xtreme747

So have had the kit on for about 6 months - 5000km . Truck ran ok but was looking for a little more power so I ordered a custom tune from reputable tuner . Installed AFR gauge to be careful not to get a leaned out tune . Put in the tune and the truck was so much more powerful and gave me the power I was looking for with the charger . After a bit and checking AFRs and watching all gauges it seemed to be fine . On my second throttle pull it put a rod through the side of the block .


Tuner says it is a safe tune ... I contacted them and they reviewed it and said it was a nice safe tune and many people are running them .


The truck gained a lot of power .... seemed like at least 50 RWHP . I have talked to one other running tune with no problems . Supposedly these trucks will take 400 RWHP but it appears mine could not . Yes maybe there was a weak point in my truck but it lasted for months with the other program .


The tuner is sending me another tune even safer ... somewhere in the middle . Engine is in the process of going in . Really do not want the stock tune ... it over fuels so much but it did last .


Here are my options :
-Try safer tune and see how it performs
-Sell charger and put back to stock
-take it to dyno tuner 3 hours from here who I do not know much about and diagnose the two tunes and if it turns out safe assume I just had bad luck .


Would like to think it was just bad luck but going to be out 4000.00 $ . I did get the engine hot a couple of months ago when I was stuck in the snow but had no ill effects up until the tune . ( it was in the red )


Would like to hear from anybody who has experience with this type of thing or anybody with helpful opinions .


Truck is a 2009 5.4L

needparts

Who is the tunner?

xtreme747

One of the bigger ones . We are working through it . Do not want to slam them on here as they felt bad and were going to refund me but I opted for a different tune .

bnorth

Get it dyno tuned.

Viking1204

If they really felt bad they'd be helping you get your truck fixed. Stories like this are what's making it hard for me to even think about adding a tune. If I knew your tuner I would most likely avoid them when I did go get a tune so sucks that you aren't letting us know who it is.

tyguy88

Obviously every tuner can't be liable for **** that happens, sometimes things just let go and whether it was just that motors time or it was their fault who knows. Either way they did refund him the money and are willing to make a safer tune for him. Being 12 hrs away there is only so much a tuner can do for ya. I have there tune and beat up on mine several times. These guys tune these trucks all the time, more than likely I'd say it was just a weak motor and the extra power found the weak link. Either way, this is the risk everyone should assume when making 200 more hp than what it came with factory. Granted people will tell you their guess threshold limit of a certain motor, it's just a guess! Any time you put more power to somthing, your harder on parts, end of story. Whether it's built to handle it or not the extra stress is there, and when the extra stress is there, the risk goes up. Perhaps that's why we see all these 4 banger gas saver run 300k miles without a hitch.
This is just my opinion, mine may blow up tomorrow, who knows? It's the risk I assume but hope I don't have to deal with. I'm sorry for the loss and I can understand your frustration!
In my opinion if you really want to keep the power, you already invested 6k in a blower that you won't get your money back out of, slap it back on and get it dynoed tuned extra conservative from a reputable tuner. Even if you have to drive a good distance. You have too much money invested to cheap out at this point if your serious about putting it back like it was.
good luck!

Blackpony

The tune will not cause it to chunk rods out of the block unless there was a **** ton of detonation which i highly doubt as the pistons would have failed first. I would say that it was terrible luck for you and the engine just could not hold the added power. I would reinstall the blower, if you trust the tuner, then have then send you a very conservative tune, take a couple of logs and send them back so they can make changes accordingly. It sounds like you did not get the chance to do that before..

I have personally seen almost 100 rwhp gain on certain vehicles with a custom tune vs the tune that came with a procharger kit I installed. Those tunes are designed to be as safe as possible but also giving a nice power increase.

Good luck with the future setup!

xtreme747

The funny thing is is that they did not even suggest that I do data logging after the tune . They said just run it and if there are any problems then call them . I guess because they did not expect them .

One of two things happened - bad tune and exploded engine or engine could not handle the extra power . Mechanic said multiple cylinder damage not just one but maybe that could happen because one cylinder started the problem ?

My truck and I are going to be like making up with a cheating girlfriend .... gonna be a while before I can trust her Maybe after the sting dies down I will work on a custom tune .

If it would have lasted a month even I would be more confident ... I mean it did not make one pass ... and yes maybe it could not handle the extra power but it handled almost 500 HP ( crank ) for 6 months . The only way to test whether it is tune or previous problem is to try the tune again with data logging but not sure at this point I am willing to try it.... after truck is running again who knows . They are building me a custom tune or refunding my money . Not sure yet which is happening because I asked for the tune then changed my mind and asked for the refund and have not heard back .

One thing is certain in my mind is that it would be running had I left it alone and not tried to add the extra . But when you are always searching for more power then you can't cry when things like these happen . I have always felt that all members should get the chance to read about the good experiences and the bad experiences with these things though ( S/C and custom tuning )

elfiero

Remember: Ford puts the best fuel mapping in their vehicles that they feel comfortable with. It's not a "guessing game" with some engines being "stronger" than others. I have no sympathy for the guys that wreck stuff screwing around with programming.

xtreme747

Not looking for your sympathy ... asked for opinions . As I stated - when you go looking for HP you have to pay the bill sometimes so this is a useless post .