My Wengerd Experience

[PSI]

I’m gonna pile on another great review for Wengerd. I finally got around to putting the 2018 manifold I picked up months ago on my 16 GT 6R80 3.15 car. I picked up an RTD device and tune from him and received the device promptly. I uploaded my stock tune to TDN and had a 91 octane tune ready to go by the next morning. Did a little logging and he sent a small revision in about 10 minutes.
What a difference the manifold and the tune made! I never heard much about his 6R80 tuning, always just the 10 speed. The transmission behaves so much better in D than stock, and the other modes are improved too. Firmer shifts, better timing, feels more responsive, I really can’t complain about anything, it’s great. Driving normally the car is very civilized and feels “stock” but better. No hesitations, surging , or stumbling. I am not sure but I think the idle is a hair higher. It somehow sounds better at warm idle? Manifold runners are not locked out. WOT shifts hit at 7500 rpm and it pulls hard right up to it, I love it.
I never had traction issues with the car stock, even with the stock size tires. Now I do, on a variety of surfaces I’m having trouble getting hooked up from a stop and it barks the tires (DWS06) on WOT 1-2 upshifts. This is not a complaint, it’s awesome as long as I don’t end up in a mustang compilation video.
If you’re on the fence just do it, you will not be disappointed.

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[Robottrainer]

Just wanted to give anyone who has any doubts or questions in regards to Wengerd for tuning their car my personal experience and input. I have a 2022 Mach 1 and had basic bolt-ons installed about 3 months ago. Shortly after they were installed I was tuned locally by a highly respected tuner in regards to Mustangs. Will not disclose the name but for the most part my experience was fine. Shortly after I noticed I was having cold start issues which had an erratic idle almost like the car didn’t know where to have the idle set to. Idle would not return down until car was driven. This was blamed on the behavior of e85 when cold. This would happen whenever it was hot or cold start idle logic seemed completely wrong but I was informed that nothing was changed in regards to that and switching back to 91 would fix the erratic idle. Recently switched back to 91 and was still having the exact same problems. Idle behaved exactly how it was running on e85. That’s where I drew the line and decided to go with a different tuner. After purchasing a N/A tune from Wengerds website I get an email shortly and described what mods and tune I wanted, a safe but fun tune with a little character(added burbles yah I know). He sent me a base tune which upon immediately starting up completely fixed the problems I was having which I never informed him of funny enough. Sent a couple datalogs over and he nailed it first try. Car was running absolutely amazing on 91 even felt almost comparable to the power band it had when on e85. Drivability was definitely 10/10 never once had a problem(been with Wengerd for about 3 weeks). He assured me the everything looked great on the datalogs and I was good to go. Here is where he went above and beyond, I was really picky for how I wanted my car to sound. I wanted the added burbles but nothing at all like the popcorn tunes some people put on these. His patience, effort, and time he put in for such a nitpicky thing is what blew me away. We went through around 6 different revisions trying to find the right sound without the obnoxiousness. Today we finally dialed it in and I could not be happier with my results. Long story short if anyone is looking for a reliable tuner who going to go above and beyond then I wouldn’t recommend anyone before Wengerd. Sorry for the long long post but thought I’d give yall my full experience and thoughts. Hope yall have a great day!

He called me after I contacted him by email and helped me sort out my trans flaring problem using my PCMtec software. That above and beyond the call of duty. I have no reservations recommending his services as it is top notch customer service.

 

[HKusp]

DW is great. I'm not even gonna try and tell the story of my jacked up ex mechanic that put me in a trick bag and literally left my car out ont their lot and basically told me to figure it out. That BS led me to DW. Insane at how responsive and cool he is!

Where in Maryland are you?

 

[Golgo69]

Where in Maryland are you?

Upper Marlboro

 

[Golgo69]

Upper Marlboro

I’m gonna send you a DM

 

[SheepDog]

I've been Wengerd tuned since 2021 and more recently an e85 tune this past spring. Tunes have been great and I just truly appreciate the fact that he responds. I data logged a pass at the track last week and had a question, sent the log over to him and within 10mins he reviewed and responded to my question. Even sent me a tune revision to address it.

I just looked at the number of back and forth emails I've had with him. 139

Im only at 223 with him, so I must be a real PITA

 

[galaxy]

I had a couple of novelty items I wanted to change on my tune, just to see what it does and how I like it. I was up a little late last night (considering my 0445 alarm clock), and shot Derel an email on our old email chain probably around 9:00 last night. Woke up on time this morning, checked email around 0500, and had a reply from him that my file was updated and waiting on me in my device!

 

[Qcman17]

He called me after I contacted him by email and helped me sort out my trans flaring problem using my PCMtec software. That above and beyond the call of duty. I have no reservations recommending his services as it is top notch customer service.

Hey John I see you are in Canada too. I'm just curious if you had Wengerd tune your car or just help you with it? I'm getting pretty sick of the crappy A10 shifting and am going to try one last dealer attempt at getting it resolved before my ESP ends next Spring. I bought it after 3 years of ownership due to the trans issues.

If that fails I'm seriously thinking of having Wengerd tune my 2019 GT but I'm not sure how it would be for me being in Canada and what kind of duties I'd be on the hook for over and above the tuning/tuner device costs?

Also if anyone else has any feedback on this to a Canuck GT owner I'm all ears?!

 

[Robottrainer]

He called me after I contacted him by email and helped me sort out my trans flaring problem using my PCMtec software. That above and beyond the call of duty. I have no reservations recommending his services as it is top notch customer service.

In my opinion, no dealer will be able to fix it if its mechanically sound. They just keep loading the same crappy software.

My situation was a bit different. I have a Roush stage 2 set up. Roush does nothing to the trans side. I did not want to disturb the engine side. I just wanted to straighten out a 3rd to 4th and 4th to 5th flair in sport, sport plus and track mode.

I bought the PCMtec so that I could do it myself. Once I got in there, the number of parameters and settings were mind numbing. I had no idea where to start. I worked with Engineer Mike who helped me unspool alot of it. there is alot youncan ignore in there.

I was a bit unnerved tackling this so I reached out to Wengerd and told him what I was trying to do. he actually took over my computer and made changes in my PCMtec tht eliminated the flare. for free. in good conscience I had to pay him something for his expertise and time so I sent him some money.

I latter started to play around with the software and made changes to pressures, shift tables to get rid of the skip shift, and inertia tables to firm up some of the shifts. I increased the idle to 750 in gear to get more idle oil pressure. I also changed the fan tables to work better with the 170 degree thermostat. all this took about a year.

If this isnt something you want to get into, then definitely get Wengerd to do a complete tuning. if you dont mind getting your feet wet, get the PCMtec software and do it yourself.

 

[Qcman17]

In my opinion, no dealer will be able to fix it if its mechanically sound. They just keep loading the same crappy software.

My situation was a bit different. I have a Roush stage 2 set up. Roush does nothing to the trans side. I did not want to disturb the engine side. I just wanted to straighten out a 3rd to 4th and 4th to 5th flair in sport, sport plus and track mode.

I bought the PCMtec so that I could do it myself. Once I got in there, the number of parameters and settings were mind numbing. I had no idea where to start. I worked with Engineer Mike who helped me unspool alot of it. there is alot youncan ignore in there.

I was a bit unnerved tackling this so I reached out to Wengerd and told him what I was trying to do. he actually took over my computer and made changes in my PCMtec tht eliminated the flare. for free. in good conscience I had to pay him something for his expertise and time so I sent him some money.

I latter started to play around with the software and made changes to pressures, shift tables to get rid of the skip shift, and inertia tables to firm up some of the shifts. I increased the idle to 750 in gear to get more idle oil pressure. I also changed the fan tables to work better with the 170 degree thermostat. all this took about a year.

If this isnt something you want to get into, then definitely get Wengerd to do a complete tuning. if you dont mind getting your feet wet, get the PCMtec software and do it yourself.

Thx for the detailed reply. It’s a good point you make about if it’s mechanically sound. I think that’s one thing that worries me. Is it sound if it behaves this way or is it just crappy software as you noted.

I can say the car has always been quirky and hasn’t gotten any worse that I can tell in the 7 years I’ve owned it since new. That points to software more than hardware in my mind.

I’m not ever going to be savvy enough to tune myself so Wengerd would be my best option.

I feel like tuning the trans is a bit of a bandaid on a scab but perhaps I need to get past that and tune and move on. I do recall the shop Forman telling me that there were no other mechanical options after the valve body overhaul. I asked about the cdf drum but he said that is a pretty major failure that would be obvious which of course mine wasn’t. Thinking of what to do…..

 

[Robottrainer]

Thx for the detailed reply. It’s a good point you make about if it’s mechanically sound. I think that’s one thing that worries me. Is it sound if it behaves this way or is it just crappy software as you noted.

I can say the car has always been quirky and hasn’t gotten any worse that I can tell in the 7 years I’ve owned it since new. That points to software more than hardware in my mind.

I’m not ever going to be savvy enough to tune myself so Wengerd would be my best option.

I feel like tuning the trans is a bit of a bandaid on a scab but perhaps I need to get past that and tune and move on. Thinking……

How does it behave in different modes? if it behaves better in one mode and not another. its software. obvious, but have you tried a reset and see how it behaves? again, if it works better after a reset its probably software.

 

[Qcman17]

How does it behave in different modes? if it behaves better in one mode and not another. its software. obvious, but have you tried a reset and see how it behaves? again, if it works better after a reset its probably software.

It seems pretty smooth in regular D mode but is abrupt and jerky on some up shifts especially 3-4 and 4-5 in Sport or Sport + etc. I did fill out the form on Wengerds site inquiring about it and he sent me an email saying the tune would improve things a lot as long as the trans is mechanically correct which is a fair response.

The car only has 50k kms on it so it isn’t driven a lot and has been getting less as I’ve become gradually more frustrated with it.

I haven’t reset it but the dealer did the year before the valve body overhaul and it then seemed to shift quite well but didn’t stay that way for long. I’ve read varying things about disconnecting the battery as to whether it fully clears the kam memory or not.

 

[Robottrainer]

It seems pretty smooth in regular D mode but is abrupt and jerky on some up shifts especially 3-4 and 4-5 in Sport or Sport + etc. I did fill out the form on Wengerds site inquiring about it and he sent me an email saying the tune would improve things a lot as long as the trans is mechanically correct which is a fair response.

The car only has 50k kms on it so it isn’t driven a lot and has been getting less as I’ve become gradually more frustrated with it.

You'll love it when it shift correctly. it sounds like software I just bought a Ranger with a 10R60. it looks like they finally got their shift together.

 

[Qcman17]

You'll love it when it shift correctly. it sounds like software I just bought a Ranger with a 10R60. it looks like they finally got their shift together.

Yeah in 2022 sometime they fixed the cdf drum I know and perhaps the software too. I’ve attached a tsb I found that calls for some kind of pressure testing on the trans that seems to only be about an hour’s labour for the test. So I was debating bringing that to the dealer to see if I could get that done but it’s always seems Ford is trying to kick the can beyond warranty.

 

[Robottrainer]

Yeah in 2022 sometime they fixed the cdf drum I know and perhaps the software too. I’ve attached a tsb I found that calls for some kind of pressure testing on the trans that seems to only be about an hour’s labour for the test. So I was debating bringing that to the dealer to see if I could get that done but it’s always seems Ford is trying to kick the can beyond warranty.

Very interesting document. Thanks! Mines a 2021. so far I didnt need the drum or can repair. I think the drum issue was a combination of poor design and excessive heat. I dont belive many mustangs had the problem unless you tracked the car. The F150 would have had a more day to day issue since truck, in many cases, are worked hard.

In your case, I doubt the drum was the issue. they were grasping.

Fords initial trans strategy was terrible. most of it done by what is now called AI. unfortunately AI is also garbage in garbage out. they seem to have finally gotten their act together. im sure this crappy strategy has shortened the life of many a transmission.

Yes, they will do a thing to deny warranty.

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