I've got a 99' 4.6 xlt. About three months ago I got a Diablo chip put in. At first I noticed a little diffrence in my shift points. When I say little I mean LITTLE. I really didnt notice any HP gain though. Then about a week after I got it one day out of the blue it was like the chip actullay took effect, but the next time I drove it, it was back to normall. I'm not sure if its just my truck becouse they had to do a jump over on my computer which involved sodering wires to my computer, or if the Diablo chip itself is worthless. If anyone else has a Diablo chip please let me know if you had the same results. Is there another chip out there that does it's job? If so which one? Once agian thanks everyone for your help.

 

Everyone around here (including me) likes the SuperChip.

 

sounds like something is not right. Did you clean the contacts off really well? Get them with rubbing alcohol or a pencil eraser after cleaning them off with a towel?

You sure the chip is in there firmly? A piece of duct tape helps secure it.

Did you reset the computer?

Try those things, otherwise talk to the manufacturer about the issues you have.

 

dsm327, sounds like you never had it
programmed correctly, never ran one in
a 4,6,but have in a 5.4. You need to
have someone that's capable of
bringing it up to its full potential.
Email me, I'll give you a name and #
to call.
FYI, Diablo chips don't need duct
tape..

 

Thanks guys. I got it installed by the people that i bought it from and they did rub down the connection on the computer with some fine sand paper that Diablo supplies. They also cleaned it before they installed it. I've also tryed reseting my computer but had no luck with that either.

 

Hi dsm327,

You should be getting a better operation than that, and that should be pretty easy to make happen, so let's go over some of the things that might be going on with your chip.........

First, I wouldn't worry about that issue of them needing to connect those jumpers, as that is something that is not their fault, but instead, it's a mistake that they're basically just fixing, and we've needed to do that to a few of these vehicles as well. I don't consider that a "concern" in terms of being a factor in this, as long as that work was done correctly. This happens on a few of the 1999 F-150's, and a few late 1998 Expeditions, etc. It's simply a matter of the manufacturer of that circuit board not having properly closed the 1 or 2 jumpers that control the communications state of the J3 male edge connector where your chip attaches to your computer. So all they did was to close those jumpers to properly to finish the job, and enable that circuit, to correct this factory mistake so you can use a performance chip. It is possible for that work to not have been done correctly, and perhaps have a failed solder joint, etc., but in that case, it usually gives you a consistent symptom of not starting anytime the chip is attached.

Next, this perspective, or impression, can be formed as the result of any of a number of potential causes, all of which are pretty simple.......for example it can be due to the types of gasoline being used, etc., and I'll explain a bit..........

The basic design of that part is an "all or nothing" type of design, and if there were an actual defect in that chip, chances are your vehicle would simply not start with it installed. Generally speaking, as long as your engine starts and runs normally with the chip installed, it's doing what it's designed to do.

Now, some things that can affect the performance are, for starters, the quality of the gasoline being burned. Peformance chips require a high-quality premium gas, 91 octane or higher (92+ is better), but octane is not the only measure of a fuel's actual *quality*; octane is simply an expression of that fuels' resistence to pre-ignition, or detonation. The actual energy content, which is expressed in terms of the number of BTU's per opound or per gallon of fuel, can have a rather profound effect on performance and mileage, enough for you to notice.

Some fuels to steer clear of are Exxon and any no-name of off-brands, like Racetrack, Sheetz, Racetrack, Coastal, etc. Stick with the better fuels like Texaco or Amoco, and in many areas of the country, Citgo can work well too. And thee are other brands that can work well, for example, out in the Western coastal states, Chevron works very well. Exxon, for example, is a nice clean-burning fuel, but because of how they have reformulated it year-round in all 50 states, it has a relatively low energy content, and thus cannot deliver the same performance levels or gas mileage results compared to say, Texaco or Amoco in most areas of the country, which is why we suggest not using it, there are higher-energy fuels available.

Another possibility is the condition of the connection itself, between the chip and the computer. For example, if you do not have a good connection, it is possible to have the chip not communicate with the computer properly or at all, and cause either a no-start or worst case, can even cause you to revert back to the factory program, if it loses communication with the computer entirely. This is rare of course, but it's within the realm of possibility, and must be covered when diagnosing this type of symptom.

The contacts on that connector may not have been fully cleared of the clear-colored conformal coating that is sprayed over the entire cirtcuit board. We recently had a customer who owns a Lightning, a very nice young man, and he had his Superchip for a couple of weeks, but was complaining that he didn't feel it doing anything, something that just doesnt' happen with as much power as we add to those Lightning motors, the effect of the Superhcip on very noticeable indeed. He sent it in for us to check, we tested it, and it was fine. He puts it back on, and he still doesn't feel anything. Well, what had happened in that case was that his particular computer board had a *lot* of that coating (the actual thickness of this conformal coating can vary somewhat from board to board), and he simply had not cleaned off enough of the conformal coating from the connector for the computer to even realize that the chip was present at all; thus he was still running on the factory program all that time! This is very rare, as normally if you do not remove all of that coating, the vehicle just won't start with the chip installed, but on occasion, we've seen this happen. That young man just called us back a couple days ago to let us know that he went back and re-cleaned those contacts, and his Lightning is now barking tires on the shifts and seeing the 40+ more horsepower that the Superchip adds to those Lightning motors, and he is elated, as is normally the case.

Basically, I think you're going to find that this is either a matter of fuel quality, or a connection-related issue, and this should be easy to solve if approached *thoroughly*.

Just to let you know, among our customers who have tried both the Diablo and the Superchip on the same vehicle, to date they have preferred the Superchip; they generally say it adds a bit more power and has considerably better automatic transmission shift characteristics. Of course, Superchips has been tuning these vehicles longer than any other chipmaker, as Superchips invented this entire industry, back in 1983.

However, that doesn't mean that what you are experiencing with your chip is normal for Diablo, it isn't, and you should be able to correct this pretty easily, either thru a re-check of your installation or using only the best quality premium fuels, those are the 2 basic "areas" to check first. There is an outside chance that one of those jumper connections might not be 100%, but that will usually cause a no-start anytime the chip is installed. These tips should help you, hopefully, but if not, make sure to give your vendor a call, as they should be able to help you work thus this so you can enjoy it properly. If you can't get help elsewhere, you can call us and we'll try to assist you.

If all else fails and you just don't enjoy what you have already, you can always try the Superchip, as it will make more of a difference and you'll especially love the shifting, but since you already have that chip, you should try to make it work; don't hesitate to call the manufacturer if need be, as what you are describing should not be happening with a correctly installed & properly functioning chip. They do stand behind their product, so you shouldn't have any trouble getting help from them if need be.

Good luck!

 

dsm327, you have mail

 

Not that I think every one should think like me......
I think it is easy to set expectations a little high when installing a chip. They are advertised as giving around 10% to 12% hp gain. Well something like that. For the price that is pretty good! It's not that big of a difference though.
I have the Superchip in my 4.6. I knotice it! I knotice just about everything this truck does. Every clunk, every rattle. I drive myself nuts with this. I do knotice the Superchip gains.
Though the problem here may not be expectations set too high, I do believe people thinking about a chip should consider this.
This is what I think. I'm not claiming to 'know' anything.
Tom