why is my truck shifting harder? after ECU swap.

[eco]

PM it to me, I'm curious.

Can't I swap to another MAF computer with a more aggressive program?

Maybe you should look into a tuner.

Finding a MAF, 351, e4od, eec-iv in a "commercial" kind if rig would not be easy.

 

[Skandocious]

Maybe you should look into a tuner.

Finding a MAF, 351, e4od, eec-iv in a "commercial" kind if rig would not be easy.

Yeah that's kind of what I was thinking... Is there a plug-and-play Tweecer that is compatible with my truck?

 

[TheRoadVirus]

From the little research I did on that product (you'd want the RT version if it's available, believe me), I would have to swap to a mustang ecu (so I'm not sure how it'd work with a truck like yours unless you swapped to a mustang firing order/ecu). Keep in mind that I know the displacement is different, it's just that with the TweecerRT you can change those parameters. Not sure on what else it's available for, though.

 

[flareside_thunder]

My truck has the Mustang firing order...15426378.......also a windsor firing order...

JR

 

[eco]

Yeah that's kind of what I was thinking... Is there a plug-and-play Tweecer that is compatible with my truck?

Go to the tweecer web site...

 

[Skandocious]

I've been there. They don't list my truck on the page and I don't know enough about the EEC-IV computers to know if mine is compatible with the ones listed...

 

[eco]

You mean that out of the 25 computers they show for 1995-1996 F + E series yours isn't listed?

Which computer do you have?

 

[frederic]

Frederic you are way too negative...you drive a Ford remember?

JR

Negative? Not at all. Careful with my word choices, as to not intentionally lead people in wrong direction. I've run into this a few times - where some radical, crazy thing worked for me and others tried to join my enthusiasm but couldn't duplicate it - then get pissed off. I try to avoid that of course.

Also keep in mind my CC is very tired... and I'm not talking 250k either.

I've been there. They don't list my truck on the page and I don't know enough about the EEC-IV computers to know if mine is compatible with the ones listed...

Go to this page:
http://www.tweecer.com/ccode/

Punch in the year/model of your truck and see what you get. If you get nothing, stick in the EEC tag code instead (without year/model) and see if you get any results. If it's not listed you're SOL with tweecer.

All is not lost however, as you can go to http://moates.net and get yourself a J3 adapter, a burn1 programmer, and the adapter dongle that connects the two, then download a free copy of Paul Booth's EECEDITOR.

If your particular EEC is not supported/listed with the EECEDITOR, go to the support forums and mention what truck you have, the year, the EEC processor code, and I'll bet within a day a kind person will send you a factory BIN to start with. Load that into EECEDITOR and start playing with it.

Of course there is the hard way - reverse engineering the EEC on the board/processor/code level. Even though there are different EEC families and EFI strategies (mustangs, trucks, full size fords, fords with air suspension, etc) they all are pretty much the same give or take - shiny box with an Intel 8051-like microprocessor with electronic stuff surrounding it. That's all an EEC really is. And if you do reverse engineer it, you'll have the holy grail of EFI tuning - actual source code - which opens doors far beyond what tweecer and EECEDITOR can do.

I and several friends did this in the GM world... ripped apart and reverse engineered on the source code level various GM ECM's... and the result was we documented things to the point that we can use the transmission shifting code from this ECM, add it to the forced induction code for the Buick Grand National, then slap it into a later year, much faster ECM which uses OBD-II rather than the old ALDL protocol. THEN tweak settings the way we liked, in wider, higher resolution tables than GM put there. THis is after hand-editing the machine code to strip out any unnecessary instructions - making the code more compact, faster to execute, both of which translates to a higher redline that the ECM can support because it can actually keep up.

Of course that takes more time than plugging in a "thing" and loading software that someone else wrote.

 

[Skandocious]

Thanks for the info Fred.

I won't lie, I don't know much when it comes to tuners and programming computers and such... Is the Tweecer relatively user friendly or do I really need to know what I'm doing? I'm looking for a mostly plug and play setup...

 

[frederic]

You're welcome Skand... if you want plug and play you're best bet is to convert to one of the mustang EEC's (A9L/A9P) and use an off the shelf tuner like tweecer and twiddle your settings that way. Boost, no boost, both EEC's work pretty good for both.

I did run my 93 crewcab on the A9P for a while and it worked fine... it's not that difficult to graft in the maf, extra injector wiring, and cobble together a working system. I made mine with adapters so I could remove it easily enough and plug the original connectors back to stock without much hassle.

For my final config, I'll either be using the newer Crown Vic/Town Car EEC (edis) or the last year Maf/Dizzy EEC from the F-series. Have both here, just haven't decided which one to actually use. I have the latter reverse engineered enough to play with it, but I happen to like distributor-less ignition so....

 

[eco]

I do think that the tweecer requires a little bit of know how, so you might not be able to get by if all you can do is plug+play.

You're welcome Skand... if you want plug and play you're best bet is to convert to one of the mustang EEC's (A9L/A9P) and use an off the shelf tuner like tweecer and twiddle your settings that way. Boost, no boost, both EEC's work pretty good for both.

I don't think those will work with an e40d - well he could get a dedicated computer for that from IST though.

 

[Skandocious]

Removed my passenger kick panel and looked for my catch code... The sticker on my computer looked nothing like the example stickers on Tweecer's website so I just copied down all 3 codes and tried it on that link that Frederic posted... No luck...

So I emailed Tweecer with my truck specs and those 3 codes and they said the code MOB1 (one of the ones I posted) was the catch code for the computer and that they has support for it!

MOB1 is a catch code for the MAF based F150 5.8L. We have support for
that EEC.

--
Best Regards,

Mike Glover

So I'm emailing them back and asking for some model numbers. Looks like I might be in luck afterall!

So my next question is... I'm seeing on the website that having a laptop with a USB port allows you to monitor the engine stats... I've got to make sure on this: that works on the EEC-IV ODBI computers?! If so, NEATO! Aside from that, what exactly will the Tweecer allow me to do in order to improve my performance through tuning? I mean, just exactly which engine functions does it allow me to modify and in what way? Lastly, is a unit like this going to cause problems when I get smogged or will I be able to switch it back to stock settings and make it 'invisible'? Thanks a bunch guys, you're very helpful.

 

[F 150Cobra]

yeah it has 3 settings... you can set 1 for economy 1 for towing and 1 for Wide open trottle.. and you can turn it off whenever you want to..

 

[eco]

So my next question is... I'm seeing on the website that having a laptop with a USB port allows you to monitor the engine stats... I've got to make sure on this: that works on the EEC-IV ODBI computers?! If so, NEATO! Aside from that, what exactly will the Tweecer allow me to do in order to improve my performance through tuning? I mean, just exactly which engine functions does it allow me to modify and in what way? Lastly, is a unit like this going to cause problems when I get smogged or will I be able to switch it back to stock settings and make it 'invisible'? Thanks a bunch guys, you're very helpful.

Conanski and frederic would probably be the ones to ask, but there isn't much that you can't do with tweecer.

If you remove the tweecer module from the eec-iv it will be like it was never there.

 

[flareside_thunder]

However, it'd be a bit of a pain when you have to remove the EEC.....I looked into one before and I believe you can play with your settings till you find some you like and save it onto a file on your laptop...I'd imagine that you can do that with the standard features as well......JMT

JR

 

[Skandocious]

Got some clarification from the guy at Tweecer. There are only TWO models for these units: the base and the RT. Within each of those models they are ALL THE SAME. They do not have separate programs or units for different EEC's, I thought they did. So as long as your EEC is supported by their units then you just buy the universal Tweecer unit.

And the reason why my catch code wasn't coming up with the search is because he has only entered the EEC-V catch codes into the database, no the EEC-IV codes (even though some of them are supported).

So I'm pretty much sold... I think as soon as I work up the cajones to drop $500+ on a tuner this will be the one Does anyone know of a better tuner for EEC-IV or is it pretty unanimous for the Tweecer?

 

[flareside_thunder]

Tweecer I've heard raves about...wish I could afford it too mister moneybags heh heh......

JR

 

[surewhynot]

First I hear open loop this, closed loop that and I think you guys are knitting. Now I hear tweecer. Did you get a splinter?

 

[Skandocious]

Blah blah blah, I'm stupid, blah blah blah -- splinter?

Yup, you sure are!

 

[frederic]

ECO - I think by "plug and play" he was referring more to how easy it is to hook up. My moates/eeceditor solution requires a bit more "assembly" as do some of the other solutions as compared to tweecer. I could be wrong but that was my take anyway.

Regardless what method he or anyone else chooses, you are correct in that one has to learn and understand EFI systems in general before being able to make good adjustments to their EEC. Unfortunately, many people become frustrated with this aspect of tuning because it takes the most time.

Skand - use the computer code off the white sticker on your driver's side door jamb. SHould say M1L1 or something along those lines. That's the code I was referring to. It will also be on the cover of the EEC, but if you've taken your EEC in and out a few times that sticker can be scraped off easily enough.