I have a 2001 Expedition 4.6 and a 2003 F150 5.4. Can I get one Xcal2 and use it on both vehicles?

 

i dont think so, im not very familiar with the xcal but id say yes it should be no problem except for the part about it like most tuners gotta store your stock program to put a new one in and im sure the xcal is only going to store one stock program, which means you will lose one or something I dont know, some kind of "bug" would be encountered Im sure. But again I really am not sure, just an educated guess.

 

no, the pricing structure allows only one vehicle to be tuned per tuning device. you need either a chip, 9100 microtuner, Xcalibrator or Xcalibrator 2 per vehicle.


Ryan

 

Thas too bad, I really think I want one. The only way I would buy one is if it worked for buth vehicles buying two make no sense to me. I guess their priceing structure cost them a sale.

 

Think about it. If it worked on two vehicles at the same time, a couple of people could go in together and buy one tuner and only pay half each. You're not even talking about the same year or the same model of vehicle, let alone the computer code. You're basically asking for the tuner for half price for each vehicle. I don't think so.

 

Yea, I guess you are right, they have a different computer, so it would not be possible.

 

having different computer doesnt mean much as the xcal2 is supposed to work on all fords, the same xcal2, meaning same plug so itll plug into both your vehicles but why you couldnt have one tune for your expedition and one for your f150 loaded onto it is really a reasonable request and very possible, you should research it a bit more it may be possible and to those that give you crap about you wanting it half price and the pricing struture and what not you ask those people to show you their license for every piece of software theyre using.

 

The xcal2 is VIN locked to 1 vehicle. If you want to tune multiple vehicles you need a tuner for each.

And FYI - Yes all of my software is legal.

Michael

 

When you think about it there really is no reason an XCal2 shouldn’t be able to be utilized on different vehicles by one owner.

It would be very simple to do this. However my understanding is for some reason if you upload a custom tune into a vehicle and then have to restore the factory program you lose the custom tune on the XCal2.

I don’t know if you can maintain a copy of the custom tunes on your computer so you could download it again into the XCal2. It would be a very simple process.

That way you could change from one vehicle to another vehicle. Of course you would only be able to have a custom tune in one vehicle at a time but there is no legitimate reason why someone should ever have to purchase more then one XCal2 for multiple vehicles. That makes no sense with the exception of the company doing so purely for profit.

With what I stated above a company would still be protected from someone purchasing one and then uploading a custom tune into multiple vehicles. You simple force the owner to return one vehicle to stock before you could program another vehicle, again extremely simple and easy to accomplish…

It would also be extremely easy for any professional tuner to provide programs for different vehicles. Since the XCal2 can hold up to 3 programs a professional tuner could make custom programs for 3 different vehicles, it would be up to the customer what they wanted, as it should always be.

So, the XCal2, or any other flash programmer, could easily be configured to program any vehicle of an owner’s choice so long as only one could be programmed at a time. If it’s not currently possible it was done by companies solely for profit purposes and no other legitimate or ethical reason…

 

I agree

 

There is only need to purchase 1 Xcalibrator, if you only own 1 ford truck at a time, you can put it back to stock, and then program it for the new truck, and enjoy a custom tune on the new truck, with the same flash tool.


The idea with the computer, and backing up the stock tune, has a couple of flaws, I won't go into the technical reasons of then all, but will list a very possible, and probable scenario.

You can't write a "stock" tune to a Xcal for a couple of reasons, first off would be if you could, and you tried to flash your vehicle back to stock, with your other trucks stock file, now your pats system is wiped out (resulting in a dealer trip, $75 hour+ plus tow costs) , your vehicle won't start, and in some cases would be unrecovereable if flashed with the wrong file size. (new ford EEC $100-$469+) By only allowing the stock tune to stay on the flash tool, it can check to see if that truck matches the vehicle that the tuner is locked to,and will only flash the file if it does preventing these costly mistakes.

If you replace your current vehicle, you can flash your XCal2 back to stock, unlock it, and program a new tune for the new vehicle onto the device, so it can be reused, so your not buying a 1 time use tool.

Ryan

 

^Good Point. It is not smart to try and work around safegaurds that are put in place for the protection of the end-use consumer. This seems to be the most logical explanation on this thread yet.

Secondly, I agree with the person who equated wanting to use the tuner on multiple vehicles w'out paying for a second unit to those who share or use pirated software. If you don't like that fact that someone is getting money for a product that they worked hard to design, don't buy it. It is pretty errogant to say that it is overpriced or that it seems too expensive---as a consumer you have the right to your opinion, and the best way to express that opinion is through your wallet. So don't buy it. Make your point that way. Or if you still believe that the manufacturer of Xcal or Mike Troyer don't deserve to earn something for their work---design you own!

 

so **** youve never installed a piece of software on more than one machine or violated the agreement you are legally bound to by using a piece of software? Youve never downloaded a song without paying for it? uh huh whatever dude. I'll say no more.

 

But now your post is talking about trying to defeat a safeguard to prevent piracy, how is this any different than using a single windows XP CD to install onto many computers, you will see microsoft has protected their investment in the creating of windows XP to prevent this from happening?

If it was allowed to program more than 1 vehicle at a time, the cost would be much higher, to the point where the average customer could not afford a tuner, defeating the purpose of providing an economical product for the end user to use.

Ryan

 

I think the point is if you own more then one Ford vehicle why not use one tool to program ONLY one of those vehicles at a time.

For example, I own a Lightning, Ranger and Focus (daughters) it would not be difficult to use ONE flash programmer to have the ability to program “only” one of those vehicles at a time.

In other words if I had a program loaded in the Lightning I would “not” be able to program the others until I put the stock program on the Lightning. Very simple and yes very easy to do. The only reason, if its not possible to do now, for not allowing it is purely for profit and NOT to protect a company from losing money.

I can use my copy of Windows XP on any machine I want, so long as I only use it on one at a time. Same concept, same principle and that is ethical.

I have a Auto Enginuity OBDII Pocket PC scan tool, while not a flash programmer it is capable of reading any OBDII compliant vehicle and since I also purchased the Ford Enhanced codes I can read them on any Ford vehicle I wish, not to mention do unlimited data logging on any vehicle..

Had they practice the same standards it would be ok with some to say they should force people to buy the software for every vehicle someone owns or would wish to use it on.

I absolutely agree that the XCal2 should be locked to one vehicle at a time. However, there is absolutely no logical, technical, or ethical reason it can not be used on multiple vehicles at the owners wish so long as only one vehicle can have a custom tune at a time…