Lidio's Help with MPG problem

[Smokie]

Shortly after getting the PHP airbox I noticed the my gas mileage became very bad and I really believed that my A/F ratio must be way off and causing the problem. My normal fuel consumption was 17 mpg city and 23 mpg highway; it had suddenly dropped to 14.5 mpg city and 20 mpg highway.

I knew that Lidio and Jerry were in Bradenton this weekend and my friend Carfixer had invited me to go with him and his lovely wife; so me and the wife went to the track and spent time with Jerry, Lidio and Tallboy. While there I mentioned to Lidio that I had a gas mileage problem and asked him if he could check my car.

He agreed, grabbed his laptop and we went for a ride, my first surprise was when he told that there really wasn't a problem with the A/F ratio, the second surprise was when he said your torque converter is not locking up....at all...at any speed or driving condition. He told me that he believed that was the reason for the bad gas mileage.

Let me say that we spent a considerable amount of time together as he made adjustments and corrections that he deemed necessary. Not everything he did was designed to improve gas mileage and I will comment on the rest when I have supporting data.
This I can tell you; for the last 3 months I could not get better than 20 mpg on the highway regardless of how I drove. Today on the way home from Bradenton I drove exactly 58 miles to my home, 10 of those miles were city traffic the other 48 nothing but interstate at exactly 80 mph, about 90% of the time, I filled my gas tank before leaving Bradenton and upon arrival home.

Results 58 miles, used 2.21 gallons of fuel= 26.24 mpg
Before at 80 mph my car cruised at exactly 2500 rpm's
After at 80 mph my car cruised at exactly 2250 rpm's.
So I conclude that I had 250 rpm's of slippage because my torque converter never locked.

Thank You Lidio.

[MI2QWK4U]

That sounds great! That should add up in money saved at the pump!
Just so everyone knows, the week of MVIII, if you want to set something up with Lidio before things begin, just call and set something up. The hotel should be able to accomodate you, if not, let me know and I will make arrangements for you. This is a perfect time to let your marauder benefit from Lidio's world famous tunes before the Dyno day.

[TAF]

That was great of Lidio to help you out...and frankly not surprising. He's a great guy and even a better tuner. But, I must ask Javier....I was there when Aric tuned your car...and he never tunes so that the TC does NOT lock up....and I also remember you saying how good of gas mileage you got on the ride home with the tune + your new shorty-exhaust...had you changed something with your 9100 programmer?

[Warpath]

That was great of Lidio to help you out...and frankly not surprising. He's a great guy and even a better tuner...

I second that. I had a bad experience in the past with another tuner who damaged my OE engine. It was great going to Lidio and leaving with confidence that his work was safe and reliable. He even talked me out of pushing the envelope because I could damage my new engine. Its great to go to someone who knows what you want better than you do. OK, off my soapbox.

[MarauderMark]

Thank god we have people like lidio on this web site to take care of our cars..:up:

[shakes_26]

Smokie, what computer code do you have?

I think I'm having the same exact issue, I have just been tooling around town so 16-17mpg. This weekend I did a run up to Orlando and back (from Boca raton) I averaged 16.4mpg.... now I was moving pretty much the whole way there and back, but I wasn't breaking the sound barrier either. So I wasn't expecting 26mpg, but 16.4mpg was a little lower than even I was expecting!

I'll call Lidio also but just wanted to see if it was something related to the tune with a specific computer code.

-THanks

[tmac1337]

I did a 100 mile trip a week ago, cruising at 85 mph, and stomping on it all the time.

My fuel average was 19 MPG.

[FiveO]

Nice Smokie. Glad you got it all worked out.

Lidio is the right guy to go to for any problems!

[Smokie]

Smokie, what computer code do you have ? -THanksFDH2, I believe that the converter not locking up at all maybe the whole issue, the car was running fine, the gas mileage was worse than what I come to expect. I don't expect that 26 mpg will become the norm. I will be very happy to return to 23 mpg. :)

[shakes_26]

Tmac, I was rolling between 85-90, and hitting the go baby go pedal here and there, but then again I don't have a swank Home Depot Huffinator 9000 ($12.99 MSRP) to help power me along. I should have matched your 19mpg at least.

Me thinks a call to Lidio is in order. Thanks all.

[gonzo50]

Shortly after getting the PHP airbox I noticed the my gas mileage became very bad and I really believed that my A/F ratio must be way off and causing the problem.
While there I mentioned to Lidio that I had a gas mileage problem and asked him if he could check my car......... my first surprise was when he told that there really wasn't a problem with the A/F ratio, the second surprise was when he said your torque converter is not locking up....at all...at any speed or driving condition.
So I conclude that I had 250 rpm's of slippage because my torque converter never locked.Thank You Lidio.
I also have the PHP Airbox and Dennis said it was OK to install it now, I didn't get a custom tune and am concerned about the A/F ratio being way off....

That was great of Lidio to help you out..... But, I must ask Javier....I was there when Aric tuned your car...and he never tunes so that the TC does NOT lock up....and I also remember you saying how good of gas mileage you got on the ride home with the tune......Was it the tune or the tuner that nerver locked the converter ? :confused:

FDH2, I believe that the converter not locking up at all maybe the whole issue, the car was running fine, the gas mileage was worse than what I come to expect. :)Did you get a custom tune after the PHP Airbox install or was the tune already there ?

[Marauderjack]

I got a tuner file from SCT that eliminates the TC lockup.....thought it would help while towing my 1200# boat around Florida after Christmas. :rolleyes:

Truth is that the car didn't even know the boat was there unless I got a bit agressive from a stand still.....It WILL spin the tires with weight behind it!! :bows:

Also got around 19 MPG with the TC locking so I never even tried the "No Lock" program!! :beer:

Marauderjack :)

[Bradley G]

I returned my car to "stock" after I was experiencing a 3-4 slip with my SCT9100.The car shifts through the gears so fast(stiock tune) it does not duplicate the 3-4 slip that occurs while running with Lidios programming.I asked Lidio why the slipping could be occuring and he mentioned the clutch pack may be starting to go.I left it in "Stock" form for a couple weeks and noticed a big gain in mileage.I don't daily drive the Marauder,my wifey does.
I went from Barely getting 17 to just over 20 mpg??This is with a 4:10 gear and the stock program for the 3:55's.
I thought I was going to get slightly better mileage, with the tune correcting for the gears. This may not sound like much, but it does allow me to only have to fill once a week instead of twice.:o
Could I benefit from checking the torque converter to see if it is locking properly?As always thanks for your thoughts and comments.
Bradley G

[Marauderjack]

Speedo error with the "Stock" program for 3.55 gears will give you a "Perceived" 20 MPG.......you have a 15.5% speedo error if I'm reading your post right?? :confused:

Corrected for the 4.10's you will still have about 17 MPG.

Marauderjack ;)

[Bradley G]

Thanks,

I did think about this, but is the speedo cable powered by the trans?If this is the explanation that the mileage is false because of the 15% ratio for gears then I just figured wrong.
Bradley G

Speedo error with the "Stock" program for 3.55 gears will give you a "Perceived" 20 MPG.......you have a 15.5% speedo error if I'm reading your post right?? :confused:

Corrected for the 4.10's you will still have about 17 MPG.

Marauderjack ;)

[MM03MOK]

You beat me to it, MJack. Was going to say the same thing.
Speedo error with the "Stock" program for 3.55 gears will give you a "Perceived" 20 MPG.......you have a 15.5% speedo error if I'm reading your post right?? :confused:

Corrected for the 4.10's you will still have about 17 MPG.

Marauderjack ;)

[Smokie]

I also have the PHP Airbox and Dennis said it was OK to install it now, I didn't get a custom tune and am concerned about the A/F ratio being way off....
Was it the tune or the tuner that nerver locked the converter ? :confused:
Did you get a custom tune after the PHP Airbox install or was the tune already there ?Carlos, I don't know if the airbox will affect your A/F ratio badly, Lidio made a comment that he didn't think it should.
After the shorties/exhaust install at Team Ford I had a dyno-tune by Aric. The results were great; more power and very good gas mileage.

I purchased airbox from Dennis at his facility because I wanted to document for the club any possible gains and Dennis has a state-of-the-art dyno facility, the results from before and after I already documented in another thread, there was an adjustment made to the Aric program to adjust a rich A/F ratio. Shortly after I noticed that my highway mileage went down dramatically 23 to 20.

I ran into Lidio at Bradenton, we discussed it and he found 2 things, there was nothing wrong with my air/fuel ratio and my t/c was not locking at all. I don't know why my converter was not locking up, I can tell you, that is not how Aric programmed it. That is all I know for sure.:)

[Smokie]

Could I benefit from checking the torque converter to see if it is locking properly?As always thanks for your thoughts and comments.
Bradley GI will pass along the info I got from Lidio, yes you should make sure your t/c does lock at highway speeds. I believe a Lidio tune locks t/c around 65-67 mph. Lidio mentioned that in city traffic it would not make much difference, I have not driven car since driving back from Bradenton after Lidio made adjustments. I did get over 26 mpg on the way home, the best I was getting prior to change was 20 mpg.:)