Thanks Mike, But that's easier said than done (for me anyway)

I've been trying to run an entire tank in the city keeping my foot out of it (less than 2000 rpm's) to see what kind of mileage I can get and it is soooo hard. So far I have 100 miles on a quarter of a tank.

There is no way I can drive several tanks in the same manner to get any real conclusive data....I'm too sporadic I'm afraid.

After the chip, the first tank of 93 Chevron (running it REALLY hard) in a mix of mostly stop and go city driving and a little highway I got 16mpg in my 4.6 (which was the same as pre-chip driving normally.)

I haven't driven an entire Highway tank after the chip, but pre-chip, I got 18 doing 80 in a very strong headwind (about 25-30 mph gusting winds) So I'm curious to see what I can get going 70 at 2000 RPMS on the highway, I imagine I will get at least 20mpg.

 

Mike, I have the same problem with the 1715 as Soopercrew. I tried the Superchips 1715 on my truck for a few days, set the all the shift firmess settings to mininum and shift points to stock, but at partial or full throttle, it shifted harder than the old chips that fried my trans in the past.
I have a 2000 Lightning, 14000 miles, on my 3rd transmission because of chips raising the line pressure. The first transmission was with a custom programmed chip, so I had Ford replace the trans and sent the chip back to the vendor to reprogram it to reduce the line pressure. I put it back in and the trans only lasted about 3,000 miles. So ive been chipless for about 6 months now and no trans problems. I dont have many mods, race or pull much with the truck. It just has a 2lb lower pulley, and a Pro- M Maf, so that shouldnt be an issue. After talking with Ford and some 4R100 experts, raising the line pressure on these S/C motors will fry the trans quickly, they recomend changing the valve body to increase shift firmness instead of doing it with the compuer to prevent damage to the transmission.
So, am I wrong to assume that the "min" settings on the 1715 is supposed to be less than stock, or is there something wrong with my 1715? Does this tuner have the option to keep the line pressure stock and not remove the cylinder kill between shifts? As far as the rest of the tuning in the 1715, I did feel some difference, but did not bring it to the track or dyno it yet.

 

Hi Struck,

Please bear with me a bit here, as I'm going to be rather emphatic, so that (hopefully) nobody reading this post will make the same mistake in terms of mechanical configuration as has occurred in your situation, and I'll explain below exactly what I'm referring to, so hang on a sec...........................

First, your questions about the Micro Tuner & shift firmness settings specifically for Lightnings has already been answered in my previous posts in this thread (as well as many previous threads), so I'd suggest going back and re-reading them carefully (which also saves me typing out the same info again ). Also, you'll want to make use of the search feature here first when looking for basic info like that, as just about anything you could ask about any Superchips product has been asked & answered hundreds of times already here. The search feature is accessed in the upper right portion of your screen here, via the icon that says "Search." Just FYI on this, it's an excellent tool & your key to all the info already posted on F-150 Online, you'll love it.

In short, on the Lightnings the MIN setting is what gives you the standard transmission program, not the middle settig like it is on the non-Lightning F-150's. So we advise Lightning owners to go into the custom menus on the Micro Tuner & bump down the shift pressure to MIN. ANd no, with the Micro Tuner you cannot do custom tuning of any kind, so you can't change the program to not modify the transmisison shifting and only take the engien tuning, for example. Things like that (any custom tuning) have to be done in th4 traditional Superchip module, not in the Micro Tuner.

What has to be remembered is that the Micro Tuner was never intended for significantly modified vehicles (especially Lightnings), it's intended only for stock Lightnings, or those that have maybe an intake kit & electric fans.

Something we do have to point out just in general is that the way to get Tech Support for any product is to call your vendor, that cannot be done here, Tech Support can be done only via phone or in person. It's also against the rules here on F-150 Online for vendors to provide Tech Support here.

OK, with all that out of the way, let's get to actually addressing your situation......................

Your choice of parts to use together is simply wrong. It isn't anything that either we here at Performance or that Superchips would ever recommend, and will result in damage to your vehicle.

Specifically: 1.) You cannot run *any* pulley to increase boost with the Micro Tuner, the tuning is *not* set up for major mechanical modifications, and raising boost is a major mod as far as the powertrain programming is concerned. The increase in load is tremendous with pulleys to raise boost, and that has to be compensated for with proper tuning so the PCM can respond properly to the increased load, as well as other issues. This affects fueling as well as timing & other issues. 2.) You cannot run *any* aftermarket MAF (or the 90 mm Ford MAF on the '01 & up L's) with the Micro Tuner or with any standard performance program, as that will cause the engine to run far too lean *and* can cause hard shifts even on light throttle, too.

The MAF is the primary load signal for the entire powertrain reported to the PCM, not just load for the motor, so it affects shift characteristics in automatic transmission models as well as the A/F's & everything else the MAF does. *Never* run any aftermarket MAF (regardless of brand) on *any* vehicle with *any* chip or tuner unless it is a custom program made specifically for that exact configuration and properly corrects the A/F's. This also goes for the Ford 90 mm MAF that a lot of '99-'00 L owners use to upgrade to, it'll lean out the motor & throw off the shifts as well. The reason why is something that MAF manufacturers generally don't tell you, which is that MAF you have on there now leans out the A/F's by up to 2 full points (I.E., taking a 12.0 tune to 14.0) on Lightnings, and is designed to work with the STOCK factory program, not with any kind of performance program in the PCM. I know, lots of MAF manufacturers claim custom tuning is not needed, but that is only true when running on the STOCK factory program, and only on *some* vehicles, those that are tuned too fat to begin with, which in the Lightnings is only the '99 & '00 models. Used in conjunction with the Micro Tuner or with any "standard" performance program for the Lightning, that will result in A/F's that are *dangerously* lean and will cause engine damage, as well as potentially causing improper shift characteristics & unduly harsh shifts. We've seen it countless times, literally.

Bottom line, you can't use the Micro Tuner with your modifications my friend, you need *custom* tuning. The only way you can safely use any kind of performance tuning with your mods is with a custom program made specifically to correct the A/F's & shift characteristics. We generally use the 2-program Superchip Flip Chip in supercharger FoMoCo vehicles.

The mistake here was in using the Micro Tuner with the pulley to raise boost and with the aftermarket MAF. This is an *excellent* example of why ALL Lightning & supercharged Harley (and 2003 supercharged Cobra) owners that want to do modifications to improve performance need to work with a qualified Lightning tuner for each and every modification. Otherwise it's guesswork and can potentially result in a dangerously incompatible configuration.

It's easy to be mislead reading various manufacturers information, sometimes that stuff can, without meaning to, lead you down the wrong path.

Whatever you do, please don't run ANY chip or tuner with your present modifications (the pulley & the MAF) unless it is a proper custom program for your specific configuration. That is something that we can easily do for you if you like, please feel free to give us a call if you'd like to have that truck *correctly* tuned & shifting like you want it, etc.

Best of luck with your Lightning, & please feel free to call us if you'd like to go over your tuning needs, or anything else performance-related about your Lightning.