Today's Tuners
Are today's tuners on diesels reliable and trouble free? If properly installed, does more power negatively impact the longevity of a properly maintained engine? Thanks in advance. Mike
Forum Discussion
Lantley wrote:cekkk wrote:
I have babied my 7.3 since I bought it, but even with the simple additions to it I still felt it was not providing sufficient power on the long steep pulls we have near our home as well as those heading north out of Phoenix's valley.
I finally purchased a Superchips Flashpaq tuner not yet in my signature, a couple weeks ago and found a great improvement pulling our TT up Ute Pass last weekend and even showed increased MPGs on that 250 mile round trip over past trips without the tuner.
We'll be leaving on a longer trip next week where the numbers will have more meaning.
If I don't begin to push the engine hard and just take benefit from the increased hp and torque on hills I don't anticipate any negative effect on the engine.
There will not likely be a negative impact on the engine however don't be surprised if there is a negative impact on the transmission.
The trans. is the weak link in the 7.3 drivetrain. If you have problems down the road, a rebuilt tranny by Brian's Truck Stop BTS will give you a bullet proof drive train.
I disagree the weak link is not the 4R100, IMO is was cooling, and not the transmission . I own the early 99, bought is new just over 15 years ago. Ran a programmer or tuner for the past 10 years since I started towing heavy. 10 years ago I went to larger exhaust intake , gauges , and an auxiliary transmission cooler, after a year went to the 6.0 transmission cooler , along with the 6.0 intercooler. The auxiliary did okay ,but the transmission still got warmer then I wanted at slow speeds around 200-210 ,now I can't get over 190 in any conditions. Still running the stock transmission towing 13K . As I said before IMO the weak link was the cooling on the 7.3's . Overheating is what killed a lot of 4R100's. I have never really overheated mine, and it is still stock, going strong ,and shifting well. I advise anyone that is running a 7.3 , and 4R100 to install a 6.0 cooler ,and transmission gauge if towing heavy . You will probably get to skip that five thousand dollar BTS transmission, if you haven't already partially fried it.
