I just got my edge and had some questions. First off, it is the older (dash pod) evolution. (I know..I know..I should have gotten the CTS. But I got this one off craigslist for 180) I just had some questions about custom tuning.

1) I have had some idle issue previous to putting the edge on. My truck would idel around 500rpm and I felt like it was too low so I bumped it up on the edge. I bumped it to around 580rpm while in drive and 620rpm while in park. Is this ok?

2) For the idle issues, It could be a million things but some of these things (cleaning maf/cleaning throttle body/cleaning tps might need a disconnect of the negative battery cable. Will that affect the pcm or programmer or both?

3) If I wanted to reset my pcm to relearn (in an attempt to correct the idle), would it even work because the edge is hooked up? (Will the pcm still work somewhat independently from the edge?)

4) I have custom-tuned the idle speed as stated above. I first pumped it up 50rpms. I wanted it a little higher so I went in to custom tune again and bumped it to 60rpms. My question is...Did I just bump the rpms 110 or 60 from stock. (First bump 50+second bump 60= +110) Like does the programmer use stock parameters every time for you to bump up rpms? Or does it save what you added the first time and then add on to it? I would asssume it uses stock parameters because when I went to adjust tire size, it started at the stock size after I had already put mine in on the previous custom tune.

5) Also, even with putting my 275 65 r18 (2559mm) in, the speed on the programmer reads 2-3 mph slower than that on my speedometer on the truck. What is causing this or is my truck speedometer actually off? My rpms on the programmer vs the truck itself are very very close.

The wierd thing is that when I first got the programmer it was set on stock tire size (or a different one, not sure if stock) and it said I was getting 17.3 mpg. Now that I added in the bigger tires I am getting 17mpg.


I know this is a lot of questions...but if you could just help me out with a couple, that would be great.

 

What year and engine is your truck?

1. I don't see why not. However, all you are doing is burning more gas.
2. All disconnecting the battery will do is clear the adaptive learning.
3. DISCONNECT the Edge before disconnecting the battery. This will NOT clear the tune - once it's loaded you can disconnect the Edge all you want.
4. I dunno.
5. That sounds about right. You want the Edge speed (not RPM) to be equal to a GPS speed. However, you may not have corrected for "squish".

 

It is a 2004 5.4l fx4

1) The reason I wanted my idle higher is because when I would come to a stop, it would go down to like 400 and it would struggle for a second. I was also told these trucks are supposed to idle around 6-700rmps. Mine was at 500.

5) What is squish?

 

Squish is tire flexing. The general formula is with squish, the tire circumference is about 3% less than the math would indicate.

Rather than messing around with the canned tunes, you would be better served by having the Edge converted to a Gryphon and get custom tunes for it.

http://www.gopowerhungry.com/_ordering_info.shtml

 

I can answer #4 for you. You actually raised the idle speed by 60 RPM. These settings are not "cumulative", they simply increase above the "base" amount (what you had at stock).

Regarding #5, the dashboard speedo tends to read close to 3% fast, due to mechanical errors. So, if you have a GPS and it is reading 70, a dashboard speedo that is using the correct tire size will normally read 72-73 mph. But, for the same tire size, if you monitor the speed on the Edge, it will be the same as the GPS, and, with the correct tire size, your dashboard odometer will be accurate. And, 2559mm for Tire Size did NOT account for squish. You should use a value somewhere between 2482-2503. A lot of this depends on your air pressure and the weight of your truck.

I think an idle speed of 600-650 is about what the factory setting is, so you could try raising it some more. But, looking at the age of your truck, I would not hesitate to clean the throttle body and MAF sensor. Look in our "How To" section for help here.

And, I think you are better off with the older style Edge rather than the newer CS/CTS. Those new units are having problems accepting and holding custom tunes due to the way Edge has implemented their Fusion updating software. We were hoping they were going to fix this, but it looks like they aren't.

- Jack

 

Jack and Janet. Huge help, thank you. Just threw another p0420 code today so wondering if my cat is clogged. I hope not!!!!! I think I'm going to have to take it to the dealership because I dunno if it is 02 sensor or cat. If it is cat, can I just delete it and run no cats until the flow master muffler? How do I know if it is my cat or sensors?

 

A muffler shop should be able to test the cats for blockage. The sensor is probably okay, the code is for low cat efficiency which is bad cat or an exhaust leak before the cat.

I wouldn't delete - I'd replace them with high flows - a LOT cheaper than stock cats.

 

Go with glc's advice here. He knows what he's talking about.

- Jack

 

How would I find out what caused the cat to clog? I'm scared that the cats will clog again if there is something going on. Would it have anything to do with a lot of gunk from my radiator flush? There was some nasty buildup. Or could it be from putting in new plugs?

 

Or a bad injector?

 

I'm getting 18.4 mpgs right now! How could it be an injector?

 

You don't know yet whether it's clogged or not. All you know is it's failing efficiency tests or you have an exhaust leak prior to the cat.

 

Ok, so I am going to take it to the dealership this week. This is what I will leave with the truck when I drop it off:

"Zach
2004 F150 FX4 5.4L 3V

Before the problem…

I bought the truck with 53k on it 2 years ago. Has never had an issue engine-related until a month ago. I had some misfiring and a lot of stuttering after going through a car wash. Found that two coils were bad and replaced them. While replacing the coils, I decided since I had around 90k on the truck, I would get the plugs changed as well. So plugs and coils were changed a month ago. I then noticed my radiator fluid was nasty-looking. So I had it flushed. In the time flushing it, I manually bled the system. I didn’t know that Ford had a special tool to bleed the system. So I let it bleed overnight and kept the defrost on hot while driving for at least 3 days or so. The fluid level stayed the same and the truck ran great. I got a lot of gunk out of that previous fluid and I think the owner before me tried putting the wrong stuff in it or some stop leak because I have never seen them build up like that. It was orange gunk. . (I WANT THIS THING FLUSHED AGAIN TO BE SAFE).

Also, my fan clutch is chirping so I ordered the replacement and plan to install that as soon as you guys are done with it… I don’t think the bad fan clutch could cause any of these symptoms? Again, you guys know more than me on this.

The problem…

A week or so after the coolant flush, I threw a P0420 code…which points me to a low threshold on Bank 1 (02 sensor/cat clogged). This is not good because although I need to fix the code, I need to find out what is causing the issue! I was thinking fuel injector because I have noticed a very very slight fuel smell at the exhaust, but nothing that seems way too rich. What points me to something other than a fuel injector is that I am getting 18.4 mpg on highway and 16.6 mpg in the city. Mixed I am getting 17.8mpg. With a stuck injector or bad injector, I would think I would have hard starts/horrible fuel mileage. The truck runs great!
The only small thing I have noticed is that the truck surges just a tad when warm and coming to a stop. I am thinking this may be the 02 causing it. Maybe the upper 02 which deals with air/fuel ratio. Maybe that is what is causing it to run rich?

My Thoughts…

If it is injectors, replace them under my base care warranty that I purchased. I have the injectors covered until oct 2016 or 105k miles. I also know that Ford put out a letter (recall) stating they covered the damage caused by the injectors as well as the injectors. (So if a bad cat and 02 sensors were caused by the injector, they should be covered).

I have also noticed that ever since I bought the truck, it has idled when in drive and warm around 550rpms….which seems a little low. I don’t know how this is related to an injector issue but who knows.

Also, I have had clogged cats before and when I did, I would put my hand up to the exhaust and would barely feel any air coming out. This does NOT seem the case with this truck…but again, the cat could be just clogged enough to throw the 02s off.

Lastly….

The last 2 dealerships (Inskeep and Capitol City Ford) have been terrible with handling me for small issues. They charged me for things that were not malfunctioning at all and I was charged for an alignment when they couldn’t even align it. They told me my frame was bent…went to Riley Park tire, got an alignment and truck has driven perfect. I understand how dealerships work and I am hoping that since I bought the truck from you guys that you could give me good service and treat me right. Just be honest with me about things.
Thank you for your time.
ONE OF THESE NEEDS TO GO TO ZACH in service so that he knows what my complaints are."

 

04's are not covered by the injector letter - only 05's. Return the tune to stock and remove the Edge before you take it in.

 

Ok, I will return it to stock.

If they say the repair is going to be over 1000 dollars or something, at what point do I try to sell it and ditch it?

I really love the truck and want to keep it, but I don't want it to become a money pit like it is starting to become.

I am still making payments on it as well.

The Injectors are covered by my base-care warranty, just not the parts ruined by a bad injector.