Reprogram Transmission?

[Skandocious]

So ever since I installed the shift kit and firmed up my shifts, I've become more and more irritated with the points at which my transmission shifts in my speed/rpm range. The shift kit didn't change it much (if at all) but the harder shifts have brought it to my attention a bit more...

So today I thought... It's an electronically controlled transmission... SURELY there's a good number of guys out there that DON'T like the points at which this transmission decides to shift to the next gear, and some of those guys MUST have come up with a way to reprogram the transmission... I know my buddy had a 90s Camaro and he had a programmer that plugged into a port in the cab, and with a few button pushes he could manually change the points at which the transmission shifted into EACH individual gear. I can't imagine I can do THAT but there's gotta be a way to accomplish the same thing.

Now... The transmission is controlled by the same computer as the engine, correct? The big PCM with 3294873 wires on it?? (k maybe I exaggerated). If so, perhaps the transmission can be configured with a tool like the TwEECer?

I'm obviously not experienced or qualified to figure out the shift patterns for myself so, my questions is... Are there E4OD shift patterns out there that people have already researched and created which can be flashed onto my computer? (or onto a TwEECer-type module)?

EDIT: Remember, kids, to ALWAYS research before you post and make an a$$ of yourself Just hit the TwEECer homepage and right there it says that it supports transmission tuning. Anyone know the extent of this feature and just exactly how easy (or hard) it is to use? I think I'll shoot a PM over to Conanski. Last I heard he was putting the finishing touches on his TweecerRT install.

 

[Skandocious]

Wowsers! Reading more on the Tweecer site and saw this:

Do you want to fix problems like these?

· Surging at idle
· Bucking at low throttle driving (parking lot)
· Stalling coming to a light or exiting the freeway
· Hard starting (long cranking time)
· Extremely poor gas mileage

Holy crap its like a sign from heaven That bucking in parking lots is the MAIN reason I want to reprogram my transmission. It drives me NUTS. Any time I'm in drive, at very low throttle for a couple seconds in 1st gear; then, for example, I'll come up to a stop sign and remove my foot from the pedal to hit the brake; and RIGHT after I remove my foot my transmission had been anticipating a shift into 2nd gear so it tries to shift and then disengages and gives a kick. Wasn't a HUGE deal before the shift kit but now when it happens it JERKS myself and everything/everyone else in the cab real bad. Doesn't seem healthy

 

[F 150Cobra]

looks like i need that thing too... sounds really good!!

 

[jr32560]

skan keep us informed on this-my e250 only shifted different after I had to replace the shift pack???

 

[tomtoc]

Skan, please find a fitting picture to include in your post next time

It feels incomplete without

 

[Skandocious]

Skan, please find a fitting picture to include in your post next time

It feels incomplete without

Grumble grumble FINE!

So the price tag on the RT unit (which has real time data logging -- I wouldn't waste my money on the one that doesnt) is pretty hefty... Somethin like $550... The main use for this unit is to tune an engine that has been heavily modified so that it accepts your modifications better (playing with timing tables, air/fuel ratio, MAF readings, throttle position readings, etc). I'd kinda hate to waste $550 on some unit just to clean up my transmission shifting pattern I sent a PM to Conanski, hopefully he'll shed a little light on the subject.

 

[tomtoc]

what about eco? he seemed to be the garage-gadget-master

 

[msb71]

Speaking of Eco , where has that clown been?

 

[Skandocious]

Speaking of Eco , where has that clown been?

Who cares? But yeah, I was wondering the same thing the other day.

 

[Lost]

Speaking of Eco , where has that clown been?

I wondered MY self has not been on for days.

 

[conanski]

Hey.. that looks familiar. And yes, you could use a Tweecer to modify the tranny shift points, though I haven't investigated this with mine because I have no need for it.

So I guess the question is are there any other tuners that can do the same... cheaper? You'll be happy to know the answer is yes, though the alternative can be a bit more cumbersome to use. http://www.moates.net/index.php?cPath=25_35

 

[surewhynot]

I had a 96 F150 that I used this on. It Made it shift hard and raised the shift points.

http://store.summitracing.com/partd...839071+4294822072+4294908331+115&autoview=sku

 

[Spencer]

I have a BURN1 usb chip burner from Moates.net, I use it to reprogram the ecu in the dsm. Looks like it can be of use to my truck too, which is good because I have all of those same symptoms with my E40D.

 

[Skandocious]

Paul/Spencer, can either you explain just exactly what those things on the Moates site does? It keeps mentioning BURN1 in the description (as did Spencer). Am I right in assuming that you find an image and use one of those adapters to burn in onto the PCM?

 

[Spencer]

Yeah the BURN1 is a usb eprom chip burner, thats what I have. Works great on my other car. There are software programs out there for different vehicles. I'm not that familiar with the other products.

 

[conanski]

The Ford EEC-IV is not programmable in the strict sense of the word, the on-board memory cannot be flashed or reburned. But the diagnostic port can be utilized to add an outboard memory chip which can be setup to override the onboard memory. This is what the Tweecer and Moates products do, the Tweecer uses an FPGA which is a modern flash chip that can be reprogramed repeatedly, while the basic Moates hardware uses an EEPROM which is technology from '80's that preceeded the FPGA and isn't as capable but is dirt cheap.
To use this hardware you need to either read the stock calibration data from your EEC or download it from the net(if available), make the necessary changes, and burn this on your memory device. The Tweecer does all this in one tidy package(CalEdit), but you'll need at least 2 programs to do this with the Moates hardware, something like EEC-Editor or Binary Editor to view and modify the calibration, and then Burn1 to save it on the EEPROM.

 

[Skandocious]

Great explanation Paul, makes a lot more sense now... Sounds like it might be a bit more complicated than I can handle though.

Would I be wasting my money to buy a TweecerRT for a stock 351w? Can you squeeze more performance out with the Tweecer just through tuning (without any big engine mods)?

 

[conanski]

Can you squeeze more performance out with the Tweecer just through tuning (without any big engine mods)?

Not really, you won't get any more performance than you would get for free from just disconnecting the coolant temp sensor and making the computer run open loop all the time. Best power is obtained with a rich A/F mixture and open loop runs about 13-13.5:1, but of course this impacts milage. I'd suggest investigating tranny tuning devices like the one posted above.

 

[Skandocious]

Not really, you won't get any more performance than you would get for free from just disconnecting the coolant temp sensor and making the computer run open loop all the time. Best power is obtained with a rich A/F mixture and open loop runs about 13-13.5:1, but of course this impacts milage. I'd suggest investigating tranny tuning devices like the one posted above.

Thanks a bunch for your help Paul. I'll let you know if I've got any more questions.