Too Much Too Late?
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Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
From: Arizona
Too Much Too Late?
Do you guys think it is too late for me to get a Power Programer or SuperChip for my 4.6L? It's got 117100 miles,but have never any problems with it. Doesn't burn any oil,ave.15 mpg.Still run stong as if it was new. I just would like a little more umph,but don't know if it would be a waste of time and money for me now.
Former Sponsor
Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
Likes: 4
From: Virginia
Hi AZ_F150Xtreme,
I tend to agree with JMC here, but only as long as the motor is basically "healthy" in all other regards, and well-maintained. For example on those 4.6's, make sure your spark plug wires are up to snuff, and if they have more than 40K - 50K miles on them, replace them with a good set of aftermarket plug wires, like Accel (probably the best bang-for-the-buck), MSD, or Magnecor, don't use factory wires, as they are very high resistance, over 1000 ohms per ft., where the aftermarket units mentioend are 100 ohms or less per ft. Make sure your fuel filter is fresh as well as your O2 sensors, those are all 30K-50K maint. items.
As long as all of that is up to snuff and you're satisfied that the motor is healthy, then yes, you can do some minor bolt-on mods like the Superchip if you like. the Superchip will deliver a much better result than the Hypertech unit, as the Superchip is made for each individual vehicle and adds power all the time, at any throttle position. Hypertech is "generic", only 1 program for all similar vehicles, and they don't add power all the time, at any throttle position like the Superchip does.
I wouldn't advise suddenly driving the vehicle harder than you normally do of course, but in general, today's engines should be able to go 200K miles or more with proper care, it's not like 100K miles is the death-toll number that it was 12-15 years ago.
Best of luck whatever you decide!
I tend to agree with JMC here, but only as long as the motor is basically "healthy" in all other regards, and well-maintained. For example on those 4.6's, make sure your spark plug wires are up to snuff, and if they have more than 40K - 50K miles on them, replace them with a good set of aftermarket plug wires, like Accel (probably the best bang-for-the-buck), MSD, or Magnecor, don't use factory wires, as they are very high resistance, over 1000 ohms per ft., where the aftermarket units mentioend are 100 ohms or less per ft. Make sure your fuel filter is fresh as well as your O2 sensors, those are all 30K-50K maint. items.
As long as all of that is up to snuff and you're satisfied that the motor is healthy, then yes, you can do some minor bolt-on mods like the Superchip if you like. the Superchip will deliver a much better result than the Hypertech unit, as the Superchip is made for each individual vehicle and adds power all the time, at any throttle position. Hypertech is "generic", only 1 program for all similar vehicles, and they don't add power all the time, at any throttle position like the Superchip does.
I wouldn't advise suddenly driving the vehicle harder than you normally do of course, but in general, today's engines should be able to go 200K miles or more with proper care, it's not like 100K miles is the death-toll number that it was 12-15 years ago.
Best of luck whatever you decide!