4.6 Mods

[ttbit]

Nice update.

My Bama tune seemed to get rid of my throttle lag in my 2006 Mustang. I don't notice it much with the truck. I do notice that sometimes it takes a second to drop to 1st gear when I throttle up, if I haven't been at a complete stop for more than a second or two. With the last tune I had for my 2007 Mustang, I was able to adjust timing, idle, and other things, to an extent. I just have an older Xcal2 device. Because Brenspeed does so much with these trucks, I would imagine you can get what you want.

 

[Redline]

Because Brenspeed does so much with these trucks, I would imagine you can get what you want.

That's why I went with them.
My only concern is the truck isn't in front of them.
I would feel better if it was at their shop but that isn't going to happen.

 

[matsavol]

Shifts seem firmer and quicker then before but not a huge change from stock.
Throttle response still has a little of the hesitation before it kicks in. I was expecting instant response but that isn't the case.
I plan on talking to Brenspeed to see if both can be adjusted.

Forgot to mention that I was almost able to break the tires loose from a stop but the stability control kicked in.
That's something that wasn't at all possible before.

Edit: the SCT has a 0-60 performance test that measures hp and braking distance.
I need to find a remote road somewhere to play around with it.

Curious to see if you got around testing 0-60 and possibly quarter mile yet? In the "standard body" Explorer forum I have done some slight mods and tested their effect:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3347290&postcount=21

 

[Redline]

Not yet. It threw a miss fire code the other day so I'm planning on going back to the shop Saturday to see if they can figure out the issue.
Coil packs? Spark plugs?

 

[ttbit]

Not yet. It threw a miss fire code the other day so I'm planning on going back to the shop Saturday to see if they can figure out the issue.
Coil packs? Spark plugs?

Could just be something in the tune throwing it off. Do you feel a misfire?

 

[Redline]

Well I didn't think of it being a misfire at first but now It seems to be the case.
Brenspeed said it is nothing to do with the calibration and suggested changing the plugs which the shop has already checked and told me there was nothing wrong with them.
Question: does the computer need time to learn and adjust to a new tune?

 

[toddyfiveo]

No it should need no time to learn. I would say you have a coil going bad. I have chased them before on my f150. After the second coil went out I just went ahead and replaced them all. I'll be doing the same on the trac when I change plugs.

 

[ttbit]

I had some funky codes showing up when I first bought my truck and replacing the plugs with Ford's latest version solved that. How many miles on them? Mine looked pretty bad at 96k.

The coils are pretty common to go bad. I wrote a tech article on the Lincoln LS some years ago about it, so it has been going on for over 10 years.

 

[Redline]

I figured the tune was instant.

The shop spent 3 1\2 hours on it today.

Coils turned out ok.
Plugs looked good (32,000 miles) but I told him to change them anyway.

We thought we had it resolved after changing the plugs but the random misfire code came back after a 15 minute test drive and after the mechanic shut it off and restarted it.

Worth noting, the truck is running smooth with great acceleration except when at idle.
There are no signs of misfire driving, climbing hills, etc...

The idle was still set too low. It was around 550 and the truck was still shaking when in neutral and drive.

I had the SCT dongle and iPad with me so we were able to adjust the idle.

Now according to the software it is set at 775 rpm but using the Snap On scanner it was fluctuating between 700 and 750.
It still has a bit of a shake to it but we both think that's attributed to the cams.

So we called it quits after adjusting the idle.
I drove home, approximately 35-40 miles and close to an hour.
Both city and highway driving. The truck ran flawlessly the entire ride home.
I stopped off at the supermarket to pick up a few things and within less than a minute and no more than 300 feet the engine light was back.

I got back home checked the code and sure enough its a random misfire.

So I plugged the dongle back in and bumped the idle a little more.
This time I decided to advance the timing in the 0-2000 rpm range by 2 degrees.

I have purposely gone out of my way the rest of the day driving around the city and highway. I have been in and out of the truck at least half a dozen times and have ran up 70 miles.
So far the idle has smoothed out even more, acceleration seems smoother and most important of all, no misfire code.

It's still too soon for me to get excited but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the issue was too little spark at idle with the larger cams.

The shop feels the work was done correctly and based on how it performs (aside from at idle) I believe him.
He has been great to work with and is willing to take it apart again if all else fails to make sure everything was setup right.
At this point I don't feel it's necessary but if the code shows up again I'll most likely have him double check.

Since all this came up I have been searching the Internet and couldn't belive the amount of posts with people having the same misfire problem with no clear solution to the fix.
I believe my situation is unique because of the cams. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

 

[ttbit]

I think you are correct. Misfire codes can be tripped by multiple things. It makes sense that with the cams and low idle, it could trip something like this. I think bumping up the idle was a good idea.

Were your misfire finds on the Internet engines with cams, or just in general? I know it is a common one for even stock engines.

 

[Redline]

Just in general without cams. That's why I think it isn't related to anything else failing.
The engine light still hasn't come back on after advancing the timing in the 0-2000 rpm range.

 

[ttbit]

Time for you to post some videos now. I am reminding myself of someone on my 302 ST build thread where he kept asking me for audio clips of my exhaust.

 

[Redline]

Ill try and get that done. Only issue is I only have my iPhone to capture the video.

 

[toddyfiveo]

How has the truck been performing? We are all still waiting on that video.

 

[toddyfiveo]

Well NGK plugs and painted cam covers are the only mods so far to the 4.6. Still waiting for the wife to let me spend some money on the tuner.

 

[toddyfiveo]

CODell85GT
did you every get the tune straight? Wondering if you have any video yet. I'd like to hear the cams before I pull the trigger on them.

 

[Tnarg Nodrog]

I don't have the funds to supercharge it. I just want s little more out of it. I've done the CAI and having my resonator removed next week. Brendpeed tune is next on the list and then I guess I'll start looking at cams.

Do you have a part # for the 4,6 CAI from KN?
thanks!