Get the heads up on what the Quarterhorse can do. Quarterhorse Ford Diesel

It gets touched on here Minotaur

 

I would LOVE to learn this with you. To spend time with Bill and then compare our notes and recall/discuss things we picked up independently would be incredibly valuable and certainly expedite our learning curve. If we roped a few others into our study group, we might even be able to figure out how to write a decent tune!

 

Isnt Quarterhorse an emulator that allows make adjustments on the fly,real live tuning device in other words..?

 

That's my guess...used for Live Tuning.

And to be honest, if you're planning on Minotaur to create a tune for your own use....I would think a Live Tuning session would yield the best results in the shortest time frame.

 

I'm going to jump in here to try to alleviate some of the floundering. None of us was born knowing it all so I'll add some information to this thread pertaining to what I found in the beginning of my personal journey and add some information to the things that have changed in the last ALMOST 13 years since getting started.

"Turning off" sensors is NOT a thing. There are ways to keep the PCM from acting on certain inputs from them and altering the way the PCM interprets the inputs from them but just "turning them off" isn't really a thing.

The 6.7 (or other common rail engines) are nowhere remotely related to HEUI tuning.


The "simpler" tune is the STOCK tune. It all starts there and very little has to be changed. A 7.3L ABSOLUTELY NEEDS cold adders and multipliers to function in the cold. I'm not talking Georgia cold. That's laughable. Dipping slightly below freezing for a day or two is not "cold weather". The stock tune takes into account EVERYTHING that the 7.3L needs to start and work adequately in just about every situation imaginable. Needlessly changing or omitting certain functions will nearly always cause trade-offs.

It's impossible with an engine that uses varying viscosity fluid based on temperature. Injection settings for oil that is 40 degrees MUST be way different for oil temperature of 190 degrees if consistent operation is desired.

No redundancy here. The PCM on the 7.3L doesn't care what the coolant temperature is and does not use it as a control input for anything.

Most all of the inputs on a 7.3L are used for some calculation. Yes, even intake air temperature. It's not really "anyones guess". It's all there.

Exactly. Very well put and very true. Sure, static "timing" for a 7.3L is feasible as long as a person was absolutely sure that the intended use was going to happen at a specific temperature.

Not exactly. The size of files that Minotaur "works" with is completely dependent on what definition file is used. There WERE definitions available for 1 bank (32/56K), 224K (TS Performance), and 256K (Moates/Hydra). I think the most popular version is the 256K now simply because most everyone uses the Hydra anymore which is why I believe you're saying "only" in regard to Hydra.

Bare bones to begin (provided you have a Hydra already) requires a PC laptop, Minotaur (just a download but requires the license), definition file of your choosing (based on your truck's PCM code), and Hydraflash. That will get you "up and running" for you and anyone else with the same PCM family - you can write/save/burn as many calibrations as you want with this setup. You will also be sent a few different "standard" calibrations to see what is different between PHP's "canned" tuning and a stock calibration.

It COULD be an issue. I only say that because there are no limits on what can or should be changed in the calibration. Some go too far though because it's not hard to do.

Unless you can get your hands on some tuning from another person, don't bank on it. You're not going to read the calibrations off of a Hydra that came from "tuner x" and then start modifying. It's the great thing about encryption and serializing.

That's really a non-issue. Plenty of vehicles have junked engines and transmissions from stock tuning - tuning that millions of others left the factory with.

There's no disgrace in saying that. There is a HUGE learning curve and there are possible consequences for dabbling in the unknown....one just has to know their tolerance for success/failure.

There are only two things that need to be purchased if you have a PC and a Hydra already: The Minotaur license (tied to your PC and the definition file), and the definition file itself. For a 49-state 2002 automatic, that would be TNAA4. PHP will also send a few TNAA4S2 (VDH2) calibrations with that for you to peruse.

ONLY if you get them from a vendor who has encrypted them for programming on a Hydra. The file is still saved on the author's PC and can be emailed as a raw hexidecimal file with no encryption. Just be aware that anybody with the software and appropriate definition files can then view/copy them.
Unless you find someone willing to send you the raw calibration, yes, this is true.
​
And you'll find that you really don't have to. Ford did a good job.
Yep. Nearly infinitely more to it.
Those (especially injection pressure) change dynamic "timing" (start of combustion) all by themselves.


​Your van PCM may also use a different multiplier base than his PCM so your values may not be able to be identical to his to run properly. There is another recent thread here that has experienced this phenomenon.

Nope, not even close. Charlie S. from Georgia is not Curtis F. from Colorado.


Not just PHP but yes, there aren't many original tunes out there anymore. However, and I will catch hell for this, but there are only so many ways to skin a cat. Sure, there are special little things that can be done to get as close to perfect as possible for one person's liking but to just make a truck run and drive and still maintain sanity while driving really isn't that groundbreaking.

Some things take A LOT of "tweaking" to make little differences in driveablility.

Welcome to the first couple years of the tuning process. It is not as cut-and-dry as some make it out to be. Sure, there are pretty colors and graphs to look at but not all of the changes that can be made on one map are going to be as noticeable as on other maps.
You'll get sick of looking at it. I don't touch the tuning unless I have to. I actually find/make more things to give me the ambition to open the software these days. I have a 2-3 upshift tuning anomaly on my 95 that has plagued me for YEARS. I don't have the ambition to fix it so I drive around it.
You'll discover that there are lots of ways to overcome nuisance problems. I would try a different way myself.

There's a map for that.

The Quarterhorse connects to the laptop while in the Minotaur software. The Quarterhorse works as a chip with values that can be modified on the fly by Minotaur. If you change a value in Minotaur while connected to the Quarterhorse, that change will be implemented in real time. It really helps with small problems that can't be solved in writing/burning/repeat scenarios.

 

@cleatus12r ...helpful! Thanks man!

 

Wow! Thanks for your input cleatus12r!

You mentioned catching Hades about there being only so many ways to skin a cat. I understand what you mean and agree. But I also feel (and think you’ll agree) that some ways to go about it are better than others. That’s where the experience and intuition of people like you really shine.

Carry on folks. I’ve told myself to keep quiet and just observe but cleatus quoted me so....

 

[utag=member.php?u=187514]cleatus12r[/utag] Thanks for writing a few reality checks and depositing them in this bank.

Reps sent.

 

@cleatus12r thanks for all the info.
By the way, how does one get tuning for their truck from you? I would be more then thrilled to be one of the lucky guys.

 

@cleatus12r , thank you for dropping in during your busy day and clarifying some of our floundering questions. Your right, GA does not have a true winter, and we like it that way! Some of us have lived in truly frigid climates (north of the arctic circle for 6 years for me) and learned that we do NOT like that sort of weather any longer.

Again, thank you for dropping in and addressing some of our questions and taking some of the heat off of Finnishstroker, who has done a great job on his setup.



Chris, @KubotaOrange76 and I were trading text messages back and forth this morning and he sent the following email to PHP at 1253 EST. I have uploaded his email to PHP and the response from below below with the permission from Chris. He should be along shortly after he finishes some work that pays the bills.

Chris received this response from Ward at PHP at 1426.

Between what Cleatus12r and Finnishstroker has told us above and now the email directly from PHP, I feel we have a great deal of information in front of us than we have ever had previously. I am grateful for this thread and this effort to bring the tuning of a 7.3L down from the heavens to the surface of the Earth.

More to come as we gather information, experiences and ideas!

 

So it is possible to buy an unencrypted custom file from PHP..That might have helped a bit with my DIY hybrid injectors..🤔...🐒

I havent really felt any heat on my back about this..
Only tried to tell about stuff that I think i know.

Perhaps cleatus12r opened a bit about the challenges in starting to tune your own vehicle.
And i want to underline again that I dont have a single person who could talk with me about tuning a 7.3 PSD,in my mother language..💩

​​​​​​I agree 100% with cleatus12r that HEUI and commonrail/mechanical injection tuning cant really be spoken in the same sentence..

Anyone who has the desire and thrill to learn about this stuff,will learn the basics,in some time frame..

PS.

​​​​​​cleatus12r
Have you checked my T4 thread?
Sure would have been easier with your parts!😎
Too bad that we couldnt overcome the shipping issues..🙁

 

I can talk tuning in the mother language... motherthis... motherthat... mothertheother at every trial and turn.

 

I'll just be watching and answer whatever questions I can regarding the usage of the software (no tuning). Again, I've been using this particular software exclusively for almost 12 years and a similar but crappy version of this program (based on the same PCMX platform) since about a year before that. I was hired by PHP pretty-much sight unseen based on the understanding of the software and the insight I freely gave on the long-defunct PHP forum.

If any uncertainties arise on what is needed to tune or required to be used to get started I will give you the answers to the questions.

 

Im out of reps for you cleatus, Thanks 10 fold