Flashing?? (No not the kind your thinkin of!!)

[fords4life91]

My dad has a 2007 f150 4x4 5.4l triton and about 2 months after we got the truck we had to bring it in for a recall (they flashed the computer), and ever since then the truck has had NO POWER!! Me and my dad have both drove other f150's with the same gears and motor and have been impressed on how fast they were!! And on the way home from up north this weekend we was messing around with another f150 and they SMOKED US!!! Also we have brought it into the dealer 2 times and they just tell us its fine and it has plenty of power!! So what should we do at this point?? I have had a couple ppl tell us to take it to the dealer and have them flash the computer?? Any ideas??

 

[Skandocious]

I'll give you a bump by offering my limited knowledge here

Being that those newer engines are pretty much ENTIRELY computer controlled (right down to ignition system, if I'm not mistaken), the software on the computer can make the difference between and engine that doesnt run at all, and one that run's like a top. If you remember, the fix for the flamethrower tailpipes on the new 6.4L powerstrokes was a simple flash of the computer-- it's pretty incredible what they can control with a few software parameters.

That being said-- if you're suspicious that the new computer flash is the culprit of the power loss, I would not hesitate to suggest the dealership reflash it, it could very well be the cause of you problem.

But again, I think I would only pursue this if you have good reason to believe that the flash they gave you was no good... I have a hard time believing that the dealership would have given you a bad flash. It's not like mechanical work where they forget to the torque something to the right spec or forget to the shim such and such component in a certain way... Computer flashing, as far as I know, is just a matter of plugging in the vehicle specs to a programmer and hitting GO; I can't imagine there would be much room for error...

Perhaps one of the techs can chime in about the flashing procedure... If you're convinced that the flash is the culprit, then perhaps they gave you an UPDATED flash that offers some safety or mileage benefits, at the cost of power loss (just thinking out loud). What exactly was the recall that you took it in for? That might offer some insight as to just exactly WHAT they did when you took it in, and maybe the techs will be able to tell you why power loss was a result of that procedure.


Now that this is bumped, hopefully we can get some more ideas thrown around

 

[Mr. Stroker]

I was one of the couple people he mentioned who suggested that they flash it. Only thing i can see causing a problem without an engine light.

 

[f150_fx4]

dude thats sucks. mike did say when he rode in my truck to the goodells fair he was supriesed how fast it was compared to your dads. Now with the chip its even faster lol. But it might just need a reflash. They might have not went through the whole process. My programmer said dont interupt anything during the process of flashing otherwise it will mess things up so maybe they did that. What dealer you take it too?

 

[Mr. Stroker]

Blaise with your tuner make sure you bring it back to stock before they do anything with reflashing. Heck even for warrenty work they can see if theres an update and flash it anyways without you knowing about it. So make sure you say dont flash the computer or bring it to stock, then when u get home reload the tuner.

 

[f150_fx4]

yup I wont forget to lol I would be screwed lol

 

[Mr. Stroker]

Yea what warrenty? as they plop a VOID sticker all over your truck lmao

 

[emtzach]

ok so this is the second forum that ill post this flashing of stock ecu updates vehicle programing thus causing the problem. they try to get better mileage smoother shifts blah blah blah however this robs performance the other guy said im retarted and dont know what im talking about but this does happen. tell the delership the problem mabey they can rectify the issue good luck bud