I just bought a 99 powerstroke, the 83 yr old former owner said it had a chip or something under the dash, done by a towing place. I finally got a hold of the guy who installed it, he said he installed a program from HIS superchip programmer, and that the guy was supposed to try it then come back and pay. He said he never came back. He says it is the 75 horse tune. He said for $200 he would send me the programmer and instructions, also said I can't remove the tune/program without changing computers. I've heard of VIN locking a tuner. Does all this sound right? He also said I shouldn't tow with this tune or it'll burn up my motor, 75 hp doesn't sound that scary, maybe I'm wrong. Problem is, when I bought it the former owner just took a 5000 mile tow and I towed a 400 miler home with a tow dolly and Escort. His tow wasn't real heavy either, a 26ft travel trailer, what do you think? Thanks, Tim

 

If you go to your local Ford dealer you should be able to have them re-flash it to stock... no idea the cost.

 

You could also ask the guy with the tuner if he pays you 200.00, you will unlock his tuner. Yes, he can't use the tuner on another truck untill he puts your stock tune back in your truck.

 

Thats what I wondering too, thanks

 

If I remember right, Ford charges $100 to re-flash the pcm. I had my tuner stolen out of my truck so I had to go through the same process... just my $.02 spend the C-note with Ford, then call Jody at DP and get a set of custom tunes for what you need. I promise you will be much happier going that route, and your rig will appreciate it more too.

 

or send the pcm to Jody for an upgrade? He can put a new tune on it for you.
If the superchip tune is still on your PCM the original owner of the tuner is stuck with a tuner that can only read codes. He should be happy to get the VIN unlocked to have his tuner back.

 

As was said, the guy with the 'tuner' has your 'stock' program and he installed the High Proformance on your truck. He just lost the value of his tuner. At this point, I would not let him 'retune' your truck to the former stock tune. The guy with the tuner may not have known that he 'screwed up' and may be 'trying' to use the tuner as if it is 'interchangeable' and has unlimited high Proformanceprograms for multiple trucks. It is to be used on ONE truck at a time. Your 'stock' tune most likely is wiped off the tuner or it is corrupted. I have ran the High Proformance while pulling a 30ft camper. What the programmer does is change the shift points and the rpms. In the tow mode it will keep the rpms higher as it moves up the gears until you get it into third gear and Over drive. In High proformance it will shift faster at lower speeds and lower rpms. I don't think that you have hurt anything.

If you get it reflashed to stock from a dealer, you will know the difference and will want a tuner. Call Jody at DP and see what he says. If you get a DP tuner (or any tuner) you DO NOT want the Dealer to 'reflash' your truck unless it is back in 'stock' mode. If you get another SuperChip (after Dealer has reflashed your truck) always reprogram it to 'stock' if you ever take it to the Dealer or make absolutely sure that they will not 'reflash' you computer, because of some type of Ford 'update' that the Dealer may want to put on your truck. If it is back in 'stock' he is only 'updated the 'stock', if it is in tow or high proformance mode.... the Dealer just wiped it away and you tuner is worthless.....

 

If Ford reflashes your truck it will never be the same...from what I understand, even if you put the stock tune back on it before you take it to ford, if they do the updated factory flash on it, it won't be the same as the old factory flash, and the superchips tuner changes the factory settings by a certain number. But if the factory settings arent the same it wont be the same...

 

Even if you don't want a tune you might still call DP Tuner, my understanding is that they have a set all the stock tunes and will put the best stock tune on.

 

Yeah, I called James at DP last week, and they have the stock tune that can be loaded on your PCM. Ask me how I know all this...