I picked up my 2011 6.2L crew cab F-250 last thursday the 9th and have since put 120 miles on it. I like the features of the new truck but I am less than impressed with the 6.2L with the 4.30 gears. I just thought there would be much more power than my previous 5.4L F-150 and 3.73's. The 5.4 was doggy at the get go but would get haulin a#$ at about 35mph and 3200 RPM's-- kinda like the 1978 302 F-150 I had. The new 6.2 has some umph at the start but when it gets rolling about 35mph, I put the throttle at approx. 2/3 and, yeah the speed increases, but it is nothing note worthy. It sucks that I got the truck at the same exact time that mother nature decided to blast MI with single digit temps and sub-zero wind-chills so it has been idleing a little more than I like to idle a new engine but I gotta warm her up a bit. I have even been plugging in the block heater to help speed up the process of warmin up.

I am just wondering if anybody knows if Ford kinda "detunes" it for the first couple hundred or 1000 miles? I know it says 1000 mile break-in and don't get me wrong I'm not abusing it but I have always used the advice of a engine builder friend of mine who says to break it in how you plan to use it especially with the computer having to learn how you will drive. Towing 10k this summer will definitely find the throttle at 2/3 pedal. Any one else experience this at low milage? Does it "perk up" once the computer "learns"
or odometer gets past a certain point? Thanks for any input you may have.

 

I just bought a 6.2 also. Apparently you don't get a full WOT until the engine is above 3700ish RPMs, perhaps that's what you're noticing. Check out 5 Star Tuning, they sell a tuner that wakes it up and overrides that stock setting. I plan on tuning once mine is broken in a bit. Good luck and contrats on the new ride.

 

There is no magical wake up tune after x amount of time. Truck might not feel as doggy after the break in miles. Most of the doggy is in calibration from factory like your 5.4L was.... The 6.2L either in stock form or tuned will tow 10k lb just fine.

 

It takes a while to get used to, but I will say that it pulls hard from 4-4500 up to redline. The snappiness at highway speeds surprised me. From a dead stop with moderate throttle it doesn't motivate too quickly I agree however.

...but I didn't buy a 7200# truck to race with either.

 

I bought it to race it man!! Ever see those figure eight races with the trailers in tow and they bash into eachother and their trailers as they go through the intersection? That's what I bought a $50K truck for. Just messin'. No , I wouldn't call it "racin" but rather torque-iness. I guess I think of the 6.2L as a big block and you just aren't suppose to wrap those big blocks that high- 5000RPM's is screamin! Oh, and I had my first experience leaving work today for lunch with the "dead fish" as I like to call it with the tranny. I pulled out of the drive, got going a bit, then pushed on the gas pedal prolly to about a little higher than normal acceleration, and it just cuts out. No more forward momentum,no high rev, engine is running fine just like it "popped" out of gear without the high rev part. When I let off the wee pedal, it did nothing for prolly 2 secs then went "clunk" into 4th. I know there is a forum for this but thought I would mention it here. Hoping Mike's tune takes care of this. I'm sure it is a computer issue. I will get a tuner after break-in. What #'s do you need Mike? I think the ones on the firewall are FZK3 or something like that. Is that what you need?

 

I know what you mean on the torqueness... you step into throttle and you want the truck to move... Cant blame you there, i am same way. Your correct PCM code on passenger side firewall is most important info we need.

 

How many miles do you recommend before a tune is put in? Does it have to be "broke in" first?

 

Doesn't really matter when you put a tune on it... 500-1000 miles is fine but no really set number.

 

I had the same feeling as you OP, I got a tuner from Mike...and to say it is day/night difference would be an understatement! Tip in is amazing now, and response in general is much better.

 

What's you mileage in economy mode with the tuner? [if you ever run there]

 

I have only 3 tanks with the performance mode. I am switching to economy mode next tank, so I will know in a week or two after a few tanks.

 

Thanks and looking forward to your results report.

 

So am I. Give as much detail as you can.

 

Well, blah is about the best I could describe the economy mode. After driving the performance tow mode for just the month or so that I did...it was literally unbearable to drive the economy mode again. I lasted 60 miles, pulled over and switched it back.
As for the actual results..

I set the tune for economy, reset the fuel mileage lie-o-meter, and off we went. MPG at 50mph was fantastic, 16mpg or so for about 10 miles. Got on the highway for 20 miles, averaged 15 mpg at 65 mph. Reset for in-town driving. MPG was about 11.5-12.5 for 35 mph and stop and go. Back on the highway at 70 mph, reset again, averaged 13.5-14 MPG. Then I pulled over and switched it back because it was like trying to drive a nutless wonder...it's no wonder I hated the stock shift and fuel strategies-they SUCK. If you gain nothing from reading this but one thing, know this, the truck in stock form is a limp piece of crap compared to running it with a tune from Mike at 5-star. There is only one thing I would change about Mikes performance tune-I want it to shift into 6th gear at 50-51 mph, it currently will not shift until 56-57mph, and that means it hardly ever hits 6th gear unless I am on the highway. I am more than willing to forgo the gas mileage to run the vehicle in the performance mode. Hope this helps, feel free to ask more specific questions if you have them.

 

I'm planning on pulling the trigger on the SCT tuner from 5 star shortly. Not so sure about the intake though. There is a nice pkg deal that 5 Star offers for the both which makes it somewhat compelling, but not sure I want the intake unless it dramatically improves the performance, I should note that I intend to leave the stock exhaust.

Any feedback or real world experience of the tuner with the intake would be appreciated.

Thanks.