Anyone know anything about removing the dpf? I'm looking at a spartan tuner with dpf removal pipe. I've heard there are incredible mpg gains and horsepower gains but I don't want to do anything that will damage my truck. Also I've heard it may void the warantee but is undetectable when turned back to stock. I'm not worried about EPA stuff, I'm just sick of poor mpg's and constant regeneration. Any info would be appreciated.

 

I have the Spartan tuner and removed my DPF and I would highly recommend Flo Pro exhaust. I know there are others out there and opinions vary but I used Flo Pro and am very happy with them. As for the removal it is fairly straight forward, I did the entire exhaust from the down pipe back so I can't comment on how it is to just remove the DPF. Only thing I recommend is dropping the entire exhaust with hangers as well when you take it out. There are 3 small bolts holding each hanger on and you'll save some grief if you drop it all on in piece and then fight with them on the ground. Then simply hang them on the new exhaust and lift it into place and rebolt them to the frame. One other thing to recommend is to buy a new Exhaust sensor (the one that sits in the DPF) before you take the exhaust off. Lots of people break them trying to take them out and I just barely got mine out and actually thought it was going to break but got lucky. The others come out fairly easy but the one in the DPF is a real Pain in the A**.
As for warranty I wouldn't count on that after you do the mods. Lots of guys will claim that you can put the truck back to stock and no one can tell but I am unsure as to how true those claims are. I think they go case by case and if Ford is really suspicious and takes the time to really look into it then I think you'll be out of luck. But that is the chance that we take when we do things like that to a new truck on warranty.
If you are doing this all simply for MPG gains then realize that your mileage will only drastically improve if you drive it nice. I have only seen a 2-3MPG gain on mine but I drive it like I stole it and enjoy laying down beats too much to care about MPG. I thought I'd get better with time but it's just TOO much fun, haha. On the other hand if I'm not in a rush to get somewhere and drive it nice (and have the wife in the truck) I can see the MPG gains go up to around 7-8MPG better than stock. This again seems to depend on the truck and some guys do better or worse than others. Absolute best I have seen thus far was right around 20 MPG on a tank that I burned and tried to keep my speed around 110 km/hr, and that's hand calculated cause my computer was saying around 28MPG. Average on the highway at the speeds I normally drive is around 15-16MPG. The power seems to be the only consistant thing with all the trucks and believe me when I say you'll be impressed with that. All in all I am extremely happy with how Spartan changed my truck and I haven't had a single problem with it in over 25,000km's of tuned driving.
There are also lots of other guys on here that have gone with Spartan and I'm sure some of them will answer with their opinions and advice as well.
Good Luck

 

Brandon D, do you see an increase in smoke from the tailpipe?

 

brandon D
I was considering doing the cat and dpf but someone told me it is much harder to turn back to stock if you remove both. How does your truck sound? Do you have a muffler or just straight? Do you ever have any problems with service engine lights or anything of that sort? Does the spartan stop the truck from regenerating completely? Thanks alot, and if there is anyone else with any knowledge of this please chime in.

 

I have just ordered a 6.4. Very rare here in Australia. The DPF is not required here so it would not be illegal to take it off.The dealer I'm getting the truck from tells me my EGT's will go through the roof if I take it off. Anyone got any experience on this? What sort of cost is involved and how do I do it? I'm used to a very reliable 97 7.3 so this technolagy is a bit new to me.

 

I don't know if this has been mentioned on another post. I read where owners are taking these parts off to do the mods, but then say if they have to take it in for maintenance/repairs, they change it back to stock so the dealer doesn't know.

What if you are on the road for work or vacation out of state and something goes wrong with the truck. Are you gonna have your tools, crawl under the truck on the side of the road and change things back to stock before you call the tow truck to haul you to a dealer for repairs??

What are you gonna tell that emergency repair FORD dealer who finds your mods and decides to void your warranty right then?? Just my opinion.

 

just wanted to add to brandons post. and answer others. the truck is not any harder to return to stock whether u do dpf or dpf and cat. no engines lights with spartan tuning. you willl see some smoke out of the tailpipe with the dpf off. not a whole lot if u keep ur foot out of it. if u take ur dpf off your egts will drop not skyrocket. but u need the proper tuning for it (spartan, sct) truck sounds like a giant hairdrier without muffler. spartan turns off rengeration completley yess. and the 210hp and about tunes turn off the egr system but does cycle it at idle. any other questions im glad to help. oo another thing i have a manual tranny and the stock clutch wont hold completly in 6th gear on the 150. so if u have the manual and want the big tunes without ur clutch taking a **** . drop in a dual disc. otherwise the automatics seem to be holding up great

 

Thanks case_7010 for the info. I'm not too worried about the whole warrantee thing. All the miles I put on my truck are close to home, and I have had no problems at all except for with the dpf. Everything I've read about Spartan has been good, and I like the fact that they specialize in this. Probably will go that route, and if I'm taking off the dpf, I might as well do the cat too.

 

I've taken off both the dpf and cat. No reason not to. Your egt's should go down. Towing perf is dramatically increased. Everyone on this site will cry as I tell you to consider anything but spartan. They think they're the best, but they don't do it for everyone. Service after the sale is terrible to say the least. Try a Livewire or banks, or superchips. The mpg claims by spartan a false.

 

To be politically correct I should say I've found them to not be true.

 

Ray - I sent you an email, as you do not have your pm's set up. Let me know if you don't receive it.

 

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Well I'll try to answer as much as I can here. The truck will puke out black smoke if you put the pedal to the floor boards. Especially from a boosted launch. I've filled more than a few cars with it off the line at stop lights as they sit there with their window down and think they are going to beat me off the line.
As I said warranty will most likely be voided if Ford investigates it and those that think it won't should give their head a shake. I don't care if you are 10min from home or 1000miles, it's going to be a pain in the A** either way and as I said "that is the chance that you take". And it's about an extra 5min of work to take both off and put both back on so who ever said it's way harder to do both is full of it. I am running the muffler that came with my after market exhaust, truck does sound like a giant hair dryer but you will not notice a difference on the highway, except for maybe being able to hear the turbos wind up a bit more. Not a single engine code or problem in 25,000km's of Spartan tuned driving.
As for brandon4's post you should do some searching and look into why he is so bitter. He tried to return a DPF delete pipe to Spartan after 9 or so months simply because he changed his mind about using it. The guy is smoking some serious crack if he thinks he deserved any chance of returning anything after that long and for that reason. He has whined and complained in several other posts and the site moderators have basically told him to quit crying but he won't give up.
So I will once again go on record and say that Spartan have been great to deal with (for those of us with brains) and the MPG claims do have some variance but you'll see that with most tuners for these trucks. Some trucks love the tunes and some will only see mild gains. I beleive most of this has to do with how guys are driving them and the lift height/size of tires, etc that guys are running. Bottom line is this: You asked for my opinion and I am happy and would do it again in a heartbeat. Do what works best for you and try to ignore the cry babies,
Cheers,
B

 

Its all interesting and new to me. A bit different to shimming the fuel regulator and a 45 hp Banks chip on my 7.3. I will need to pick up my truck in a few weeks after it has the steering wheel put on the "correct" sideThen its a 2000 mile or so drive home and after that I should have some idea on fuel economy and power.
The truck will be used for towing a trailer in my onsite line boring business and also towing a 22 foot caravan for leisure. I intend doing a round Australia trip with it hopefully next year. I still have to clarify warranty issues as I cannot purchase the truck from Ford as they no longer import them but from a company who imports and converts them. The last one I bought I was able to service it myself and do any work necessary and keep the warranty so hopefully this one will be the same.
I'm looking forward to keeping in touch with you blokes and picking your brains on how to get the best out of these trucks

 

Ray - Brandon4 is still pissed after trying to return something to Spartan that he kept for months. Doesn't matter how many months, lets just say months. Spartan like others will not take a return without authorization, and especially after you kept the product for a long time. Their return policy is even posted on their web site. If you try to take your vehicle back to Ford after you had it for a while and tell them that you just don't want it any more then guess what, your are stuck with it. And, as far as warranty work, just get on some of the other forums and have them tell you about warranty work after they have used a tuner. I know of no one that has had a problem to date. Do your homework, and do it well. Don't make a decision on my recommendation, or any other single person. There are a lot of others that will tell you about Spartan, and warranty work that are completely happy..

What a crock of crap!!!! Brandon4, get a life. Your still acting like a little brat that can't get his way........ So now your just going to pout about it the rest of your life. Pitiful, just Pitiful!!!!!!!!!!
"Everyone on this site will cry as I tell you to consider anything but spartan. They think they're the best, but they don't do it for everyone. Service after the sale is terrible to say the least. Try a Livewire or banks, or superchips. The mpg claims by spartan a false."

 

just to add to mick1955's comment. Over the past week I have been doing a TON of research on this topic and spartan in particular. I will research something to death before spending my money. I have found nothing negative at all about spartan, and have actually been impressed by what I have found out. I am positively convinced that spartan is the setup I will be purchasing shortly, and after I do I will let you know how it works for me.