4.2L V6 Micro Tuner questions and owner results
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Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2004
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From: Columbus, OH
4.2L V6 Micro Tuner questions and owner results
i've finally got the money to buy a tuner for my 4.2L, come monday or tuesday i'll probably give mike a call, but i had some questions i was hoping to get answered before giving him a call. for the majority of the time i'm not going to be towing anything with my truck, but when summer comes around i'll be towing a 2 horse trailer w/ 1 or possibly 2 horses in it (only 2 if the truck does ok w/ 1) probably every friday. so my question is i'll want to run the max tune program just for regular driving, but is it something that i can just reflash to the tow safe tune and then drive around the block once or twice or is it going to need a day or so to be tow safe? also am i able to get a towing program w/ 91 octane to match my max performance program or does towing have to be 87? also i'd like to hear what other V6 owners had to say about their tuners? thanks guys
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Joined: Mar 1998
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From: Virginia
Hi POD6,
Generally speaking, there is usually no inherent delay necessary - when you flash the PCM with a new program, as long as you have the required fuel in the tank, you can use the vehicle for whatever that tune is meant for right away. I would say one obvious exception I can think of off the top of my head would be in a custom supercharger tune, for example - something like that, we like the owner to drive it around a bit easy at first, gradually getting into the throttle more & more over a period of drive cycles. But in your type of situation and most others, the general answer is you can do what you want to right away.
Like for towing - when you drop back from a max performance tune to a towing tune, as in the scenario you posted about specifically - you can start towing immediately, as soon as you've installed the towing-compatible tune.
Now any time you change PCM programs (or even just disconnect the battery), the vehicle will go back thru it's basic relearn cycle & adaptive strategy adjustments basically begin again from scratch, so you may notice a bit of variance in idle speed & quality, and shift points & firmness levels in automatic transmission models for the few 3-6 times you drive it or so - as well as it taking a few hundreds miles to get up to absolutely full 100% maximum power. But flashing the PCM with a new program does not mean you always automatically have to wait any length of time before you can use the vehicle in the manner the new tune is set up for - whether that is towing, or going from towing to a max performance tune, etc. With one obvious proviso: you simply need to make sure you have the right level of octane fuel in the tank required by the new program. If you're changing from one octane level to another (especially going from an 87 octane tune to a premium gas tune, towing or not), you want to run the tank of 87 down until the low fuel light first comes on, at that point there is 3.5-4.0 gallons left in the system (or as close as you practically can - just don't top off a 1/4 tank of 87 with 3/4 tank of premium, etc.), then fill it up with premium gas, install in the premium gas tune right away, and then start driving it like the new tune is designed for - right away.
To answer your other question, we can provide you with a towing-compatible state of tune for virtually *any* level of octane fuel you want to use - from 87 right on up thru 100 octane - so you don't have to tow only on 87 octane. We can set up the 3 different tunes in the custom Micro Tuner any way you prefer - for stock or close to stock trucks that are basically your typical daily driver/occasional tow vehicle like you're talking about, what we usually suggest in the custom Micro Tuner is the same basic line up of 3 different performance tunes that is seen in the 1715 Micro Tuner for the V8 F-150's - one tune for 87 octane that you can tow with, another tune for premium gas that you can tow with, for maximum power when towing, and then finally, a maximum performance type of tune that is also for premium gas that you can't tow with. That's usually what is the most practical for most people. We can do any kind of variation - some people want a "valet" style program, so the vehicle can't go very fast, some people want a 100 octane pure drag-race type of tune..........some want 1 program (usually a max performance type of tune) to shift harder than the others in automatic models, and so on - the possibilities are limited only by some combination of what's really practical for the individual vehicle and how it's going to be used, and whatever the driver wants in his or her 3- program combination set up.
One last point - You can immediately retrieve posts from other V6 owners who are using our Troyer Performance custom tuning who have already reported back their results here - most people don't tend to come back to repeat all that again each time new members ask the same thing, you see, as they've already typed all that info out already. So the best way to get the exact info you want as quickly as possible is to use the search feature, as it's all already here. The search feature is easy to use and has good filters - you can find exactly what you want, sorted the way you want it - fast - very nice. The icon to access it is in the upper right portion of your screen here.
Generally speaking, there is usually no inherent delay necessary - when you flash the PCM with a new program, as long as you have the required fuel in the tank, you can use the vehicle for whatever that tune is meant for right away. I would say one obvious exception I can think of off the top of my head would be in a custom supercharger tune, for example - something like that, we like the owner to drive it around a bit easy at first, gradually getting into the throttle more & more over a period of drive cycles. But in your type of situation and most others, the general answer is you can do what you want to right away.
Like for towing - when you drop back from a max performance tune to a towing tune, as in the scenario you posted about specifically - you can start towing immediately, as soon as you've installed the towing-compatible tune.
Now any time you change PCM programs (or even just disconnect the battery), the vehicle will go back thru it's basic relearn cycle & adaptive strategy adjustments basically begin again from scratch, so you may notice a bit of variance in idle speed & quality, and shift points & firmness levels in automatic transmission models for the few 3-6 times you drive it or so - as well as it taking a few hundreds miles to get up to absolutely full 100% maximum power. But flashing the PCM with a new program does not mean you always automatically have to wait any length of time before you can use the vehicle in the manner the new tune is set up for - whether that is towing, or going from towing to a max performance tune, etc. With one obvious proviso: you simply need to make sure you have the right level of octane fuel in the tank required by the new program. If you're changing from one octane level to another (especially going from an 87 octane tune to a premium gas tune, towing or not), you want to run the tank of 87 down until the low fuel light first comes on, at that point there is 3.5-4.0 gallons left in the system (or as close as you practically can - just don't top off a 1/4 tank of 87 with 3/4 tank of premium, etc.), then fill it up with premium gas, install in the premium gas tune right away, and then start driving it like the new tune is designed for - right away.
To answer your other question, we can provide you with a towing-compatible state of tune for virtually *any* level of octane fuel you want to use - from 87 right on up thru 100 octane - so you don't have to tow only on 87 octane. We can set up the 3 different tunes in the custom Micro Tuner any way you prefer - for stock or close to stock trucks that are basically your typical daily driver/occasional tow vehicle like you're talking about, what we usually suggest in the custom Micro Tuner is the same basic line up of 3 different performance tunes that is seen in the 1715 Micro Tuner for the V8 F-150's - one tune for 87 octane that you can tow with, another tune for premium gas that you can tow with, for maximum power when towing, and then finally, a maximum performance type of tune that is also for premium gas that you can't tow with. That's usually what is the most practical for most people. We can do any kind of variation - some people want a "valet" style program, so the vehicle can't go very fast, some people want a 100 octane pure drag-race type of tune..........some want 1 program (usually a max performance type of tune) to shift harder than the others in automatic models, and so on - the possibilities are limited only by some combination of what's really practical for the individual vehicle and how it's going to be used, and whatever the driver wants in his or her 3- program combination set up.
One last point - You can immediately retrieve posts from other V6 owners who are using our Troyer Performance custom tuning who have already reported back their results here - most people don't tend to come back to repeat all that again each time new members ask the same thing, you see, as they've already typed all that info out already. So the best way to get the exact info you want as quickly as possible is to use the search feature, as it's all already here. The search feature is easy to use and has good filters - you can find exactly what you want, sorted the way you want it - fast - very nice. The icon to access it is in the upper right portion of your screen here.