How safe are tunes?

[dragonacc]

advising members an Eco engine wall's blown out is not spreading fear for nothing.
a lot of new owners have no idea how a tune's created but are ready to buy one,
without understanding the consequences of a tune, and what recourse they have if
something goes wrong resulting in their Ford warranty rejecting 'tune damage'.

'Good tune' is the operative phrase.
IF in fact the damage was the result of a tune, but there's a hysteria about tuning
the Eco on the boards that appears to be limitless, both in terms of tuners' posts
and in terms of the speculation of what tuning the Eco can take.

caveat emptor oopses !

When you make blanket statements it sounds like fear spreading to me. Perhaps it's not your intention, but the result could still end up the same.

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[dragonacc]

Will a tune affect MPG?

If you drive the car hard yes, you will get lower MPG. Higher power requires more air and fuel to be burned. However if you drive conservatively you may see better MPG due to a tunes leaner air/fuel ratio or general efficiency increases.

 

[Zoink]

Will a tune affect MPG?

Should help it. My last car was tuned and I drove the snot out of it and got better mileage than I do out of this ecoboost thing, which I drive like my granddad would. Cant wait to get my Livernois tune.

 

[Papaya]

advising members an Eco engine wall's blown out is not spreading fear for nothing.
a lot of new owners have no idea how a tune's created but are ready to buy one,
without understanding the consequences of a tune, and what recourse they have if
something goes wrong resulting in their Ford warranty rejecting 'tune damage'.

'Good tune' is the operative phrase.
IF in fact the damage was the result of a tune, but there's a hysteria about tuning
the Eco on the boards that appears to be limitless, both in terms of tuners' posts
and in terms of the speculation of what tuning the Eco can take.

caveat emptor oopses !

Than again. You, I assume, don't know what happened with the engine what was destroyed when it hit 8,200 RPM. Do you really think that the experienced tuning companies giving tunes out where they allowing the engine to run over 8,000 RPM? I personally do not run an engine higher than 3,000 in my daily driving. Did I order a tuner? Yes, the first time. Do I think that the company I bought it from (COBB) know what they do? Yes I do. COBB, Livernois, WMS doing this for years now. My car comes hopefully in 9 days home. The tune gets flashed in after I drove the car a bit so I know the car is fine. Do I run it to 8,000 RPM? Absolutely not! Everyone who does that has no knowledge about engines IMO! Most stock engines are not made for high RPM use. For me, it looks like someone got a pro-tuner software and had no idea what they were doing - or they were testing how far they can go with a stock engine. If someone like to know how an engine sounds like in high RPM. Open your hood. Let a friend hit the paddle. I am sure everyone who loves his car can hear that an engine doesn't sound good in high RPM. By 8,000 (what nobody will hear on a normal base) - the engine will scream like hell.

So again. Tunes you can buy from companies are mostly ok and safe.

How safe is a car? You always see people who abuse a car because they have no idea what they do. Youtube is full of this videos. You still can read here in the forum that people use their cellphone or iPads in the car, also that it is not safe at all. Specially young kids think they can "multitask". NO you can't and NO it is not safe.

So why I am not surprised that someone blew up a Ecoboost engine already?
Because there are so many morons out there!:lol:

 

[sj90]

With all due respect Shaun didnt figure out a "work around" on the number 8 cylinder problem. The problem stemmed from tuners applying 3V tuning techniques to the new 5.0 Coyote. (adding tons of global spark, turning off knock sensors and leaning it out). Competent tuners (and shaun is one of them) tuned the 5.0's the way they are supposed to be tuned and the cars run great without applying those 3V tuning techniques. FWIW our car still holds the stock longblock bolt on N/A stick record for the last 3 years with a 10.88@125mph.

The number 8 problem was also made worse by the block design as well. There were several changes made from 11-12 in just that area. (head bolt size/length etc..) in an effort to alleviate the problem.

As far as how safe tunes are with these cars goes I can tell you that the internals will hold alot more then people think. Its RPM and detonation that will kill this engine over the long haul. If your too agressive with the timing, start limiting or turning off the knock sensor then you will wind up hurting stuff but for the most part all of the tuners who have had hands on this car since it came out will most likely follow suit with making the tunes safe and reliable.

I know for certain that our daily driver "torque tune" is very safe, keeps alot of the factory calibration protections on and has conservative spark and fueling maps but also yields great seat of the pants feel as well as power in the entire rpm operating range.


And your very right on one statement inparticular... Time will tell on how, when, who and by whom these engines to grenade but sometimes you have to push the limits.

JJ

Sorry to go off topic, but doesn't JPC hold the record for the fastest sealed Coyote? Not trying to take away from what you've done, it's impressive regardless. I'm just curious.

[ame]

 

[bakerjd]

Must not have seen that video posted in 2012 lol

 

[mbreinin]

Sorry to go off topic, but doesn't JPC hold the record for the fastest sealed Coyote? Not trying to take away from what you've done, it's impressive regardless. I'm just curious.

"Sealed" and stock short block are different. The sealed engines come from Ford and have to run a Ford tune and no mods. It is a class specific engine. That JPC car was a purpose built car for class racing. Very light, faceplated T5 trans, full suspension, etc.

 

[15EBStang]

Will a tune affect MPG?

I have a lot of friends with Livernois tuned EB's and I had their tune on my former SHO and all have got much better fuel economy than stock. Anywhere from 2-6 mpg depending on the vehicle.

 

[Waylap1]

You will get surprisingly better mpg with a tune, even on a four cyl turbo.
**just know that you're running a risk of : coils getting fried, automatic transmission slipping bad from all the extra torque, check engine lights from all of the vehicles combustion process not being in "sync" with each other just right.
These problems from a tune are made ten times worse if you're in an inspection state. Also worse when you're doing this to a brand new car under factory warranty.
Out of warranty and don't have vehicle inspections? Tune away and put aside a little transmission money for down the road when you're done horsing it and need to fix it before you're able to sell it to some sucker.

 

[Tamadrummer88]

You will get surprisingly better mpg with a tune, even on a four cyl turbo.
**just know that you're running a risk of : coils getting fried, automatic transmission slipping bad from all the extra torque, check engine lights from all of the vehicles combustion process not being in "sync" with each other just right.
These problems from a tune are made ten times worse if you're in an inspection state. Also worse when you're doing this to a brand new car under factory warranty.
Out of warranty and don't have vehicle inspections? Tune away and put aside a little transmission money for down the road when you're done horsing it and need to fix it before you're able to sell it to some sucker.

I have never heard of any of this happening to a tuned vehicle.

 

[Herr_Poopschitz]

**just know that you're running a risk of : coils getting fried, automatic transmission slipping bad from all the extra torque, check engine lights from all of the vehicles combustion process not being in "sync" with each other just right.
These problems from a tune are made ten times worse if you're in an inspection state. Also worse when you're doing this to a brand new car under factory warranty.

Sounds like a response from someone w/ either no firsthand experience or someone that chose an incompetent tuner. Beyond that, coils and 'sync' don't even make sense.

 

[stoli]

These problems from a tune are made ten times worse when they come from someone that doesn't know what they are talking about.

Fixed that for you.

 

[Waylap1]

First hand experience. Name brand tune that rocked my world.... Until the car couldn't handle it anymore, 2 months later. Ignition coils are made to certain specs and expected loads, spark plug gaps are critical, automatic transmissions, seals, gaskets, torque converter. All significantly more stressed with a tune that you would actually feel.
Will you tell the person you sell your tuned car to in the future that you had a tune installed? Why or why not?
I had it happen twice to some degree to me on a fairly new Audi and Saab. If you choose to think I'm making these things up or they must have been some fly by night tuner, then so be it. Just trying to let people know even good tunes are hard on your vehicle and MAY cause these issues.

 

[stoli]

You will get surprisingly better mpg with a tune, even on a four cyl turbo.

Until you start adding bolt ons and naturally drive harder now that it is tuned. That is why you tuned right? Better performance usually = harder driving.

These problems from a tune are made ten times worse if you're in an inspection state. Also worse when you're doing this to a brand new car under factory warranty.

The 'problems' don't change, the consequences change. If there is never an engine problem it doesn't matter if you have a warranty or not. Additionally most tunes won't impact emissions, bolt ons will, with or without a tune.

Would I tell someone buying my car I had a tune? Absolutely. I'd also show them all of the maintenance I did on the car, way beyond manufacturer recommended, all of the upgraded parts that were used, etc etc.

The bottom line I've always said: If you get a tune be prepared to pay for any repairs out of pocket. Chances are good there won't be an issue, but it's an assumed risk we take and we shouldn't bitch if it goes south and we have to pay for it.

 

[WildBill]

I've got a super chip tuner for My F-150, been on it since it was new, never a problem, its very simple to use,I'm never going to go racing with this ecoBoost car, looking for a simple to use tuner that will firm up auto transmission and give good performance on the street not sure if I could even understand all the data these new tuners are putting out, I just want something simple to tune for 93 octane gas.

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