in a roomy shop. I may have use the other set of holes, retap and mayne find smaller head bolts, had to grind a 17mm socket to fit on them. Especially since I finally fixed the choke on the 78 800 cfm 403 carb Everyday Performance apparently beat the choke seal in with a sledge hammer. I couldn't completely tighten the housing down or it would bind. I finally figured a way with spacers but then the choke pull off would miss the contact sometimes. I did some other tweaking to make that finally work properly. I would need a fuel pressure regulator, have that somewhere and transmission controller as well for the 4L80E. Plus I would have to dial in one of my HEI or spend $500 on the fancy Progression distributor.
 
Well, I was thinking the cold start was the pulley's, nope, maybe flex plate bolts, nope they were tight. I even added two washers, to space out the converter snout, no real difference. Nothing obviously warped, watched the flexplate running. I am thinking it is detonation at cold start. When I move it out to move the Dakota to do a thermostat, I will pay close attention to cold start timing. Mark has a max 41 degrees, it may need a couple less degrees at cold start. He has it so it decreases as temp increases. On on cold start, it has 80ish psi oil pressure, just under 40 psi hot idle just under 750 rpm, quiet beside initial start up.
 
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I took a few videos, it really does sound flex plate related but may be detonation. I will check the actual crank to flex plate bolts. It may be this Speedmaster flex plate. I don't think anyone else has a neutral balance flexplate for a 330 crank. Just weird it gets quieter, the longer it runs and timing drops. Running 91 Octane, the last of the non ethanol available, now will all be 10% with STP additive and stabilizer.
 
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Pulled the plugs, they all looked like the same. It definitely sounds external or totally different that the last few rod knocks my Olds have developed, almost tinny in person. If the motor isn't screwed, I am considering going to my Qjet, Performer and manual control of the 4L80E and putting the Terminator X Max on my Dakota, for a few reasons on both vehicles. I had to move it to put the Dakota in the garage. I finally changed the Dodge factory tiny 6 gauge battery cables to 1 gauge cables. It didn't like -40 despite a 850 CCA battery, factory mini starter and our Coop full synthetic 0W30. Even they look tiny compared to the 4/0 cables I put on the Olds. We have a snow storm coming, other than moving snow tomorrow, I plan on a more through inspection tomorrow, including disconnecting the torque converter, running it disconnected and really inspecting that area. I have never seen a real knock go away after initial start up, usually the knock gets louder as oil pressure goes to nothing, not 40 psi at 750 rpm.
20241122_194817_4dab604d019467868f8d290bc44a72784001841d.jpg
 
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The 2025 Calendars are HERE! Get yours TODAY!
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