Subject: Hyper tech computer programmer for V-10 gas
FYI;
Do NOT waste your money!!!

I bought and programmed my Excursion with a Hypertech Max Energy programmer.

My goal was a little more power for towing and the ability to properly calibrate my speedometer for my 35"tires.

I am now going to put lower gears in and found out that it does NOT have a provision to calibrate for different gears. For the price, I find that unacceptable.

It also only goes up to a 34" tire for speedometer calibration. Any larger your out of luck. Again unacceptable

I use premium fuel in my V-10 because I use it primarily for towing. So I selected the premium fuel setting on the Max Energy programmer in hopes of getting the most power I could out of it.

That did not work, it pinged badly, spark knock while towing. Which will burn a hole in a piston towing up a long grade. I tried different brands of Premium fuel, I even used the best and most expensive octane boost I could find, even 2 bottles per tank, it still pinged. I had to back it down to the regular fuel setting and I still need premium fuel for towing. Again totally unacceptable.

I could not tell any power difference anyway.

It was just an expensive hassle. It might help a car or if your not towing, but towing heavy it did not help and cased me a lot of hassle.
I had to find a place to pull over with a 31' trailer to re program my computer (back to regular fuel setting) on the side of the road to keep from burning up my engine. Way unacceptable!

So basically, NO benefit, a lot of money and hassle for nothing.

I hope I can save someone else some money and hassle.

Do not wast your money on Hypertech.

Thanks

Happy Motoring.

 

Just to let you know you posted in the 2009+ F150 thread.

Here is the Excursion thread you are probably looking for: Excursion - King of SUVs - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

As for a few points the V10 modular motor is made for regular gas and you are just burning extra money.

As for the tuner while I can't recall how good or bad Hypertech is I do know that pre-canned tunes range from ok to undriveable so maybe a visit to a local speed shop or truck part store to make you a custom tune.

 

OK thanks for telling me I was in the wrong post, my mistake.

As far as the regular gas that is incorrect. Even before the programmer it was fine empty, but definitely Not towing. It would ping on the steep hills badly and then the computer sensing this pinging, would reduce the timing which significantly reduced power.
It desperately needed the premium fuel for towing, it made a big difference.
that was stock. the programmer is a whole other story.
That is a common misperception. This was however experienced Fact!

 

If you're still interested in more towing power, call Mike Butler at 5startuning.com (or you can PM fordmdb).

 

I do not intend to kick/beat a dead horse, but I am curious about something. If you knew you had pre-detonation issues, did you do anything prior to the programmer to cure the detonation? The truck comes from the factory for 87 octane, and if it pinged on those parameters, it should ping on the other parameters as well.
Running higher octane in stock config is not a cure, it's a bandaid. I'm not shocked that the programmer caused pinging as well.


EDIT for clarification before I get flamed:
If you are to start @ 87, then adding 3-4* (hypothetically) would give you around a 89 tune. Adding 3-4* more, over the 89, would give you a 91 tune, etc. If you were pinging on the stock 87 tune, then simply adding timing as set out by the canned tunes is going to give you similar results.

 

Thread moved to the V10 forum.

Before doing ANYTHING, even using Mike's 5-star tunes, fix the pinging on regular gas.

It's not supposed to do that, and any change in the tune will only make matters worse.

 

Well, lets set the record straight. I or my truck did not have a prior problem as you put it. It was fine on 87 octane with just the truck. However under heavy towing loads, it started to ping and then the computer would reduce the timing to stop the pinging, which resulted in a significant loss of towing power.
The cause of this was not incorrect timing in the truck or any other problem than a heavy load with the pathetic excuse we have for fuel these days. The simple, effective and logical step was to run Super 92 octane when towing which worked fine.
With the addition of the hypertech programmer, the gas we have now would not handle the advanced timing that hypertech programmed in. So one could say it is the bad gas at fault which is true. we could also say that hypertech should take that into consideration when programming their performance curves.
Now in all fairness to Hypertech, the tuck only does this under heavy loads on steep climbs, it will not do it under any other circumstance.
Just a heads up for other that tow heavy RV looking for more performance.

 

It does not ping on regular, it only started to ping and then the computor would back the timing off and that was only on steep climbs towing heavy, Its not surprising with what they call gas nowadays. It is fine on 92 octane as long as the hypertech is not set on premium fuel todays fuel and steep hills towing will not handle that timming is all.

 

Hmmm.... Just so you know, most of us did not have significant problems with 87 on a steep climb. I had a bit of pinging when air temps got high, but I would not say the PCM backed off enough to be a "significant" power drop. I use Oregon and (shudder) California gas 95% of the time so I know how hit and miss it can be. I do stick to name brand only.
If your experience is on name brand gas, try to keep an open mind that there may be something a little bit amiss in your truck.

But for the solution, may I also suggest trying a custom tune from Mike at 5 Star? A little searching on your part will find that those of us using his tunes are VERY impressed. On the other hand, you'll find a lot of unhappy Hypertech posts.

I tow over Siskiyou (hauling my Raptor to Oregon Dunes....) and the Sierras on a regular basis. Rarely overy 18K gross so not towing really heavy, but working it pretty hard.

 

One quick idea: How up to snuff is your cooling system? Been changing coolant regularly? Does the coolant temp gauge rise on hard pulls?
If your answers are "no" and "yes", it may be time for a new radiator.

 

Sounds like a lean condition to me.

 

My dad had a similar issue with the Diablosport tuner he had which had canned tunes. I took some spark advance out of it twice and it still knocked like hell on 87 mainly over 3500. Set back to stock it ran fine on 87 as that is all the truck ever had in it. The off the shelf tuners with canned tunes are made to "work" with many different pcm and strategy codes. Go with a custom tune or don't even bother.

I highly doubt the pcm can retard the timing enough to cause a "significant loss of power". Your probably overheating the engine and its going into "limp mode". Remember the stock gauges are glorified idiot lights. The truck needs going over and needs to run without detonation on 87 before you go tuning it.

 

So you have a v 10 and towing a raptor. Are you running 4,000 RPM or more up the steep grades? Just curious.
I have been running this V 10 towing for 11 years now, it only has 25k miles because it is babied and garaged most of the time, I store it in the winter, but run it to keep things lubed up.
This thing has never even moved the temperature gauge, I mean never, so much so, that my Dad and I used to talk about the lack of temperature gauge movement. It has never shown any signs of heating at all, however.
It Never pings even at full throttle at high RPM, unless it is loaded heavy and then only on a steep climb but stopped pinging once the computer retarded the timing.(before the hypertech)
Seriously though, before the hypertech with regular or plus gas, it lost serious power on the big climbs. You never had that? really?
With premium it was fine, actually very strong.
I might try this Mike at 5 star, I am very UN impressed with hypertech.
Come to think of it most of my difficult trips were the first of the year after the truck sat a lot, could be the gas getting bad.
Once a year I put my KTM on a hitch rack in front of the truck, and a couple of trips it was hot outside, 80s and 90s. Now the KTM motorcycle obviously cut a lot of airflow to the radiator, and on the climbs, this is the only time the fan ever comes on, I can hear it, but still the temp gauge does not move, it had never gotten hot at all. I can feel the power the fan takes away though.
Thanks

 

Well I agree with your opinion on the tuner issue. But your quiet wrong on the PCM being able to retard timing enough to reduce power, that is what they are designed to do and in FACT did!
I also agree that the gauges are not so great, but this truck has never had any signs of getting hot, none.
IN Fact the only time the fan comes on in a climb is when I have my KTM dirt bike on the front rack blocking airflow to the radiator and that is only one trip per year. I always have premium in it then and no problems even. I hear the fan come on, but thats it, and thats the only time I hear the fan come on.

 

If the truck is sitting for long periods and your not not using a good fuel stabilizer of some sort you are just asking for problems. Especially with ethanol fuel. Fuel with ethanol goes bad even faster than straight gas plus ethanol is hygroscopic and attracts moisture. I use Marine Stabil for anything that doesn't get run on a daily basis and use pure gas with no ethanol when possible. There are also other good stabilizers on the market also.

There is a range that the stock tune can add or remove timing overiding the tune. Its not as much as you think. The OE fan is clutch fan.