My dealership Service Manager says that they can't tell what flash they are putting on a vehical and he can't tell what flash they put on my truck last August (first week). He says there is no way to tell what flash they put on the truck nor to tell what flash is resident. He says they somehow get and maintain the latest flash but there is no way to tell what this is. He is a Great Diesel service manager, but, I REALY question this answer. Is this the reality? Ford puts a flash on my truck and no-one at the dealership has any idea of what it is nor can provide me any description of what they put on my truck? I would very much like to know what is on my truck. thanks rc

 

If they just flashed your truck in August of 07 you should have the current flash. It's BS that he can't tell you what flash you have. That info is readily available to him from Ford. Lots of technicians used to put stickers with the flash the truck had under the hood, but I think that practice has gone by the wayside.

 

we can pull calibration part numbers by use of powertrain data. alot of guys dont use this feature so they dont know its out there.

 

Thanks to all. I wanted the latest flash that cycles the turbocharger veins on shut down. (couldn't hurt). rc

 

there is no such flash. the vanes are cycled with a solenoid that uses oil pressure to shift the unison ring, so the truck has to be running.

 

Does any know what the newest flash program is?

 

I think it's the inductive heating flash. I haven't heard or read of anybody talking about any new ones.

 

OP, what year truck do you have? The vane 'cycling' you are talking about only applies to 03's and early 04's...I think. I know it wasn't required for 05 and up and I haven't read of any 05 and up owners talking about their vanes opening and closing.

 

This is a really dumb sounding question, but what exactly is a "flash" and why would I need to have it done?

 

you wouldn't NEED to have one done ever, unless you were having an issue where the newest flash might fix it or help it. A flash, from what I know, is basically a different strategy that is uploaded onto the pcm, ficm, ecm, and maybe a few other computers on the truck to update it to run better basically. Each one has a specific purpose. If you are gonna get one I would recommend the inductive heating flash. It's great and didn't take a bite out of my mpg's after my kam was erased. Only dumb question is the one you don't ask man!! lol Maybe someone else will chime in with a little more accurate description.

 

A flash is simply an update to your truck's operating system.

As an example, when you are using Microsoft Windows or an antivirus application, it frequently downloads updates from the internet to cover any new deficiencies that have been found since the last time you recieved an update from them.

When your truck is reflashed, it is getting updates to cover any problems that have surfaced since the previous flash had been installed.

Like doubledee715 said, the inductive heating flash was the last big one that most 6.0L guys were after because it resolves most cold-start issues that are caused by stiction.