[Colt]

I've been reading the Minotaur forum for a few hrs now, trying to learn a bit.. I've ordered everything, just waiting for it to come in The more I read, and the more I think about the things I want to change, the more I wish it worked on the 6.0's. Mostly the tranny, my #1 complaint about my trucks. The 4R100, the reason's are obvious. The 5R110, I cant stand the way the convertor locks and unlocks while using cruise control. Get into some rolling hills with them and the convertor just goes nuts when there is no reason for it to do it.

I have some basic questions that should be easy to answer..

First off, the software. Can it be installed on several computers? I'm a computer geek, right at this point in time I have 12 laptops. All of them have a specific job. I have touch screen's, plain jane laptops, etc. I prefer the touch screens for some of my tuning software, but for others I prefer a regular laptop. Pretty much, I dont know which computer I'm going to use for the F-250 yet. I've considered mounting a laptop in the truck, I have one in my F-450, I use it all day, every day. It's just nice to have.

I'm guessing that the chip has no burn limit ( well, none meaning you'll never meet that limit unless you burn every 10 seconds for many many years )? I know that writing to a typical EEprom some can have up to 1 million writes before you have issues, some your able to do more, or less.. I haven't seen this talked about yet.

Idle, I know I can increase idle speed, but can I have the engine idle up after a certain amount of time? Or do I have to make a different tune that I run when I want increased RPM's?.. My 6.0's are wired so they will go into high idle, using the PTO circuit. When active, they will idle for 10 seconds or so, then smoothly ramp up to 1200 RPM. If you hit the brake, they will go back to normal idle speed.. Can this be done with Minotaur? Or is it one of those things where I have to switch to a different position? I dont idle very often, normally just when letting the truck cool off after towing or whatever, but there are times when I need the truck to idle for various reason's and I dont like the low RPM's for prolonged periods of time due to diesel stacking. I'm just curious to know what my option's are. I'd rather just have a tune so the engine will idle at stock speeds for so many seconds, then automaticly ramp up, instead of having 2 tunes simply for idle speeds.

Where can I download the manual at? Just something to read while I'm waiting. I clicked on the link that Corey posted in the sticky, but I dont see where I can get it at all..

I think thats it for now. I'm sure many more will come up

[cleatus12r]

Originally Posted by Colt

I've been reading the Minotaur forum for a few hrs now, trying to learn a bit.. I've ordered everything, just waiting for it to come in The more I read, and the more I think about the things I want to change, the more I wish it worked on the 6.0's. Mostly the tranny, my #1 complaint about my trucks. The 4R100, the reason's are obvious. The 5R110, I cant stand the way the convertor locks and unlocks while using cruise control. Get into some rolling hills with them and the convertor just goes nuts when there is no reason for it to do it. With enough time and practice, you can make the 4R100 shift how and where you want it to regardless of load at any speed and accelerator pedal position. The same can be true with your torque converter clutch as well depending on the year of the truck and the PCM code you're working with. There are some that will never act just right, but there is a lot of tuning that can be done to take care of most of the issues.

I have some basic questions that should be easy to answer..

First off, the software. Can it be installed on several computers? Yes, but a license fee will apply to all additional units. I'm a computer geek, right at this point in time I have 12 laptops. All of them have a specific job. I have touch screen's, plain jane laptops, etc. I prefer the touch screens for some of my tuning software, but for others I prefer a regular laptop. Pretty much, I dont know which computer I'm going to use for the F-250 yet. I've considered mounting a laptop in the truck, I have one in my F-450, I use it all day, every day. It's just nice to have.

I'm guessing that the chip has no burn limit ( well, none meaning you'll never meet that limit unless you burn every 10 seconds for many many years )? Correct.I know that writing to a typical EEprom some can have up to 1 million writes before you have issues, some your able to do more, or less.. I haven't seen this talked about yet.Until someone gets a million burn cycles on one of these chips, you probably won't. Besides, the contacts in the chip connector will be long gone before then!

Idle, I know I can increase idle speed, but can I have the engine idle up after a certain amount of time? Or do I have to make a different tune that I run when I want increased RPM's?.. My 6.0's are wired so they will go into high idle, using the PTO circuit. When active, they will idle for 10 seconds or so, then smoothly ramp up to 1200 RPM. If you hit the brake, they will go back to normal idle speed.. Can this be done with Minotaur? Or is it one of those things where I have to switch to a different position? I dont idle very often, normally just when letting the truck cool off after towing or whatever, but there are times when I need the truck to idle for various reason's and I dont like the low RPM's for prolonged periods of time due to diesel stacking. I'm just curious to know what my option's are. I'd rather just have a tune so the engine will idle at stock speeds for so many seconds, then automaticly ramp up, instead of having 2 tunes simply for idle speeds. Yes, it can be done on the SD trucks. The 95-97 trucks are not capable of this feature. See this thread Why Waste a Position w/ High Idle?


Where can I download the manual at? Just something to read while I'm waiting. I clicked on the link that Corey posted in the sticky, but I dont see where I can get it at all..I never got one with my software, but then again, I had it mostly figured out before I bought Minotaur (I had Sniper's Delta Force program for a year before I bought Minotaur). Bill has a manual made up, but I have only read the hard copy.

I think thats it for now. I'm sure many more will come up

Hope this helps a little bit.

[Colt]

Thanks for the reply Cody, answered my questions perfectly.

The high idle thing, thats exactly what I was talking about.. Glad to hear it can be done the way I want it.

I have little doubt I can make the tranny shift the way I want it to, just going to take time. There was a time I had considered swapping a 5R110 in the truck, with a standalone controller, until I started reading about the way the tranny operates, no way I want to mess with that. I dont have that much time LOL.


I figured I could burn to the chip as many times as I wanted. Just wanted to make sure there wasnt a firmware block or something limiting you to 10 burns or something crazy like that.

The manual is no big deal, I have experience with different tuning programs, so it shouldnt be a big deal to figure out. The things I cant figure out, well, thats why the forum is here.. Once my stuff comes in ( looks like it's shipping today ) I'll never look at the manual anyways LOL ( unless it has pictures )..

Having to buy a licence for each computer would suck, but thats the way many tuning programs are so it's no big deal.. I'll just have to really put some thought into which computer I'm going to use..

One question does come up with the licence thing. I'm very hard on laptops, I had a nice Acer that was 6 months old I was using to tune my 79 Mustang. Forgot it in the car when I went to make a pass. It didnt survive the 5K RPM 10 PSI launch, flew across the car and busted the screen. 300 bucks for a screen and a few hrs later it was "new" again.. So, I'm guessing if I trash a laptop that has Minotaur on it, I would have to contact Bill?

[F-127]

You'll have to contact Bill to re-register. I'll go through my situation: Had a school laptop when first purchased, installed, and registered. Hard drive failed, so I had to reinstall/re-register on that same computer with a new hard drive. Laptops are turned in bi-annually, so I got my files off before they clear the hard drive when they collect them. I ended up going with my own laptop and registered for the third time, hopefully this time is the charm. You shouldn't have a problem re-registering, if you have another incident like the Mustang and laptop.

[Groovy Chick]

Colt, I don't have any orders under your name. When did you order Minotaur?

[Colt]

Thats good to know on re-registering. I think I've figured out which computer I'm going to use, the same computer I trashed the screen in.. I've been thinking about getting a toughbook, put all of my automotive related stuff on it. Then I wont have to worry so much about messing up a computer. I would have done it a long time ago, but they dont give Toughbooks away LOL

Corey, it might be under Dale Lewis, thats my "real" name. Colt is my middle name and what I go by.. I can never remember which name I use for what HAHA.. If that doesnt do it, I'm the moron that put down like 10 custom tunes ( not thinking that night at all ), you had Cody call me to figure out what I really wanted before I racked up 600 dollars worth of tunes . Then when you guys tried to run my card it wouldnt go through. That was due to a half wore off number at the end I had to guess at, and guessed wrong

I have all the tracking info on it, shows it was picked up at 5:01pm, then left Athen's ( fun little town, I'm in Athen's once every 3 yrs for a Carrier service managers meeting ) at 9:13