Review - Livernois Mycalibrator Tune for Jeep JL 3.6L V6

[USAFREODRetired]

I went with the PCM swap option for my JLUR, so I had to wait a while to go through the steps to clone my OEM unit, but I received my new Livernois unlocked PCM this past Friday evening.

First, let me say the level of support Andy provided was OUTSTANDING. All along the way, I experienced a series of glitches that Andy jumped right on and remedied.

First, whilst cloning the original PCM, the MyCalibrator device would not display the correct options. Andy shot me new firmware and I was up and running within hours.

When I installed my new PCM and took the Jeep on its first run, I popped some DTC codes and my backup camera was inop. Frustrated to say the least. Andy not only suggested the remedy but when I could not locate the correct option on the device, he walked me through the re-read of the EEPROM over the phone in real-time, late on a Friday afternoon when most folks are hitting I-75 to go up north for the weekend. I really appreciated his sense of customer service!

Not driving as much due to COVID, and I haven't burned through my existing tank of 87, but my experience with the low octane tune is comparable to Aussie Al's. I'm running 35" tires and lost some MPG, this tune appears to have brought that right back based upon my informal observation of the Fuel Economy page (my JLUR has a manual tranny, so no shifting review). And as described, the smoothness of power and application are extraordinary. This is exactly how the motor should have performed from the factory.

I still have a minor nit with the unit, the "9" key does not populate in the Tire Size page, but I am confident Andy will fix that at some point as well.

I am really looking forward to burning through my tank of 87 and trying the 93 tune. After just a few days in, I am very impressed and glad I purchased this mod.

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[moto_mike]

USAFREODRetired - thanks for the review! Would you please comment on the rev-hang characteristics with the new tune? Do the RPMs drop quicker when you shift?

My truck will take up to 3 seconds for the RPMs to drop after I take my foot off the gas and it completely ruins the driving experience for me. Hoping the tune addresses this. Thanks!

 

[USAFREODRetired]

USAFREODRetired - thanks for the review! Would you please comment on the rev-hang characteristics with the new tune? Do the RPMs drop quicker when you shift?

My truck will take up to 3 seconds for the RPMs to drop after I take my foot off the gas and it completely ruins the driving experience for me. Hoping the tune addresses this. Thanks!

Haven't noticed anything like that behavior. Been driving on the new PCM and Tune since Friday, and still happy with it. I am curious when the MPG will stabilize. I'm going to have to do a manual calculation, because I cannot believe this mod has improved my MPG that much!

 

[Livernois Motorsports]

Haven't noticed anything like that behavior. Been driving on the new PCM and Tune since Friday, and still happy with it. I am curious when the MPG will stabilize. I'm going to have to do a manual calculation, because I cannot believe this mod has improved my MPG that much!

I always encourage manual calculation, but I can tell you mine has been surprisingly, (and sometimes depressingly, if I am overly aggressive) accurate.

But, if I can respect it, it rewards me in more ways than one!

 

[m3reno]

USAFREODRetired - thanks for the review! Would you please comment on the rev-hang characteristics with the new tune? Do the RPMs drop quicker when you shift?

My truck will take up to 3 seconds for the RPMs to drop after I take my foot off the gas and it completely ruins the driving experience for me. Hoping the tune addresses this. Thanks!

I missed a shift yesterday and the jeep was revving at 4000 rpm's for at least 4 seconds!! In reverse it's as if there is 0 input with the gas pedal as if there is a delay

 

[IamWardicus]

Is everything still going smoothly with everyones tune? I'm considering it for my '20 Gladiator and was wondering if there were any negatives that may have come up with anyone.

 

[BritishGuy]

Is everything still going smoothly with everyones tune? I'm considering it for my '20 Gladiator and was wondering if there were any negatives that may have come up with anyone.

I forget how many miles I've got on mine at the moment, at least a couple hundred miles by now, but everything is still going really well and it's getting smoother and smoother each time I drive it. I recently filled up with a full tank of E85 and I've had zero issues, no CEL, just a super-smooth engine that just wants to go!

Honestly there have absolutely been zero downsides to this tune, really. Well, other than breaking off the red lever from one of the PCM clamps (those who have touched it, know), but that's down to a bad design from Jeep/FCA.

The top 3 mods in my book that I'd recommend after pulling out of the dealership...

1. Livernois Tune
2. B&M Sport Shifter and Xfer case handle extension
3. Rear interior rack (so much more usable storage space - I have the Fishbone version)

If you've anything specific you want answers on @IamWardicus, I'll do my best to answer for you. If you were closer to Houston, I'd let you take mine for a spin to feel the difference.

 

[VerservJL]

Is everything still going smoothly with everyones tune? I'm considering it for my '20 Gladiator and was wondering if there were any negatives that may have come up with anyone.

Mines still going great. Couple thousand miles on it. I made some updates in my original post from bugs I found, but now everything is perfect. In fact, I need to put the tuned pcm back in as I took it out for the steering box tsb this week. It such a big overall improvement compared to stock.

 

[IamWardicus]

Thank you for the updates @Verserv and @BritishGuy ! I'll be looking into it after I get my TSB work done in mid-October. I'll work with Livernois and do the "spare" unlocked PCM as I'm currently on a lease and while I do intend to buy it - one cannot predict the future.

 

[Alamein.sajib]

As promised, here is my review of Livernois Tune for Wrangler JL v6 3.6L after using my Wrangler JL for 380km with the tuned ECM Swap.



Disclaimer: Below review is my personal opinion of the Livernois Tune after testing it for one week. Any comments made against and or for are not to be taken seriously and is of my personal taste. I do not have any mechanical or engineering degree, just a humble driver that likes and appreciates what Wrangler has to offer while trying to squeeze the best out of it. Most of the testing were conducted via my highly tuned Butt Dyno.



Background: I own a Wrangler JL Rubicon V6, RHD Export/Australian market model, had it since October 2019 and got about 13,000KM on the odometer.

• As much as I love how the wrangler drives off-road and on road my main griefs with the v6 petrol engine and the auto transmission were:
• Harsh acceleration, it will shudder and surge in low speed traffic driving condition
• Spongy feeling in the acceleration curve specially between 1500-2200 RPM
• Throttle responsiveness left a lot to desire…had to buy a throttle booster
• Transmission shift points, don’t get me wrong I like the 8-speed transmission but during any spirited driving condition the transmission will not shift down fast enough leaving that under-power feeling when you give the throttle a go...

Purchase Experience: Living in Australia and driving an American car (with very minimal presence in the country) means getting any part or mod is a significant undertaking. Most/if not all my parts for the Jeep needed to be imported from USA and had my fair share of experience dealing with USA vendors via email and various shipping challenges. I contacted Livernois via forum message after reading their tune experience in Ford Mustang world, and from the get-go Andy was nothing but exceptional. He knew the challenge of ECM unlock and shipping requirement for USA<>Australia and had a solution ready that required purchasing a blank ECM, code it to my VIN, Flash it with my current export Firmware/Software, unlock it and then ship it to me. This solution mean I will not have a single minute of downtime and it will be a straight ECM swap with factory ECM being a backup, in case I needed to swap back down the road. Andy replied to my email/message within 24 hours and I never felt worried about spending the $1,800 AUD+ without knowing if it will even work after I receive it. I would rate this experience a 10 out of 10.



Installation Experience: The actual installation, i.e.: swap of the ECM is a 5-minute job, unscrew 3 bolts, unhook 2 latches and swap around. However, connecting the Tuner to the OBD port and associated security bypass cable/Canbus took me a while to figure out. Weirdly Livernois did not include any instruction with the product, also no instruction manual detailing features of the products on the website. It seems Livernois were going for customer specific experience and would rather talk to each customer to understand there need and walk them through the process. With timing difference between Australia and USA that meant sometimes I had to wait over 12 hours to get a response on what the next step would be, which I could have done myself if there was an instruction manual/guideline. I would rate this experience a 6 out of 10.

Positives: Below “Opinion” of mine was based on using E85 on 93 Flex fuel Tune with Transmission option. I have not had the opportunity to use 98 RON (93) yet, I stupidly filled both my Main and Aux fuel tank with 140 litter of E85 and it will take a while for me use it up (with current driving restriction under COVID-19 here in Melbourne). I will most portably move to 98 RON as my daily driver due to the scarcity of E85 here in Australia.

• Smooooooth Acceleration, that’s the #1 thing that stand out for me, (I removed the throttle booster/controller/so stock), its so smooth that I start looking at my speedo constantly to ensure I am staying within the speed limit. Its hard to explain, the acceleration is not jerky or require significant peddle input.
• Butt Dyno does tell me there’s 51HP underneath, I have no way to prove it scientifically but my 0-60 MPH (97KMH) number is 6.37 second from previous 6.93 second (From tazer JL)
• No more spongy feeling in the throttle (unless you are under 1500 rpm)
• The transmission tune is “Relatively” aggressive, if you like spirited driving (which I do) then you will love this transmission tune, it down shifts very fast based on your input also I think it Rev matches the tune lot better specially if you are driving around a wavy road and your speed varies constantly.
• No more shudder or engine pinging in low RPM driving.
• This one is bit odd…you swap an ECM and download a Tune from the “Internet” into your relatively new Wrangler while praying to Jeep gods that lets not blow the engine up. I have not had a single bit of concern on how the engine runs since I have installed the tune, it feels….very Stock, like it belongs.
• And that’s the best thing about this tune, it feels like this should have come out of the Factory, it really brings out the best of the 3.6L V6 and the ZF 8 speed transmission. The tune is not very aggressive (like you would get from custom race tune) nor the improvement is minuscule 5-7%. The improvement is big enough to notice but small enough not to blow your engine up…

Things that can be better and things to look out for:

• Website can be improved to list additional functions of the Tuner, such as ESS/Start Stop turn on/off option in the tune – this is a big one that lot of Wrangler JL owner would be interested in, as some of us paid $500 AUD+ for a Tazel JL. The tuner also does Tyre size alternation. You only find out about this additional function if you dig in or you ask for it.
• You don’t have to buy (my opinion again) the bypass cable, I tried my Tazer JL bypass dongle as well as Autel bypass cable, both works fine with the tuner.
• A change log on the website to highlight when a new tunes/functions comes out so existing owner knows to update the tune, rather than asking for it.
• After you swap the ECM and download the Tune first 15-20 KM the engine will sound bit different (bit more pinging on idle) you must let the ECM learn the new tune and get the reading of ethanol from your fuel for the tune to kick in so must drive slow (no WOT) for 15-20 minutes, I believe the same is also true if you swap between E85 and any non-ethanol blends 91/93/98.

My wrap up score for Livernois Tine will be 9.5 out of 10.0, I must have for any Wrangler JL 3.6 owner, it truly brings the best out of the engine/auto transmission combo and to my humble opinion this is how it should have come out of the Factory…

I have had the Livernois tune for about 5 months now and have done 4,000KM on this tune so far, and its time to give some updates:

- E85....its a bomb...i have seen Livernois mentioned few time "Experience E85 side of things". and yes its a thing, i am not sure how to explain that feeling, but the engine runs way...smoother, power band is extremely smooth, specially for day to day driving. Also it idles smoother (you can barely hear the engine idling) and cooler.

- 98 RON (93 for state side) - I sure can tell the difference between stock tune running on 98 and Livernois tune running on 98 and the difference is significant...but men E85 ruins any other fuel for me now...Its like you tasted Wagyu Marble Score 9+ (E85) now going back to Marble Score 5-6 (98 RON).

- 95/91 RON (91/87 for state side) - Difference between 98 RON and 95/91 RON is far smaller then i thought it would be, i can hardly tell the difference to justify running it on 98 rather then 91. Back to beef analogy again, i would rather have a supermarket variant of the cut (rightly cooked) if i cant have the Wagyu 9+.

For day to day driving i have been using E85, the fuel efficiency is horrible but its so much fun! I do wonder on the long term impact of E85 to the 3.6L petrol engine..? Knowing that support to run E85 was not from factory @Livernois Motorsports have you done any study on the E85 long term impact to the Wrangler 3.6L engine on the JL? should i be worried?

Also, i am new to flex fuel side of things. If i am on 87 Flexfuel tune and running E85 vs on 93 Flexfuel tune running E85, is the tune for "E85" same between two sets? i understand the tunes for petrol will be different between this 2 set of tunes, but how about E85 tune between them?

 

[m3reno]

I'm still waiting for the rev hang fix so I can order this tune

 

[Livernois Motorsports]

I have had the Livernois tune for about 5 months now and have done 4,000KM on this tune so far, and its time to give some updates:

- E85....its a bomb...i have seen Livernois mentioned few time "Experience E85 side of things". and yes its a thing, i am not sure how to explain that feeling, but the engine runs way...smoother, power band is extremely smooth, specially for day to day driving. Also it idles smoother (you can barely hear the engine idling) and cooler.

- 98 RON (93 for state side) - I sure can tell the difference between stock tune running on 98 and Livernois tune running on 98 and the difference is significant...but men E85 ruins any other fuel for me now...Its like you tasted Wagyu Marble Score 9+ (E85) now going back to Marble Score 5-6 (98 RON).

- 95/91 RON (91/87 for state side) - Difference between 98 RON and 95/91 RON is far smaller then i thought it would be, i can hardly tell the difference to justify running it on 98 rather then 91. Back to beef analogy again, i would rather have a supermarket variant of the cut (rightly cooked) if i cant have the Wagyu 9+.

For day to day driving i have been using E85, the fuel efficiency is horrible but its so much fun! I do wonder on the long term impact of E85 to the 3.6L petrol engine..? Knowing that support to run E85 was not from factory @Livernois Motorsports have you done any study on the E85 long term impact to the Wrangler 3.6L engine on the JL? should i be worried?

Also, i am new to flex fuel side of things. If i am on 87 Flexfuel tune and running E85 vs on 93 Flexfuel tune running E85, is the tune for "E85" same between two sets? i understand the tunes for petrol will be different between this 2 set of tunes, but how about E85 tune between them?

So the easiest answer on E85 and the engine, while certain markets aren't E85, the Brazilian market is, and then engine identical, and they use E98 for most of their fuel.

 

[VerservJL]

Follow up on my original review. Its still a great product but now that I need to pass inspection, I cannot get the tuned ecu to have the o2 and egr sensors ready. 2500 miles and they are not ready. Only took 40 miles on my stock ecu to get them all ready. Its probably been this way since I bought it last summer.

 

[Kreepin1]

Follow up on my original review. Its still a great product but now that I need to pass inspection, I cannot get the tuned ecu to have the o2 and egr sensors ready. 2500 miles and they are not ready. Only took 40 miles on my stock ecu to get them all ready. Its probably been this way since I bought it last summer.

I seem to recall this happening to someone in the main Livernois thread. The fix was battery disconnect for a few hours (tricky since there are two) and then a couple days normal driving.

 

[Kreepin1]

Also, Andy has my Jeep right now, he’s going to try and figure out the rev hang issue.

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