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Hey guys,
I have used this forum for help on my '97 F350 with great success, so now I am hoping someone can help me with a 2008 Expy I just bought.
1. Water dripping down from inside both top corners of the windshield in a heavy rain. I heard tale of clogged roof drains, but I cannot seem to locate them. I do not have a sunroof. I would like to fix this before it turns into an electrical problem. Can you just blow these out and if so where is the top opening?
2. The paint is bubbling on the front edge dead center of the hood and dead center bottom edge of the back hatch. I heard tale of a recall of sorts that only covered this up to the 2007 model, is this true or is the 2008 covered also?
3. Will a bully dog tuner net me any real mpg gains (2 to 4 miles) or should I go the TBS and K&N route or do they net the same. Or am I just stuck with 13.5mpg in town?
This truck is the wife's grocery getter so I would like to avoid opening the intake up with the K&N because of the extra noise and I really need the leak issue resolved quickly as its comin on rainy season here. Any help you guys can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks --Ken
__________________
Passin everything but the gas station
'97 Ford F350 4WD 460
'96 Ford F150 2WD 302
'99 Ford Mustang Convertible
Hey guys,
I have used this forum for help on my '97 F350 with great success, so now I am hoping someone can help me with a 2008 Expy I just bought.
1. Water dripping down from inside both top corners of the windshield in a heavy rain. I heard tale of clogged roof drains, but I cannot seem to locate them. I do not have a sunroof. I would like to fix this before it turns into an electrical problem. Can you just blow these out and if so where is the top opening?
2. The paint is bubbling on the front edge dead center of the hood and dead center bottom edge of the back hatch. I heard tale of a recall of sorts that only covered this up to the 2007 model, is this true or is the 2008 covered also?
3. Will a bully dog tuner net me any real mpg gains (2 to 4 miles) or should I go the TBS and K&N route or do they net the same. Or am I just stuck with 13.5mpg in town?
This truck is the wife's grocery getter so I would like to avoid opening the intake up with the K&N because of the extra noise and I really need the leak issue resolved quickly as its comin on rainy season here. Any help you guys can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks --Ken
Hey Ken,
While I am unable to help you with 1 & 2. I can lend some advice/experience on #3.
A TBS won't net you any gains, and a K&N intake is likely to only make noise without the addition of a new Mass Air Flow sensor to account for the additional air you're attempting to cram down its throat. FWIW, the stock intake does flow pretty damn well.
I would look past BullyDog, SuperChips, etc and look strictly/only/exclusively at custom tunes from 5 Star Tuning or Power Hungry Performance (PHP). As for mileage gains. Neither company gaurantees that you will see gains, but the changes they make to HP and Torque numbers, a new torque converter lockup schedule, and your driving patterns are likely to net you some gain. My first tank with Mike Butler's tunes netted me about 1.5-2mpg gain in town. It is my personal opinion that the claims of 2-4mpg from "canned tunes" is highly exagerated. That'd be a 15-30% increase...I just don't see that happening.
Here's the differences between the two tuning companies.
5 Star:
Mike uses the products from SCT. The X3 is a plug-in, download, and remove. The Livewire is a bit more, but remains plugged and gives data feedback etc.
I just had Mike build me custom tunes for my 06 SCrew and I'm overly pleased with the service and the product. He really woke up the engine on just an 87 octane Performance tune. Oh...from order to delivery of tunes was just 3 days. 5 Star Tuning | Custom Dynomemeter Chassis Tuning Products and Services -- Mike is also a sponsor here.
PHP:
They convert the Edge line of tuners into Gryphon. Great company with LONGGGGG custom tune times. As much as 12 weeks out. Power Hungry Performance - About Us
You cannot go wrong with custom tunes from either operation...but my vote is for Mike Butler. Good guy, very responsive, and willing to answer all kinds of questions.
Enjoy!
__________________ Chandler Official Slackmaster #24
There are no drain holes. The windsheild seal is bad and needs to be replaced. The paint bubbling is a known issue. There are TSB's out there dealing with peeling paint on aluminum body panels-both hood and hatch are aluminum. It has to deal with the proper preparation before painting. Only way to fix is to repaint the entire panel.
It's not for the 08 Expy, but it applies. Search for TSB 07-2-09
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