Just recieved my 1715 today for my 98 4.6l F-150. I have read serveral post indicating it can take up to 500 miles before you recieve the full benefit of the tuner, so my question is after that 500 miles & beyound if I ever have to switch my program back to stock does the computer start all over learing it's new program?? Also I had to start out on the 87 octane program so I can burn all my 87 fuel, does that time on that program contribute to the computer learning even for the 91 + octace programs??

 

uinthas,
I suppose it could take 500 miles to settle in but you know your computer is ALWAYS learning. If you drive around town taking it real easy to save gas the computer will soften the engine up. Then, the first time you hit WOT your not going to get peak performance. Thats the way the stock computer is. Maybe the micro tuner changes that. I don't know. Anyway, When you go from the 87 octane to the 91 octane program you WILL know it. Its not like you start fron the 87 performance and get a little better every mile over a long period of time. You get like 90+% right now and pick up the rest as you drive it. Mine ran great as soon as I put the 91 program in and probably got better in the first 100 miles. The only way you'll really know is to put it on a dino.

Oh, by the way, the only way you're gona get peak performance is to drive like a mad man all the time
Just kidding!

I didn't answer one of your questions. Every time you flash the computer the learning curve starts over. I really don't think it takes 500 miles and you won't notice it anyway.

 

Hi uinthas,

Yes, you'll get a good bit of the effect right away, but it will always take several hundred miles and a number of drive cycles to get the full 100% of any complete performance program change like that, aside from returning to the stock program.

In other words, if you did immediate before & after timed acceleration testing, you would see an *immediate* improvement - but it will take a few hundred miles & some drive cycles to get the full 100%, that's all.

For example, when we were doing our last 2004 5.4 F-150 tuning R&D sessions, there was always *at least* a 10 HP difference between the power made on the dyno immediately after flashing the PCM with the new performance tuning versus what it would make after I drove it a few hundreds miles and dyno'd again with no other changes - and sometimes even more than a 10 HP difference, but you're not going to ever be able to tell a 10HP difference in the seat of the pants in these vehicles - they weigh far too much to actually *feel* another 10 peak HP.

Each time you flash the PCM & change octane levels, sure, it's going to take at least a coupla-few tanks to get all of the previous octane completely out of the system & the new octane level worked in - this affects performance mostly when you are changing from low octane to higher octane, of course.

Any time you flash the PCM, you are starting from scratch, so to speak - meaning each time you flash it, it wipes out all previous adaptive strategy adjustments, etc., so you start from a clean slate, so to speak.

Now let's say you went to a drag strip, and ran some times on your stock program, and then installed the Micro Tuner and went back on the track to make more passes to compare - though all else being equal it will run quicker & faster right away with the Superchips tuning, it will still take a number of runs to get the absolute quickest times.

I wouldn't worry about being at full 100%, etc., as the difference just isn't that big - we aren't driving race cars where every last tenth of a second is critical, it's a *street* vehicle, and a 2-3 ton pickup truck at that - so we drive our vehicles like we normally do & enjoy the additional performance.

Have fun!

 

Thanks Mike that is what i was looking for... I was hoping my truck would allow me to adjust the speedomoter for my larger tiresize, but I didn't see that come up on the microtuner, I assume my truck will not offer that or am I doing something wrong?? It's a 98 supercab F-150 4.6l manual tranny 3:08 rear end

 

Hi unithas,

The speedometer correction is in the PCM only on the 1999 & newer model year trucks - prior to the 1999 model year, that is not recalibrated via changing the PCM's programming, they still use a traditional speedo gear in the tailshaft of the transmission for the 1997 & 1998 model year trucks. Interestingly, in the early to mid-90's F-150's, they had a programmable speedo instrument cluster, and it could be reprogrammed up to 6 times for such changes - but in 1997 & 1998 F-150's, that is done the "traditional" way, via the correct speedo gear.

So it's not a Micro Tuner problem, it's simply that your model year of Ford doesn't have the PCM-calibrated speedo like the 1999 & up units do. You can still adjust your shift points & shift firmness levels with the Micro Tuner in the 1997 & 1998 trucks, but you cannot recalibrate the speedometer for a gear ratio or tire size change with the 1715 Micro Tuner in any pre-1999 F-150, Expedition, etc.

The bottom line is, you will need to change the speedometer gear, which is pretty easy (and cheap if you do it yourself) - you just need to know the # of teeth you need on the new gear. You can either take it to a speedometer calibration shop and let them do it, or, you can do this yourself by doing the math to determine how many teeth you need on the new gear to correct the speedo error, and then ordering the gear from any Ford parts department - it costs under $20 and takes only 10-15 minutes to change.

You will need to know the amount of speedometer error at a given speed - the easiest way is to find out what the speedometer reads when the vehicle is actually traveling at a true road speed of 50 mph - then however much it is off at 50 mph (say, it reads 46 at a true speed of 50 for a 4 mph error at 50), you just double that number (in this example, an 8% speedo error) and you have the percent (%) of speedometer error. Then you just need to count the number of teeth on your present speedo gear, and then apply that error percentage to the number of teeth on your present speedo gear to determine how many teeth you need on the *new* speedo gear - then order it & install it & you're done.

I have made many posts over the years here on how to do the math to find this out (once you know what your speedo is registering at a true speed of 50 mph & the number of teeth on your current speedo gear) - just use the search feature to retrieve & read any of those previous posts, if you like.

So it's just a simple matter of 1997 & 1998 trucks needing to calibrate the speedometer the old-fashioned way, the way it's generally been done for decades - by installing the correct speedo gear.

Good luck!