Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Engine tunes?

I hear a lot about these, but don't know much. From what I understand, or at least think I understand they basically reprogram your vehicles computer.

I'm hearing claims of 25-100 more HP with similar gains in torque and improved fuel mileage. All seems too good to be true. If so, why not program them that way from the factory. Seems like there have to be some downsides, but I'm hearing of lots of guys spending the money for them.

What is the true story to this? Is it worth the expense and what are the downsides?

On a gas engine you aren't going to see any really noticeable difference. On a diesel you can see some serious gains though.

Downsides
It takes fuel to make power=mpg
Emissions may go up
Your drivetrain may not be up to higher horsepower and fail quicker
May/will void warranty
If any of hese occur you may not even be able to measure it. A horsepowr gain may not show a mpg loss if you drive conservatively, if you hot rod your mileage will always suck.

About what I expected. But if you spend time on some of the truck and SUV forums it seems an awful lot of guys using and recommending them.

A tune on a diesel with an egr/ DPF delete AND a performance tune will make you have trouble closing your mouth......

Then the game of upgrading the drive line components begins... And buying tires .

The tunes they sell for non-turbocharged gas engines are worthless.

I had BMW 535I with the turbocharged straight six and had a tuner on it that allowed more boost from the turbo, it was pretty impressive.

A good tuner on a diesel with the DPF delete as Dutch mentioned = Whoa Nellie!

On a naturally aspirated gas engine though, don't waste your money.

All of them will void your warranty if they're discovered, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Thought this was a music thread.

Never Mind then.

I have a tuner on my truck. My mileage is as good or better than stock and I have an extra 100 HP at minimum when I need it. Generally, it's passing someone.

All I want is the EGR/DEF delete, that's all I want. I want to block off that EGR port and toss a chunk of pipe in the place of the exhaust filter and not have the engine hunting for those cycles. I don't care about performance tunes.

What's the closest thing out there available for what I want?

2008 6.4 ford.

Dave, I don't pretend to know that much about the 6.4 as I have a 6.0, but here are a couple of items for your consideration. I'm pretty sure you're going to need a tuner with any 'delete'kits, so factor that into your cost.

EGR Cooler Delete

DPF Race Pipe

Yes and it keeps going. Been there done that, still doing it. Sounds like you have too.

Thanks. I can make both of those items in my shop with stuff I have laying around. What I need is the delete compatible tuner. I understand that the tuners will be geared towards additional power/performance as well. I'm not apposed to that, I would just choose a lower level, mainly after programming corrections for these physical deletes.

I can't stand having black engine oil. That EGR chit has to go. I also hate the DEF, my 08 doesn't used DEF cleaning fluid, it simply floods the cylinders with diesel, some of that fuel gets past the rings and down into the crank case. The oil level goes up over time due to fuel contamination from DEF cycles.

If I'm going to keep this truck, that stuff is going away, lol.

Spartan Tuners used to be one that supported at deleted 6.4 but I don't know if they still do. I seem to recall the EPA coming down on them at one point.

EPA, wrecks everything.

Have to get one from Canada or some other non-EPA regulated region.

Yeah...like the wonderful idea of plumbing the crank case vent into the intake. How could feeding oily crankcase fumes into the turbo, intercooler, and engine be a bad idea? Let's just say my CCV is a bit more free-flowing than the original design.

My Titan has an UpRev Tune and it made a very noticeable difference.

EFI Live

excellent idea

For Ford go to powerstroke.org and find the 6.4 sub forum. I don't know 6.4's (have a 6.0-no, and love it, after fixing it), but ask your specific question there and you'll get a concensus answer shortly. After deleting/studding/etc by 6.0 and having a 'mild' tune on, you can't wipe the smile from my face when half-assed getting on it. Tires don't like it as much, so now that the novelty has worn off I try and baby how its driven, except once in a while when passing someone.