I do not rotations per mile on my x-cal either. I have tried changing the ratio to get my speedometer more accurate but it seems to only be inaccurate at certain speeds, other than that I haven't messed with it. Here are all my options I have, I did ask Don to turn on all options:


I don't know why I have fan adjustments, I don't even have an electric fan.

Regarding the bucking problem, I removed all EGR flow in that range and retarded timing 3 degrees. On Fri. it did not seem to help at all but today it seemed a lot better but not fixed. I will keep this tune in my truck for a bit longer and see what happens. I do think it is is a spark problem now. I will change out a few plugs next weekend even though they only have 5000 miles on them. I am wondering if a screamon demon coilpack would solve this problem and If I would have to widen the spark gap.

Rich, does touching the negative battery terminal to the positive terminal really clear the memory instantly? It just doesn't seem like a good idea to me but I having to wait 10 minutes every time I tune my truck. Also did ford add any spark advance for EGR flow in the stock tune? It doesn't look like it to me, and will I have to worry about detonation or running lean by decreasing the MAX EGR Flow parameter?

 

I don't know? I've heard of people doing that. I never have.

Here is what I do to clear the computer. When I make big changes.. I'll do the 10 minute thing to clear the KAM. But if its something small I usually don't and see if it responds.

The whole reason I started doing this was because I was having issues with the tranny not responding to my changes. After contacting my tuners (bama and Henson at the time) they didn't know what to say. So as a last resort I decided to unquestionably clear the computer. I did and shoot-fire, the truck started responding to my changes!


Um.. I don't know about egr -vs- spark. You'll just have to search on that one. On the ranger I wound up leaving it stock except on my nitrous tune. (just turned it off for nitrous) And on the Lightning I've physically removed the EGR and turned it off in the tune. btw, this hurt my Lightning mileage by about 1.5mpg If this were to become my daily driver.. I'd reconnect it just to get the MPG back.

Running lean is not a problem for egr functions. At closed loop the front 02s are driving a/f. At open loop the egr shuts off & fuel is commanded by the tune w/o input from egr flow. If the EGR gets plugged however.. the tune thinks it's working and at some point the a/f can't be adjusted rich enough and it'll throw a CEL. Usually seen by poor MPG and even black smoke out the exhaust pipe.

Rich

 

Hey Rich,

I'm at work right now and didn't have the time to read through the entire post, nor did I have time to search deeply into the site. I however have a few tuning questions. On summit they are selling a chip by Jet Technologies (tuning? something other than just Jet). Have you had any experience with just a chip? It's only 250 bones and not 375+. And I would rather have plug and play fun over plug and mess with and change and then have fun. You know?

I already have a K&N intake, 180 T-stat, and Gibson cat back with a single Magnaflow cat. Its a 2000 3.0 5 speed. I would want a chip that will work with these. Or do you know of a different manufacture?

 

The "tune" is really software. Not hardware. How the tune gets to the cars computer is not really important. (chip vs flash device)

Yes I've used chips for many years. They can be cheaper but there are also two common problems with them.
1) The metal terminals are either not scraped enough.. or they are scraped too much. Either way the chip won't be able to effectively supply the tune to the PCM. (there is a wax put on the metal terminals that has to be scraped off)
2) They *always* come loose with vibrations and time.
Using duct tape to hold them in works for a while. But even that isn't enough.
The only thing I've ever done that "worked" was to jam paper towels between the chip and the PCM body to wedge it in. Then duct tape over that.
btw, when it comes loose it'll either not give you the tune.. or the engine will just shut off. (both have happened to me)

I know that flash devices cost MUCH more. But.. you don't have the physical limitations of a chip plus you can read / clear DTCs from your ranger, other fords too, data log your ranger, and make limited changes for tires, gears, timing, fuel, ect....

Rich

 

For your 98, it is not possible to correct your speedometer/odometer by making changes in the PCM calibration. For 98~2000, the correction is done in the GEM (RABS equipped) or the 4WABS Module (4WABS equipped). A dealer tool can access those modules to correct it but a PCM flash tool like SCT, Sniper, etc cannot. They only work for later Rangers that make the correction in the PCM.

 

Where is Don Lasota located in Ohio? Does he have a store?

 

Post 275 there is a link in yellow text.

Rich

 

I saw that, I just couldn't find a address. I'll call tomorrow and see where he's at cause that would be much easier if I bought in store or something. Thanks.

 

I've had a few ask about what options can be turned on. Well here is what's available for me when loading tunes to my x-cal 2

In this I've turned everything on and taken each value to there max.
In your x-cals options you ought to be able to see these and you ought to be able to change your settings by these amounts. If you can't.. your tuner has either turned these off and/or reduced your limits.

Regards,
Rich

 

For those of you with racer pro tuning software here is what you can change *in the tune* to make your speedometer read properly. (odometer will read slightly lower than actual.. there is no way for the tune to make both correct)

I've data logged at least 5 different cars and have come to the conclusion that since about 2000-ish (maybe sooner) most cars have thier speedo reading 2.5% faster than your actually traveling. (verified with two different GPS units on multiple cars)

So in my ranger and in my Lightning I've adjusted the "tire rotations per mile" to account for this. There is one slight problem though when you do this.
Automatic tranny shift points will drop about 2+ mph depending on what gear / speed your talking about. As far as I know there is no way around this. So I just up those shift points by 2.5% and then test to make sure it works.
For example... if I want the 1-2 shift to happen at 50mph.. I command a 51.5 instead

Also, one small thing I've been fighting ever since I had this license.. is getting the speedo to be corrected in the tune vs with the x-cal. Today I just happened to *read* the description of a cell and was supprised to see that setting the tire rotation value is not enough. You have to actually tell it to use the value. Ug... who would look at "axle ratio switch" and conclude that needs to be set to zero in order to turn on "tire revs per mile"? Its this kind of non-sense that you have to learn in order to tune. It's not a "black art" like many think. It's just about knowing what does what. Once you figure out these non-intuitive ways of thinking.. the rest of tuning gets much easier. Anyway here is a picture of what you have to change in order for it to work.

In this picture you can see that my tire rotations are set at 680. Well, the tires I have actually rotate 663 times per mile. (305-55-18 = 32" tall) Multiply 663 by 1.025 and you get 679.58 Round up to 680 even for simplicity sake and on a road test.. sure enough my speedo is now dead on with my gps.

Regards,
Rich

 

You don't have the option of setting your high and low speed fans? My X-Cal has that option enabled. But then again, my truck came with a factory electric fan.

 

Yes I can set the fans. But only in the tune itself. This screen is from a vehicle that has a mechanical fan and there was no factory setting for it. If I wanted to wire it up though... I could use the PCM to control the fans. I just use the flex-a-lite controller instead.

Also, there seems to be levels of access to tuning. I have the "pro racer" tuning license. This is the lightest version and there are somethings that I cannot access. Just depends on what SCT wants to give us PRP users access too.

I will say this though. With my license I have more than enough power to do anything I want too. Shoot.. I was able to spray nitrous on a 06FX4 and am tuning my 800hp Lightning. Trust me.. it's plenty good enough for anything us common knuckle draggers would ever want to modify.

Rich

 

I'm now able to tune my 2006 Merc Milan and thought it would add value to this thread.

I bought a used x-cal 2 off craigslist and turned on my tuning license. (SCT Pro racer tuning software) Total was $275

SCT had three canned tunes for my 06 Milan. (87, 91, and 93 octanes)

I loaded the 87, 93, and am trying to make a towing tune where I turn off 6th gear.

Thus far I've been running the 87 tune as is except the following:
- Changed "tire rotations per mile" to correct the speedo (+1.3% = proper speedo readings at 70mph (GPS verified))
- Added 2deg timing from 0-4000 rpms **on top of the 2deg that SCT added**
- 1-2 shift point (trying to get it back to where the stock shift point is (6300)
- Raised netrual / park rpms to 750 (stock was 700)

I've read that you can't change the tranny settings? Well... I can't change shift firmness through slip times or pressure like I can on other cars. But it will let me change shift points with either rpms or speeds.

Thus far tip in power is somewhat better. Timing is running only 2-ish more than stock (knock sensor is retarding timing a bit) And instant MPG is a solid 4-ish better (I use a scanguage II) Any true blue MPG gains will take time. And in all honestly it's now turning colder. So the mileage will be dropping as they change to winter gas.. and I allow the car to warm up each morning. Unless I take some road trips I don't foresee me being able to report any meaningful numbers.

This morning I ordered a K&N panel filter and will datalog the following TQ/HP tests and report.
- Power with current "stock" paper filter (12k miles on filter)
- Power with "a new" paper filter
- Power with "K&N" panel filter
- Power with "NO" filter

This is my daily driver & family car. So I'm not going the aftermarket intake / conical route. Been there done that many times on other cars. It's often the best way.. but with this car I just don't have any desire to do that.

Once I figure out which filter is best in power and value... I'll try the same kinds of tests with the differing tunes. (assuming my SCT will record TQ into convertor like I can on other cars)

Sometime in NOV/DEC I'll do these back to back tests and report. Stay tuned

Regards,
Rich

 

Nice, do you know anything about the SCT economizer, can you tune into that one too? And what exactly is different about it?
Also will the new SCT wireless touch screen programers work with a Ford Ranger?

 

Don't know... I really haven't paid attention to the latest tuners. I'll say this though.. me using the x-cal 2 will have it's problems sooner or later. In this last version of my software they have dropped the ability to flash a first gen x-cal. I'm now using the oldest hardware they support!

I'll always be able to tune.. I just need to keep my current version of the software. Even if it becomes non-supported.


IMO any kind of mileage tuner, ect.... is just a marketting ploy. I mean... if a tuner takes the time to focus on MPG improvements? What could they possibly do different than can be done now? I guess actually tuning for MGP? Shoot.. I do that now.

On my ranger and Lightning I have done several things. I lock up the convertor sooner, turn off the fuel when coasting, and maximize mpg/fuel/timing everywhere else.
Tuning is not some hocus-pocus mystical art. It's simple X and Y charts with values in each cell. The *hard work* comes from just figuring out what value to enter. That does take time and effort. But... it's just work.

btw, the two BIGGEST things I've found are 93 octane tier 1 gas & matching timing to it. Those two will give very noticeable gains.

Rich

 

The only difference I have between my performance and fuel millage tune is how the transmission shifts and the EGR being on. With the millage tune the TC locks up sooner and I have the engine under more load. The only problem I came across was that it you floored it when you were cruising, the transmission would hesitate shift down two or three times. With the performance tune I made, the transmission shift points ant TC lockup points are closer to the stock configuration but I have optimized it to shift better when you floor it.

 

For the most part I leave downshifts stock. It's my upshifts, TQ locks, and delays that I GREATLY speed up. (not so much so on the Lightning becuase it was pretty good from Ford)

Rich

 

Could I pass emissions inspection running 93 octane fuel with a 93 octane tune?
All my emissions equiptment is still there and operating. My friend failed emissions but he thinks it was because he set it back to stock with 93 octane still in the tank.

 

Also, in this thread you talked about adding more fuel during startup for cold wheater.
How exactly do you do this and what is a safe amount of fuel to add? My remote start does not allways start.

 

To the best of my understanding octane won't effect emissions. The burn rate is the same...

If he/you are concerned.. put 2.5oz of acetone per 10gallons of fuel in the tank before testing. That will help atomise the fuel better.. which will burn a bit cleaner.

As far as start up fuel. In my Ranger there was a cold fuel table. I haven't even looked at the Lightning or Milans settings. I do recall lowering the rpms so it would hover around 1500 instead of 2000.

Rich

 

Ok I got my SCT 3. I bought it unlocked, it has 5 unlocks left. I need to get my tunes order from Bama, but can I use it to pull my "Strategy" code?

I tired already but it does no let me. Do I have marry the SCT 3 to the truck first.

Sorry for the stupid questions. It did let me use the Data log.

 

Not sure about a X3. But with any X2 you can simply plug it in and see what the stratagy is. There is no downloading of it... just a code you can read.

Rich

 

"For the OBDII Misfire Monitor there is a function that learns the engine's signature when the fuel injectors are off and the engine is coasting down in a decel. During this time, the misfire logic learns the profile of the engine signature."

This is disabled because you can feel the injectors turning on and off. What is this engine "signature" that they talk about?
Is it worth it to leave it on or is it pointless?


Why is there no overtemp protection in the stock tune? Is there no oil temp sensor?


Should the Stoichiometric A/F ration be adjusted given that all the gas stations in my area use 10% Ethanol?
Is ther some adjustment I should make for winter fuel?

 

That is called "profile correction" and it is essential to the operation of the OBDII Misfire Monitor, a useful diagnostic tool. I would leave it alone.

 

Oh thanks, that would explain why it never throws a code when it misfires.