Gday everyone.
i've got a 2004 F250 with the 7.3 powerstroke sitting in the shed at home and trying to work out what is my best options for getting some more power out of her.
currently running the banks air intake, turbo upgrades & power elbow. Then a 4" system into a twin 3" out the back. got all the gauges (egt, boost, tranny pressure & temp ect)

I have noticed some nice improvements with all these goodies, but i imagine i need some tuning for unlock her full potential.

One catch is distance. Im over 5 hours drive (each way) to the closest shop that has a dyno and can tune, and thats not saying they even know what they are doing. The F trucks are no where as near as common over home as they are in the states, so i was leaning towards a programmer, which also gives me the benefits of being able to retrieve and clear faults when out bush.

Any info would be greatly appreciated

 

You may be better off going with a Hydra chip for the tune and an OBD reader for the codes instead of an all-in-one unit, but that is just my opinion.

If you decide to go that route, I would suggest the following.

Gear Head tune

https://gearheadautomotiveperformanc...ucts/PHP-Hydra

OBD Scan Tool

https://www.scantool.net/obdlink-mxbt/

 

I do like the way you think

im one of the poor souls that runs with APPLE products, so im guessing the OBDLink MX Wi-Fi Scan Tool would be better suited.

https://www.scantool.net/obdlink-mxwf/

Im just trying to work out if my truck is OBDII compliant. Its the same "series" as your 2003 F250 superduty XLT trucks.


That HYDRA chip looks the goods. I assume i could tell them what i have done to the truck already and they can suit the tunes to those upgrades??

 

How close are you to Perth? We have a dealer over there who has sold and installed a lot of our products. I can give you his info if you would like. Just PM me or e-mail me.

I personally run our Infinity programmer. It is great to have an all-in-one unit, and the only benefit the chip has over a programmer is it's ability to switch tunes on the fly. I pretty much stay in 1 tune 90% of the time and it only takes a minute to load up another one. Check out the Infinity here... 7.3L INFINITY-DX Touch Screen NOW AVAILABLE (Price includes 8g SD card and 1 VIN License with purchase) - Programmers - Chips, Programmers and Tuning - 1994.5 - 2003 Powerstroke 7.3L Truck - Ford Powerstroke

Let me know if you have any other questions or would like more info. I would be happy to help you out.

 

Our trucks are considered "Heavy Duty", due to weight and other factors, so are Non OBDII Compliant. So we are not required to have Emissions Equipment on Most of the Models we have. California is of course one of the odd men out. The ones that do get tested, have a different set of parameters they go by than Gassers. The settings on a OBD adapter would be set up as a Non OBDII vehicle....At least with Torque Pro or AutoEnginuity.

 

Link to a relatively recent thread that addresses almost everything you need to know to be prepared when you talk to the various companies about their products.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...est-tuner.html

 

The wifi version will work with your Apple products from what I understand.

When/if you order the Hydra chip you will fill out a form that lists your mods and what tunes you would like to have if you want to change it from the default 6 on Gear Head. In addition, if you do go with the Hydra, you can have many different tuners with up to 17 positions on the chip that you can select from with the switcher and then move the order of them with a laptop via the USB cable.

It really is the best option available right now if you go the chip route.

 

Another vote for OBDLink MX WiFi and Hydra.

 

Skip the Hydra if you don't have access to a PC or or a PC parallel on your sour grapes product. The Hydraflash software is awesome but it doesn't speak "fruit".

 

Do you know if there is an work around such as an emulator for Mac that will run Windose and thus circumvent this limitation? If so, has anyone tried it?

 

G'day Aussie 7.3,

I would definitely go with a custom chip and a programmer/scantool for codes.
I have had the Powerhungry Performance PHP FU2 6Pos on the Fly Chip with predominantly Tow Tunes in my truck for many years without issue and the tunes are exceptional.
Powerhungry Performance (Power Hungry Performance) has just revived it's forum. I suggest you go onto their site and check the forum as it is predominately related to chips.
Quite a lot of us Aussies have the PHP Chips in our trucks and I've not heard of any dramas.
You can do it all yourself.

Cheers,
Reg

 

Gday mate.

Good to see a fellow aussie on here

Im a sparky by trade and a mech by hobby, so im planning on doing it all myself. But just trying to find confirmation that our aussie trucks have the ability for the scan-tools that use the OBDII gear. Any idea???

Based on the west coast, we dont have a great deal of options of tuners, so if i could get a chip burnt elsewhere to my specs and sent over, that would make my life so much easier

 

G'day again mate,

There are quite a lot of Aussies on this forum. If you go down through the forum list to the International section you will see the Aussie Chapter.
There are some pretty smart blokes on these trucks contributing and helping each other out. We have done the hard yards and there will be plenty of help there to sort your questions and issues out.
Might be worth getting this tread moved to that forum?

Anyway: You mentioned wanting to squeeze more grunt out of your truck?
You noted a number of basic mods done, however if you are going down the more power track there are a few things that are an absolute must.

The week point in these trucks is the gearbox (I presume an Auto):

1. You will need to check to see if and extra tranny fluid cooler has been added or the OEM under sized cooler has been replaced with a bigger cooler out of the 6.0 ltr or the V10 Ford trucks?

2. Has the tranny been upgraded with at the very least a John Woods Valve body?

3. Has the tranny fluid been changed to a Synthetic Fluid such as Castrol Transmax 'Z'?

4. Besides a bigger exhaust you need to monitor your Exhaust Gas Temps (EGT) and tranny fluid temps along with boost.

The main source of parts for upgrades is via RiffRaff Diesel Performance. Clayton (Clay) Note is the the man there at RiffRaff. A very good bloke.

As far as Chips go. Check out PHP or RiffRaff sites. PHP for Hydra and Bully Dog, RiffRaff has the DP Chip.

OBD2 reader for PIDs (TFT, Boost, Volts, Pressures, EGT (with Probe), etc)) and Basic quick Code pulling. Edge Insight.
But for proper diagnostics you should look at the Auto Ingenuity through RiffRaff.

Cheers,
Reg

 

cheers for the insight mate...

If someone knows how to move this over to a better suited category, please do so, just let me know how to find it again



1. You will need to check to see if and extra tranny fluid cooler has been added or the OEM under sized cooler has been replaced with a bigger cooler out of the 6.0 ltr or the V10 Ford trucks? At this stage i havent got a larger cooler yet, but u have been in touch with the transmission mob down in perth in regards to getting one in the very near future.

2. Has the tranny been upgraded with at the very least a John Woods Valve body? I've been thinking about getting a whole new auto box, i wasnt aware that its worth just getting a different valve body in the mean time. Gives me something to look into over the weekend.

3. Has the tranny fluid been changed to a Synthetic Fluid such as Castrol Transmax 'Z'? Im unsure regarding the tranny fluid, but as i recently brought it from my old boss (it was a fleet car) im guessing that it would just be running standard fluid from the local mechanic.

4. Besides a bigger exhaust you need to monitor your Exhaust Gas Temps (EGT) and tranny fluid temps along with boost.That was my first purchase for the ute when i got her. Roof console is on the way over to the west coast now, and im giving red arc gauges a try. Got the EGT/Boost - tranny oil temp & pressure - Engine oil temp and pressure - Duel battery voltage & current draw.

 

Hey mate. I run the DP f6 tuner in my truck. I have 6 different tunes loaded to it and they are suited to the upgrades I have done. I went with the f6 tuner because if I do more mods I can download new tunes into it from my laptop. I installed it myself was a peice of ****.