GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I originally bought my Unichip a long time ago with the expectation that it would work, however if you remember when I posted on it, I said that it wouldnt work. I had to have it sent back 2 or 3 separate times. Each chip wouldn't work properly on the car. Fuel would cut out at 3k rpm. My question is, for those of you WITH a working Unichip, how did you do it?

I have installed 2 different Unichips on my Vibe over the years. Both worked without a hitch. Did they replace yours or just retune it? Is there another Vibe (or Matrix) in your area that you can install it on to see if they have the same result?

All the Unichips that were installed on mine were different Unichips, or maybe they weren't tuned right. I'm not completely sure, but nonetheless I told them my specific mods and they sent me a faulty chip....My brother has a Vibe but his is a 2005 not a 2003 and I dont want to screw around with his. Even though his is completely stock.

i had one on mine for a year no issues. it was then sent in and reprogrammed for Mav's and ran it for a year. also no problems. then we sold it and afaik, works fine on that person's vibe.

Quote, originally posted by THE VIBERATOR »All the Unichips that were installed on mine were different Unichips, or maybe they weren't tuned right. I'm not completely sure, but nonetheless I told them my specific mods and they sent me a faulty chip....My brother has a Vibe but his is a 2005 not a 2003 and I dont want to screw around with his. Even though his is completely stock.It wouldn't work on his anyway. His is an ETC (Electronic throttle control) Whereas your's is a cable throttle.I don't know if it would be worth the shipping but I would be willing to test it out on my Vibe since I have used 2 other's successfully. Up to you. Im me if you are interested and I'll give you my address. People on here can vouch for me that I wouldn't screw you over. Ask Kevera. He bought his S/C, shipped it to me and then I shipped it to him because the dealer wouldn't ship it to Canada. Zero problems.

Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush »People on here can vouch for me that I wouldn't screw you over.I'll vouch for that. Brain's a great guy to deal with.

Yep,Bluecrush is a great guy.I bought AKLGT's unichip and installed with zero problems.Now where did you buy it from,somethings wrong if 3 won't work.Is it for a base or GT.Stupid question,but did you disconnect the battery when you installed it.

Don't trust that Brian guy.... he just needs to mod his car then put it back to stock... he's not happy unless he modding and demodding LOL JK JK JK ... brian is one hell of a guy thats mighty nice of him to offer to do that.

Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »he just needs to mod his car then put it back to stockLOL!This will give me my Mod/De-Mod fix....I'm starting to get the shakes. Thanks for the props, guys. See, Joseph? Let me know if you are interested if you are unable to find anyone else to help you out locally.

Quote, originally posted by 13Vibe03 »Did you test the supercharger kit before shipping it to Kevera? LOL. Would you install my DIY turbo kit when/if I get around to building it? ...and test/tune it too? LOL....nah, but I'd be willing to lend a hand if available...OR....you can just let me know when you're done so you can give me a ride

originally, mine was for 03 Vibe GT 2zz and then reprogrammed for Mav's 04 Vibe base 5MT 1zz. then to Kevera for his Vibe (supercharged yo!).

I have done many deals with Bluecrush as my parents live near him, we have also had many meets so I know him personally. Great guy and he even cleaned up his mess on the seat after a ride in my ms3

Man you guys really had at this thread while i was gone huh? Well I would love to send it to you Brian! I have it put away somewhere, I'll let you know when I find it and then we'll exchange information. I got all of the chips from Unichip themselves. I had one reflashed by a tuner and that one still didn't work....it's no wonder why Unichip had to go out of business. I really appreciate all the help! It seems like I'm just unlucky as all of your Unichips have plugged right in and worked. And to answer your question, Kevera, my chip is for a base automatic, and I can't remember if I unhooked the negative or not. Is it necessary what you do with negative?

Quote, originally posted by THE VIBERATOR » I can't remember if I unhooked the negative or not. Is it necessary what you do with negative?Everything you work on in the car electrial wise you should disconnect the negative battery cable.The reason for disconnecting the neg. first is the neg. is connected tothe body. If your wrench hits the body, nothing happens, the power isin the cable.Now if you are disconnecting the positive first and touch the vehicle'sbody, you will have a dead short with major sparks flying.Major sparks or any sparks for that matter on the top of a recentlydischarged or charged battery can also ignite the hydrogen gas thebattery produces when it works.This can literally explode the battery. Big time too!

Quote, originally posted by THE VIBERATOR »Man you guys really had at this thread while i was gone huh? Well I would love to send it to you Brian! I have it put away somewhere, I'll let you know when I find it and then we'll exchange information. I got all of the chips from Unichip themselves. I had one reflashed by a tuner and that one still didn't work....it's no wonder why Unichip had to go out of business. Sounds good. Let me know when you are ready. I didn't know that Unichip went out of business. I thought they only discontinued the 1ZZ/2ZZ Unichips.

Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »Everything you work on in the car electrial wise you should disconnect the negative battery cable.The reason for disconnecting the neg. first is the neg. is connected tothe body. If your wrench hits the body, nothing happens, the power isin the cable.Now if you are disconnecting the positive first and touch the vehicle'sbody, you will have a dead short with major sparks flying.Major sparks or any sparks for that matter on the top of a recentlydischarged or charged battery can also ignite the hydrogen gas thebattery produces when it works.This can literally explode the battery. Big time too! Ah of course! Yes we did disconnect the battery. I couldn't remember last night but yeah I made sure I had the battery disconnected. The car went into limp mode when I started it up. The fuel would cut out at 3k rpm. I have a friend with a 4th generation eclipse gs (its a 2006 model) and he JUST installed an AEM tuner. It's not plug and play but he apparently put his car into limp mode as well. His fuel cut out at 5k rpm. Maybe it's because these chips are too aggressive?

mine works with base and custom tune.

Do you by chance have the unichip turned on,the switches that is.1 is for powering the UNICHIP and the other is for map "A" & "B".

Yes...I looked at what the instructions said and turned it to the ON position so the chip was on, and i had it on Map B. Nothing worked, none of the maps would keep the car out of limp mode.

Call or e-mail Tony Woest, he heads up the Unichip R&D department, has helped me trouble-shoot in the past. He has sent me wiring schematics and walked through diagnostics with me. While the customer service folks are nice, Tony has the expertise to get you back in action. tony@unichip.us Tony WoestUnichip of North AmericaResearch and Developmenthttp://www.unichip.usToll free 1.866.643.7400Local 1.503.640.7465Fax 1.503.214.6444Good Luck

Thank you, DiveNut. I appreciate it and will contact him as soon as possible and let you know what happens.

Good Deal! Hopefully, Tony can help you out.

if your in limp mode you should have a cel . can you tell us what it is.

Quote, originally posted by satur9 »if your in limp mode you should have a cel . can you tell us what it is.Not necessarily. Many people have fried their MAF sensor, which placed them in limp mode, and didn't get a CEL. Joseph, If I remember correctly, one of the Unichips I had, the turbo switch in the unichip was in the wrong position. Double check to see that your's is in the correct position. It should be on the Unichip itself not on attached to any of the wires. Just thought I would mention that.

There's a turbo switch? I remember seeing a switch that was welded/melted into place...but even then, the car was still in limp mode. Could this be the turbo switch? I know that there's the map A/B switch and the Power On/Off switch. The instructions said nothing about a turbo switch....interesting. I will have to check it out.

If it is melted into place then I would guess it is probably in the correct position..lol.

I forgot about that switch,there was one on mine I think.Where did you buy this,was it new or used.Regardless get ahold of unichip and make them sort this out.

It was new....I bought it off of AutoAnything, but it came directly from Unichip themselves.

Viberator, you might want to check this on your Unichip wiring:I had the same symptoms (limp-home mode) as you and after discussing with Tony Woest, I did this...There should be an unused connector sealed in heat shrink tubing. Normally, this connects to a "turbo module" for F.I. applications, but for N.A., it's unused. Peel away the heat shrink covering. The white connector (aka "driver connector") should have a jumper connecting two of the terminals (I think it was the yellow and blue wire), so that voltage is supplied from the ECU to the MAF sensor (see picture). Mine had the jumper but I suspected it wasn't making a good connection, so I made a redundant jumper with a heavy duty paper clip and pushed it into the same wires on the other side of the connector. Rewrap everything in electrical tape or heat shrink tube so jumpers don't come into contact w/ metal.It worked! Unichip has been working perfectly, ever since.

WOW that's amazing! So it's all due to a little jumper? I had no clue. And I just emailed Tony tonight. Lol. He's going to tell me the same thing. I will have to buy some heavy duty paper clips then! I'll get back to everyone as soon as it warms up and I have the time to try this out!!

Cool! Hopefully, that will solve your problem.