Any such thing as a chip for 3rd gens?

[JawzSS]

Just wondering if there was any sort of performance chip for the 3rd gens. I have an 04 mountaineer and didnt know if there was a reflash, chip, or anything like that?

 

[zerodevil]

chips no, but james at hensonperformance.com makes custom tunes in a reflash format put on SCT X3 hand held tuners. Fairly decent price, and his customer service is top notch, hope i can bring him more buisiness. the gains from a tune are amazing, shifting was greatly improved, and the truck has NO throttle lag(reported 15rwhp gains).

 

[JoshMcMadMac]

chips no, but james at hensonperformance.com makes custom tunes in a reflash format put on SCT X3 hand held tuners. Fairly decent price, and his customer service is top notch, hope i can bring him more buisiness. the gains from a tune are amazing, shifting was greatly improved, and the truck has NO throttle lag(reported 15rwhp gains).

What sort of impact did it have on fuel economy? Is Henson the only game in town for our platform?

 

[celly]

Is Henson the only game in town for our platform?

James Henson is a SCT dealer. There are LOTS of them out there so feel free to track down another dealer if you're not comfortable dealing with him (not sure why you wouldn't be). James is also an EF site sponsor so he gives back to our community and has done work on a LOT on Explorers (mine included).

 

[JoshMcMadMac]

James Henson is a SCT dealer. There are LOTS of them out there so feel free to track down another dealer if you're not comfortable dealing with him (not sure why you wouldn't be). James is also an EF site sponsor so he gives back to our community and has done work on a LOT on Explorers (mine included).

I never said I was uncomfortable with Henson. I was simply asking if he was the only game in town with a decent tune for the 3rd gens. Being an SCT dealer does not mean that they offer support for a particular platform.

What sort of impact did it have on fuel economy?

 

[XLT]

I never said I was uncomfortable with Henson. I was simply asking if he was the only game in town with a decent tune for the 3rd gens. Being an SCT dealer does not mean that they offer support for a particular platform.

What sort of impact did it have on fuel economy?

It depends on what tunes you buy. WHen i had my 97 f150 i didnt notice any difference in mpg. But i had two performance tunes and one towing tune put on my xcalibrator II. I believe they can do a tune for mpg though.

 

[celly]

Being an SCT dealer does not mean that they offer support for a particular platform.

SCT offers programming for all later model Explorers so it's safe to say they do. If you've got a 1st gen or an older 2nd gen, you may be SOL. You've got a 3rd gen so you're covered.

 

[JoshMcMadMac]

It depends on what tunes you buy. WHen i had my 97 f150 i didnt notice any difference in mpg. But i had two performance tunes and one towing tune put on my xcalibrator II. I believe they can do a tune for mpg though.

Cool. Not losing MPG and improving the transmission are the two biggest selling points to me.

SCT offers programming for all later model Explorers so it's safe to say they do. If you've got a 1st gen or an older 2nd gen, you may be SOL. You've got a 3rd gen so you're covered.

True, if you want a canned tune. My opinion is you might as well get it done right.

 

[celly]

I believe they can do a tune for mpg though.

My experience with mpg tunes hasn't been great. I find mpg tunes to be sort of sluggish. I much prefer the more aggressive performance or torque tunes. That being said, the best mileage aid is mellow driving and I just can't do that with my custom tunes. It's never been in my nature to drive mellow.

 

[celly]

True, if you want a canned tune. My opinion is you might as well get it done right.

James doesn't sell "canned" tunes. My current tunes were tweaked big time by James after I got my headers installed last summer. Datalogging via the Xcalibrator is the bomb.

 

[JoshMcMadMac]

My experience with mpg tunes hasn't been great. I find mpg tunes to be sort of sluggish. I much prefer the more aggressive performane or torque tunes. That being said, the best mileage aid is mellow driving and I just can't do that with my custom tunes.

I agree, which is why I ask what impact it has had on others fuel economy. It seems that as long as the tune is done well MPG should not suffer, although it may not improve. I can dig having more performance and the same MPG; it is when fuel economy tanks I draw the line.

James doesn't sell "canned" tunes. My current tunes were tweaked big time by James after I got my headers installed last summer. Datalogging via the Xcalibrator is the bomb.

Very cool. Datalogging and after-the-sale tune support is where it's at!

 

[celly]

I agree, which is why I ask what impact it has had on others fuel economy. It seems that as long as the tune is done well MPG should not suffer, although it may not improve. I can dig having more performance and the same MPG; it is when fuel economy tanks I draw the line. Very cool. Datalogging and after-the-sale tune support is where it's at!

My mileage neither improved or got worse when I applied custom tunes to two Explorers ('00 Sport and '99 EB). Driveability and the "fun factor" improved immensely.

Datalogging is definitely an attractive option with these flashers and why "chips" are passe, IMHO. I love being able to get new tunes or tweaked tunes via email. James even sent me one last summer that I pulled down on my Blackberry, stored it on the SD card in my phone, then dragged it over to a laptop and installed the tune in a parking lot. I wasn't near a full blown wireless connection and don't have tethering set up for my BB, so it was cool to be able to try a new tune on the fly like that. Try that with a chip.

 

[zerodevil]

from a technical stand point, your milage should improve, because part of tuning is to lean out the fuel injection to make more power. so assuming you can keep your foot off the little peddle on the right, you should get an improvement.

James is not the only person making custom tunes, any shop with a dyno can do one for you, and bamachips from explorerexpress can as well. i chose james for two reasons, in my town, there is only one dyno, and the guy wants a fortune to tune rides. and two, he has AMAZING Customer service, he has made me no less than 6 tunes over the last year with out questions asked, and was more than willing to assist me if i had any problems.

 

[JoshMcMadMac]

from a technical stand point, your milage should improve, because part of tuning is to lean out the fuel injection to make more power. so assuming you can keep your foot off the little peddle on the right, you should get an improvement.

James is not the only person making custom tunes, any shop with a dyno can do one for you, and bamachips from explorerexpress can as well. i chose james for two reasons, in my town, there is only one dyno, and the guy wants a fortune to tune rides. and two, he has AMAZING Customer service, he has made me no less than 6 tunes over the last year with out questions asked, and was more than willing to assist me if i had any problems.

Cool, thank you for chiming in. It is this sort of feedback that helps make these decisions easier. Now if only there were a way to tune both my Mountaineer and LS without having to get two separate, yet identical interfaces! :

 

[zerodevil]

lol THAT would be nice.

 

[High_Order1]

Far as I can tell, Bamachips is gone for good. There were some issues involving money in versus how fast the things were going out. I don't think they are doing any more tunes.

I couldn't get James to answer me via email, their website, or from here.

I went with VMPtuning. $62 delivered by email to firm up the shifting, tighten up the pedal, and most important to me, fix the damn speedometer that was tearing my transmission up.

Also, this guy unlocked a lot of stuff that I can adjust myself, like trans psi, spark advance, etc. etc.

Dunno about mileage, money is tight right now so I'm not driving it a lot, and I am still learning a bunch about how tuning works.

I do at this point highly recommend tuning, though. You can find deals, I got a used box very, very cheap. There apparently is a lot that you can do to make the car work more to your liking, and the day of the screwdriver appears to be about over...

Shawn

 

[SnookMan]

I got my truck tuned from James, and actually have two tunes.....a 89 torque and a 93 performance. I did notice a little difference with each tune, for instance the 89 has a lot of low end power and is what I use for driving around town. The 93 has the power band up high, but I don't like the shift points at all and don't use it. As far as mileage, didn't see any real difference good or bad, but my truck only averages around 12-13mpg anyways. The HP gains where only slightly noticable in my opinion, not as much as i expected.

 

[rocket2ya]

you think the tune is worth it? im torn between getting two kicker L7's or a tune

 

[zerodevil]

the difference in my ride between stock and tuned was night and day, i recommend a tune for anyone wanting a little more power, if you go with those cams, you will NEED a new tune anyways.