I was just cleaning out a cabinet and found a box containing a scroll written by the Dalai Lama, whom the Chinese regard as a terrorist, which is a less satisfying profession than a **** star. The Dalai Lama likes Minis.

"Every day, think as you wake up. I am fortunate to have woken up alive. I am alive, I have a precious human life. I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts toward others. I am not going to get angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can."

 

Yeaaa! Go Alta!


Still can't read? I have called, you were condescending and argumentative, now you get to deal with me in open where you can really shine!

Wow, I am soooo impressed that you own the company, I really needed that spelled out. It is pretty obvious from talking to you that either you or Daddy owns the company.

Good to see you still want your customers to do all your leg work for you! Do not worry though I am more than happy to keep advertising your attitude for you!

Still can't read? I have called, you were condescending and argumentative, now you get to deal with me in open where you can really shine!
[pssst: it is known as leveling the playing field... here I still get my say, on the phone you treat me like an idiot.]

Well thought out, I am sure that will help sales.

 

Just wondering why when it comes to the plug-n-play module Alta wants you to do all the leg work? Depending on when it was bought it costs the customer between $550 to $750. Lots of money for most people. If it causes problems then maybe its needs to be debugged by the the seller/manufacturer before sale.

 

I believe it is referred to as taking the value out of value added reseller. They source the parts, charge you extra, and have you deal with problems. Excellent business model!

 

Again, sorry for any confusion. When problems begin to arise on the UniChip harness and ALTA was handling each concern with the client, UniChip felt that some information might be lost in translation. As such the president Jack Friedman, kindly asked that ALL of the ALTA UniChip clients speak directly to his staff etc.

In other cases, client can send the product to us after securing an RMA from Christina, then she will take the unit directly to UniCHip North American headquarters which is about 3 miles from our facility. included with the package is the complete information from the client, so UniChip can contact them directly to get out a replacement etc.

ALTA IS IN NO WAY DENYING HELP TO ANY AND ALL CLIENTS. Period.

Finally, it should be noted that ALTA has removed this system from being purchased either online or over the phone until UniChip is satisfied that the harnesses are performing to the level they should.

Hope that helps! Let me know if I can help further!

 

JaceMin: You claim you and I have spoken over the phone. I don't recollect that conversation. Not to say we didn't have one. But the forum gives YOU the benefit of anonymity that I don't have. You can blindly claim whatever you want and other than making a rebuttal I have no way to verify the claims without more information your name, date of purchase, etc. etc. WE do log phone calls, e-mails, and the like to help in any situation where a customer has a concern.

Honestly, though from what you describe here, this doesn't sound to me like we spoke at all. I read nothing that couldn't have been handled via phone or e-mail. So I am stuck with the suspicion that you are reasonably upset with any and all ALTA situations, and instead of actually contacting me, you instead chose to make an attempt at a character assassination here. (Which is completely your right BTW.) I have no problem defending the actions of myself and my staff. BUT, I have no problem admitting error when we make it. I have done that in open forum on many occasions.

Again, if you choose to handle this like a mature adult, I encourage you to do so and call me or provide a number where we can call to discuss. I would say it is your loss if you choose to ignore my offer as many, many companies, here on NAM as well as in the open market do NOT give their customers that opportunity.

Thank you again NAM for the opportunity to help clients in this forum!

 

Oh trust me, customers are NOT doing all the leg work. But when a customer has an issue that we didn't see, we need their help in figuring it out. We started out as did Unichip and a few other customers with hard wire kits and proving the Unichip can work. Then harnesses were built and "tested" by the manufacture to be good.

We have spent hours and hours and hours....... trying to figure out the issues with the Unichip. With 4th version of the Unichip harness coming out, we are hoping that we can recoup some of our time with some solid working Unichips. We have gone above and beyond with taking care of customers with Unichip issues simply because it is an expensive part and they deserve it! Only with in the last 3 or so weeks have Unichip stepped in to take care of some customers directly. They did this to better help figure out if its a pin issue, plug issue, Mapping issue... If anyone could actually see what we have done i think it would change their mind about us.

Ok, these comments are just because your cranky. You can keep on beating us down, but because this isn't the way we treat customers, or products, its just going make you look bad when all of the other customers that are happy with our services and parts come and say your wrong.

But about business practices. Your right, if its something we didn't design, we buy the parts, we test them, tune them, beat on them, market them, and prove to the potential customers that this is a great part, and does great things and its a price that is reasonably fair. That is our business, and yes its a fun one!

 

I am not trying to fan the flames but does anyone have a Unichip PNP that is not hardwired, works on both maps and does not cause CEL?

 

Oh and today i got this from Prosport:
Jeff,

We made some longer length wires just for you guys. The production is finished, we are waiting for them to arrive. They should be here in 2 weeks.

Because those gauges are made in China it took that long to get here after production.

See, we are helping!

 

I've had mine a few months, both maps work fine, no CELs.
I have had 2 or 3 hiccups where there was like a misfire, but caused no CEL.
Would buy it again.

 

There are lots of guys that are happy (even gen one) harnesses but no everyone goes on NAM. We have had one perfect one on our car (GEN 2 harness) and also one that was a little glitchy. So we know there are ones out there that are good, and dare a say it, a bunch that are also bad. But Unichip and us are working through it and getting guys taken care of as soon as possible. Since we are at the mercy of Unichip, we can only be as quick as they are.

 

Adam well said!

 

So are we done with the insults and trying to match wits? 'Cause that was getting boring, really boring.

As I said originally, I am happy to engage in a reasonable technical discussion about what could be wrong, and how to move ahead. The engine isn't any where near it's potential, these tuning issues need to be resolved, or we are all gonna be whistling Dixie, waiting on the right answer.

I think at this point we all can agree on where I stand on some of the business related issues... So please let's not go back down that road again.

 

Yup, so lets start by telling us RPM and when it does it. MEaning what boost. From there, try the other switch and report what switch does what. Then we can figure out if its a Unichip mapping thing or ours. Then worst come to worst, you will have to send us the Unichip and we can flash it. And also Unichip is about to release a tool we have been bugging them about forever! It a program and a cable so we can email you a map and you can flash it with a pc. So with those things mentioned we can totally get this figured out.

 

Thanks! nice to have you back...

On MAP 1 she throws a CEL ( 1/2 power ) right after running it above 5K, when I get better than 18psi of boost. This will happen everytime with the foam filter, sport button on, at traction control disengaged. It does not occur as often when the traction control isn't engaged. The paper element as I said earlier seems to have stopped it as well.

The annoying thing is the CEL occurs as soon as I slow down and start idling. This is where it confuses the heck out of me. If I do not idle, meaning I romp around for 10 to 15 mins in the high rpm's and high boost she is happy... until I idle. So a second question is what in God's name does the ECU do different while idling versus hammering around town?

Does this program and cable enable me to log piggyback and DME data concurrently? Because I would love to see what is going on in this little things head.

MAP 0 I can try this friday. It has been raining for the last week, and Friday is the first clear day. JAce doesn't go out the rain, I have a beater for that. So I will update with feed back when I get her out again.

 

Thanks for the answers guys.

 

I have been here for a long time.....longgggg time

hmm, that is strange that the CEL doens't happen under full throttle at that level. So when the light comes on is there any hiccup in the car?

The program Unichip is coming out with its just a way to load maps on the Unichip. But they are also coming out with the Flux unit, which is an CAN/OBD logger. But not sure when that is happening.

Also try Map ZERO my guess is your Unichip is programed (depending on the date) where zero should make more power. But let us know if one map makes more power than the other.

Some notes-
-Traction control can effect it as the ECU will close the throttle and lower boost to control TQ. But still not an excuse.
-Paper vs. Foam causing the issue still makes me think its just barely seeing too much air flow. The question is why is your car different.
-The Unichip only starts to modify signals when it gets above say 3-5psi.
-If the Unichip plugs are just no connecting just right, and a ground is a little off, it could be cause of the problem. My understanding is that there have been some ground issues and that my be the root cause.

Let us know!

Have you had a code pulled lately

 

Ok,

It was a beautiful afternoon, so I pulled JAce out of the garage, changed to setting MAP 0. This was the first time I ever ran that MAP. What a difference, it has more power than stock, but not the same rush, really doesn't do the job as well. So that is definitely UniChip's MAPping.

NO CEL's, no problems, very smooth pulls all the way out the redline. The best it ever gave me was 19psi a few times. Still though not the same.

Thinking maybe I was imagining the differences, I switched back to MAP 1. No doubt, much more aggressive. Tire ripping torque steering aggressive, roll up on traffic come to an idle: BAM 1/2 engine. No event, no stumble, just 1/2 engine. I shut her down, restart, rrev her, light goes away, she is happy. Head out to Northway, wind her up, and go, I see 22, 23 psi boost in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th. She screams, MAP 1 is definitely more aggressive. I pull off an exit, idle up to a store, shut her down. I grab a bottle of water, come out start her up, instant 1/2 power, shutdown, start no clear. I flip over to MAP 0, start her up CEL is gone.

So I need to find my OBD scanner, or borrow my neighbors and play again. It would be nice to see what codes come up.

However, is it a safe bet we aren't looking at a harness issue?

I still do not get the delay until I am at an idle, this ECU is insane.

 

Not sure, still, but its good that you are seeing a difference. So i think we need to get it back and remap it. Is this something you are ok with? We can make sure to turn it around the same day so there i very little delay?? Let us know!

 

I think I'm ok with the remap idea... I still want to play with her a while longer, fetch some codes and get a better idea of what is going on. I will be pulling her off the road in a couple months to store her. I had planned on doing more work, so maybe then would be a better time, depending on what I end up doing to her the chip may need to be re-tuned any way.

Either way when I get home again, I am going to play with her for a bit, see what happens.

I tell you this crap with the wait till I idle, then muff up is realing eating at me. I know I am missing something...

 

Would you mind divulging what kind of testing of the Prosport Boost gauges you do before you mark them up more than $100 over what I can buy them from prosportgauges.com direct? Is it the Alta sticker that you put on the side of the pod worth 100 bucks?

 

.

 

Thanks for asking!

For the $100, you get the ALTA Boost Port Adapter to keep from having to drill into the plastic manifold for boost/vacuum as well as an ALTA Gauge Pod that is custom made to countour to the OEM TACH and mount to the TACH as well. Seemless installation.

But hey, if you want to drill into your manifold, and run a wood screw through the dash to mount the ProSport gauge, PLEASE go right ahead!

Seriously, though, good question and thanks for asking! Let me know if I can ever help further!

 

NAM Thanks you for your helpful post! Let us know when you have a question or comment that needs addressed. Happy Motoring!