So my '01 E350 has been fine but tonight when I went to start it I didn't get a WTS light and the SES light was on aaaaannnd there was a weird number on my PHP Hydra that looked like r5 ? This happened a few times back to back so I tried starting it and it just cranked and cranked. Wtf? So I started pushing the button on the chip and all of the sudden I got the WTS light and the hydra flashed, now the chip was on tune 10 instead of 5 where it was when I parked it. I should also note that during these episodes there was a fairly loud clicking/clunking sound coming from the drivers front under the hood when I toggle the key on.. Sounds like maybe a relay? Louder than I recall ever hearing. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated because I'm fixing to take this bad boy way out in the snowy mountains and don't wanna have a Donner situation.

 

More than likely your Hydra was in n5 which stands for NS or No Start which is anti-theft. No Start generally occupies the top numerical position on the chip.

As to how it got there without human input...any signs that someone tried to steal your truck?

If it happens again, turn the ignition to the on position, it will have to be there for you to see the display, push the down button to the number where a known good tune resides, wait a few seconds until you see the number flash. Then turn the ignition key off. Then turn the ignition key on and the engine should start.

Also, with the key off and out of the ignition, make sure the Hydra is making a good tight connection at the PCM.

 

A bad connection to the PCM will give every symptom except the code on the display, in my isolated experience with a connection-caused no-start.

 

You know it's funny (or not so funny) we have had a string of Powerstrokes being stolen around town the last few weeks so I've been diligent about putting my OBS on no start but honestly thought I had forgot to add a no start tune to my '01 when I installed the chip. Good to know that there is an automatically loaded no start already on the chip. There was no way I moved the numbers up to the no start tune. It was pretty late when this all went down so I'll have to look the truck over this morning and see if there's any sign of foul play. I am also going to try and re-create the scenario by putting the chip on the setting you mentioned and see if that's what I was experiencing. The weird part is that the hydra in my OBS only displays the tune number where the NS is installed and not NS (what I thought to be r5 or RS).

 

You know it's funny (or not so funny) we have had a string of Powerstrokes being stolen around town the last few weeks so I've been diligent about putting my OBS on no start but honestly thought I had forgot to add a no start tune to my '01 when I installed the chip. Good to know that there is an automatically loaded no start already on the chip. There was no way I moved the numbers up to the no start tune. It was pretty late when this all went down so I'll have to look the truck over this morning and see if there's any sign of foul play. I am also going to try and re-create the scenario by putting the chip on the setting you mentioned and see if that's what I was experiencing. The weird part is that the hydra in my OBS only displays the tune number where the NS is installed and not NS (what I thought to be r5 or RS).

 

So I confirmed that is indeed what happened. I think someone must've been tampering with it because there's no conceivable way it happened without someone messing around with it. No apparent damage to the truck, I've been blocking my '01 in the driveway with other trucks so it's harder to steal should someone want to.. Better keep up that habit.