SHO / EcoBoost HPT Tuning Guides

[metroplex]

Here's what I've been working on for the past few weeks. It's not to be taken as 100% gospel, but it is based on countless hours of logging and experimentation, and is intended mainly to catalyze the sharing of tuning info related to the EcoBoost platform. The tuning guide provides a basic walk-through to have the 2013-up SHO 3.5L EcoBoost produce about 16-18 psi (at the MAP) out to 6000 RPM so be sure to run 93 octane. As a disclaimer, I actually worked on this using 87 octane and comparing the knock retard with the factory tune using 87 octane. 93 octane should reduce a lot (if not all) of the knock retard, but depending on the gas quality in your area you may want to reduce the boost a bit using the Max Desired Pressure scalar. The datalogging guide should help those new to VCM Scanner get started relatively quickly. I know there are a lot of tuners more knowledgeable about the EcoBoost lurking about, so hopefully they are willing to chime in to explain more of the different settings.

UPDATE 11 AUG 2016:
I finally did some testing with 93 octane (not a full 100% tank, but more like 79%) and knock was severely reduced, I saw zero knock retard during a WOT test, and then I saw 3 degrees max of KR doing the same test again. I'm sure with a few more fillups with 93 octane it'll reduce it even further. This is a 16-17 psi tune. The trans fluid temp is roughly 10 degrees cooler with the TCC clutch settings I'm testing. Once my normal PC is up and running, I'll update the guide with the new settings I'm using.

UPDATE 13 AUG 2016:
The new V1.1 guide is posted. I had to split it into 3 PDF files because the forum has a size limit for PDF files. It's awkward and I tried my best to compress the file as its only 16 pages, but I think the screenshots just increased the size.

UPDATE 29 AUG 2016:
I updated Part 3, didn't feel it was a big enough change to warrant being labeled V1.2, but it changes the section on Torque Reduction and added speedometer recalibration. I was doing research on Torque Reduction and found that it is a good idea to enable it at stock values for 0-3000 RPM operation to ensure the transmission lives longer. For 4000 RPM and higher, it can be reduced to prevent too much torque reduction but should never be totally disabled. I found that most cars from the factory seem to have the speedometer deviating by 1-2 mph versus GPS and this always irked me a bit.

UPDATE 18 SEP 2016:
I updated the guide to Version 1.2, no major changes. After numerous tanks of 93 octane, there hasn't been any knock retard detected during WOT test runs. I did set the fuel pump settings back to stock (max of 2100 psi), and made a few changes to the TCC slip settings to try and reduce as much slippage as possible. I also accidentally caused a Write Fail, resulting in a no-start condition along with a bunch of error messages. I found a fix after an hour of trying different things. I basically had to Write Entire with the original stock tune and then flash it again with the new tune. I may not have had to do Write Entire with the stock tune, but I'm not going to go back and try it.

UPDATE 11 JAN 2017:
I suppose I did skip 1.3, but here's an updated Version 1.4 guide that incorporates some lessons learned from track testing. I also have Denso ITV22 plugs and the Reische 4D 170F thermostat installed. The fan settings are still being tested at this point. Reische didn't have any recommended settings for the newer Fords since the ECUs no longer have High/Low fan settings. HPTuners was kind enough to increase the size limit for PDF files, so I can finally upload a single guide instead of breaking it into 4 parts.

UPDATE 16 JAN 2017:
Version 1.5 is released with some tweaks to try and address torque reduction with throttle opening activities.

UPDATE 21 JAN 2017:
Version 1.6 is out with minor changes to the transmission adaptive tables. Mainly reductions in slip/torque transfer times and an increase in general max pressure. Nothing too radical but more seamless shifting.

[mechanicboy]

This is good. I learned I'm missing about 1/4 of the engines settings you changed for the 2016 F150.

[Phil'sC5Vette]

thank's for your help

[Eric@HPTuners]

This is good. I learned I'm missing about 1/4 of the engines settings you changed for the 2016 F150.

These are being added. Though not every parameter will be the same. The 2015+ F-150 and Mustang have a bit of code change compared to the earlier Ecoboost vehicles.

[Eric@HPTuners]

Here's what I've been working on for the past few weeks. It's not to be taken as 100% gospel, but it is based on countless hours of logging and experimentation, and is intended mainly to catalyze the sharing of tuning info related to the EcoBoost platform. The tuning guide provides a basic walk-through to have the 2013-up SHO 3.5L EcoBoost produce about 16-18 psi (at the MAP) out to 6000 RPM so be sure to run 93 octane. As a disclaimer, I actually worked on this using 87 octane and comparing the knock retard with the factory tune using 87 octane. 93 octane should reduce a lot (if not all) of the knock retard, but depending on the gas quality in your area you may want to reduce the boost a bit using the Max Desired Pressure scalar. The datalogging guide should help those new to VCM Scanner get started relatively quickly. I know there are a lot of tuners more knowledgeable about the EcoBoost lurking about, so hopefully they are willing to chime in to explain more of the different settings.

Have you gotten a P0605 on your car tuning from a stock file with HPT? You "shouldn't" need to do this like you do in other tuning softwares, because we checksum the file.

[metroplex]

Hmm I've never tried it. I generally just disabled P0605 when using SCT.

[Bugasu]

Some notes as I look through it:
- I believe Fuel Override isn't active unless you specifically set a switch to turn it on. It causes Lambda to be locked to a set target (similar to the other dyno switches)
- Lost Fuel is part of the cylinder models during warmup to guess how much of the fuel goes into the chamber that isn't actually combusted. If you haven't changed anything internal to the engine, I can't imagine they actually need changes.
- Changing the Fuel Imbalance Monitor probably isn't needed unless you can individually measure cylinder AFRs to tell if they're off or not. Its designed to correct cylinder to cylinder variation in fueling based on differences in airflow essentially between each cylinder. Without the proper tools I'd be wary of trying to change them. I know SCT recommends setting the whole table to 1, but I feel they're very mistaken in that regard.
- The #2 Exhaust temp is actually for modelling the exhaust component temperatures. It's the ideal steady state EGT when you're at stoich and MBT for the given point. The ECU then uses various models to assign a temperature to downstream components based on time delays, spark retard (which increases exhaust heat generally), and AFR changes. You shouldn't need to change it much unless you anticipate you've made changes that could affect those processes (basically the big ones are probably compression ratio, chamber design, etc.)
- The Turbocharger Pressure Ratio, if I recall correctly, this is designed to be a speed limit. It's easier to limit the speed based on PR which they can measure pretty straightforwardly. I.e. this is the Max PR allowed for a given airflow and compressor inlet temperature (effectively IAT1)
- The Desired TIP stuff is a little off. The three you have there are effectively 3 limits. The scalar is the overall max allowed Desired TIP. Max vs Turbo Airflow is the variable Max. Min vs Turbo Airflow is the minimum Desired TIP can be, and effectively is what the TIP would be if you had 0% WGDC (spring pressure). Desired TIP ultimately comes from Desired Load being reversed through the VE equations.

[Trent_Petersen]

---Snip--

Thanks for the write up metropelx, I'm coming from GM tuning to an EcoBoost Explorer and this is really a whole different ball game.

--snip--

There are a ton of parameters missing from the guide to my 2016 Explorer (I know, not all calibrations have every option), but I'm missing entire tabs (like torque management->turbocharger). Are these things on request per definition, or will they come over time?

[metroplex]

- The Turbocharger Pressure Ratio, if I recall correctly, this is designed to be a speed limit. It's easier to limit the speed based on PR which they can measure pretty straightforwardly. I.e. this is the Max PR allowed for a given airflow and compressor inlet temperature (effectively IAT1)
- The Desired TIP stuff is a little off. The three you have there are effectively 3 limits. The scalar is the overall max allowed Desired TIP. Max vs Turbo Airflow is the variable Max. Min vs Turbo Airflow is the minimum Desired TIP can be, and effectively is what the TIP would be if you had 0% WGDC (spring pressure). Desired TIP ultimately comes from Desired Load being reversed through the VE equations.

I can't really disagree about the other settings, although I could have sworn at one time something overrode the WOT lambda causing the commanded lambda to be 1.00 (override setting), so I set it to 0.80 as a safeguard. I also thought at one point that with the stock Fuel Imbalance Monitor settings, I ran into Insufficient Fuel Flow at a lambda of 0.79. With all of the cells set to 1.00, this never occurred. Now I'm running 0.85 lambda, so I guess it wouldn't matter that much since my fuel rail pressure is at stock levels even at boost.

But the Pressure Ratio table never made sense. When I set the appropriate MCT and Flow cells to something like 2.35:1 to try and limit it to around 19 psi, it would just run stock boost levels (9-11 psi). The ratios had to be a higher value that never made sense. That said, even with a high setting (like 3.00:1) it would automatically figure out what pressure ratio to run. During experimentation, I actually had removed or raised all of the pressure/torque limiters to extremely high settings, and the ECU still essentially maintained it to about 20-21 psi max.

I found that the Max Desired TIP Scalar was the ultimate limiter for Desired TIP. I could change the Max Desired TIP vs Airflow from 15-19 psi and it would essentially ignore this value. I never played around too much with the min desired TIP, but it seemed like the ECU did what it wanted to do based on torque request. The desired TIP vs airflow tables were always available, so I had lots of opportunities to play with these 2 tables and never got any positive results.

I'm going to try running the stock fuel settings you mentioned, since I have everything else dialed in. During the initial experimentation phase, it was pretty hectic as I was trying to figure out how the settings worked and was trying to increase boost.

If there are any negative changes now, then it would be the result of these fuel settings.

[metroplex]

Have you gotten a P0605 on your car tuning from a stock file with HPT? You "shouldn't" need to do this like you do in other tuning softwares, because we checksum the file.

Eric, you're right. I change P0605 back to stock (MIL Light) and didn't get the error code. I've been making slight changes to the tuning guide, but need to test some things first before posting it (this will be removed from the guide).

[Eric@HPTuners]

Thanks for the write up metropelx, I'm coming from GM tuning to an EcoBoost Explorer and this is really a whole different ball game.



There are a ton of parameters missing from the guide to my 2016 Explorer (I know, not all calibrations have every option), but I'm missing entire tabs (like torque management->turbocharger). Are these things on request per definition, or will they come over time?

Currently working on it.

[metroplex]

I did more testing with the fuel settings and had great results. I made many changes to the torque converter clutch and managed to cool down the trans fluid a bit.

Unfortunately, my main computer took a dump with the latest Windows 10 updates so I can't update the guide just yet.

[metroplex]

The new guide is posted. I managed to do testing when the weather was fairly hot for this region (90F to 100F ambient, nearly 100% humidity) so it was a perfect time to monitor knock retard, trans fluid temperature, and mass airflow. I went back to a lot of the stock fueling parameters that Bugasu mentioned.

[HC Engineering]

Thank you for the guide and the updates. Just a newbie here and have been slowly tuning with my F150 to learn as a hobby. Thanks again.

[metroplex]

You're welcome! Hopefully it is helpful to you while you tune the F-150. I just updated Part 1 of V1-1, I forgot to include notes on the Spark Torque Limit table - you want to keep this stock to avoid any weird spark issues at off-idle in gear.

[BowTieTillIDie]

Forgive me if it's already available but what about Injector duty cycle and commanded rail pressure for the direct injection. Is that already available so people can run e85 ?

[mechanicboy]

Forgive me if it's already available but what about Injector duty cycle and commanded rail pressure for the direct injection. Is that already available so people can run e85 ?

You'll run out of fuel on e85 and tuned.

[BowTieTillIDie]

Isn't there a fall off point , I mean on my ecotec we just had to have the right tables opened up so we could run full e85, sure the flow would start to fall off at a higher level but we were still able to make amazing gains. To commendere that problem after market manufacturers make a regrind for the cam to give the HPFP a slightly higher longer duration resulting in higher rail pressure. Then you obviously upgrade the in tank pump. But still I would think with the right tables you could make it make more power unless the Cam driven pump is just so weak its already on its edge? New to this game but I've seen these obstacles before as an early adopter of direct injection performance vehicle which is now over 550HP btw

[metroplex]

I know that when I ran 0.76 wot lambda (14.08 stoich) on pump gas I'd get insufficient fuel flow errors and my fuel pressure would drop very low. So E85 would be even richer.

I see some of the tuned SHOs running something like E20 to E30 and then methanol injection systems.

[mechanicboy]

Isn't there a fall off point , I mean on my ecotec we just had to have the right tables opened up so we could run full e85, sure the flow would start to fall off at a higher level but we were still able to make amazing gains. To commendere that problem after market manufacturers make a regrind for the cam to give the HPFP a slightly higher longer duration resulting in higher rail pressure. Then you obviously upgrade the in tank pump. But still I would think with the right tables you could make it make more power unless the Cam driven pump is just so weak its already on its edge? New to this game but I've seen these obstacles before as an early adopter of direct injection performance vehicle which is now over 550HP btw

Regrinding a heck of an idea. It might work.

There are some tables that are adjusted to give more fuel, but it wouldn't be enough for full e85, maybe e20 like metroplex said.

I know that when I ran 0.76 wot lambda (14.08 stoich) on pump gas I'd get insufficient fuel flow errors and my fuel pressure would drop very low. So E85 would be even richer.

I see some of the tuned SHOs running something like E20 to E30 and then methanol injection systems.

Well running meth helps the lack of fuel issue. The SHO solution would probably work on other platforms.