I live in th eUK and have a 2004 F150 Lariat with a 5.4 triton engine. I run it on petrol and LP{G (Liquified Petroleum Gas). I also have fitted a twin Boorla exhaust. I am vurrently getting around 9 mile per gallon on Gas and 11 mpg on petrol.

Should I:

1) fit a chip to improve fuel consumption and performance?
2) What chip?
3) Is it easy to fit?
4) Where should I get it from?

We don't haver any dealers capable of handilng this vehicle in the UK, so any and all help would be appreciated.

Cheers

Fred

 

Hi Fred,

There is no performance tuning for LPG for your 2004 F-150 - you would only be able to run the performance tuning on gasoline. We know there is a distinct price advantage to running the vehicle on LPG fuel over there, as we have other customers in the UK - but it's something that just doesn't happen much here in the US, and so no LPG-specific tuning R&D on the 2004 & newer F-150 has been done by us. We do have one customer in the UK who will be installing an EGT gauge (as we recommended to keep an eye on combustion chamber conditions) and then trying our performance tuning on LPG at some point in the future - so hopefully at some point that will happen, but we have no idea when. The bottom line is, for right now we can only say the performance tuning would work only when operating on gasoline.

We can take care of the performance tuning for you - the product to use is our #1714 Micro Tuner, and here is a link to our web site where you can find it (look for it by the Part# 1714): http://www.troyerperformance.com/cgi...chips%3BFoMoCo

You will need to keep in mind that there is a difference in how octane is calculated in the US and in the UK (you may well already know all about this, but just in case......... we use R+M/2) - for example, in our premium gas performance tuning, you will need to use your *highest* octane gasoline just like we have to here - which is usually 96-98 octane over there in the UK, 93 octane here in the US. It will need the *highest* octane generally available at the gas pump, whether that is 96 or 98, etc. There is also a program in the 1714 Micro Tuner for operation on what we call "regular" gas here, which is 87 octane and is what the vehicle is tuned for from the manufacturer - I don't know what that equates to over there.

With regard to improving your fuel mileage in that heavy vehicle using performance tuning, there are no guarantees there - it's an extremely heavy vehicle and there will not be a "big" difference. Performance tuning is a performance part, not a fuel mileage part. Most people usually do see some small improvement in fuel mileage with that performance tuning, and it's just a by-product of the increased spark advance used on part-throttle as part of our performance tuning for the higher octane fuel. For example, on our 2004 SuperCrew Lariat 4x4, we see anywhere from 1.0-2.0 more mpg from our performance tuning depending on the terrain (mountains or flat ground) the vehicle is operated over.

So improving the performance of that truck, it's overall response, shift characteristics, get that darned 99 mph top speed limiter off, etc., all of that is easily dine with our #1714 Micro Tuner - and you *may* see some improvement in fuel economy, but don't count on that, as that may or may not happen. It's really a matter of the energy content (number of BTU's per gallon) - "quality" - of the fuel being used combined with how the vehicle is operated - the same old things fuel mileage has always been dependent on, in other words.

I hope that info helps for now, & please feel free to give us a call at our number listed below if you like - we have customers all over the world & we do ship to Europe, Australia, etc.

Best of luck with your truck whatever you decide, & we hope you'll hang out here with us in your spare time!

 

Here is a site that will explain the differences in MON RON and PON. I believe that the UK uses RON while North America uses PON.
http://www.btinternet.com/~madmole/R...RONMONPON.html

JMC

 

Mike:
Can the 1715 Microtuner or the 6600 chip be custom tuned to do only the tranny tuning, etc without messing with the engine tuning? I am running gas/propane and would like to have the benefit of the tranny tuning when running propane and the full meal deal when on gas (yes I'm still searching, forever searching). I've phoned your business a couple of times, but you're never available and no one else seems to be able to answer my questions...

 

Hi JMC,

What we use here in the US for determining octane content at the gas pump is the formula R=M/2. That is, the Research method octane number added to the Motor's method octane number, and then divide that by 2 - so you get an *average* of both Research and Motor octane numbers, that is how octane ratings of gasoline are expressed here in the US.

I didn't have a chance to read that link you posted, so I don't know what it's calling "PON" - it may well say the same thing - but what I said in my original response to our UK friend and in the first paragraph of this post is precisely how we express gasoline octane ratings at gas pumps here in the US - R+M/2.

Yes, over in Europe (where I grew up) they use a different method than what we have used here in America for some years now - so to run on a 91-93 octane tune from the US, what he needs to do is to use his highest pump octane, which will be somewhere like 96-98 octane in Europe.

 

Hi RR,

No, you cannot do that using *any* of the standard "MAX" series of Superchips Micro Tuners - like the 1715 or the 1714. With any of those, if you don't take the engine tuning, you get *nothing*.

But we can do that for you in a *custom* tune no problem! And that can be done either in a custom hand-held tuner to flash the PCM, or in a custom chip (like the 6600 you mentioned) - just give us a quick call for details on this & we'll be happy to get you exactly what you want.

 

thanks Mike. I'll be calling you in the next couple of months about a 6600 custom tune. Money's a little tight this time of year for me and I also have to remove my injectors and have them cleaned as they are all plugged up and that will cost me a couple of hundred bucks...

thanks again for the info...

 

Hi RR,

>>>Money's a little tight this time of year for me...<<<

And for just about everyone else, too - we all have to live within our means, especially at Christmas!

Good luck & talk to you soon,

 

Mike,

What they refer to in the link as PON is Pump Octane Number. Used in the US as you described.

JMC

 

Hi JMC,

Ahh, OK - (again, not having read the info at that link) so then if I understand you correctly, "PON" is a term that is used only here in the US? Never heard it before, I always think of it in terms of R+M/2.............

It used to be so much simpler - gas pumps here in the US used to have a second sticker right beside the octane number sticker, the second sticker simply showing "R+M/2," so that we'd know how the PON number was calculated.............

Thanks!