02 ford 7.3 tuner/ programmer question

powpow · Mar 30, 2012

been looking for a programmer for my 1 ton 7.3 with 150k miles. mods are 4 inch exhaust and that is it.

been looking at dp cusom tunes on a sct live wire, i also have been looking at the bd programmer and the edge evolution with their standard tunes

i am a bit concerned because I want my tranny to last, and have read that the BD and Edge only tunes to the motor, but the DP tuner since it is custom also tunes the tranny with the motor

I have had this truck for about 6 years now and it has been a great truck. Any reccomendations or things to watch out for, pitfalls, advise, etc?

I pull a 4 place open out west, and am looking at a 5th wheel toy hauler

Blk88GT · Mar 30, 2012

I ran the Edge Evo2 for years. It worked great. I had a 4 inch exhaust, AIS intake and the "zoodad" mod. It towed my enclosed trailer (9000lbs) without issue, ever. Pretty decent mileage too.

suva · Mar 30, 2012

I've had several friends run DP tuners, the tranny tuning worked well and they made good power but they all have had running problems, lope at idle, throwing the CEL, and just not running smoothly. They are very sensitive to how the wiring is ran and only one out of five of my friends has been able to run HIDs with the DP without annoying issues.

opel · Mar 30, 2012

Go with a custom 6 positon chip tuned for your PCM. PHP or wildman tunes work excellent I prefer PHP. They tune your engine and trans for your mods,alt,tire size,pcm cal,etc. It is made for YOUR truck not one size fits all tuning. I have an 02 also and makes it very nice to drive. You can pick from alot of different custom tunes and adjust on the fly. Go to Power Hungry Performance websit and check them out.

vdog0531 · Apr 1, 2012

i had tunes from Innovative Diesel for my 7.3. Really liked them. Had the tow, street and extreme street. I had the Edge CTS monitoring system to keep an eye on the vitals. i really liked this combo. The cts is bad *** for watching everything and custom tunes are the way to go.

IDPOLARIS · Apr 2, 2012

opel said:
Go with a custom 6 positon chip tuned for your PCM. PHP or wildman tunes work excellent I prefer PHP. They tune your engine and trans for your mods,alt,tire size,pcm cal,etc. It is made for YOUR truck not one size fits all tuning. I have an 02 also and makes it very nice to drive. You can pick from alot of different custom tunes and adjust on the fly. Go to Power Hungry Performance websit and check them out.

I agree i have a TS 6 pos chip all the guages with Tony Wildman tunes now let me tell you. I sell and install alot of diesel products on the side all makes and brands when it comes to Ford and the 7.3 Tony or DP tuner are very good tunes i have a 03 7.3 and love the hell out of it pulling my 27.5 FT Haulmark trailer loaded i get 18 MPG on the 75 hp setting now my buddy has a 02 same mods and same size trailer hauling 3 sled he is running a evo 2 from edge and get 11 MPG at best. hope this helps

Blk88GT · Apr 3, 2012

18mpg towing a 27.5' enclosed trailer?

I love diesel threads.

theultrarider · Apr 3, 2012

IDPOLARIS said:
I agree i have a TS 6 pos chip all the guages with Tony Wildman tunes now let me tell you. I sell and install alot of diesel products on the side all makes and brands when it comes to Ford and the 7.3 Tony or DP tuner are very good tunes i have a 03 7.3 and love the hell out of it pulling my 27.5 FT Haulmark trailer loaded i get 18 MPG on the 75 hp setting now my buddy has a 02 same mods and same size trailer hauling 3 sled he is running a evo 2 from edge and get 11 MPG at best. hope this helps

Same truck, same tuner. I get 18+ empty. 11 with my little 24' trailer... :face-icon-small-con

I will say, the 6 pos custom tuner is the only way to go. I love it. Works very very well. Wouldn't trade it for the others.

PJ-Hunter · Apr 3, 2012

I have the Bully Dog tuner and I love it. Shows everything, has a driving coach and economy info. With my 2 place enclosed , loaded I am averaging 20mpg. At least that is what the little computer says and then when I fill it up it jives with how many gallons the truck has used. on empty I can easily get 24, if I don't romp on it and keep max speed between 65-70mph.

Demo250 · Apr 3, 2012

opel said:
Go with a custom 6 positon chip tuned for your PCM. PHP or wildman tunes work excellent I prefer PHP. They tune your engine and trans for your mods,alt,tire size,pcm cal,etc. It is made for YOUR truck not one size fits all tuning. I have an 02 also and makes it very nice to drive. You can pick from alot of different custom tunes and adjust on the fly. Go to Power Hungry Performance websit and check them out.

This x10000.

I'm running PHP. Surprisingly very affordable as well. Check out the prices on the Phoenix chip. Don't forget gauges as well. Can't go wrong with ISSPRO. Check out kensperformance solutions for your gauges. Best prices around and his service is outstanding.
http://www.kensperformancesolutions.com/home.html

Wheel House Motorsports · Apr 3, 2012

Blk88GT said:
18mpg towing a 27.5' enclosed trailer?

I love diesel threads.

amen.

its what the computer said!! lol.

IDPOLARIS · Apr 3, 2012

no not the computor that is figuring it out milage and gallon used.
If you all only new what i had done to my 7.3.
There are a few mod's that one can do very cheap and it make a big difference on how they run..

And then there are few that can get expensive as well..

powpow · Apr 3, 2012

I am looking at tuners for two reasons

1. to improve MPG towing and empty....currently empty in teh summer I get 15-17, winter it is lower, 12-15....towing a 4 place open out west, 6-8 mpg.....

2. Pulling an open trailer, with 4 sleds from mn to WY< ID< MT, Etc, if I hit some grades (hills) I lose speed and it wants to shift down, I back off of it so it doesnt, but jeez, I should maintain 70 mph I would think.

I have had this truck for 7 years now and it runs awsome, looks great, been well taken care of, etc. I would just like to get some increase in performance without sacrificing reliability.....

Wheel House Motorsports · Apr 3, 2012

also, check up pipes and charge tube system, if your only getting 6-8 pulling a 4 place open then you need to get that thing checked up on.

mine is a 00 supercab longbox with a 7.3 and a 6 spd Mods are 6637 filter and straightpiped stock exhaust. pulling a 3 place enclosed around i get 12 in the winter. 14 mixed in and out of town. in the summer i get 17-18 mixed driving if i keep it 75 and slower on the interstate. that is what kills my mileage faster than anything.

MT rydn · Apr 6, 2012

powpow said:
I am looking at tuners for two reasons

1. to improve MPG towing and empty....currently empty in teh summer I get 15-17, winter it is lower, 12-15....towing a 4 place open out west, 6-8 mpg.....

2. Pulling an open trailer, with 4 sleds from mn to WY< ID< MT, Etc, if I hit some grades (hills) I lose speed and it wants to shift down, I back off of it so it doesnt, but jeez, I should maintain 70 mph I would think.

I have had this truck for 7 years now and it runs awsome, looks great, been well taken care of, etc. I would just like to get some increase in performance without sacrificing reliability.....

Those 7.3 trucks sure have good record of reliable / forever service. The new 6.7 still has to prove itself, but it will pull a trailer as fast and hard as the truck runs without a trailer! I have my gripes about some things about the new superduty but peformance from the factory is not one of them and is simply awesome.
In summary though if you can 'tune up' that 7.3 I would stick with it for the long term track record of and potential great performance if done right. Diesel mechanics here go on and on about that 7.3 Good luck!

swrev · Apr 7, 2012

I am running the edge evo--it did nothing to improve mileage. More power though. 10-12 pulling four place open. Empty mileage is actually worse than stock. 14-15 w/ programmer, 16-17 w/o.

seanpistol · Jul 18, 2012

PJ-Hunter said:
I have the Bully Dog tuner and I love it. Shows everything, has a driving coach and economy info. With my 2 place enclosed , loaded I am averaging 20mpg. At least that is what the little computer says and then when I fill it up it jives with how many gallons the truck has used. on empty I can easily get 24, if I don't romp on it and keep max speed between 65-70mph.

One thing to watch out for is a Bully Dog tuner with an 01 to 03 7.3L with the powdered metal rods. Bully Dog has notoriously high compression and if you're set up with a lot of HP you are a little extra likely bend your connecting rods.

Snodawg · Jul 19, 2012

Love my Bully Dog. Love shift on the fly. You never know when you just absolutely need to roll the coal. So cool.

A little note about fuel mileage, though. Yes, my mileage improved 2-3 MPG when checking manually. As far as the BD is concerned, their mileage calculator is way off. Running around town it says I'm getting about 20, when in reality, I'm getting 14-15. One time I took a several hour road trip keeping it fairly steady and easy under 60 mph. My BD said I was getting a whopping 32 MPG in Extreme mode. WOW!!! Burst my bubble.....When I filled up, I was only getting 18. Still good, but a far cry from 32.:face-icon-small-fro

Other than that love the BD. Just keep it in tow mode when towing. A friend had one on his Dodge. Put it in extreme mode towing a large 5th wheel up a dirt road hill in 4WD. A little too much throttle (well, a lot) and Bam! there went the tranny. His own darn fault IMO. Just use your toys wisely.

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02 ford 7.3 tuner/ programmer question

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