i have a bet with my friend who is telling me that i can get the same results as a after market chip just by getting an adjustable fuel regulator and an auto tap to monitor my a/f ratio more closely and tuen accordingly. So can someone please tell me or even email me if the moderators prohibit you from telling me how do the chips add the 35hp and the so many lbs of torque? please i really need to know this. Bc i LOVE my truck and if i can get the same results from messing with a few things then i will. It will cost me more to buy the equipment to tune so i want the chip for that reason but i am making alot of custom parts so i dont want to have to keep on sending in my chip to get reburns bc this is my dayly driving truck and i can't afford to lose my baby for days at a time


Mark

 

Does your friend have any other bets he wants to place?

Chips can do a great deal more than tune the fuel curves. If you really want to know more technical info, check on the tuner forums to give you an idea of what exactly can be done.

I can't tell you exactly what any given chip does (unless I dump the code!) but there are a great many options available. If you're interested in the more technical aspects as to what can be changed, let me know and I can give you some links that break things down more.

I'm sure Mike will give you a better general idea of what his chips do, but I doubt he or any other distributor is going to fill you in on all the aspects of their tuning.

 

Sure ill take the links if you wana post em or just email them to me.


MLSgoalie@hotmail.com

thanks

Mark

 

Hi Spade,

This is the Computer Chips forum, the closest thing to a "tuner" forum this web site has, so you've come to the right place to get your answers.

Contrary to what is sometimes claimed, while almost anyone can "dump code" who actually has the required hardware & software for these Ford ECU's, knowing what's actually being controlled by what instruction on what line or lines of code, or having any idea as to how to actually improve that in the slightest is something that can only be learned by painstaking reverse engineering, usually requiring hundreds to even thousands of man-hours of real R&D, on the dyno, at the track and on the street, there are no shortcuts.

Simply put, your friend is rather badly misinformed, though I'm sure he means well and is trying to help.

What performance chips do, when done correctly, is to optimize areas of the powertrain program affecting actual engine power output, as well as everything else controlled by the ECU that affects performance. Things like rev limiters, top speed limiters, A/F ratios, automatic transmission controls, top speed limiters, EGR timing, and the list goes on and on. It's *far* more than simply throwing fuel pressure at the injectors with a fuel pressure regulator, which is, by the way, something that adaptive strategy will reverse over time in closed-loop operation.

Anyone who thinks that is thinks you can do anywhere close to the same things that a perfotrmance chip can do with fuel pressure regulation doesn't have the first clue of ECU operations or of adaptive strategy.

Performance chips are a repository for an optimized set of operating instructions, during both open loop as well as closed loop operation in the case of the Superchip, the best on the market.

Timing & fueling are the 2 things most people think of, but there is *far* more than just those 2 areas to consider when optimizing powertrain programming. There are issues such as full power onset delays, transitional spark retards, timing retard sliding scales based on engine rpm even @ WOT, shift points in automatics, rev limiters, torque converter lockup functions, and the list goes on and on, encompassing far more than we can ever get into here.

In EEC-V ECU's, which Ford started using with certain 1994 model year vehicles, and by the 1996 model year are used in virtually all FoMoCo vehicles, the following items are just some of the **output** functions controlled via the ECU:

Fuel Pump
Multi-port Fuel Injection
Sequential Fuel Injection
Proportional EGR
Spark Control
Canister Purge
Idle Air Control
Secondary Air Management
Self Diagnostics
Message Center Interface
Self Test Output
Transmission Lockup & Shift Controls (automatic transmissions)
Electro-Drive Fan
EGR Control
Wide-Open Throttle Air Conditioner Cutoff
Speed Control
Malfunction Indicator Lamp
Programmable Speedometer/Odometer
Transmission:
Converter Clutch Control Solenoid
Shift Solenoid A
Shift Solenoid B
Electronic Pressure Control Solenoid (PCS)
Transmission Control Indicator Light
Serial Communications Responses
H2OS Heaters

Input Controls:

Engine Coolant Temperature
Crankshaft Position
Throttle Position
EGR Valve Position
Exhauast Gas Oxygen
Inferred Mileage
Knock Sensor
Mass Air Flow
Intake Air Temperature
Profile Ignition Pickup Signal
Air Conditioning Demand
Nuetral/Drive Switch
Self Test
Ignition Diagnostic Monitor
Vehicle Speed
Brake On/Off
Transmission Fluid Temperature
Manual Level Position Sensor
Camshaft Position Sensor
Transmission Speed Sensor
Cooling Fan Monitor (Electric Fan)
Fuel Pump Monitor
Transmission Control
EGR Flow
HO2S (UPstream)
H2OS (Downstream)

I won't bore us all by going into anything more, and some of these aspects are not required to be changed on every vehicle to improve it's performance, that will depend on what is being done on each vehicle, if there are major modifications that affect other areas, etc. But as you can see, what a performance chip must be able to control correctly is *FAR* more than can *ever* be controlled by playing with fuel pressure.

You won your bet, my friend.

 

OUTSTANDING info Mike - THANKS!

 

Spade$,

This is a page with some links. The Yahoo groups link (second from the top) also has some great downloads.

EEC Links

There are some great noties in the FAQs and some good info on the workings of the EEC computers. Be warned, you WILL make your head hurt if you try to absorb too much of this stuff at once!

Once you start ingesting some of this stuff, you will have a better appreciation for what a chip maker goes through to make a quality product.



Mike,

Not looking for any trade secrets, but a couple of questions.....

I assume that just about any chip company of any size would use some type of direct hook up to alter variables real time for tuning. Is this the case with Superchips, and if so do you use some type of data logging?

Also, a question about "generic" chips that operate without regard to specific cache codes. I assume that since they work without being calibration code specific, that they must change all of the variables into a set code contained on the ROM. In effect, aren't they changing the calibration or cache code?