I think I am ready to go with a chip, and I am leaning toward the superchip for my V6.

Has anyone had experience with the FORDCHIP of DIABLO???

Any info is surely appreciated...thanks

 

I would sure like to hear from any folks who have had a chip in their truck for quite awhile...like 50,000 miles or so...

DOes the line pressure increase have any long term negative effects on the transmission reliablity or life???

Thanks

 

Hi Davidzog,

First, one quick suggestion........ You'll do much better using the search feature to retrieve and read any of the hundreds upon hundreds of posts already here about that exact topic, as opposed to expecting people to come back here to read your post and write the same thing again that they've already posted before - Just a quick FYI tip.............

To give you some info on this, let's take a look at the issue of line pressure increases in the transmission.............

First, in the Superchips programs and in our own custom tunes here at Troyer Performance that we do using the Superchips Custom Tuning tools (which are the best in the world by far, bar none), we use only small amounts of line pressure increase as compared to some other chipmakers - this is because there are other ways to firm the shifts without cranking line pressure way up electronically - I don't like a lot of line pressure in a stock tranny, as you overwork the front pump & cause premature wear to that component. There are all kinds of transitional delays & retards that induce slippage into the shifts and reduce engine power dramatically during upshifts & downshifts as part of Ford's soft-shift strategies to make these vehicles more appealing to female buyers - well, when they are properly optimized, it doesn't take much additional raw line pressure to get a really nice shift feel that is progressive & linear, firmer & faster - and when that is done properly, the service life of the transmission is not compromised or reduced - usually just the opposite - in many cases we actually extend the service life of the friction materials inside the transmission (bands, clutches, etc.) a bit by virtue of the reduced slippage and reduced heat as a result.

Now, let's talk a bit about using a chip (or a performance powertrain program, same thing basically) for a long period of time in general - say, throughout the entire life of the vehicle.

Well, that in and of itself doesn't hurt anything - and if done properly, in the case of automatic transmissions, we can actually see a bit longer life in the clutches and bands. Now with regard to the engine itself, it does not in any way reduce the service life of these engines to run a more performance-oriented tune - what needs to be remembered about this is that all we're really doing is providing a nice state of tune for the use of premium gasoline, to unlock additional power and performance - the same thing the factory itself does in their "performance" vehicles like the Cobra or the Lightning - or the Lincoln Mark 8's, the Thunderbird Super Coupes, etc. So the fact that we're retuning the engine for more performance using better grade fuel does *not* hurt the motor at all, and we have many customers who have been using our performance tunes for 50K miles, 100K miles, 150K miles, etc. in these gas engines - and in the case of the Powerstroke diesels, we have a number of customers who have over 500K miles on their trucks using the Superchips tuning. (that's right, a half-million miles).

What it all really boils down to is this: Just what has really been done in that program? Are the A/F ratios safe? Is the timing tolerable & reasonable? How much line pressure increase? How much higher is the rev limiter? Etc. etc.

For example, let's ask this basic question: Is is *possible* for a performance chip to hurt a vehicle?

The answer is yes, it *is* possible, if the program has not been made by people who actually have the experience & knowledge required to do it right - and over the years, unfortunately there have indeed been some chips that hurt some vehicles, as so many different people have tried to be a "chipmaker" or a "tuner" over the years, thru the 80's & 90's - and this is why you'll always be able to find someone, a mechanic or a vehicle owner (or both!) who will say they had a bad experience with a chip - because that is true, in some cases that has happened - but that's generally the result of making changes that shouldn't be made to the program to being with, like running too much timing, or running too lean, turning too many rpms, etc. - in other words, a poor tune.

It's matter of doing proper R&D and having the knowledge to *safely* alter these programs for better performance that gives us the ability to do performance tuning and not compromise the vehicle - just like the automakers themselves do in their "performance" vehicles.

We are the oldest Superchips distributor in America - nobody has handled this product line for as long as we have, and every vehicle we've owned over the last 12+ years (GM, Ford, etc.) has always used Superchips tuning from Day 1, and not *one* of them has ever been damaged as a result. No matter how many miles we put on the vehicles. Simply because the program changes that are made by Superchips are safe - they basically retune the engine for the use of good quality fuel and reduce slippage in the automatic transmissions - and the result of using such a program for 50K miles, or 100K miles, etc. is that there is no difference in the engine service life, and in the automatic transmissions, we usually see a little bit better service life from the bands & clutches, all else being equal.

With regard to Fordchip, Jerry (the owner of Fordchip, who did calibrations for Ford) is now part of the Superchips Custom Tuning team. Diablo hasn't been around that long, a few years in the chip business, and thus doesn't have as much in-house R&D as Superchips has - as you would naturally expect, give that Superchips has been doing this for over 20 years, they basically created this industry. Now I would say that a Diablo tune is going to be better than a Hypertech, or a Jet, etc., but not better than the Superchips tuning.

Talking about the 4.2 V6 F-150 application in general............................ not only is there significant room for improvement in peak power, but they also have an issue with being "weak" below about 2500 rpm, too - and we fix that problem very nicely (4.2 V6 owners rave about that improvement alone), as well as getting more power everywhere else. So you're going to notice that your vehicle has better driveability and throttle response all the time, in any situation, at any rpm or throttle position - as well as when you nail the throttle.

What you might want to do is to look up your truck's computer code and give me a call at our number listed below - I can go right into your truck's program and tell you just exactly what needs to be taken care of, how we can improve it, and just what results you can expect as a result - you'll love the difference that our Superchips programs make - we have programs that no other Superchips dealer has, we've specialized in the tuning of the F-150 platform for many years.

Just in case you may not already know your truck's computer code, you can find it by going to the passenger side of the vehicle, and opening the front door - then look in the front part of the door frame, in the area of the door hinges - and there you should find a small sticker that has 3 letters followed by 1 number on it - like LYY1, GTL2, etc., there are many difference codes, but always in that same format in the 1997 & newer F-150's - 3 letters followed by 1 number. And we're not talking about the sticker on the back of the driver's door that says "calibration" on it, by the way.

I hope that info helps for now, & give us a call with your computer code - if you have any problems finding your code, the sticker is missing, etc., call us anyway and I can show you how to find it in other places.

Good luck!

 

I sure appreciate your response...you more than answered my questions and I am satisfied that the Superchip is the right way to go....you have a great reputation on these message boards, which only comes from years of quality products and customer service (I teach business, so I can appreciate a great reputation).

Anyway, as soon as I can get to my truck and get the code off of the door, I'll be calling you for my chip...thanks again for a great explaination....