I have a 1997 F-150 4.6L that I just bought the Superchips 1715 tuner for and I like it...I think. Because I was running 89 octane 10% ethanol blend when I first bought & received the tuner, I had my truck programmed for the simple 87 octane mode. the transmission shifted fine.

After driving the tank until almost empty, I stopped at a station and filled up with 92 octane. I still kept the 87 tune for about 20 more miles before switching to 'performance' mode for the 1st time EVER. To be honest, I don't know if I should be more scared or if I should be disappointed. My truck wouldn't downshift into 2nd unless I had OD off.

With OD on it would act like it wanted to downshift for a quick second, the upshift into 3rd as if it couldn't find second gear. What is up with this guys!?!

Also, from in the cab I can sometimes hear the sound of fluid whooshingfrom the transmission. It's hard to describe, but I highly doubt it's normal.

 

I can't answer your question about what causes the problem but I would recommend you go back to the 87 tune, try the other 91/93 octane tune, or restore your stock tune until someone can help you. The trans. acting up, as you said, is disappointing and is not good for it - or you - in the long run.

 

i think i may have figured it out...it seems as if the max pressure setting was too much for my tranny.

 

Hi kars85,

Sorry to hear you are having a problem!

This may be simply an issue of what speed you are going when you try to do this - there are certain speed ranges where it's not going to go 4-2, but instead will go 4-3. Also, that is generally a bit different at higher power levels - like in the premium gas tuning with it's significantly higher power gain versus the gain you get on an 87 octane 1715 tune, for example, due to higher inertia torque being inputted to the tranny.

Just FYI - that is not a problem we have ever seen the 1715 cause on it's own - we've never seen that happen unless the vehicle owner did something like cranking the shift points to levels that aren't reasonable or appropriate, and we are Superchip's oldest distributor in America. Note that you also do not see other such posts here - so I suspect that something else may be up, like simply a speed at which this is initiated, or potentially mechanical issue, etc. It's really not possible to diagnose here, of course - it could be any of dozens of things.

Your vehicle is also within a time frame that has shift solenoid & other tranny problems in the 4R70W's from Ford - they went thru numerous shift solenoid revisions in the mid to late 90's in those transmissions, for example. It's also an older vehicle, so there's no telling what kind of shape those solenoids & the tranny in general actually is in - it may have worked OK for a while doing 4-2's like that, but after enough 4-2's (which should NEVER be done in the first place), it won't do it in that same speed range anymore - again, it could literally be any number of dozens of things.

FYI - a 4-2 downshift should NEVER BE DONE in anything other than an emergency situation, as that is one of the hardest things you can ever do to any overdrive-equipped automatic transmission - old or new - stock or modified - NEVER do 4-2 downshifts. A 4-2 downshift can only happen at very heavy throttle to begin with, so we're obviously taking about you pounding on the truck pretty hard (whether you realize it or not) by punching it in Overdrive and trying to force it to go back down into 2nd gear - all the way from Overdrive (4th gear) - bad move, please never do that! Many people don't realize that this is bad for any Overdrive automatic transmission. Get in the habit of tapping the O/D cancel button first to engage 3rd gear, and *then* nail the throttle - that's "Overdrive automatic transmission 101," so to speak, and is something we specifically warn against in our supplemental documentation we write for our Troyer Performance custom tuning customers. In other words, whether it's a 4, 5 or 6-speed automatic transmission, *never* do full-power downshifts out of Overdrive - that should be an emergency-only type of move, if you want the tranny to last.

The bottom line is, there's no telling what's going on *here* on these message boards - this isn't the place to get it fixed, obviously that cannot happen here. So you need to do what your Micro Tuner's documentation points out, which is to call the manufacturer at the number listed if you think the 1715 is actually causing a problem - if it's related to the 1715 and your vehicle is in optimal mechanical condition, Superchips will take care of that for you, so give them a call.

Good luck!

 

thanks mike....i appreciate your input on my problem. i turned the shift points down and the pressure down as well and now everything shifts fine. as naive as this may seem, i did not know what 4-2 shifts spelled disaster. however, i did know from dirtyd0g that my tranny is weak...

not that i make a habit out of making a racer out of my truck, but there are times while highway passing that it does kickdown to 2nd...no more of that though, especially now that it's programmed!

one quick question....with O/D off it's ok for it to downshift sorta hard?

EDIT: what are acceptable shift points to set my truck at being my first try...also around what should I set my pressure at?

 

I have a 96 4+4 with a 5.0 and I am running the 1715 also. I ran the 87 tune for a month or two and just tuned to the perfomance tune. I used Superchips settings and couldn't be happier with the way it runs. It was all that everyone said it would be. I was getting around 15 mpg on the 87 tune and the other day I took a trip and the wind was blowing hard and I got around 17.5 with the performance tune. I like the way Superchip has things put together. The truck shifts better than new and the responce is great. I don't drive hard and take care of my truck as the cost of parts keeps going up. The extra power will make things last a lot longer. It just does everything with ease and not just pulling the daylights out of it all the time. DOES this all make sence?????
How many of you think Mike should work for Ford Motors? Mike could have them coming off the line running like they should from the start. If Ford tuned there trucks like this there sales would triple. It's a shame to have a truck for several years and then find out what it could really do. Good luck
F96XLT