dcfluid

Just used the code off the sticker on the computer to order, no strategy there.
Got a reflash from dealer before tuner got here. It was KGCV2C6.

dcfluid

So I drove the family for a 4 hour trip today and swear I was getting better mileage than the trips I took daily a month ago.
I confirmed this on my test loop tonight. I just got 21.4 US mpg vs my previous best after multiple tries 18.6 mpg.
My 2011 very best result was 21.3 mpg.
I am happy with the 5 star tune. More power, better economy, and I'm sure city driving is going to show even better results from the driving impressions so far.
The tune let's me climb double lane hills in 6th that the strong 2011 could not get up without downshifting to fifth, and doing it easily. Impressive gains and looking forward to trailer towing in a week.
This had pretty much resolved any performance complaints I've had with the 2013. I hope towing in hot weather shows improvement as well.

dcfluid

Towing results!
I'm now getting the best ever fuel mileage as a result of the 5* tune. I've picked up a couple mpgs to just get a bit better than my 2011. Far better than the stock 2013 achieved. I don't have any mileage from towing with the latest stock strategy I received from my dealer just before my tunes arrived, however I had no indication economy was any different than the original programming.
The big difference now is power!
Everything I complained I was lacking compared to the 2011 is back plus a whole bunch more. Towing was a dream, the truck just putts along like it's barely working. Step on it and wow! She pulls hard!
Coolant temperatures were great, not much different than empty driving, however weather was cool, barely reaching 70f.
I will be towing in the Rockies in a few days and temps are forecast to be mid 90s. I will record and report how it does then.
I have no way to read temperature of intake air AFTER the CAC so I don't know what affect that is having and if I should put a Wagner CAC on. Judging by what the Ford tech was seeing during our diagnosistic ride I would put one on.
Does anyone know how to get that reading without too much trouble?

Link603

Guess I was bitching for no reason. Took my race car down to the dragstrip and decided to do some test and tune with the truck also. It ran 15.13@91mph, almost identical times to my fathers 2011 ecoboost. This seems to be the average for F150 ecoboost.
I used my fathers truck last year to tow my trailer and my truck still doesn't seem to have the torque his does. Maybe it's the way ford has programmed the throttle, I don't know? When I tow with mine going up some steep hills it would down shift to third gear were my fathers wouldn't. My trailer is a 20ft enclosed car hauler and weighs approximately 6800lbs. I was cruising around 107kph and my average mileage, over 700km round trip, was 23.7L/100km.
One thing I did notice using the torque app while towing was the throttle percentage never went above 53 even when the throttle was to the floor. On dragstrip it didn't go above 65percent. Is this the torque management controlling this?

lucky644

if I remember correctly, due to the issues in 2011 with water and the turbo and the shield and crap they later re-tuned things to help prevent it. A buddy of mine said he had a tsb done on his 2011 that reduced his power, we've raced and we are basically side by side.

Maybe the 2012+ were adjusted in this same manner?

rockhead11

Anybody in austin that I could see and feel how it runs?

dcfluid

Finally back from holidays and a 4000 kilometer towing trip. Lots of steep mountain driving, various weather, plenty of data logging.
Truck and trailer on scales 7500# each for 15000# combined.
I started the trip with the 5* 87p/t tune. I flashed partway thru to change the shift pressures on some gear shifting. Didn't like it so went back to default 87 p/t.
The tune absolutely embarrasses the stock programming. Way more bottom and mid torque making towing a breeze. Better tranny shift patterns and engine braking. Snappy, crisp performance. Maintained extra power on long uphill pulls in hot weather. Better mileage while towing and empty.
Pretty much solved my complaints of the 2013 towing sluggish and poor mileage vs my 2011 , but exceeding 2011 power levels very noticeably.
However....
All was well until my last 2000 kilometers. Oil consumption has become an issue. I consumed a full liter of Pennzoil Platinum synthetic in about a thousand kilometers of very steep up and down mountain passes through Banff and highway 3 thru the Kootenays. I returned to stock factory tune, plugs looked normal and gapped to 0.030 from 0.033, topped up oil and recorded level multiple times before my final leg home.
Unfortunately I have used almost half a liter of oil in only 620 km (400 miles) and this was during much easier driving conditions.
Now I'm wondering if the extra boost and power has created an oil use issue thru a failed seal, turbo, gasket etc. One possibility with all my extended mountain driving the long pulls up the mountain passes at higher than normal boost levels may be sucking oil out of the crankcase ventilation for the boost side at a higher vacuum level than stock. I also have a thought about long downhills that required engine braking in 2nd and 3rd gears for as much as 10 minutes at a time (high vacuum) perhaps contributing.
I pulled the two air ducts on the inlet side of the CAC and there was a lot of oil inside needing cleanup before reassembly.
Startup one morning after towing and I had a lot of blue (oil) smoke coming from the tailpipe for the first 30 seconds and puffed when blipping the throttle. Just like leaky valve guide seals would do in an older engine. This is what really got me concerned and stepped up my monitoring.
The tune makes more heat, power, boost, and stress than stock and that is recordable under towing on the data logging. But nothing really out of line with normal use.
Did I F something up with the tune and heavy towing, or is this something wrong with the truck from new thus helping to explain why it was a gas hog and dog compared to the 2011?
Empty I never noticed oil consumption. 50,000 kms on the 2011 and I never used a drop even with 14,000 of that towing.
Now I'm concerned....
Truck still runs great, not a beat missed. Other than feeling doggy and poor mileage because I'm stock again....
Any ideas anyone?

vozaday

I'm assuming you got the 5* warranty? If not leave it stock.

phantomblackgto

You might consider installing a clean side separator. I was getting quite a bit of blow back through the clean side into the driver turbo inlet. I think it's not the best design. The separator would capture all that oil and return it rather than let it get into the turbo. I'm not too sure the clean side isn't worse than the dirty side on these engines.

dcfluid

If I can figure out how to stop the oil from leaving the crankcase at such accelerated rate that would be helpful. However why I now have so much oil loss when I've had none to date, and never any loss on the 2011 for over 50,000 kms. 18,000 now on the 2013, only the last 2,000 of towing sucked oil.
May not be PCV issue at all. Turbo seal, head gasket, intake gasket,rings, valve guides .. The list goes on as to where the oil could be going.