How to read your truck with an MPVI2, MPVI3 or MPVI4 and send us the file

A remote tune is file-based. You read your truck's controller into a file, send us the file, we edit it and send it back, and you write it to the truck. Everything on your end happens in HP Tuners' VCM Suite with your own interface, and the whole thing takes about ten minutes of actual work. Here is every step, including the ones people email us about.

What you need

• An HP Tuners interface. MPVI2, MPVI2+, MPVI3 or MPVI4 all work for most trucks. A few newer controllers need an MPVI3 or MPVI4, and GM Global B vehicles need an MPVI4 — the requirements page says which.
• VCM Suite installed on a Windows laptop, and the interface registered to your HP Tuners account. VCM Editor is the program you read and write with; VCM Scanner is the one you log with.
• A battery charger or maintainer on the truck for the write. Reads are quick; writes take a few minutes and must not be interrupted by a low battery.
• For 2018 and newer Ram trucks, HP Tuners' Dodge 2018+ Smart Access cable. These trucks have a security gateway between the OBD port and the controllers, and the cable connects around it following HP Tuners' instructions for your truck. Without it the read will not start.
• Any one-time module upgrade your model year calls for, already done. We tune the read from the upgraded controller, so the upgrade has to come first. Most trucks need none; the unlock guide has the year-by-year list.

Reading the truck

1. Park the truck, key on, engine off. Turn off the headlights, the HVAC blower and the radio so the controllers are not busy, and leave the doors closed.
2. Plug the interface into the OBD port under the dash (through the Smart Access cable on a 2018+ Ram) and the USB cable into the laptop. Open VCM Editor.
3. Click Read Vehicle. VCM Editor will offer to gather vehicle information first — let it. It identifies the controllers on the truck and shows you the ones it can read.
4. Start the read. If it offers a choice between the whole controller and the calibration only, read the whole thing. On most trucks the read takes a few minutes; some controllers take longer. Do not touch the key or unplug anything until it says it is done.
5. Save the file. It is a .hpt file; name it something you will recognize later, like 2019 Ram 2500 stock read.hpt. This is also your stock file — keep a copy somewhere safe. It is the way back to factory calibration if you ever want it.

On trucks where the transmission has its own module — GM 8-, 9- and 10-speeds, Allisons, Fords — the read should include the transmission controller. If VCM Editor shows the engine and transmission as separate modules, read both and send us both files; we will edit the one we need. On 2010+ Ram Cummins and Ram Hemi HD trucks the transmission tables are inside the engine controller's file, so one read covers it.

Licensing

Reading is free. Writing requires the vehicle to be licensed on your interface, which uses HP Tuners credits bought through your account; the number varies by controller and is listed on each platform page. You can license when VCM Editor prompts you during the first write, or ahead of time from the vehicle information screen. Credits are tied to the vehicle, so once it is licensed, every later write of a revised file is free.

Sending us the file

Start an order, pick your platform and model year — the form shows you right there whether the truck needs any upgrade first — upload the .hpt file, and tell us what you want changed in your own words. Tick the changes you want from the checklist and add anything that is not stock: tire size, gear ratio, converter and its stall speed, built transmission, existing engine tune. Pay on Stripe's page and the clock starts. Your order page shows the promised time the moment you pay, and the tuned file arrives by email with a written list of exactly what changed. What happens in that hour, if you are curious.

Writing the tuned file

1. Put the charger on the battery. Key on, engine off, accessories off, doors closed, same as the read.
2. Open the tuned file in VCM Editor and click Write Vehicle. If it asks whether to write the calibration or the entire controller, write the calibration — that is what changed. If the vehicle is not yet licensed, it will ask you to license it now.
3. Wait until it finishes and tells you to cycle the key. Follow the on-screen instructions exactly; some controllers want the key off for a set number of seconds before you start the truck.
4. If VCM Suite offers a transmission adaptive reset for your platform, run it. Then drive gently for twenty or thirty minutes. The controller relearns clutch fill volumes against the new pressures, so the first several shifts may feel slightly different from the hundredth.

Taking a log for a revision

If something needs adjusting, a short log tells us more than a paragraph. Open VCM Scanner with the interface connected, load the channel list we send with your file (gear, commanded gear, converter slip, transmission temperature, throttle, engine torque, shift time), start logging and drive for ten or fifteen minutes the way you normally do, including whatever you want changed — the hunt at 50, the soft 1-2, the shudder at 45. Save the .hpl file and attach it to the revision request on your order page. One revision is included for 30 days.