Thinking about DP Tuner

[REF]

Shenrie, don’t have any experience with the TS tuner, but it sounds like it’s similar to many of the other tuners out there, it certainly wakes it up but has the unintended consequences of blowing black smoke with likely high EGT’s and who knows what else from gaining it’s power mainly by just dumping in more fuel, advancing the timing and playing with the shift points.
The thing that originally drew us all to the DP tuner was that Jody was advertising van specific tunes. I learned from John Wood that the issues that we all saw with the DP on our vans were also issues on the trucks, so draw your own conclusion on that one.
All I know is that from my experience having had the DP tuner and now running the Hydra, there’s no comparison between the 2, even though the DP certainly got me more power, it now seemed like it was more an off the shelf canned generic tuner, made for just about any rig out there and I’m pretty certain nothing about it was specifically written for the vans. It may have been mentioned already, but one case in point is several times I called and talked to Jody over the years, he claimed he had re-written and updated the tunes since I purchased mine, and if I paid him another $75 he would send me the updated tunes.....ok. Unfortunately, there was absolutely no difference in the “updated” tunes and my problems persisted. Ok, enough ranting, I just don’t want anyone else to fall into the same trap with him. Would love to change the title of this thread to read “Thinking about DP tuner: DON’T DO IT”
BTW-unlike DP where each tune was $, all the hydra tunes are free, downloadable and changeable at any time, you just purchase the hardware, a one and done.
As far as the higher HP tunes, I think most sites advertise not going over 120 without changing out to larger injectors and some other mods.
I went with 65 daily, 40 heavy tow and added the whisper mode to the list when I swapped over to the Hydra, it seems to just cut the RPM’s down so that it’s a lower idle. There is a “no start” built in position that comes with the tuner, but there looks to be a “anti-theft” on their site that will idle but causes a dead pedal, might have to look into see if that’s available. The no start feature is nice to have and was the only feature I found useful in the end with the DP. The Hydra does not have van specific tunes, and they seem to work just fine.
Happy to report that everything is still working as it should and no ill side effects to report as of yet. I know Ray (1der) is giving his new Hydro the once over driving in the mountains while out on their great ski adventure, from what he’s reported, all is still good.

[shenrie]

Ref, great info, thank you.

When I ordered the ts setup I was told it would come with more features than it ended up having. When I went in to have it installed I was told that the truck and van were different beasts and that not everything that was an option for the truck would work for the van. Was also informed that the tunes were different and that the setup I got was van specific. While I did get some extra hp, I was more interested in the mpg’s. The up in hp was nice, but it wasn’t a huge gain. 75hp is a pretty substantial gain but I honestly didn’t feel it was that much with my ass dyno. I have a couple dyno passes that I need to find. Maybe we can figure out if it actually did give me 75hp.

The shift points were also a desired addition to help with transmission longevity since I have no service records with my van prior to purchase and as everyone knows the 4r100 isn’t the toughest transmission out there.

I do agree most all tuners use the same approach and I don’t feel what I’m using is the best option which is why I piped up in this thread. I don’t have an egt gauge but that cel that comes on with a full throttle romp basically lets me know that 2500 Mark was breached. I need to get an egt gauge installed so I have a real world monitor to know for sure. Either way I appreciate those of you doing the beta with the hydrachip. It sounds like a really good replacement for what I’m using.

[REF]

No problema.....but yes, a EGT gauge is a necessity, especially on our 7.3’s and especially running it with a tuner, towing and running mountain passes.

[JoeH]

I know this is a thread about the 7.3 but a big difference between trucks and vans with PCM tuning on the 6.0 is the fueling tables. That's one reason off the shelf tuners don't work that well for vans.

[Vanimal]

My Bully Dog holds converter closed down hill kinda like a Jake brake if I do not have pressure on the throttle, not sure if it is part of the programming but I don't remember it doing that before. I don't drive it much 2002 with 130K. I've been driving the van because the wife's # 1 safety rated Subaru turd took a dump. 94k and it needs head gaskets! 2014 recall for head gaskets on the Subaru 2.5 liter but not on the Outback WTF. A 2.5 is a 2.5 is a 2.5 no matter where you insert it! Right?

[shenrie]

^^^ that is garbage. a 2.5 is a 2.5. subaru part shares abundantly. dumb that one vehicle is covered and not another.

no throttle downhill with the ts tuner might be doing the same thing, but its not very effective at slowing you down. just annoying.

[Vanimal]

Like I said I do not remember having that feature but it is nice for grades.

[dokaman]

Is there an online vendor that you all recommend for the Hydra Chip?

[JoeH]

Originally Posted by dokaman

Is there an online vendor that you all recommend for the Hydra Chip?

Call Ed. https://www.ficmrepair.com/index.cfm...rod/prd654.htm

[crazycaseys53]

I hope it’s not in bad form to revive an older thread, but this discussion seemed to turn into more of a general chip discussion, and since it was what led me to ultimately purchase the PHP Hydra chip, I figured I’d put this here.

My situation may be somewhat unique. I had a box code that didn’t have any tunes available for it (1998, or “early 99” 7.3 van). After a few emails back and forth with PHP (and about a week of waiting), I finally had some tunes to play with. But on my first drive with the chip it threw a check engine light getting on the gas in the +80DD setting.

Now, I DO have a 4” downpipe on my van, and so the lack of restriction may mean my turbo is making a bit more boost than the next guys, but I find this CEL every time I jump on it pretty damn annoying. The more I’ve driven it, I find I get it in the +65DD setting too, with any kind of grade. And PHP has been ZERO help! I’ve emailed them 4 times now; the first two times I got “I’ll look into it and get back to you”, and the last two times I’ve just not even gotten a response at all. And we’re talking several weeks in between attempts.

So, I went to the internet and started doing some research. What I’ve found is that people with all kinds of chips are getting an over-boost and de-fueling check engine light, BUT from the results I got, it seemed like PHP’s tuning over-rode the light and kept the engine fueling well past the factory set 24psi limit...but this is all truck information. So, it would be REALLY cool if I can have my cake and eat it too, here. I’m hesitant to install a “boost fooler” and lie to the PCM about how much boost I’m actually making..

Is anybody else having this issue with their PHP Hydra chip, and/or with PHP’s complete lack of service after the sale?

Thanks,
Casey