I am taking my truck in to have a few things looked at and he is offering some custom tunes for a discounted price with the work, however, his platform is the Ez-Lynk Auto Agent 2.0 I think. Is this compatible with our trucks? I have a functioning OBD-II port and I verified this with a scan tool

 

Does this person have diesel obs experience?
personally I'm only going to use proven sources as wrong parameters can do bad things to the engine. Im no Guinea pig with my prized obs

 

Who is writing the calibrations?

 

Side Action Diesel out of Northern IL

 

His first truck that he made a demo truck was a 2000 7.3 and he has worked on OBS before. He has extensive experience with the 7.3 platform and has been a Ford person all his career. He built that 6.4 that was featured in Diesel World Mag a few years ago for the triple turbo kit he custom made for the 6.4. His website is kind of lacking in quality however you can tell that he is definitely Ford focused. He knows a thing or 2 about tuning as well as he has been writing his own tunes and refuses to write any tunes that will smoke or lope which in my mind is a testament to his character and knowledge of diesels. 6.4 Link

 

Following along.

Just looked into the EZ-Lynk system. Looks more like a single vehicle device based on what I have seen. Definitely not bashing, just observing.

Question: are you buying the EZ-Lynk for installation in the OBS, or just attaching the shop's device for burning purposes?

 

I would be purchasing it along with a 5 position switch and 5 custom tunes from him. He quoted me $360 for everything tune related

 

I would just get a Hydra.....

 

Agreed, Hydra with 16 positions and access to the largest group of tuners.

 

Adding to the chorus on Hydra. A *lot* less in cost from what I have seen so far. Sure, Hydra is a little more invasive to install, but this is a one-and-done deal.

The Ez-Lynk will let the truck talk to a tuner via the cloud (through an app on a mobile device) which is an advantage over the Hydra. Both Ez-Lynk and Hydra paths need data logging in order to best fine-tune the code. E-Z Lynk gets the win as it handles data logging (via its app). But for that extra $$$, the cloud thing seems like it has a short shelf life in terms of any advantage. Once the tune gets dialed-in, the cloud feature advantage goes away.

Another advantage for the Ez-Lynk is that it will turn a mobile device into a (customizable) gauge display, although this looks like the driver needs to 're-start' the mobile device's connection to the Ez-Lynk each time the truck starts. Am not sure how many people are going to see this as fun for long.

Again, just observing. Also, commenting for benefit of those whom have not looked into the Ez-Lynk's features. Ez-Lynk does look neat though. It might give a run for the money if anybody is thinking about going the combined Hydra and Edge path. If this is just for tuning, Hydra has the cost advantage even after paying for at tuner to connect a device for data logging.

 

I would like to mention that for my purposes I am considering a Hydra however I do not like the idea of the big selector in the cabin. I plan to redo the interior with new custom painted dash components and leather seats, possibly a king ranch interior conversion if I become extremely motivated. I like the idea of the Ez-Lynk platform because yes I can use the 5 position switch however I could also forgo that and just use my phone to switch tunes without the need for a physical switch. And in theory, I could use it to data log for my own purposes even after the tunes are written. And with my truck having a stock motor right now, down the road when my injectors go out I plan on upgrading so in my purposes I feel like I would use the cloud data logging feature more than once for the initial tunes. I appreciate the input and would love to hear more reasoning for both sides of the argument as it makes for both a good read and very helpful information for both myself and other members.

 

First, many apologies if it seems like I am picking at the decision. Am just adding context for those whom are seeing the Ez-Link for the first time. It definitely does look neat for those whom love connected things.

Agree that having the Hydra box visible in the cab is not appealing to everybody.

Food for thought on the ability to switch tunes. The truck really only needs one good tune which is controllable by the throttle. Once the tune gets dialed-in, can tuck-away the hydra controller under the dash and nobody sees it. After that, the only real reason for other tunes is for limited purposes like idle RPM increase, valet mode (restricts fueling), no-start, etc...

FWIW, Edge can data log using both the PCM and external inputs.

Both the Ez-Lynk and Edge will need the purchase of add-on sending units for items that the PCM does not see (ex: ECT, EGT, boost, and maybe TFT).

One advantage of the Edge system is that it will automatically come to life and display the 'gauges' when the truck starts (as long as it is plugged in to the OBD-II port).

 

I switch to the all out calibration for passing, and drive in economy.

 

Just curious, what would prevent the 'economy tune' from using 'all out' settings when the throttle is above 80%?

 

Just needs to be programmed that way.