I have had an Edge Evolution on my 08 XLT for a couple of weeks. Had it on level 2 and loved it. I've been reading on here about how you may want to check that the correct axle setting is done and I wanted to up the idle a bit. So I went to program level 3, then the screen comes up that says "Custom tune" and you press yes or no. So I pressed yes so that I could check those things. Sure enough, the axle setting was 3.73 and I have a 3.55. I changed it and upped the idle a bit. Those were the only things I changed so I left everything else alone. I noticed that there was (at the bottom of all the "custom" options) an option that said something like "save previous changes" which I didn't press. Then, it loaded the setting like it normally does. Now I swear the truck isn't nearly as fast, doesn't shift as well, etc. What did I do wrong? I'm wondering if since I picked level 3, then custom, was I supposed to enter something under each option? If so, how can I change my axle setting so that it is always 3.55 no matter what level I pick? Thanks for any help you can give me. I absolutely loved level 2, just hoping I can figure out level 3.

 

First, you should always verify you have the correct gears. Secondly, did you select "done" to program the change after you entered the correct gears? Thirdly, that selection that says "Save Previious Settings" is used to lock in all your settings when you want to go change just one or two.

 

You have something wrong, level 3 should run circles around level 2. What octane are you running and are you adjusting timing and fuel ratio?

 

I hit 'done' when I finished, running 91. I didn't change anything other than the axle to 3.55 and upped the idle by 50. I didn't want to input anything else. Should I have gone through and typed in the settings I have seen on here for yours (BlueJay). I figured if I left them alone, they would just go to the default level 3 settings. Should I have hit the "save previous settings" and then hit "done"?

 

No you did not need to hit Save previous settings. That is to be used like now, if you decided you wanted to change the timing, but you wanted to leave every other setting you made the same, you select save previous settings so you don't have to go redo each one, such as the gears, previously done.

 

You have me a bit buffaloed. You shouldn't have to change anything on level 3 to have it run like a beast. You have 91, so you don't even need to mess with the timing. Did you make sure the tires were the correct setting?

Level 2 should be peppier than level 3 for the first 1500 or so rpms but lose momentum after that. Level 3 should pull hard a;; the way till you run out of engine, 5000 or so rpms.

 

I'll check the tire settings. I was a bit confused myself. I thought I had done everything correctly. I'll try it again and see what happens. When I first got the Edge, I didn't check the axle settings and didn't know they were incorrect. I checked the speedo with a GPS and it was spot on. Is that normal? Or is it just the tire setting that affects that? Sorry if I'm not making sense on this. I appreciate your patience and help.

 

I understand what you are saying. Tires and gears both must be correct for the speedo to be correct. If if was spot on with the wrong gears, that makes me suspect that the tires are off enough to compensate. If that is not the case, I will be VERY confused.

 

This MAY be your problem. You were happy running Level 2, which is an 87 octane tow tune. Unless you completely filled your tank with 91 octane gas, you should not have tried to use a Level 3 tune. (It's not a "better" tune, it's just optimized for the higher octane gas).

IF you are using 87 octane, go back to the Level 2 tune you had before. If you bypass the Custom Options menu, your stock Gear Ratio (GR) and Tire Size (TS) will be loaded from the Vehicle ID (VID) section of your PCM's memory - and it's there, unchangeable, until your truck goes to a junkyard.

BUT, if you DO choose Custom Options, you're going to get "placeholder" values for TS and GR. that are probably not right. IF, you have programmed in correct values for these things before, you can scroll to "Load Previous Settings" and the unit will pull the correct values from its internal memory, which will replace those placeholder values (and anything else you just changed after entering the Custom Options menu).

If you choose Level 3, you need to have a full tank of 91 octane gas. You can bypass the Custom Options menu here too to put stock values into the PCM for GR and TS. There's really no reason to up the idle unless you were not happy with the former idle.

If you choose Custom Options in ANY Level, you WILL have to manually enter the correct GR and TS values. You can change anything else too, if you want. Scroll to "Done" and hit <Enter>. THESE BECOME YOUR NEW "PREVIOUS SETTINGS"!

In the future, if you reprogram and change to any new Level and decide to open the Custom Options menu: SCROLL TO THE "LOAD PREVIOUS SETTINGS" choice FIRST and hit <Enter>. This will load your "saved" TS, GR, and anything else you used before.

This is all very confusing, I know! Please read it a couple times and try to apply what I've said.

- Jack

 

Cool, thanks guys. I think I get it now.

 

Jack states above that level 3 is not a better tune and I think that could be a little misleading. Level 3 serves a different purpose and is better in certain situations. Level 2 is a towing tune and never use level 3 for towing anything heavy. Level 2 has great low end torque, and if all you are doing is stop and go driving, it's great for that. I do a lot of freeway and two lane highway driving and level 3 is much more suited for that. Plus, I got 11% better mpg out of level 3, so it paid for the difference. Level 3 also has different shift points and characteristics. Just suited my driving style much better, at least until I ordered the custom tunes. Custom tunes are the best way to go.

 

You're right, Jim - what I said about Level 3 WAS misleading. Thanks for clearing it up.

- Jack

 

Good grief! What are things coming to? I expected a little debate! I


I knew what you meant, but thought to someone new to the tuner might not get it.

 

Thanks for the help. I think I got it figured out now...I hope. The Edge speedo is 1mph higher than my GPS and the Ford speedo is 2mph higher than GPS at 65 mph. I guess for me, that's close enough. I did a 0-60 run on level 3 and clocked a 7.5 which was better than my best run in level 2. Spun the tires so much that I believe if I did it right I would be lower. I saw some runs on here in low 7's, so I'll assume if I did a couple more and didn't bark the tires, I would be too. So I guess the level 3 is working correctly. Just feels so much different than the level 2. I like the torque-y feel of the level 2, so I guess I'm getting used to the difference. Haven't had even a quarter tank of 91 in yet, so maybe that will help too. Again, thanks for the help. I'm sure I'll have more questions at some time!