Lets go to school here. Just got the truck last week after listening and looking for quite a while. But now help me sort out the differences here. When I see OBD trucks this stands for on board diagnostics correct? And Our trucks '99-2003 are OBD trucks correct? Then can some of you guys explain the differences between analyzers and programmers. Chips and scanners. Do some do both tasks, how are they used, and anything you can throw in here to explain and differentiate would be appreciated. Thanks, Tony

 

Glad to have you here tony, welcome to FTE.

Lets start out with Chips -

Almost everyone on here uses a chip called the DP tunner, IF you hit up the sponsor for the 7.3 forum (clay at riffraff diesel) he can set you up.
Basically what he does it takes the aftermarket upgrades that you have done to your truck, and customizes the tunes specifically for your truck. That is one of the major advantages over an "off the shelf chip" The other cool thing is the chip is an on the fly switcher, so you dont need to pull over and flash your computer.

Programers im not completly positive but i believe that would be another word for chip..something like a flashpaq or hypertech would be an off the shelf tuner, they can record your 1/4 mile 0-60, they do hae tunes but keep in mind you need to flash them and they are not built specifically for your truck.

As for scan tools, The one that works great with our trucks is the AE scan tool. They are a bit pricey but i think they work the best, btw beware some cheap scanners wont even pull codes from our trucks.

hope that answers some questions, im sure other guys will chime in

 

My truck came with the Edge Evolution Programmer which I guess you would consider a "off the shelf" chip.
It has the +60 hp, +100 ft lbs of torque setting for towing, +80, +150 for economy, and +100, +200 for performance.
It can read and clear diagnostic codes.
It also records best 0-60 mph and 1/4 mile times.
It works good and I definitely feel a large difference between stock horsepower and +80.
It takes about 10 minutes to change programming but it is very easy just follow the directions it gives you.
I know there are better tuners and things out there, but not a bad investment for around $350 in my opinion.

 

OBD stands for On-Board Diagnostics, yes. Actually, since 1996, auto manufacturers have used OBD-II (2) which is a fancy way of allowing the computer to perform actual performance tests on many of the sensors that the PCM (engine/transmission computer) uses for inputs for which to base output decisions. OBD-I (1) was not required to perform "performance" tests to monitor sensor degradation or small out-of-range problems. OBD-I was basically a system that would monitor circuit shorts or opens as well as the basic monitoring of input sensors.

Analyzers? I'm going to assume you mean "scanners" or data-viewing devices that may or may not allow the user a bit of bi-directional control like commanding self-diagnostic tests. There are quite a few different brands ranging from the Ford-specific tools all the way down to simple code-readers.....these range in price from the thousands (I know a Snap-On Verus is almost $9K) all the way down to a couple hundred. Be aware that some scanners are not equipped to handle some manufacturer-specific codes and will not be any help to you when it comes time to find out why your check engine light is on.

Programmers are not scan tools. Yes, some of them can read and clear diagnostic trouble codes....but they can't give you any data to do any real diagnostics. Programmers plug into the on-board diagnostic port by the accelerator pedal and read/erase the truck's programming binary inside the PCM. This bit of information is downloaded into the programmer, modified to achieve the actual performance program parameters, then "reflashed" to the existing memory chip inside the PCM. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Chips" is a generic term used by.....uh....everyone to describe any kind of power-up device. It's kind of a misnomer because as far as our Fords are concerned, only EEC-IV and EEC-V PCMs use actual "chips". These pieces of hardware physically attach to the edge of the circuit board inside the PCM and bypass the internal memory (that holds the programming that the programmer described above replaces) so that the truck's operation is based on the programming "burned" onto the chip.

To say that a programmer is not "specifically for your truck" is kind of inaccurate. Most 7.3L owners don't do many modifications to their trucks so there really isn't a need for anything "custom". You can't call up Edge and tell them that you need to have a shift point changed in your 2000 PSD with an NVK4 PCM code. You can call up your "custom" tuner and have them change it though. The thing is that when you reflash your NVK4 PCM with an aftermarket program from Edge, Hypertech, Superchips, Diablosport, et al, you ARE getting your NVK4 back with the changes necessary to get that additional 60, 80, 100, whatever HP.

There is a lot more information that I should write about but I will save it for another time...maybe later tonight.

To be continued..............

 

Thanks to all of you for helping with the terms......and Cody thanks very much for the clarity and specifics. That helps clear up some confusion on my part big time. Again, Thanks fellas!! Cody---Reps to ya!

 

Not to pick nits, but Clay isn't the sponsor, Jody at DP-Tuner is.

Don't get me wrong, Clay's a great guy, as is Jody, but credit where credit is due.

Stewart

 

sorry my mistake.

thanks for the heads up Stewart