Will the Xcal2 flash fix any of the TSB's that are out, like rough idle or 1/2 second pause when you mash the pedal down?

Should we have the latest flash done before ordering the xcal2?

please explain....

 

Use the search feature for Xcal2, you will find all the answers to your question.

 

I found nothing on the search........

 

Probably should give them a buzz and they can answer any questions you may have.

 

HI Silverfish,

That is an EXCELLENT question!

Normally I do NOT recommend getting ANY factory reflash/update, as most of them do not actually fix the problem they are supposed to - and we usually can take care of any issues when we do our custom tuning, anyway.

No, you cannot count on the XCal (and by the way, it's not the XCal that does *anything* - it's my *tuning* that changes things - all the XCal 2 does is allow you to deliver my tuning to the vehicle) to automatically cure any and all TSB's - that's hardly appropriate to expect, and cannot ever happen. there are many TSB's, of all kinds of natures, many of which require HARDWARE changes to be made to the vehicle - only a relatively small number of actual TSB's can addressed by PCM programming from the factory, and most of those attempts are not very successful, as they don't test them much. So no, I would NEVER claim that we are somehow going to magically be able to administer the cure for each and every TSB for any vehicle made just by tuning - that's not even remotely a realistic expectation. You have to actually KNOW what the TSB is, what is required to effect Ford's recommended fix for the TSB, just for openers, to even know if there is a CHANCE of addressing all of the hundreds of different TSB's that exist just by us doing a performance tune on a vehicle - that is NOT the purpose of any performance tuning,and should never be expected.

Perhaps the most prudent thing to do is to give us a call to go over what you are experiencing so I can tell you in detail exactly what we can do about it.

Now in terms of idle quality - as long as YOU have done all the proper maintenance, then yes, we do typically make significant improvements in idle quality and in the inherent throttle response, simply because those areas are not tuned very well from the factory, and those are tow of the most raved-about results of our performance tuning if you spend some time reading a significant number of posts here from our customers, just to give you a rough idea of can we potentially address those 2 specific concerns you expressed, idle quality & throttle response.

One point - you have a 5000+ lb truck there, so when you nail the throttle, it's not ever going to instantly respond - and NOTHING is going to cure that shy of maybe a supercharger AND a gear ratio change to vastly alter your power to weight ratio AND improve your basic torque multiplication. However, our custom tuning WILL most certainly make a nice improvement in your throttle response, and far better than anything the factory can do.

Now if this "throttle lag" (which is NOT a common problem in the 1997-2003 F-150's except those who expect them to respond like a Mustang or a much lighter vehicle or some type of "performance" style of vehicle, just for example) actually IS related to the tuning, then YES! We most certainly CAN improve that quite a bit - what I suspect is that you are simply experiencing less throttle response than you would like, because you have a heavy truck with highly compromised factory tuning, a lot of torque management, etc., and we DO take care of those kinds of things, absolutely.

The bottom line is no, I do NOT recommend that people just go running into their dealer to get reflashed, and I can guarantee that your truck will run significantly better when we tune it, both in terms of inherent throttle response, idle quality, power, performance, top speed, etc.

Now can we manage to somehow magically fix *everything* you want to see made better about your vehicle? Well, that I can't honestly promise you, and we certainly cannot fix everything for which Ford has issued a TSB - but we can certainly make it idle better and give it better throttle response along with a lot of other improvements that will make you much happier with your truck, that must I *can* guarantee you.

I suggest you call us to go over this in specific detail, so that you'll have a much better idea of what we really can and cannot do for you just by our tuning, as I don't want to give you an incorrect impression - even though I know we can make you much happier with how your truck runs, I don't want to make any misrepresentations to you and possibly make you unhappy with you - You know what I mean.

So please feel free to call us at our number listed below & we can go over this with you so you can decide if what e can offer you is worth doing for you - I think you'll find that it is.

 

You answered all of my questions.....

I will be ordering a Xcal2 after the holidays. I just bought a new 2005 X-cab with the 5.4 and 3:73 axle. It has a build date of April. The reason I asked about having the tsb's done before getting the Xcal2: I was reading on another post that 2 tsb's were out after April concerning lag and idle issues.

Thank you Mike!

 

Hey Silverfish I don't know where you are in Ohio, but if your anywhere close to North Canton of Akron, give me a call and I will let you drive my '04 SCrew that Mike tuned and you can "SEE" and "FEEL" the difference......

 

I am from Lorain County near Cleveland......thanks for the offer! I can't wait to get the tunner!