chip needed?
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chip needed?
Ok this has been posted a little bit but i have some questions. Backround: i have a 98 f150 xlt 4.6L 2wd. Alright. Resetting my battery makes my power go up substantially. Its really quite significant and its really starting to irritate me. I push my truck very very hard esp recently pushing it to wot on a regular basis (anywhere from 6-10 times a day), so i cant believe its the relearn thing but i just dont know. I can actually really tell to the point that my truck wont stumble a little when at a full turn and tapping the gas and the speed the truck will move from a standstill at idle. Also going 45 normally takes maybe 20 percent throttle while after a resting it only takes pushing the throttle less than half a cm (not exaggerating).
Im not really sure how to approach this. Ive heard mike mention something about some trucks just plainly having incorrect ecu programming and that chips could prevent this. Is this a possible case? In the mean time i pretty much plan to reset my comp every 50 miles or so which = pain in the ***. Any help appreciated.
Oh, btw i run 91 octane (premium, im in CA) anyway so im thinking i might as well just chip to reap the benefits a little.
Im not really sure how to approach this. Ive heard mike mention something about some trucks just plainly having incorrect ecu programming and that chips could prevent this. Is this a possible case? In the mean time i pretty much plan to reset my comp every 50 miles or so which = pain in the ***. Any help appreciated.
Oh, btw i run 91 octane (premium, im in CA) anyway so im thinking i might as well just chip to reap the benefits a little.
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Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
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From: Virginia
Hi Grin,
There's just not that much difference in performance on the factory program as a result of adaptive strategy to cause any need for a reset, as chassis dyno or controlled track testing will verify. You're really going to extremes here by clearing the PCM in 50 or even every 500 miles, and you're just not going to defeat the effects of adaptive strategy.
If there is *that* much actual difference in the performance of your vehicle as you describe (which I seriously doubt), then you have a problem there that has nothing to do with adaptive strategy in terms of teh root cause.
One such thing that *could* be causing this is the use of premium gasoline on the factory program, believe it or not, that can cause anything from less power to less fuel mileage and the motor "laying down," as it's tuned for 85-87 octane from the factory, and dumping in premium gas can cause problems due to the difference in how long it takes to start the mixture buring with higher octane than what the motor is tuned for being used. Many of the owner's manuals of these vehicles specifically say *not* to use premium gas (some model years manuals will say this and some won't), and this is why. Now once you install the Superchips tuning, that all changes as then the engine is re-tuned specifically for the use of premium gas. The vehicle will run significantly better and with more power uysing the Superchips tuning with the required premium gas, especially as compared to running the factory program on premium gas.
Driving it hard all the time only shortens the life of the vehicle, it doesn't give you any significant increase in power. To give you an idea o the *maximum* offect of adaptive strategy on raw power output, if you were doing heavy towing much of the time, you might get about 2% more power out of it on premium gas on the factory program (and 2% is only 5 hp on a 260 hp 1999 & newer 5.4, for example, so you're not going to feel 5 hp in the seat of the pants in a 2-ton+ truck), which will go away once the PCM is cleared or gradually after the towing stops, in this imaginary scenario used just as an example.
Forget clearing the PCM every 50 miles, or at all, just leave it alone and let the truck operate normally, as clearing the PCM isn't going to give you even 5 more hp in 50 miles like that. Let adaptive strategy do it's job.
If you intend to keep using premium gas, then get the full rewards including more power and better performance by using the Superchisp tuning. Since you are running 91 octane already, sure, it will indeed help your performance to use the Superchips tuning. That's going to give you about 10% more raw power all the time, at any throttle position or rpm, in addition to all the other benefits, (delays & retards pulled, TS limiter removed, better shifting in the automatics, etc., etc.)
Since your vehicle is 5 years old now, I would also make sure that the required routine maintanence items like the fuel filter (replace every 15K miles) and your ignition system (the factory plugs, plug wires & coil packs aren't anywhere near good enough to give acceptable performance for the 100K miles claimed) are taken care of.
The bottom line is, if you're going to continue using premium gas, then you'll be better off use the Superchips tuning, that way the engine is actually tuned for that higher octane, so it will run better and make more power.
There's just not that much difference in performance on the factory program as a result of adaptive strategy to cause any need for a reset, as chassis dyno or controlled track testing will verify. You're really going to extremes here by clearing the PCM in 50 or even every 500 miles, and you're just not going to defeat the effects of adaptive strategy.
If there is *that* much actual difference in the performance of your vehicle as you describe (which I seriously doubt), then you have a problem there that has nothing to do with adaptive strategy in terms of teh root cause.
One such thing that *could* be causing this is the use of premium gasoline on the factory program, believe it or not, that can cause anything from less power to less fuel mileage and the motor "laying down," as it's tuned for 85-87 octane from the factory, and dumping in premium gas can cause problems due to the difference in how long it takes to start the mixture buring with higher octane than what the motor is tuned for being used. Many of the owner's manuals of these vehicles specifically say *not* to use premium gas (some model years manuals will say this and some won't), and this is why. Now once you install the Superchips tuning, that all changes as then the engine is re-tuned specifically for the use of premium gas. The vehicle will run significantly better and with more power uysing the Superchips tuning with the required premium gas, especially as compared to running the factory program on premium gas.
Driving it hard all the time only shortens the life of the vehicle, it doesn't give you any significant increase in power. To give you an idea o the *maximum* offect of adaptive strategy on raw power output, if you were doing heavy towing much of the time, you might get about 2% more power out of it on premium gas on the factory program (and 2% is only 5 hp on a 260 hp 1999 & newer 5.4, for example, so you're not going to feel 5 hp in the seat of the pants in a 2-ton+ truck), which will go away once the PCM is cleared or gradually after the towing stops, in this imaginary scenario used just as an example.
Forget clearing the PCM every 50 miles, or at all, just leave it alone and let the truck operate normally, as clearing the PCM isn't going to give you even 5 more hp in 50 miles like that. Let adaptive strategy do it's job.
If you intend to keep using premium gas, then get the full rewards including more power and better performance by using the Superchisp tuning. Since you are running 91 octane already, sure, it will indeed help your performance to use the Superchips tuning. That's going to give you about 10% more raw power all the time, at any throttle position or rpm, in addition to all the other benefits, (delays & retards pulled, TS limiter removed, better shifting in the automatics, etc., etc.)
Since your vehicle is 5 years old now, I would also make sure that the required routine maintanence items like the fuel filter (replace every 15K miles) and your ignition system (the factory plugs, plug wires & coil packs aren't anywhere near good enough to give acceptable performance for the 100K miles claimed) are taken care of.
The bottom line is, if you're going to continue using premium gas, then you'll be better off use the Superchips tuning, that way the engine is actually tuned for that higher octane, so it will run better and make more power.