Ok I gave in..After reading everything on the Dec flash I decided to go for it. Had it done today.

I didnt have any real problems so this may have been a mistake, BUT I figure some tech guru has been trying to work the software bugs out of the truck for a few months and improve its performance and I might as well try it and see what happens.

Before I had it done I had a sit down chat with the diesel tech to be sure he thought it was worth doing as well. This is what he told me.

1. There were 2 updates since the Oct flash. Not sure if he is right about this, 1 is of course the Dec flash but he said there was another that addressed some noise (mainly startup) and mpg issues. So he said since I had nothing since Oct I had better get it done.

2. I told him I thought I was losing a bit of power, not sure if I was going crazy but it seemed to be less peppy (now it still had lots of zip I figured I was maybe getting use to it). He said that the truck has a memory, and asked how I was driving it. I said I was babying it because i was trying for better fuel mileage (Cuz it sucked ) He said that was the problem. He said drive it like you stole it, run her hard he said. He said that will change the computer pattern and I will notice a diff.

3. He was not aware of a Jan - April flash and said I knew more than him in that area. (Thank you FTE posters )

4. He said they will not be bringing back the pilot ignition in that truck. Now he also did not know about the Jan-April flash so not sure of how accurate he will be on this.

So after getting the truck back...I burned around for a few hours (all city) , and the overhead reading has gone up by 3mpg. So not sure if that has any significance yet but I will continue to post my findings.

As for noise..well i am not sure but it seems to be running smother, and maybe quieter..I will post more on that later. I will let the wife comment on that as she is more tuned into those things. I will put it through the drive thru test as well..That is a good gauge for noise level.

I also have noticed less fumes...in general while walking around the truck from before I took it in to after. Will again comment on that later.

 

when your truck was flashed, they got rid of the pilot igniton. is this the same thing that quieted the truck down. a small pilot injection followed by the main injection of fuel??

 

Can you post your fuel mileage when you have time I am getting this flash do to fuel mileage issues. I too and babying mine tring to get mileage back.

 

YES!

and I agree, drive it like ya stole it....the computer is constantly learning from your driving habits....

 

Alaska

I will post my mpg numbers once I get some solid info. . After what I was told, I would not baby it (within reason of course). I think that may be making the mileage worse.

 

So what you all are saying is that the harder you drive the 6.0l the better fuel milage you will get? My truck only has 250 miles on it is there a proper way to treat the truck under so many miles?

 

Drive the truck from the start the way you will drive every day. Do not "break in".

 

Thats what the techs at work say. "these motors are made to run" One guy said I should run it with the overdrive off. But I am talking about 7.3 and the max speed limit at work is 45 MPH. So I guess my reply is moot?
My girl friend says I am tring to be a tough guy whan I hammer the rig around town. Now I have a reason!

 

Wow, I've been babying mine around town trying to get the mileage improved -- that is gonna stop asap! I just got the dec flash today and have not yet noticed a difference. I'll post back if I notice anything...

 

emtabmm or whomever knows,
You say to "Drive it like you stole it"! Is this possibly why quite a few of us have been getting not so great mileage as well as lower power response? As for myself, I know I have been taking it easy on the truck and traveling quite a bit with the cruise control to try and maximize the mileage and "Ease" the truck thru a break-in period plus the initial mpg was a bit less than a coworkers late 03 6.0. I purchased this truck for the long haul and was not intending to trade it in a few years and didn't want to screw up the long term by being foolish up front. Maybe explain a bit about how the computor works to the driving habits and how all this plays into being effective to the fuel economy as well. How long does it take for the computor to make adjustments to the way you drive? I am just making my first oil change this weekend at about 4500 miles.

 

When I picked up my F250 6.0L PSD yesterday, I heard a funny noise, so I took the agency's service manager for a drive to try to identify it. He has been at the agency for at least 10 years that I know of. While on the drive, I asked him about when I could start towing my 8000+ lb. trailer, and how to drive it to break it in. He said, "Hook it up, and go. No break in special driving needed, like varying speeds, no long hauls at a constant speed, no towing for X miles, etc. Today's engines, materials and tolerances are not the same as years ago when such practices were required."

 

Go to this thread, read completely…. and post.

ODOMETER reading at time of problem is critical.
In addition, please read more instructions, bottom of first page, posted by Tim L
Tell as many as you can about this thread.
The simpler the writing (posting) of “problem/odometer” reading………….the easier it will be to collate. Do not need many words. I must reduce all the date into a usable format; extra words will take more time to complete.

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/sh...hreadid=185570

Thanks
Tim

 

I originally started to baby my rig after the Oct flash due to gas milage loss and it did not go up that much was averaging about 15.9 comuting to work. About a month ago I realized that I would never enjoy what the truck could do if I continued to drive it like a school girl so I drove it like it was intended for and have seen a increase in performance over the month and the milage has only gone down about 1 mile to the gallon, well worth the fun driving,

 

The post directly above yours…. please follow the directions and give the cause some data


Thanks

 

Got the new flash Dec 30th after a lot of debate with the service department. Seems to have better performance. The shift points seems to have been modified greatly. I still have the drone, vibration in floorboard at 2K RPM (I assume that is the exhaust), still noisier. I don't know about mileage yet.

Thanks to emtabmm for the info on the release. I was very professional on my approach to the service manager and writer. They have been very defensive and seem annoyed. I found the service writer was moving to the body shop today. Maybe that explains his hesitancy to look into the WDS release levels.