Tsb 11-07-07

[RazorbackMustang]

Because I'm still fearful my stock engine could blow #8 and even just a trans reprogramming would show up as a flashed PCM.

I can also understand the fear of a "trans only" tune causing issues, but I would not sit in fear of a looming engine failure. I still haven't seen any report of a factory calibrated engine having a failure. Personally I have 8600 miles on mine without a single problem. I have absolutely no worries and I honestly don't think any right minded company would release an engine with such a fatal design flaw. Remember, the manufacturers put the engines through an extremely thorough battery of tests before going into production. The caveat being that these tests are performed with factory calibrations.

The engines are plenty stout, but anything can be broken through abuse. And detonation due to a poorly matched tune is a form of abuse. Intentional? Of course not! But abuse nonetheless.

 

[KJGT]

Because I'm still fearful my stock engine could blow #8 and even just a trans reprogramming would show up as a flashed PCM.

I dont think the dealer can really tell if the car was tuned if it was flashed back to stock after the OBD readiness tests have been finished. If they could they could just pull a flash history and check the CRCs like GM does before they even take a wrench to car thats popular to mod with engine/trans issues. Its possible someone at Ford can obtain the info from a PCM thogh, but I dont think they can at the dealer level.

Most guys with #8 issues were still drivable, if you lock the engine up and it has tune it in you are kinda screwed though.

I'm not advocating warranty fraud, just pointing out that I dont think Ford can tell if the car was tuned if it was returned to stock and driven for a while. If you drive in there with no compression on #8, headers, boss intake and a stock tune and expect Ford to give you a free engine I wouldnt count on that happening though.

 

[19COBRA93]

I'll bet moving forward starting with the 2013's Ford will have something in the PCM that records or monitors reflashes like the diesels do. Ford's not new to this, they've been dealing with it for years with the diesel guys. You alter a diesel PCM, Ford will know.

 

[KJGT]

I can also understand the fear of a "trans only" tune causing issues, but I would not sit in fear of a looming engine failure. I still haven't seen any report of a factory calibrated engine having a failure. Personally I have 8600 miles on mine without a single problem. I have absolutely no worries and I honestly don't think any right minded company would release an engine with such a fatal design flaw. Remember, the manufacturers put the engines through an extremely thorough battery of tests before going into production. The caveat being that these tests are performed with factory calibrations.

The engines are plenty stout, but anything can be broken through abuse. And detonation due to a poorly matched tune is a form of abuse. Intentional? Of course not! But abuse nonetheless.

Its possible there is a problem with hardware or calibration, but even if there was Ford has no obligation to fix a modded car.

Yes they are well tested, but with parts and engineering coming from all parts of the world sometimes you have a problem when you put them all together in the hands of the end user.

Adding 1hp can be considered abuse Obviously the engines can handle the power, I see that every day when I drive mine, but you can only do so many things to increase the power with just a tune. And with an 11:1 compression engine it doesnt take much to beat up the pistons on pump gas.

 

[KJGT]

I'll bet moving forward starting with the 2013's Ford will have something in the PCM that records or monitors reflashes like the diesels do. Ford's not new to this, they've been dealing with it for years with the diesel guys. You alter a diesel PCM, Ford will know.

GM has been doing it since 2007.5, started with the diesels but filtered down to cobalts, corvettes and camaros. I dont blame them, or Ford, one bit for doing so, even though it wont be popular with tuners I bet..

 

[Bmr4life]

Any tuner would make you a trans only tune I would think, I agree that stock an auto cars 'feels' like a slug but the dragstrip tells a different story. You can also just do a mild 91 tune from a reputable tuner and run 93, should be safe. Most tuners have backed off from their original tuning to be safe after all this anyways I'm sure.

Before I did the blower I had four different 93 NA tunes from four different tuners. The main thing I noticed was changing the response of the throttle pedal and higher RPM shift points. SOTP power-wise I didnt notice much. Trans shifting/downshifting was improved quite a bit as well. BUT, after a while if you drive it easy the trans adapts and it isnt much different than stock except for higher RPM shift points.

Good plan on waiting a little bit, as much as the aftermarket tunes 'woke up' my car from stock it would not be enough to blow my warranty over. I would make sure there is no strange noises or maybe even do a quick compression test or dyno pull to make sure the engine is healthy before loading a tune.

I was planning on getting that Aeroforce Interceptor gauge so I could monitor my AF since running lean seems to be a cause to #8 issues.

 

[KJGT]

I was planning on getting that Aeroforce Interceptor gauge so I could monitor my AF since running lean seems to be a cause to #8 issues.

These cars use wideband O2s with wide open throttle feedback, whatever the the tune is set at is what the a/f should be. You can log the widebands with the SCT tuner and a laptop too.

Its possible to screw up on the a/f on the tune, but I think more of the issues are cause by way too much timing and fooling with the knock sensors.

 

[topbliss]

I did not such a TSB on the 4.6 3v motor.. Whats that tell ya??

 

[Bmr4life]

I did not such a TSB on the 4.6 3v motor.. Whats that tell ya??

That Ford is tired of fixing modded mustangs.

 

[KJGT]

I did not such a TSB on the 4.6 3v motor.. Whats that tell ya??

It tells you that 3Vs didnt make enough power NA with just a tune to hurt themselves lol.

 

[Bmr4life]

It tells you that 3Vs didnt make enough power NA with just a tune to hurt themselves lol.

That too. ~82hp/liter versus ~68hp/liter

I've never thought about this before now though. 4.6 would have to make ~379HP NA to match HP/Liter. That's costly. Ford really did do a great job with the 5.0. To bad great is never good enough, lol.

 

[tbi0904]

true.. but I drive like shit.. haha

Me too.

 

[KJGT]

That too. ~82hp/liter versus ~68hp/liter

I've never thought about this before now though. 4.6 would have to make ~379HP NA to match HP/Liter. That's costly. Ford really did do a great job with the 5.0. To bad great is never good enough, lol.

4.6 3V in stock form is a very reliable engine, its been around for a long time. But you could add timing until it was pinging so bad it made 50hp LESS NA and it wouldnt blow up in 100K miles

OTOH, how many 100% stock long block supercharged 3V cars have ran nines without major weight reduction? I dont think any, but there are three 5.0 cars that have so far. Even though one lost oil pump gears thats till pretty impressive from a 'weak' 5.0

 

[Bryan]

If you read your owners manual, the manual suggests to use BP gasoline.

I have always bought my gas from the same BP station and the same pump for over 10 years., and never had a issue with my cars in the past using blowing up.

I suggest everyone who does run the 93 tune, to buy gas from a station with 3 separate hoses for gasoline, one hose and handle for EACH GRADE OF FUEL.

If the last guy who just filled up with 87 octane and you use the same hose to fill up with 93 octane, you just dumped over a gallon of 87 into your car.

I only suggest this because if your cars tune is set for 93, one gallon will cut the amount of octane drastically. I forget the ratio, but its not worth taking the risk of accidentally putting some 87 into the car.

HTH

 

[302]

If you read your owners manual, the manual suggests to use BP gasoline.

I have always bought my gas from the same BP station and the same pump for over 10 years., and never had a issue with my cars in the past using blowing up.

I suggest everyone who does run the 93 tune, to buy gas from a station with 3 separate hoses for gasoline, one hose and handle for EACH GRADE OF FUEL.

If the last guy who just filled up with 87 octane and you use the same hose to fill up with 93 octane, you just dumped over a gallon of 87 into your car.

I only suggest this because if your cars tune is set for 93, one gallon will cut the amount of octane drastically. I forget the ratio, but its not worth taking the risk of accidentally putting some 87 into the car.

HTH

This post does not seem accurate to me...

 

[BAKnBLK2010]

This post does not seem accurate to me...

You are correct, the guy above has no idea how a modern day single hose fuel dispenser works. And why Ford would endorse one brand of gasoline above all the others is beyond me.

 

[Synister500]

You are correct, the guy above has no idea how a modern day single hose fuel dispenser works. And why Ford would endorse one brand of gasoline above all the others is beyond me.

I'm sure BP paid heavily for that endorsement.

 

[Bryan]

You are correct, the guy above has no idea how a modern day single hose fuel dispenser works. And why Ford would endorse one brand of gasoline above all the others is beyond me.

Your kidding right? You a fill up expert or something?

Go fill up after someone and the hose still has what's left fromthe previous person.

Go read the owners manual, it states BP fuel is recommended

 

[s8v4o]

I'll bet moving forward starting with the 2013's Ford will have something in the PCM that records or monitors reflashes like the diesels do. Ford's not new to this, they've been dealing with it for years with the diesel guys. You alter a diesel PCM, Ford will know.

Seems like for the 5.0 and diesel a spare ECU might be the way to go??

 

[DarkTrak]

Seems like for the 5.0 and diesel a spare ECU might be the way to go??

Is that even a viable option? If so, I doubt that would make much of a difference if you lock the motor up. Either way if you lock it up and reflash the PCM or replace it, it is going to show 0 drive cycles right?