Ok, after extensive research, and finding the post for gear rollover, I've made my hypothesis on whether I have bad input bearing noise or gear rollover and I'm going with rollover. The reason being is that if I bump the rpm's at idle from the 650-750ish that it's idling at stock up to about 850ish the gear rollover is completely gone. Would this bother my truck at all for it to idle at this rpm for prolonged periods of time or during every day operation? This truck is only used for hauling wood or my camper and maybe a trip once a week to work.
Also, I've heard you the easiest way is to reprogram the ecm to idle at the higher setting. Can only a dealership do this?
Thanks

 

I've never heard of reprogramming the pcm for higher idle, unless its by a chip. I know there is another way from the factory, but I don't remember what it is. My high idle on my chip is 1100 iirc. It's actually better for it to idle at a higher rpm than it does stock, especially for extended periods of time.

 

Ford made an auxiliary idle controller - AIC - for these trucks, that interfaces with the PCM. The PCM is really the only way to do it, since there's no mechanical control.

 

I read on here that somebody went to dealership and had them reprogram the idle on their truck. not sure who it was. I did find a AIC for 79 bucks that plug and play. it hooks right into the TPS on accelerator and you can dash mount it with a switch and pot. pretty sweet. I'll probably buy that as soon as I get some extra moolah!

 

FWIW, I would spent the extra $$ and get the electronic AIC. What you are loking at there sounds essentially like what I have (the DIY AIC Mod) and while it does work, it doesn't work well. The mod basically fools the PCM into thinking that you're depressing the throttle ever so slightly and it raises the idle speed accordingly. Great right!? Well, not so fast. The issue is that as the engine warms up and the oil temperature rises, the PCM changes the tuning for the engine and the idle speed, yeah, it goes up. Sometimes WAY up. I am constantly having to fiddle with mine to keep the idle at a set speed while the engine warms up. It will range from not even altering the idle when the engine is really cold to running at about 1500 RPM or more if you don't adjust the pot.

The electronic AIC that Ford sells actually reads (and displays) the RPM the engine is running and adjusts the idle to match what you've set it for. So if you set the AIC for 850 RPM it will keep it right at 850 RPM.

All told, I think I have less than $20 in the DIY mod that I did, but I'm not happy wit how it works and I doubt you would be either if you want it to idle at that speed all the time. The other thing you may want to investigate is whether the AIC can be used while the truck is being driven. I was thinking that the AIC was somehow disable when the vehicle is in motion.

The other option is that you could just get a chip with a good custom tune on it (well worth the investment) and have the custom tune made to raise the idle to whatever speed you want it. All in all, this is probably the best option. Then again there is at least one tuner that will burn a custom tune right to your PCM for you for a pretty reasonable price. That would be the cheapest way to get a tune in there and I'm sure it would make the truck run a lot better too. If all you use the truck for is as a workhorse a nice 80 Tow tune might be a really good way to go.

Lots of options I guess, but the decision (and the $$) is up to you.

 

thanks for the advice. a custom tow tune would be exactly what I'm looking for as long as you could set the idle. I have no idea about tuners and nor how much money I'd spend. It is likely out of the question this year but will be on my list of mods for next year for sure! although, I may put it on my christmas list for this year! haha

 

Here's a link for you to look at.

Customer Supplied PCM Flash Stock or Optional Performance Flash - PCM Flash - Tuning - 1994.5 - 2003 Powerstroke 7.3L Truck - Ford Powerstroke

DPTuner knows their stuff on these engines. They're not what I would consider the premiere tuner for making big power in an OBS, but they are definitely a company that will stand behind their stuff and they're the only ones I know of that will flash a tune directly to your PCM (the rest require a programmable chip).

 

The factory ford idle control module can only idle at 1300rpm and higher.

 

Well, I guess that option is out. I thought I had heard of guys using that and idling at 1200?! Guess I must be mistaken.

 

Actually you may be right, the module I have is the older one without a PTO button. I have heard the ones with the PTO button do idle lower, not sure of the number tho, maybe 1100?

 

DP can't burn a high idle on your pcm, they would give you a tune you wanted, but that's it. In order to get a fast idle, you have to get their tunes or a ts chip with custom tunes and a setting for the high idle.

 

I thought on the directions with my DP tuner I got the high idle 1100, anyways it says if your truck is not warm do not idle it on the 1100. Well thats one of the reasons I bought it to warm my truck up faster...