Ford Racing ProCal Tune

[Redcruzer]

Wont know until I get a chance to drive it tomorrow morning.

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[Regs]

Wow. Tech did a number here.

 

[Redcruzer]

Np did the check engine light dissappear?

The crankcase vent connector fixed that issue. The no boost issue turned out to be the intercooler inlet hose popped off. All good now.

 

[Regs]

The crankcase vent connector fixed that issue. The no boost issue turned out to be the intercooler inlet hose popped off. All good now.

What the? What are the odds of that? Why is everything popping out of place on your car?

My package arrives tomorrow -- then I have to drive by a few garages to see when and how much to get it installed. I ordered it from Andersen Ford Motorsport for about 550 after 5% promo code. Took about 24 hrs to fulfill and ship my items. I noticed most sites now have a 1 month wait or they are gauging the hell out of you on price. Just an FYI.

 

[Redcruzer]

What the? What are the odds of that? Why is everything popping out of place on your car?

My package arrives tomorrow -- then I have to drive by a few garages to see when and how much to get it installed. I ordered it from Andersen Ford Motorsport for about 550 after 5% promo code. Took about 24 hrs to fulfill and ship my items. I noticed most sites now have a 1 month wait or they are gauging the hell out of you on price. Just an FYI.

I can only surmise the tech popped the crankcase vent connector off while taking the original CAI out. I can't blame him for the intercooler inlet hose though. Most likely a fluke. I'm not enough of a turbo guy to know if it was some sort of chain reaction thing or what. I used the hairspray trick one of the guys mentioned here on the hose to help lock it down this time.

You got a better price then I did. Good luck on the install:-). I think you'll like the results!

 

[Regs]

I know you guys mentioned it, but wanted to ask FP myself that keeping the stock air box wont void warranty. Dealer should not have an issue since they will get paid through FP to do the work anyway.

 

[jbailer]

I know you guys mentioned it, but wanted to ask FP myself that keeping the stock air box wont void warranty. Dealer should not have an issue since they will get paid through FP to do the work anyway.

I mentioned it and it's a good idea. I have an email from them saying as much that I will keep until my warranty expires. I think asking them in writing is the best idea so you get a written response you can use legally. If you say I called them and they said... that's where it will end legally. There's no record of that conversation and they can back out.

 

[Regs]

Ok - so I finally got a hold of a dealership (or at least a guy at the dealership) that worked with FP before. Basically, all FP is looking for is a repair slip with the millage on the car of when it was done by them. He had one guy come in that had them register the ProCal 3 software, but problem is, the account then belonged to the mechanic and not the owner of the car. All I have to do is show up with my laptop and the cable adapter and he could watch me install it and he will sign off on the repair ticket. I'll just put in a drop in air filter later. He also said that for the years he worked at the dealership, he only had to prove once or twice that a blown engine, turbo, or mechanical failure was due to owners fault. So I am saving myself about 200-300 dollars just to do this way.

Here is the question for those who did it themselves: I installed the procal software onto my laptop to prepare for Friday when I take the car in. Now how do I actually download the calibration? Do I need to plug it into the vehicle first to populate the hardware ID/Vin ID? Because right now I have no calibration file or way to download it.

 

[jbailer]

Ok - so I finally got a hold of a dealership (or at least a guy at the dealership) that worked with FP before. Basically, all FP is looking for is a repair slip with the millage on the car that it was done by them. He had one guy come in that had them register the ProCal 3 software, but problem is, the account then belonged to the mechanic and not the owner of the car.

So I installed the procal software onto my laptop to prepare for Friday when I take the car in. Now how do I actually download the calibration? Do I need to plug it into the vehicle first because all the Vin information is grayed out and the instructions say it wont be populated until I plug it in.

That's correct. Get them to either use your laptop or your account I guess. We used my laptop for my installation so it's all on my account.

 

[Regs]

That's correct. Get them to either use your laptop or your account I guess. We used my laptop for my installation so it's all on my account.

Correct as in you need to plug it in to get the info from the car, then reconnect to the internet?

 

[jbailer]

Correct as in you need to plug it in to get the info from the car, then reconnect to the internet?

Yes. Just to be more clear, you'll need to do both. Plug it into the car and have Internet access.

 

[lizardrko]

Here is the question for those who did it themselves: I installed the procal software onto my laptop to prepare for Friday when I take the car in. Now how do I actually download the calibration? Do I need to plug it into the vehicle first to populate the hardware ID/Vin ID? Because right now I have no calibration file or way to download it.

When you plug it in to the car, all the fields populate (VIN, HW ID, etc). Once it gets all that info, it will then tell u to to download the calibration file and it will be stored in ur documents. The reason u cant download it prior is that it needs to know the year/transmission. It can only do that by filling in all the fields.

 

[Regs]

Thank you all!

 

[TheLion]

Your back! are you still on the FP tune vs Livernois?

Yes I am, well sorta. I had a very, very difficult start to the year. My wife was killed in a car accident on Jan 10th, so it's just me an my 7 year old son now. But I'm slowly getting things in order so cars were pretty low on my priority list the past month.

I almost traded in the mustang at one point, just to see if there was something more economical, but financially it made no sense once I looked into it, so it's here to stay (which I'm kinda thankful for as I really enjoy the car).

I'm still on the FP tune and honestly I may just stay on the FP tune. Right now I need the best reliability I can and while there is potential for issues with any car, even stock, the FP tune is covered under warranty, I'm only at 15k miles. Yes I have the savings to pay for a whole new engine outright, but it's not worth it to me, especially not now as it would be a massive headache. That savings is better used to cover job loss or something that's not in my control.

In fact the factory warranty does stay for 60k if something fails as long as they don't find it to be related to the FP tune. So if your fuel pump fails at 50k or an injector leans out a cylinder and you throw a rod, you would still be ok as it's not related to their software. Anything that fails specifically due to their software is covered by the 36k mile limit. In their testing, they found no difference in wear between their FP tuned EB at 60k and a stock one. I also have emissions and I really don't want to be messing with switching back and fourth every 2 years, not now.

I'd say the FP tune is about 80% of the Livernois 91 tune, the biggest difference is you get a flatter and broader power curve with livernois, mostly at the top end, it holds strong all the way out to 7k (they also give you another 200 RPM til cut off). The peak power difference isn't huge, maybe 25~30hp, it's there, but unless your competing to trying to feed your ego at the track it's not a big deal.

If you can afford to replace an engine in cash, the Livernois is worth it if you really want the performance, but for a street / auto cross / fun car I personally think the FP tune is still the safest bet and very refined one at that, there's no doubt and it's not that far behind the Livernois 91 tune in overall performance. I also like the throttle profile with the FP tune much more, its much more sensitive at the low end, so it feels more like an NA engine.

The only issue I had with the Livernois tune in about 7500 miles it was used was I noticed a mechanical knock when the engine rpm decreases (aka you rev it and let it drop while in neutral). Sounded like cam phasor and it was a periodic singular event (meaning it would only happen once or twice from 3k down back to idle, but not consecutively). I've never experienced any such phenomenon with the FP tune. So that was the only issue with Livernois, but it did throw up a flag for concern on my part. No it's not a rod, revving up is butter smooth and sounds completely normal and also under power its super smooth. Never does it either with stock or FP tune so it's related to the tune.

I will say though that the FP CAI when combined with Charge pipes really helps with the response of the engine significantly. I kept having issues with the stock charge pipe clamps loosening up due to all the wild temp swings, that and because I have an aftermarket FMIC it's was a cobbled together mess of pipe couplers so I replaced them with AEM ones for $350.

So what seems to work really well with the FP calibration / CAI is what I have now: FMIC, AEM charge pipes, DV+ valve upgrade and Brisk RR14S plugs. It's nice and stout. Those maximize the tune by prevent boost leaks and keeping charge temps down while providing a smooth flow path. None those are power adders per say and should be warranty friendly.

Hopefully once spring comes I can take it to strip and see what I can do with it. BTW I found an article on mustang6g news feed from a while back suggesting ford performance used 3.73 rear end with their ecoboost tune and a few other mods and ran a 12.5. But that may not be the exact same tune we have, not sure how much they watered it down to keep that safety margin, it also said they had a custom down pipe so, assuming our tune is a bit more tame and the stock down pipe, I still think proper gearing, tires and a driver can break into high 12's, but well see. I'm also going to get the car to the dyno soon to see what the FP tune really can do with my setup.

Here's the article I was referencing: http://www.mustang6g.com/?p=2818

http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9950

 

[LuckyJerk]

Yes I am, well sorta. I had a very, very difficult start to the year. My wife was killed in a car accident on Jan 10th, so it's just me an my 7 year old son now. But I'm slowly getting things in order so cars were pretty low on my priority list the past month.

I almost traded in the mustang at one point, just to see if there was something more economical, but financially it made no sense once I looked into it, so it's here to stay (which I'm kinda thankful for as I really enjoy the car).

I'm still on the FP tune and honestly I may just stay on the FP tune. Right now I need the best reliability I can and while there is potential for issues with any car, even stock, the FP tune is covered under warranty, I'm only at 15k miles. Yes I have the savings to pay for a whole new engine outright, but it's not worth it to me, especially not now as it would be a massive headache. That savings is better used to cover job loss or something that's not in my control.

In fact the factory warranty does stay for 60k if something fails as long as they don't find it to be related to the FP tune. So if your fuel pump fails at 50k or an injector leans out a cylinder and you throw a rod, you would still be ok as it's not related to their software. Anything that fails specifically due to their software is covered by the 36k mile limit. In their testing, they found no difference in wear between their FP tuned EB at 60k and a stock one. I also have emissions and I really don't want to be messing with switching back and fourth every 2 years, not now.

I'd say the FP tune is about 80% of the Livernois 91 tune, the biggest difference is you get a flatter and broader power curve with livernois, mostly at the top end, it holds strong all the way out to 7k (they also give you another 200 RPM til cut off). The peak power difference isn't huge, maybe 25~30hp, it's there, but unless your competing to trying to feed your ego at the track it's not a big deal.

If you can afford to replace an engine in cash, the Livernois is worth it if you really want the performance, but for a street / auto cross / fun car I personally think the FP tune is still the safest bet and very refined one at that, there's no doubt and it's not that far behind the Livernois 91 tune in overall performance. I also like the throttle profile with the FP tune much more, its much more sensitive at the low end, so it feels more like an NA engine.

The only issue I had with the Livernois tune in about 7500 miles it was used was I noticed a mechanical knock when the engine rpm decreases (aka you rev it and let it drop while in neutral). Sounded like cam phasor and it was a periodic singular event (meaning it would only happen once or twice from 3k down back to idle, but not consecutively). I've never experienced any such phenomenon with the FP tune. So that was the only issue with Livernois, but it did throw up a flag for concern on my part. No it's not a rod, revving up is butter smooth and sounds completely normal and also under power its super smooth. Never does it either with stock or FP tune so it's related to the tune.

I will say though that the FP CAI when combined with Charge pipes really helps with the response of the engine significantly. I kept having issues with the stock charge pipe clamps loosening up due to all the wild temp swings, that and because I have an aftermarket FMIC it's was a cobbled together mess of pipe couplers so I replaced them with AEM ones for $350.

So what seems to work really well with the FP calibration / CAI is what I have now: FMIC, AEM charge pipes, DV+ valve upgrade and Brisk RR14S plugs. It's nice and stout. Those maximize the tune by prevent boost leaks and keeping charge temps down while providing a smooth flow path. None those are power adders per say and should be warranty friendly.

Hopefully once spring comes I can take it to strip and see what I can do with it. BTW I found an article on mustang6g news feed from a while back suggesting ford performance used 3.73 rear end with their ecoboost tune and a few other mods and ran a 12.5. But that may not be the exact same tune we have, not sure how much they watered it down to keep that safety margin, it also said they had a custom down pipe so, assuming our tune is a bit more tame and the stock down pipe, I still think proper gearing, tires and a driver can break into high 12's, but well see. I'm also going to get the car to the dyno soon to see what the FP tune really can do with my setup.

Here's the article I was referencing: http://www.mustang6g.com/?p=2818

http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9950

First off let me say that I am so sorry for your loss.
That's pretty much is the worst thing that can happen to someone. Just thinking if I ever lost mine wife I don't know what I would do.

As always thanks for the input Lion. I was think to go with the same set up (Or very close) and I think I will move forward with it.

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