What tune to use?

[Justin]

I bought a used original air intake off ebay to have one. The dealer is useless. They know nothing about the car and cant give me the previous owners #.
And Yeah, I have an email in to Shaun at AED as I write this. Thanks for your help Justin.

How would I be able to tell if its got the stock tune running right now?

I know how to tell if it has trackey programming but as for the stock tune I dont know other then driving it maybe lol.

does skip shift still show up (where it makes you shift to fourth from 1st)? if that is still active then I am willing to be its got a stock tune on it.

 

[KonaBlue302]

I know how to tell if it has trackey programming but as for the stock tune I dont know other then driving it maybe lol.

does skip shift still show up (where it makes you shift to fourth from 1st)? if that is still active then I am willing to be its got a stock tune on it.

No, I havent seen any thing light up on the dash at all. Whats the deal with skip shift? its the first ive heard of it. Im completely out of the loop as for how this car came stock from the factory.

 

[Justin]

No, I havent seen any thing light up on the dash at all. Whats the deal with skip shift? its the first ive heard of it. Im completely out of the loop as for how this car came stock from the factory.

its when you wind out 1st slowly you will see it flash a message about skip shift. if you shift when that message appears it will block you from going to second making you go to fourth. this is a feature they put on to get better epa fuel mileage ratings. mostly its just annoying. you can by pass it with a tune or by unplugging the a connector on the side of the trans

http://dirtyhipporacing.com/2013/04/08/s197-mustangs-skip-shift-solenoid-de-mystified/

 

[KonaBlue302]

its when you wind out 1st slowly you will see it flash a message about skip shift. if you shift when that message appears it will block you from going to second making you go to fourth. this is a feature they put on to get better epa fuel mileage ratings. mostly its just annoying. you can by pass it with a tune or by unplugging the a connector on the side of the trans

http://dirtyhipporacing.com/2013/04/08/s197-mustangs-skip-shift-solenoid-de-mystified/

I have only used the track key so far and have had no issue. I can start out in 2nd then 4th then 6th if I want or I can slowly wined out the gears and no lights or skip shift ever. But the original key I used when I went for a test ride before I bought it but I didn't notice any skip shift anything. That probably means that I have a tune with no programmer....great. So if I use the black/grey key and I wined out 1st, it should have the light and lockout 2nd and 3rd and make me go into 4th with a stock tune?

 

[boss man]

Maybe the soleniod is just disconnected for skip shift. cant hurt to look. My guess is if you have a stock air box and exhaust with cats....you have a factory tune on the car.
https://trackmustangsonline.com/index.php?topic=1811.0

 

[unrealford]

If Skipshift is still working, I'd say it's stock tune. Get original airbox and install it immediately.

 

[Justin]

Maybe the soleniod is just disconnected for skip shift. cant hurt to look. My guess is if you have a stock air box and exhaust with cats....you have a factory tune on the car.
https://trackmustangsonline.com/index.php?topic=1811.0

its sporting a JLT CAI which requires a tune. if no tune bad things usually happen it really wouldnt run very well at all.

 

[Brandon302]

Were you told the Trackey was installed, the Red key is just a second key that can have the Trackey mated to it. Also as others have said you would know if you had the Trackey. It would flash Trackey for offroad/track use only, you'd get the lopey idle once warmed up, no skip shift.

 

[rpm3dinc]

what tuner are you referring to? And top 5 according to who? Just wondering as I had a "top" tuner tune my cobra years ago.....blew up my car.

Pro-Dyno in Fort Mill, SC.

That is who does all my tunes and thousands of other Dyno Tunes for Mustangs around here.

 

[KonaBlue302]

Yes it has the JLT CAI and the trackey is working, it says Trackey off road use only. So I know it has that and the lope idle. It has a tune but I have no programmer/tuner to return it back to stock. I understand that ford can void the warranty if its been tuned. So obviously I need to be able to get it back to the stock configuration(as not to void warranty) every time I need to take it in for service or warranty work. Otherwise it wouldn't be a big deal to me. I could just get an AED tune from Shaun and be done with it. I have a call into the Sales manager at the dealership and explained to him that it was going to cost them a lot to reflash the computer to stock and reprogram the track key if they don't get in touch with the original owner. He has the tuner, original Air intake and the owners kit. All of which I NEED. So hopefully the incentive is finally there for them to follow up and get me this stuff.

Thanks everyone for your help and input so far.....its been a great help to me as a new Boss owner.

Best regards,
Dave

 

[boss man]

If the car was tuned, is it possible to still have TK working also??

 

[Birdusfastus]

Sounds like the stock tune is currently installed, as TracKey is working. I would install the stock air box and drive for awhile to get feel for car in stock form.
As far as Owner's Kit goes, I would call Ford to find out if the Kit was ever sent to original owner? Another thought is to contact the Dealership that sold car new and see if they would be willing to give the original owner a call and find out if you could buy it from him?

 

[KonaBlue302]

If the car was tuned, is it possible to still have TK working also??

It works fine as far as I know but other say the tune overrides the track key tune. Im confused but whats new. Im pretty sure the dlr is going to get in touch w/ the previous/original owner and get what I need from him. If not, they are going to have to pay to reflsh to stock.....simple as that.

 

[Brandon302]

It works fine as far as I know but other say the tune overrides the track key tune. Im confused but whats new. Im pretty sure the dlr is going to get in touch w/ the previous/original owner and get what I need from him. If not, they are going to have to pay to reflsh to stock.....simple as that.

That's what I would do, also Ford seems to have protected memory on the ECU and can tell if it has been flashed, this has been disputed by Diablo who has a tuner that they say can't be found by Ford.

 

[Boss949]

Re: What tune to use?t

It works fine as far as I know but other say the tune overrides the track key tune. Im confused but whats new. Im pretty sure the dlr is going to get in touch w/ the previous/original owner and get what I need from him. If not, they are going to have to pay to reflsh to stock.....simple as that.

TracKey can work with an aftermarket CAI, but will throw codes.

It is my understanding that if you run stock tune with aftermarket CAI, then the car is running lean and that's real bad. Sounds like you are running a tune and don't change air box until you know exactly what the prior owner installed.

It's important to speak to original owner about tuner, etc.

Generally if a Ford Dealer installed a TracKey tune, they would affix a Ford Racing Sticker under the hood. Did you see one?

I have an AED tune from Shaun. Absolutely worth it. And follow his advice.

Couple of notes about using a SCT tuner:

1. Turn AUTO LAMPS off Any voltage fluctuation during the tune loading can "Brick" the car. And,
2. Invest in a 2 amp trickle charger and use this when tuning. SCT knows they have a problem with the 2011+ 5.0's and they are working on a fix.
3. Always tune your car at home.

 

[cloud9]

Re: What tune to use?t

TracKey can work with an aftermarket CAI, but will throw codes.

It is my understanding that if you run stock tune with aftermarket CAI, then the car is running lean and that's real bad. Sounds like you are running a tune and don't change air box until you know exactly what the prior owner installed.

It's important to speak to original owner about tuner, etc.

Generally if a Ford Dealer installed a TracKey tune, they would affix a Ford Racing Sticker under the hood. Did you see one?

I have an AED tune from Shaun. Absolutely worth it. And follow his advice.

Couple of notes about using a SCT tuner:

1. Turn AUTO LAMPS off Any voltage fluctuation during the tune loading can "Brick" the car. And,
2. Invest in a 2 amp trickle charger and use this when tuning. SCT knows they have a problem with the 2011+ 5.0's and they are working on a fix. 3. Always tune your car at home.

First I've heard of this. What kind of "problem"? I usually throw a trickle charger on when I reflash, but not always. It always makes me a little nervous though. I did have a bad ProCal tuner from FRPP several years ago that locked the PCM, but fortunately didn't "brick" it. Had to flat bed it to the dealer to unlock and since it was an FRPP tune and tuner, it was covered. They had me ship the tuner back to them and after determining it was bad, shipped me a new one. I have never had a problem with my X3s from SCT and I've had three of them.

In addition to shutting off the autolamp, you'll want to switch off the stereo, temperature control system and any other electronic accessories you have plugged into the car.

 

[cloud9]

If the car was tuned, is it possible to still have TK working also??

No. Ford hasn't released the TK programming to the tuners so if TK is working, it's running a stock tune.

 

[Boss949]

Re: What tune to use?t

First I've heard of this. What kind of "problem"? I usually throw a trickle charger on when I reflash, but not always. It always makes me a little nervous though. I did have a bad ProCal tuner from FRPP several years ago that locked the PCM, but fortunately didn't "brick" it. Had to flat bed it to the dealer to unlock and since it was an FRPP tune and tuner, it was covered. They had me ship the tuner back to them and after determining it was bad, shipped me a new one. I have never had a problem with my X3s from SCT and I've had three of them.

In addition to shutting off the autolamp, you'll want to switch off the stereo, temperature control system and any other electronic accessories you have plugged into the car.

Correct on shutting down all accessories.

This happened to me twice. Message was "CHARGING SYSTEM ERROR".

Shaun suggested the trickle charger. When I called SCT tech line, the rep told me about the problem with new 5.0's and a problem with the voltage system and fluctuations. Said they are aware and working on the fix and that a trickle charger is a good idea.

I've used the charger 3x's with no issues

The Flash Tuners are made in China.....

 

[cloud9]

Re: What tune to use?t

Correct on shutting down all accessories.

This happened to me twice. Message was "CHARGING SYSTEM ERROR".

Shaun suggested the trickle charger. When I called SCT tech line, the rep told me about the problem with new 5.0's and a problem with the voltage system and fluctuations. Said they are aware and working on the fix and that a trickle charger is a good idea.

I've used the charger 3x's with no issues

The Flash Tuners are made in China.....

Interesting. I've had a "check charging system" error on track several times. It's intermittent and I've always had 13.x-14.x volts on the battery when it's happened. There are no shortage of electrical gremlins on this car..........

 

[KonaBlue302]

Re: What tune to use?t

TracKey can work with an aftermarket CAI, but will throw codes.

It is my understanding that if you run stock tune with aftermarket CAI, then the car is running lean and that's real bad. Sounds like you are running a tune and don't change air box until you know exactly what the prior owner installed.

It's important to speak to original owner about tuner, etc.

Generally if a Ford Dealer installed a TracKey tune, they would affix a Ford Racing Sticker under the hood. Did you see one?

I have an AED tune from Shaun. Absolutely worth it. And follow his advice.

Couple of notes about using a SCT tuner:

1. Turn AUTO LAMPS off Any voltage fluctuation during the tune loading can "Brick" the car. And,
2. Invest in a 2 amp trickle charger and use this when tuning. SCT knows they have a problem with the 2011+ 5.0's and they are working on a fix.
3. Always tune your car at home.

Thanks for the heads up here guys. This kind of info is invaluable and exactly the kind of stuff I need to know about. BMO and the members are an awesome resource.....good stuff.

Dave