Xcalibrator Purchase

[performancenut]

For those that have purchased the Xcalibrator, which vendor has the best understanding and experience with the 1997 5.0 Explorer- supercharged. I've sent a couple of e-mails to Hypnotic Illusions without any replies; this would be a concern for customer service and upgraded program request and response issues. I've tried to contact Doug at Bama-chips but, as his site now indicates, he is involved in hurricaine issues and is temporarily closed down. Unsure how long that will be. Has anyone purchased one from Torrie at FPN? I sure would prefer to purchase from a vendor that responds to e-mails, is available, and knowledgeable about the particular vehicle.

I am pretty much ready to order now but, for $400 to $500, want to get a proven vendor.

 

[aldive]

Without any doubt, I would go with Bama Chips. Doug will be back soon, if he isn't;t already.

Good luck ......

 

[smiley1]

Without any doubt, I would go with Bama Chips.

Holy cow, Al. Are you on commission?

You cant go wrong with either. In regards to the 5.0 I dont believe there has been any comparison between the two. Even reviews have been unconvincing as to which one is better. I have the programming from Wayne and am very pleased. Customer service has been superb! Now remember he is located near were the hurricanes have hit so you may need to be patient until he can come back on line. There is a telephone number on his site that is answered by Wayne himself. You may want to give that a try.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I believe I am one of the few here that have flasher for the 5.0

 

[south59]

Holy cow, Al. Are you on commission?

You cant go wrong with either. In regards to the 5.0 I dont believe there has been any comparison between the two. Even reviews have been unconvincing as to which one is better. I have the programming from Wayne and am very pleased. Customer service has been superb! Now remember he is located near were the hurricanes have hit so you may need to be patient until he can come back on line. There is a telephone number on his site that is answered by Wayne himself. You may want to give that a try.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I believe I am one of the few here that have flasher for the 5.0

Just curious, did you have any problems with pre-detonation after flashing your 5.0? Doug and I worked to fix a problem where my truck would completely bog down and basically stall when flashed to any of the 6 programs that we tried. I'm still trying to figure out why my truck did this.

 

[performancenut]

Just curious, did you have any problems with pre-detonation after flashing your 5.0? Doug and I worked to fix a problem where my truck would completely bog down and basically stall when flashed to any of the 6 programs that we tried. I'm still trying to figure out why my truck did this.

Were you able to resolve your issues with the programmer?

 

[smiley1]

Just curious, did you have any problems with pre-detonation after flashing your 5.0? Doug and I worked to fix a problem where my truck would completely bog down and basically stall when flashed to any of the 6 programs that we tried. I'm still trying to figure out why my truck did this.

Never had a problem. It was plug and play and no detonation, and thats with crappy California gas.

Im sorry to hear you had problems. Did you just stay stock then?

 

[south59]

Were you able to resolve your issues with the programmer?

Nope, Doug tried to get it working with me for about a week...we tried 2 different X-calibrators and 2 different sets of programs....never could figure it out.

 

[performancenut]

Nope, Doug tried to get it working with me for about a week...we tried 2 different X-calibrators and 2 different sets of programs....never could figure it out.

Did you return to stock, or use a chip?

 

[south59]

Did you return to stock, or use a chip?

At the moment, i'm back at stock

 

[performancenut]

At the moment, i'm back at stock

Do you know anyone else with the 1996-97 5.0 (same computer- 98 and later is different) that has successfully used the Xcalibrator?

 

[aldive]

Do you know anyone else with the 1996-97 5.0 (same computer- 98 and later is different) that has successfully used the Xcalibrator?

Take a look at the SCT Users Forum at http://www.sctflash.com/forum/

 

[performancenut]

Take a look at the SCT Users Forum at http://www.sctflash.com/forum/

Thanks for the tip. Worked through their forums; no info.

 

[jah81592]

Go with BamaChips(Doug)! He will be back just has obligations to a full time job.-J

 

[performancenut]

Go with BamaChips(Doug)! He will be back just has obligations to a full time job.-J

That seems to be the overall site opinion and recommendation. Thanks for the input.

 

[BeauJ]

I talked to Wayne at Hypnotic Illusions a while back and I was supposed to get a custom chip reburn, but I haven't seen or heard from him in a while. Dunno what happened to him. He only stays 30 mins from me.

 

[wpurple]

I have no problems flashing my 99 Mounty 5L (SC'd by Powerdyne.)

Doug supplied me a few tunes to try and has tweaked them a bit.
We did have trouble removing the speed limiter and since Doug has been busy, Ryan from SCT provided me the final tune.
I have the speed limiter now removed, the shifts firmed up nicely, more fuel only at WOT, and the shifts moved up.

I haven't done anything to the timing or fuel curve yet as I am awaiting the purchase of a A/F gauge (As soon as my wallet says it's OK)

 

[spindlecone]

I talked to Wayne at Hypnotic Illusions a while back and I was supposed to get a custom chip reburn, but I haven't seen or heard from him in a while. Dunno what happened to him. He only stays 30 mins from me.

I think the little guys are getting run out of the flasher market (little profit margin on a small scale basis) seems that the flasher buis is a side buis, they come and they go, just like apten.Would like the hear from doug and Wyane , where are they?

 

[ExplorerDMB]

moved to computer section for future reference