I do not own a diesel but am seriously thinking about it. Can someone explain the reflashing that is mentioned on this board. I am assuming this reprograms the computer but why is it so nessasary on a diesel compared to a gas engine. I have owed both fuel injected cars and motorcycles and once the fuel delivery rates and timing are adjusted for different engine modifications it's been a "set it and forget it" system so what the difference.
Is this reflashing also somethings that pertains to the 7.3 engines.

Thanks

Richard

 

I'm sure others will answer as well but here's my stab.

All of the new trucks, including diesel's, everything is controled by the main computer Powertrain Control Module (PCM). This computer looks at all of the sensors and controls the following items (and others I'm sure I missed):

• Turbo boost
• Amount, timming and duration of fuel delivery
• Emmissions being produced
• Transmission shifting
• Which gear the transmission should be in.

As a computer programmer by profession I can tell you that the program is created based on a series of assumptions and expectations. You can then run that program to test it and everything is great. But you turn the program loose in the "real world" and someone will find a problem. It's a fact that other people will use your program in a way you don't expect.

So to apply that to the truck you will find someone that pulls a very heavy load, up a steep hill in the desert and the combination of sensor readings will be out of spec. The engine will continue to run and work but not at peak efficency. So Ford will adjust the computer program to compensate.

It is also possible to just have a bug. The person typing the original program that is fed into the computer could have mistyped a number and only under very specific circumstances will it appear, so Ford will fix the bug and reflash your computer.

Finally as "we" programmers write programs we learn new and more efficent ways to do our job. Imagine your engine is turning 2,000 RPM's That means that each injector is firing 500 times each minute, 8.33 times per second or once every 121 millionths of a second. In that amount of time the computer must read all of the sensors and calculate how much fuel to deliver to the cylinder, open the injector and shoot the fuel in. If I can reduce the amount of time the computer must spend calculating this value then the computer can spend more time fine tuning the result and increase your performance and fuel mileage as a result.

So thats' why all of the trucks are computer controled and get reflashed from time to time. Having said that, usually Ford won't reflash a computer unless you are complaining about the performance of your vehicle or there is a service bulleten from Ford saying that the flash is required. Since you were complaining about loosing boost and performance problems they applied the latest flash since there were some boost adjustments made to the comptuer program.

Hope that helps.

 

I don't believe that the 6.0 benefits from a feedback computer system that gas engines do. It is more like it does what it told under givin circumstances. just like bgrover said.

 

Thanks for the information.
I guess it holds true. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

Contrary to what bgrover posted, the dealer will flash your vehicle if in for engine work without asking unless you specifically say not to flash. Then you are running the risk that the dealer will not honor warranty work because you do.

Ford went through some flashes to fix things. They also broke things in the process. If builders built buildings the way programmers build programs, the first woodpecker that came along would destroy an entire city. There have been about 9 flashes for the 03. The most recent to fix things broken by earlier "fixes".

 

Thanks for clearing up what the dealer will do, much appreciated.

We programmers get the rap for a lot of bad things, and we deserve much of it. Sometimes we break fixed things because of the pressure to get the fix out the door we can't/don't test the fix completely.

 

Actually,
many of the issues may be hardware related (sensors) sending the incorrect information to the "computer"....

just like it's those novice "users" that create most of the software problems....

remind me WHY we have to code to make it idiot proof ???
can't we presume SOME intelligence on the other end ?

just kidding folk

 

I 'm just chain yanking! As a Oracle DBA, I have written enough code to know you try to make it idiot proof and you can't. There is a whole lot of stuff going on at one time in these engines. It's like sticking your finger in a pile of pizza dough. Something will bulge out somewhere else.