I've gained about 10% better MPG. Fuel costs approx 8% more for high octane. IMO its a wash when it comes to money. The real gain that I like is the light throttle power. This is whats most noticable IMO. Full throttle power is not much better. But in those daily driving lower speed situations it's very noticable.

I can't change anything about the CC. However I have noticed (by accident) that the CC won't work in 4th unless the TQ convertor is locked!
So.. setting your cruise in a 25mph zone simply doesn't work as stock. Does in my tune.

The very first option in my x-cal 2 is "global spark". This has to be turned on by your tuner for you to even see it. It simply adds or subtracts timing *after* all other commands have been altered by the PCM. In my x-cal 2 I have a 92 octane tune. If I should feel like getting some 93 or 94 oct. I'll sometimes add a little timing with it. (especially for 94 oct.) I've also found my self in a situation where I bought some 87 octane and didn't have a 87 tune in my x-cal. So I subtracted 4 degrees with global and then took some more out in the rpm adjustible areas.


Don knows his stuff. Just tell him what you want and he'll do it for you. Just call him.
IMO I'd ask for a 92octane, a 87 octane, and a towing tune thats for the octane you want to run.


btw, Within a month of so I'll be documenting my tunes and post them for sale. (all with jpegs that you'd give to your tuner and work out details of your specific vehicle / wants)

Rich

 

Should I have Don at Lasota racing turn off The smog equiptment or leave it on? What would that consist of, the EGR system?

 

No leave it on. It improves your gas milage. Besides when you go WOT the egr system stops working. So does the AC system..

Rich

 

Does a 1998 4.0 OHV engine have any knock sensors? If so how many? In the tunes the knock sensors are turned off under system switches.

On global spark: are the positive values advancing or retarding the timing?

 

Sorry.. it's been a while since I've been here.

Don't know about a 98 model. I'd ask rwenzing.

On mine the PCM ignores it above 4000rpms. I tried turning it on all the way up in rpms. But it just knocks timing back by about 10 degrees.

Global spark. Yep higher number = more timing (BTDC) Careful though because this adds timing after everything else.

 

No

 

ok so i got a tune from don at lasota racing...hes an awesome guy and very helpful. problem is, i need a question answered, and hes now on vacation for the next week.

i had asked him about hard shifting with the tune, and he explained it is due to increased line pressure. he said i could change it with the SCT tuner by setting the shift pressure to a negative percentage (currently its set to 0%)....problem is, i dont know what negative value would be similar to a stock setting.

any insight into this?

 

Guess and check?
I wouldn't go down too far, you might cause your transmission to slip. My shifts only feel firm under heavy throttle.

 

How do I tell if my engine knocks?
I increased global spark 6 degrees in the 0-2000 area and 4 degress for the rest. I doesnt appear to be knocking or pinging but I am not sure?

 

Don't sweat any of the settings. It's all percentage based. Just go with negative numbers until you like the feel.

In depth answer:
In the tune there are four things that control the shift feel. TQ the PCM thinks the motor is making, static pressure, shift pressure, and shift time.
Your x-cal will adjust just the shift pressure. So.. don't sweat going too low. Just change it to what ever suits your taste.

Regards,
Rich

 

Under 4k rpms it won't knock. The knock sensor will be able to tell and the PCM will reduce timing all on its own.

Above 4k rpms and the tune / PCM ignores knock sensor input.

If you hear it.. it'll be above 4k rpms. And if it's heavy enough to do damage you'll know for sure. It sounds like marbles in a coffee can and the motor will be down on power.

btw, The stock timing is very low IMO. For my 92 octane tune I was running between 10 and 20 deg **more** than the stock ford 87 octane tune. If you don't hear it.. don't sweat it.

Rich

 

The 6 degree global spark increase is on top of the 93 octane tune I got from Don. I understand you will feel and hear it at at 4000 rpms but since my OHV motor doesnt have knock sensors how will it know to reduce timing on its own? It already sounds like marles in a coffee can at idle because of the piston slap.

I noticed in the PRP that there is a modifier for piston slap in the spark area. Now this wont get rid of my piston slap because it still occurs at full engine temp?

Why is the Throttle position at idle 254, isnt the range 0 - 1020? Does the computer factor the IAC valve into the TP value?

 

thanks for the help!

 

Just out of curiosity, about how much do you increase timing for octane? I've felt my best performance on 91 octane with my current tune, but around here they sell 93, and I'm wondering how much I should increase for the difference (approx)? Also, should I increase my WOT fuel when increasing timing?

 

Oh you don't have KS? Sorry I missed that one.
All I can say about your timing is that you'll have to tune and listen.
You might try data-logging timing at different TPS / loads and see what it's actually running. At 70mph with 92 octane I could run 40-45 before the KS would give readings. 93 oct and I would run 45-48 and 94 oct I could run 50deg w/o any activity.
At WOT I found the best power at 27deg. 92 oct would ping a little but 93, 94, & higher were fine.

TPS on fords start in that area. They also end at about 98% (999)

The IAC is driven by quite a number of things. I tried changing it for different things and **only went backwards**. I wound up just leaving the IAC to stock settings.

Rich

 

Detonation is a balance of fuel and timing. I found the best power by commanding a high 12 a/f and 27 deg of timing. On nitrous I'd run mid 12s a/f and 22-23 deg of timing. (on nitrous I'd run a splash of 100oct unleaded just to add safety)

If you have an x-cal.. with live link you can dat-log / watch your timing as you drive. On 91oct I'd stay in the WOT 23-24 area and add 1% fuel. Watch the KS and then add 1 deg of timing if you don't see/hear anything. Keep bumping timing up until you do and then go back 1 deg.

Rich

 

Just for a little more clarification, and BTW, you are very helpful, on my X-Cal, do the rpm adjustable timing adjustments affect WOT, and does the global affect it? I'm running 93 octane, BTW.

Thanks!

 

I'm glad you asked! Sorry, I tend to take some things for granted at times.


The Global timing **adds after everything else**

The 0-2000, 2000-4000, 4000+ areas are adders. Meaning that they **try** to add/subtract timing. Adding say 4deg in the 0-2000 area very well might get over ridden (or modified) by other modifiers at WOT. Things like, ACT, ECT, Baro pressure, MAF readings, ect..

Without a KS it'll be tough to truly get the most timing you can. A KS is great because you can just watch it and then makes notes and adjust it.

IMO the areas you would really want to be careful in are rpms below 2000.
I found that boosting timing down low gave great increases in power. But then every once in a while your in a situation where 4th or 5th gear is lugging at 1000-1500 rpms and I had quite heavy knock. Had to back out of it. Was great for 1st,2nd,3rd gear and even 4th-5th at freeway speeds. But lugging the motor in a tall gear can be dangerous.

I wish I had acess to my timing charts. But I don't anymore. When I switched my license I lost ability to open those ranger files.

Rich

 

This might sound like a really stupid question and you may have answered this already in this thread but I just want to know, does it hurt your engine to run a 91 torque tune and use 87 octane instead of 91? I think that question makes sense. Haha

 

it'll only hurt the motor if you get detonation. There's a good chance that the "91 tune" is so conservative that it won't knock, but it may.
The "93 tune" I had was so conservative that I could run 89 octane with no detonation.

 

My friend does that in his F150 and he said he never has any knocking or anything so I was just wondering if it hurt anything. I may run my 91 torque tune and use 87 octane and see what happens.

 

Only if you hear it knocking (a pinging noise)

 

If your 2002 has a knock sensor? I'd not worry at all below 4000rpms. Above 4000 rpms you need to pay attention!

Rich

 

Thank you Rich, you are a big help. Why did you swith your license, are you using dealer software now?

I need some help in a few areas, first off I cannot lower my idle past 750 once the engine is warm. The battery voltage is seems good so I do not think that low voltage is driving up the idle. The AC being on does not bring up the RPMs in drive. I want to shoot for 600 rpm in drive and 700 rpm in neutral. The desired neutral rpm is 860-880. I cannot find what is over riding it.

I am trying to lower the shift points but I always end up with a strange side effect. If I am going at a speed of 45 or higher and totally let off the throttle, the RPMs dip quickly from around 1500 down to 1000 rpm. It will do this 3 times in a row. I dont beleive that it is downshifting 3 gears but I could be wrong, I only have to lose 5mph for this to happen. I also dont see why it would lower the rpm if it is downshifting, I can feel it add drag to the driveline when it happens though. I disaabled the TC and found that it is not the problem. Have you ever run across this problem, if so how do I avoid it?

What parameter do I use to increase spark at WOT, Is it the "spark adder for A/F when open loop"? Don set all of that to zero in his tune. I know it depends on many conditions but my spark advance appears to be around 23 @ WOT.

 

I no longer have my ranger. I switched the tuning license to use for my Lightning. Cost is $100 each time you do that.

It took me quite a while to figure that one out! I wanted to just see what mine would sound like at a lower idle. I could'nt seem to get it below 700rpms no matter what I did. What I found is that there are all kinds of adders for idle speed. There must be at least 5 different things besides the commanded rpm that control it. In some tunes there is litterally a minimum rpm setting too (My Lightning has this). And what makes it very confusing is that those adders and limiters are in areas that don't make sense at first. Idle, ECT, ACT, time in cold start mode, time since start, ect..

***NOTE*** I found that dis-connecting the battery, turning on the headlights, ignition, radio, ect.. then turning everything off & re-connecting the battery would clear things that IMO should have been re-set when I reflashed the PCM. And here is the key I found.. the radios clock. If it looses time then you know it's all cleared. Even leaving the GPS plugged in seems back feed the PCM with power. All I know is that when the clock looses time.. things get cleared. ??

Right now on the Lightning I'm trying to correct the speedo for larger tires. And I can't for the life in me figure out why the tune won't change it.. but the x-cal will? Sometimes weird stuff happens. All I know to do is a "hard boot" so to speak.



No I have'nt. It sounds to me like there is a conflict. Like maybe it's trying to enguage two gears at once or something?

I too lowered shifts and lockups in 3rd,4th, & 5th. Make sure you lower the minimum TQ lockup rpm.

Here is how I tune tranny functions. Take baby steps. Like.. change one thing at a time and go test. It's slow and tedious. But it works.
What I ended up with was leaving *all* down shifts and TQ unlocks stock.
Up shift speeds, slip times, pressures, and TQ lockups were set by changing one gear at a time.

When I'd try to change several things at a time I found odd stuff happening. I actually went back to stock and started over TWICE because of it.



I had 100% success by changing commanded timing *and* max allowable timing charts. 26-27 @ WOT on 93 octane made good power and no detonation.

Rich