A question on engine chips

Highly unlikely. If there was a chip that good (50% improvment in MPG), Ford would have already put it in and beaten the CAFE averages for the next decade.

I'm amazed at the amount of wishful thinking that gets applied to this kind of thing - as if GM or FoMoCo kinda just tossed together an engine management system from spare parts, and didn't spend millions of R&D dollars wringing every last drop of MPG out of their engines.

Here's how to get better mileage: 1) make sure tires are inflated properly, 2) keep your foot out of it when possible, 2) don't carry 30 bags of Sacrete in the bed unless you need them, and 4) keep an on the Service Engine light - it comes on for a reason.

I don't know how sophisticated the Ford systems are, but my Northstar has about 400 parameters that are monitored dozens of times a second, and if I have a misfire on cylinder #6, I hear about it. I get 22+ mpg on regular gas, which I can't complain about.

There just ain't no free lunch.

Before there were chips, there were engine modifications. Free flow-exhaust was a common one that could have some merit. If the mod was an improvement over OEM, why didn't the OEM use it in the first place? Two reasons, the mod developed by aftermarket tuner, was more costly, less reliable, nosier, or less clean (emissions). The OEM made a compromise to balance all of these interests as he felt best.

Chips just add another layer to the age old question of how best to compromise a design to achieve a result. The chip is a microcontroller that can be programmed to process hundreds of input signals from various sensors to produce a "more desirable" output than OEM. A high tech tweaking if you will.

It is possible that the chip could be programmed "better" than OEM to optimize a specific performance objective. It just means the programmer prioritised one value more than OEM did but at the expense of another.

True - the problem with 'performance chips' especially with OBD/II cars, is that they may knock the car out of compliance with state emission regs, if they work at all - here in NJ that's a big no-no and will get you ramped right out of the inspection station. In other states where they're not so picky, they may indeed offer SOME small improvement - but often at the expense of something else. I just don't think that any chip can increase mileage by 50% without sacrificing something - low end torque, driveability, etc etc.

That's one of the problems with aftermarket parts these days - the manufacturers have to balance emissions, driveability, mileage, sound (intake/exhaust) and all the rest - but a replacement chip will promise the world, without telling you what you give up for it...

Today it would be hard to improve on the OEM. Fifteen years ago, or when chips were a new concept, more likely. How old is the vehicle? I know chip programming was done by BMW aftermarket tuners. Finally, the OEM woke up and became the tuner/OEM (M series of performance vehicles) inhouse taking market share away from the aftermarket. The OEM vehicle outperformed the tricked out vehicle for a while. I don't know about Ford's efforts at performance gains through microcontrollers.

There will always be a culture that will try to improve on the factory standard. But, as you say, they are going to be regulated off the street and onto the track by government.

You got some good tips from everyone, especially Jim at GodwinPumps.

On tire pumping, make them as hard as recommended for driving with a heavy load, but all the time. You will not only get better (1-2%) gas mileage, but tire wear will be reduced. It make the springing a bit harder, but after a week, you won`t notice anymore....

I have used this trick on many cars since over 25 years with NO problems....(a lot of people IMAGINE some problems, believe me there are none!!)

Using the lightest and best oil that Ford allows, will also help. If it is synthetic, then you can usually do nearly double the mileage before changing. But only do this if the engine is still in reasonably good working order AND DO follow Ford guidelines too...

If all of this does not help enough (50% improvement will NOT be achieved!) then go and trade the beast in for something a little smaller!!!

I've got to agree with all the other posters...if you're putting in a chip you had better be going for more power and be willing to deal with a few hassles later on. If you want fuel economy...probably not your best bet. I have a '97 F350 with a Banks downpipe, K&N filter and an Edge Evolution programmer, I didn't notice a big change in fuel economy either way under light driving conditions, but then again...I didn't program the truck for "light driving". I've got over 300HP and close to 700lbft of torque to the ground but I did it to be able to accelerate better when towing, or to surprise people at traffic lights , not to gain fuel economy. The truck does perform better, but now I notice (at 219000mi with the mods done at about 110000mi) that a few things have had fatigue (rear end, u-joints, transmission), it is very important to take all these factors into consideration when upping the performance of a vehicle. Yes, the manufacturer has overengineered the vehicle to a point...but there is a threshold beyond which you will start to notice complications. There's my 2 cents.

Oops, I forgot to log in.

Hi Jim, Have you looked into changing rear end ratios? If you live in a fairly flat part of the county and don't tow anything more than a motorcycle trailer you may benefit from from installing 'taller" (lower numerical ratio) gears in the differential.

We don't have a diesel but we did change the rear end ratio on the Surburban and bumped the mileage from 16 to 20+. The 350/350 combination now cruises 65mph at 1700 rpm whereas before it was 2900 rpm. Total cost was about $640 which we're recovering with a few more 1500 mile trips.