Shift firmness and timing questions
 

The first few of many questions... running in level 3 I adjusted the shift firmness to 5 and noticed it shifted a little better. Lookes like it goes to 25, is there an issue with this? Has anyone here tried it? I have a 67 Mustang with a c4 and trans go shift kit, it will bark the tires in second gear no problem. I'm sure the f150 wont do that but I'm wondering what it shifts like at 25 and if it's advisable.
Secondly, the manual (which by the way is pretty vague) says you can bump up the timing for every octane number you go up. Does level 3 already advance the timing or can I bump it up a little since I run 92.

The 91+ octane tune DOES advance the timing, but since you are using 92 octane (where the heck do yu get this grade?) you cn add 0.5 degrees to the timing. I've seen people say they've increased shift firmness up to +10, but not particularly beyond that. You can try changing it as much as you want, but I'd do it in stages, not all at once.

- Jack

I am actually running 92 octane right now, good bit of places around here have it, shocks me to see.

we have 93 octane purty much everywhere around here...

[QUOTE=orygunf150;3698] running in level 3 I adjusted the shift firmness to 5 and noticed it shifted a little better. Lookes like it goes to 25, is there an issue with this? Has anyone here tried it? I have a 67 Mustang with a c4 and trans go shift kit, it will bark the tires in second gear no problem. I'm sure the f150 wont do that but I'm wondering what it shifts like at 25 and if it's advisable. [QUOTE]

I have my WOT shift firmness set at +12 for the 1-2 and the 2-3 shifts. The 3-4 shift is +6. The only issue I have had so far with this is belt slippage shifting at 5200 rpm. I put a Gatorback serpentine belt on and this has alleviated the problem. I would listen to Jack's sage advice and only go up in small increments to find something that works best for you. I like the way it shifts at +12 so never bothered going any higher. It's firm but doesn't sound/feel like any damage is being done.

Belt slippage is all to common during full throttle shifts. Between the aggressive nature of the shift strategies (especially when customized) combined with the reduced/eliminated torque reduction during shifts causes the engine RPMs to drop so fast that the alternator pulley breaks traction and squeaks for a split second. Annoying, but not harmful. As BlackFX indicated, a new belt will eliminate that problem.

Outside of that, Jack indicated a .5 degree adjustment for each bump in octane. This is a good rule of thumb. Ultimately, you need to use your judgment. Some vehicles will run a full 5 degrees advance and run fine on pump gas, other can experience detonation running the basic tunes. It depends a lot on fuel quality, altitude, engine condition, and other factors. If you hear ANY detonation at all (generally under heavy load) then back the timing off 1 full degree at a time until it goes away.

Shifting is kind of the same way. It's a very subjective thing to describe shifting and each person has their own idea of what an "ideal" shift strategy is. In the end, do what works best for you. Some people prefer an aggressive shift while others just like a little firmer shift. Some like late shift points, others like early shift points. It's tricky to get the customer what they need.

We try to make the programmer as flexible as possible without giving too much room to cause a problem with the vehicle. Again, using your best judgment is the way to go. If you're still uncomfortable, we're here to answer those questions.

sorry to jump in but i am new to this site . i have a ? about the timimng as well .i have custom tunes from bill and i am running the 93 performance .i want to know if i can adjust the timing up a lil bit without hurting the truck. i run 93 octane in it all the time

The timing all depends on the quality of fuel. In many cases, you can add a degree or two without problem, especially if you are at altitude. Just make sure to listen for any signs of detonation, particularly at low RPM/high load conditions where detonation usually occurs. If you stomp the throttle from a dead stop and get any rattling/detonation, then you have too much timing and need to back off the timing until the rattle stops... and then back off 1 more degree to allow for temperature fluctuations.

Obviously, this is not the best method to go adjusting timing but if you decide to make minor adjustments it is the best you can do.

Take care.

thanks bill i adjusted it up by one degree and didnt hear anything :cheesy smile:

How in the heck did I miss the post about belt slippage? :doh: It's interesting, when I first got Bill's custom tunes and had a reason to do a WOT shift (during a passing maneuver) I heard the squeak and thought it was something in the transmission, not the serpentine belt in the engine!

I had never heard this squeak using the canned tunes that were in the Edge before it was upgraded to a Gryphon.

At first, I was kind of worried, but then decided maybe things were OK (since Bill wrote the tune and "he MUST know what he was doing"). :happy-dancing:

- Jack

I upgraded to a Goodyear Gatorback, but still have belt slippage. It may not be quite as bad, but not a lot better. Any ideas why?

As Bill's post stated..it's kind of the nature of the beast with the setup....the slippage is usually above 5k at WOT anyways. Alot of people I have talked to have said the gatorback belt cured it and the same said it didn't so I am not gonna mess with it.

I'm not gonna worry about it.....not that big a deal.
Maybe my truck makes more power than those others and it's too much for that Gatorback to harness :yesnod:

Right! A serpentine belt squeak is NOTHING to worry about. But, when I thought it was in the transmission, I couldn't help but try to keep it from happening! :twitch:

- Jack

i got a question reguarding the shift firmness, once i have adjusted it to what i want. do i scroll down to load previous settings and hit enter says loaded pervious settings. does this mean that changes that i made are loaded. or do i need to scroll up where it says done and reload my performance tune. its hard for to tell if changes have been made b/c im making little steps at a time and what to make sure im doing it the right way

This "Load Previous Settings" feature seems to be hard to understand, and I'm right with those who are not sure of anything anymore. But, here's what I think, and this will give Bill yet another chance to try to get me to comprehend:

When you enter the "Custom Options" menu, the FIRST thing you want to do is "Load Previous Settings" - assuming you want things like your previous settings for tire size, firmness, etc., reloaded. THEN, you can go through the individual settings if you've decided to change anything to a new value. Make sure you hit <Enter> after setting anything new to return to the Menu, because if you "back" out using the <Menu> key, the new setting you just entered will not be saved. Finally, when you're finished, make sure you select "Done", to save everything and start the PCM programming process. If you back out before hitting Done, by hitting the <Menu> button again, your changes aren't saved, but I think it MAY start programming with possibly bad values for Gear Ratio (GR) and Tire Size (TS).

So, don't enter a new shift firmness and then Load Previous Settings, because if you do, your firmness value is set back to what you had before.

And I THINK, if you enter the "Custom Options" menu WITHOUT using "Load Previous Settings", you are liable to have bogus values inserted for GR and TS. This does not happen if you don't enter Custom Options though - if you bypass Custom Options, factory values for TS and GR are loaded from the VID block in the PCM or from the Custom Tune itself (if you've chosen a custom tune).

The "Previous Settings" file is NOT unique to a specific tune. It is a "master" file of setting preferences that accumulates as you revise values in the Custom Options menu. These settings can be and are applied to any new tune you choose if you "Reload Previous Settings". So, if you bump your timing 1 degree because you use 93 octane gas in a 91 octane tune, be careful. If you switch to an 87 octane tune and "Reload Previous Settings", your timing will be incorrectly increased by 1 degree over the 87 octane setting.

And now we'll see if I got it right? :shrug:

- Jack

I have been running my shift firmness at 25 since I got the programmer and haven't noticed any problems, I think I read a lot of guys on F150online run theirs at 25 all the time.

Hey Buckeyes, thanks. How does it shift at +25?

The shifts feel 100 times better then they do at stock, it feels like the truck actually wants to move and that you are quick shifting a manual. It's awesome:happy-dancing:

I have read in other forums that the 3-4 shift should be set lower than the other shifts since that is the weakest link in our transmissions. I would think that would only apply if you are doing a lot of WOT runs. Maybe someone else here has more info on this.

I've only ever changed the 1-2 to 25 and left the others at 0.