Are the 2000 Lightnings programed for 87 octane gas, and if so how do I change this? I have always run 92 octane since it was new, but my salesman said I could run 87 octane. Please help.

 

I am not certain on the 2000, but the 2001 manual says to only use 91 or above and on the dash next to the guage, it says premium unleaded fuel only.

I would continue to use the higher grade

Paul

 

Well, your salesman souns like an idiot. And you're gonna look like the idiot when u tell them that your truck is pinging, and the salesmn says, what you didn't use 91 or higher octane. dude, you bought a 30 thousand dollar truck, why not just use the best gas??

 

If you want to get the most out of the premium get a chip. Take what your salesman says and spread it liberally amongst the tomato plants where it will do some good.

 

Idiot salesman is redundant from what I've seen...except for Fordsales on this board.

 

Your 2000 L is suppose to have 91 octane. If you accidently put a lower octane in, or get bad gas, the computer will automatically retard the timeing so you don't damage the engine. But that doesn't mean you should intentionally put in lower octane gas. Like the other guys said - Your salesman is an idiot.

 

You guys sure are quick to call someone an idiot! I took my 2000 L into the dealer when I bought it and had them check what the octane setting was on the computer. Guess what, it was set for 87 octane from the factory. The tech told me that every one he had seen was set this way to prevent people from bringing in their trucks in the winter when the gas has additives in it. That way it will not ping if set to 87 octane. The tech changed my setting and also said they could change the gear ratio if I decided to do a swap. Timing could also be advanced and retarded I believe. I am not the only L on this board that went to the dealer to have the octane setting changed. This was talked about a long time ago, maybe a year or so ago.

 

I remember those posts on changing the octane rating very well. According to some members, if you changed the octane rating on the computer to 91, it would "wake up your truck". Other members (like Sal) said it is set at 87 to prevent damage to your engine incase you put a lower octane in it. If it's set at 87, the timing will be retarded to compensate for the low octane if you get bad gas or put a lower octane in by accident. If you change the computer to 91, it can't retard the timing, and you will get a lot of pinging. I had my truck to the dealer for warranty work, so I told them to set the octane rating to 91. It did NOT effect the performance at all. I called the mechanic, and he verified what Sal said. The next time I take my truck to the dealer, I'll tell them to put the computer back to the original octane setting.

 

I don't think i worded my question very well. I have read past threads on this board, where people stated that 00 L's are programmed from the factory for 87 octane and that reminded me that my salesman had also said that. I was just wondering if this is actually true and if so is it possible to correct without putting a chip into my truck? (The dealer where i live will try to screw me if i chip my truck and i don't want to go out of town every time for service)

 

Then pull the chip and erase the PCM.

 

How do you do that?

 

Quoted from TomG:

"If you change the computer to 91, it can't retard the timing, and you will get a lot of pinging. "

Don't know where you obtained this information, but that is completely incorrect. Late model EFI vehicles are a closed loop system, this means that there are various sensors located throughtout the engine, these sensors provide data to the PCM and from that given data the PCM makes changes to numerous things such as the air fuel ratio and timing advance/retard, etc. Just because you set the computer to 91 octane, does not mean that you have disabled the knock sensors which detect knock and send the signal to the PCM which will then retard the timing back due to the knock.