TRAINERBOY

My truck is a 2011 Screw FX4, Ecoboost.
I bought the SCT tuner with 3 custom Mikes 5star tunes. I got the 91 octane performance, 87 perf/tow, & the 87 economy tune.
I had already been running 91 octane so when I got the tune I installed the 91 performance tune. On the initial test drive after installing the tune I drove normal (like I would if my wife was with me) through a few neighborhood streets. It drove and shifted great in every way. I easily notice the shift pattern and throttle response improvement. However, I pulled out onto the highway and tried to push it up to highway speed a little quicker than normal (I was chomping at the bit). From first to second everything was fine. When I hit second gear the power fluttered a little bit so I let off the throttle and eased up to 55. I didn't like the flutter so I decided to experiment. From a dead stop I stomped the hell out of it to see what she would do. NOT GOOD!!! From first to second it ran like a bat out of hell. It took off so hard I couldn't believe what was happening. Then I hit second gear. It shifted so hard I literally thought I just got rear-ended by a big rig. It wasn't one of those kick butt hard shifts, it was one of those HOLY CRAP I just dropped my transmission on the highway kind of shifts. Right after that HARD shift the check engine light came on flashing and it went into "limp" mode. The whole truck started shaking so hard it felt like all 4 tires were fixing to fall off. If I completely let off the throttle it stopped shaking so I coasted to the side of the road. I shut off the motor and restarted it, check engine light went off and it ran fine (if I drove like a 90 year old man).
NEXT DAY...
I called Mike and he said try running the 87 perf/tow tune. He didn't have any ideas of what could be wrong and just told me to try the other tunes. I wasn't impressed with that at all. I expected a little more Q&A from him or maybe emailing me another 91 perf tune (I thought maybe something is wrong with mine), nope--just try another tune.
Okaaaay, I'll try it. Not happy but I'll try it.
So went outside and downloaded the 87 perf/tow tune.
***EXACT same issues as the 91 perf only tune but a little milder.
So I downloaded the 87 economy tune.
***EXACT same issues as the 87 perf/tow tune.

After reading a bunch of posts I learned some guys were having problems with coil packs going bad. I read that if you have weak points anywhere in the ignition system the tune will magnify them making them noticeable. I checked the codes and it showed cylinder 6 misfire but nothing about that horrendous shift it had. I put the truck back to stock, put some miles on it then took it to the dealership to have them test the coils. I’m sure everyone knows the outcome of that trip… “Didn’t show any codes and could not duplicate the problem”.

Before anyone asks. YES, I did put well over 100 miles on it before giving up and posting this request for advice/help. The 100 mile or 10 drive cycles trick did nothing to resolve these issues.

Does anybody out there have a clue what could be causing this?

Thanks in advance

lewis26

iTrader: (1)

Why not call Mike back and explain that the tunes are both doing it so he can fix it? The try another tune is exactly the step I woulda taken to rule out a single bad tune.

Mike and 5star have a great reputation on here and I have no doubt he will help get your issues sorted. Offer to do some data logging for him so he can see what is going on with your truck.

Old Smoky

Well, if it ran fine before, then I'm going to have to go out on a limb here and say the tune

TRAINERBOY

I tried all 3 tunes. Same results with all 3. I asked him point blank if trying the other tunes is my only option and he said yes. He never mentioned me doing any data logging. I may have just cought him on a busy day and he didn't have time to mess with me. I have tried to call about 5 or 6 times in the past week and can't get an answer, just the machine. Left 2 messages with no return call.

Truck owner

Did you replicate the same driving conditions w/o Tune and program back to stock and did it do the same thing or did it run normal?

wasinger3000

Wow. Sorry to hear about the problems. Well I guess the only thing you can do is either wait for a response to fix the issue or just run the stock tune and find a new tune shop that uses the same flash device and use their custom tune to see if you have the same problem. It will cost you more.... But what can you do.

mrpositraction

Could try switching the coil pack from cylinder 6 to another cylinder and see if the mis-fire follows the coil pack. If it does, there you go, get another coil pack.

lewis26

iTrader: (1)

Might want to check your spark plug gaps too

f150man3.5

My 5star tunes shift the same also. I did not want to share anything till i ran all the tunes and see what needs to be changed.
Throttle tip in, part throttle and cruising, shifting over stock vastly improved.
87p/t hard a hard 3rd gear change...to hard for my liking
91p does everything better than stock in every day driving.
91p has a nasty 3gear change...thought the tranny dropped out of my truck. Here is a quick vid merging onto freeway. Is this normal? All my buddies love it.http:// Reloaded 87p/t and in the options changes the wot shift to -3mph and wot shift pressure -15%. Helped a bit, still to hard for my liking.
I will say the more i drive it tuned the better the trans has been shifting.
I am due for some service. So i will wait and see if dealer flashes truck(will reload stock file) and then reload tunes and see if that helps the 3rs gear wot shifts.
I wanted to drive all the tunes, and see what was what. And call and share, change any issues with tunes.
I did not want to share this with the message board right now, cause i believe i should contact and share my findings with 5star first.
To the Op. Maybe the tunes are bringing out an underlying issue with your truck. If it is running fine not tuned...no misfires...i would raise a stink with 5star. Make sure there are no issues with your truck

TheWhiteBeast

make sure you return it to stock tune before you take it in because if they do flash it, it will brick your handheld.