Diesel Chips / Diesel Tuning - How Its Done

[BlueMutt]

The Chip-it unit I have was installed on the dyno last Saturday, the Mechanic wanted to check AFR's std and with the chip fitted. That's just the way he wants to do the installs, to know what is really going on. I'm happy to cough up to know and not guess.

Happy John, my car was run up to 100k's in 4th for the power runs, I was driving it, which is 3000 odd rpm, I'd not be happy to see 5k out of my truck!

 

[sparra04]

Need to read Roberts post again as Diesels are so easy to tune and its hard to get wrong..they will run well over such a large A/F range.

your F6 is totally different

Its hard to get it wrong tuning diesels, not all will agree with that, but its easy to get it right on a dyno
Petrol or diesel same principal different fuel
Maybe you need to go back and read my original comment

 

[sparra04]

Nice F6 mate what power did u end up making? I had to sell mine. It was too problematice for a everyday driver but near 600rwkw was awsome when taking off from the lights

Faaaaark 600rwkw on the road
Thats insane
I ended up with 320 and struggle to keep it in a straight line

 

[DieselTuner]

True, many features that you pay for ... but in the end you just use Fuel, MAP and sometimes Crank Angle and MAF adjustment ... and still only get 30% more torque.

Did they ever develop OEM plugs so that you can just plug in and drive away?

Otherwise you also get the feature of being wired in so only a mechanic with a dyno gets to install it for you. That's a great feature that no other Chip company gives you!

I Also use the safety backdown features for water temp, air temp and sometimes egt.
Multiple maps that you can change while driving is always popular.
I always convert zd30 D22 from pneumatic boost control to full electronic.
Fuel reduction strategy on auto gear shifts to protect the boxes.
I could go on with more commonly used features but thats probably the main ones.


The torque figure is what ever the tuner determines it to be while keeping safety as the number one factor. So if its 30% thats still pretty good, It will do it with leaner AFR and lower egt than any other chip can achieve as a result of its strategy of completely tuning the engine not just upping the fuel.

I tuned a 1HD-FTE series landcruiser on the weekend with one and generated 90% more torque with just the tune, no other goodies like gas or methanol injection etc... and still only 17psi boost.

Unichip has been plug and play since they were called D-Tronic that was i dont know how many years ago. At least 10, probably more.
The only time they werent available plug and play was a few years ago when they were changing manufacturing plants to improve reliability of the looms that were being used. I would never send out a pnp unichip personally. If I cant fit and tune it, I wont sell it, to many variables and after years of tuning Ive seen just how big a difference there is between two identical cars.


I dont think any other chip has actual real time manipulation of the tuning parameters, but Im open to hear if it actually can.
Can you sit the car at 15psi boost, 2200rpm and alter the fuel and boost up and down while watching the figures live on the dyno?

 

[DieselTuner]

Its hard to get it wrong tuning diesels, not all will agree with that, but its easy to get it right on a dyno
Petrol or diesel same principal different fuel
Maybe you need to go back and read my original comment

I have always said if you get the tune wrong in a diesel the lifespan is measured in thousands of K's/months.

Get it wrong in a Petrol and the life span is measured in seconds.

 

[sparra04]

. I would never send out a pnp unichip personally. If I cant fit and tune it, I wont sell it, to many variables and after years of tuning Ive seen just how big a difference there is between two identical cars.

Thankyou

 

[Chip Tuning]

Robert, or should that be Lindsay?
It probably doesn't matter as you guys are old mates.
If it's just a matter of backing off the tune when you see black smoke, what happens with a vehicle with a DPF, which presumably is capturing all the smoke and soot? Won't that bugger the DPF before you know there was too much fuel going in?

Good question.

A vehicle fitted with DPF and ANY Chip will have the Regen conducted more often as more power caused more loading on the DPF. With vehicles that have a DPF I usually program the Chip differently.

Probably doesn't matter, however I didn't get the part about Robert and Lindsay and us being old mates.

 

[Chip Tuning]

I agree with some of what you are saying Robert
for most people a good tune from a good tuner is good enough and within there budget
but my point is you cant compare a generic tune to real time dyno tuning

Our tunes are NOT generic tunes. They are tunes developed on a dyno for the specific car in question.

Also, not good practice to refer tuning of a Petrol to tuning a diesel. Way different. AFR on petrol are CRITICAL. Generally speaking, on a diesel as long as you are developing power and are leaner than 17 or 18 : 1 you don't have issues.

 

[Chip Tuning]

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... Diesels are so easy to tune and its hard to get wrong..they will run well over such a large a/f range.

Your f6 is totally different

 

[joe2006]

Good question.

A vehicle fitted with DPF and ANY Chip will have the Regen conducted more often as more power caused more loading on the DPF. With vehicles that have a DPF I usually program the Chip differently.

Probably doesn't matter, however I didn't get the part about Robert and Lindsay and us being old mates.

Thanks Robert,

Perhaps I should have said you guys are old sparring partners

I was just assuming that a DPF has a limited number of regens before it is buggered and the regen is no longer effective.

Some people report early failure, chip or not, so what causes this and would excessive load/soot exacerbate the problem?

 

[Black_Outlaw]

DPF's can now be cleaned by a process of burning off all the soot, and returning the DPF back to you like new, so there is always that option for people. Cost is around $400.. Better than the NISSAN replacement $4000.

If you are "chipping" then you just need to be aware of the pitfalls when running the DPF.. Me, personally, I had nothing but DPF problems so I took care of it. If you're looking for the most power and you're DPF'd then you'll factor other mods into the process to make sure it's not an issue..

 

[BigMik3]

Faaaaark 600rwkw on the road
Thats insane
I ended up with 320 and struggle to keep it in a straight line

Yeah it got pretty hairy at times. Any hint of moisture on the road and it was all over. Had a fair bit of work done to it. Bigger turbo and intercooler, 1000cc injectors twin walbro pumps, bigger plenum bigger CAI bigger cam strengthened internals to hold it together and a great tune. Next step was meth injection but mrs said no lol
It now takes me longer to get 0-100 in the nav then it did for a quater mile pass in the F6. Although with new windbooster its now much better

 

[mike1303]

I agree with some of what you are saying Robert
for most people a good tune from a good tuner is good enough and within there budget
but my point is you cant compare a generic tune to real time dyno tuning

I have in the last month been playing around with tunes for my f6 typhoon
I purchased an sct flash tuner with 3 tunes from a reputable tuner $750 all up, love them flash tuners, good work ford
the tune was average at best, boost was unstable, power delivery was all over the place, I returned the car to std tune as it was not safe with boost spikes and lean spots
was it the tuners fault.....not really, he wrote a tune to suit the average car, its a bit hit and miss......most tunes hit the target but rarely the bullseye......................anyway
last Friday the car spent the whole day on a dyno,($1000) having several runs and the new tunes were tweaked all day
the results speak for themselves
a generic tune will never be as good as a custom dyno tune......never.....all engines are different and respond differently, even poor maintenance makes a differance
The same applies

this poped up today. thought you'd like to see it mate

 

[storm83]

I'm thinking about buying a diesel smart unit for my 2010 d22 has anyone on here had any experience with this brand. Iv been down the road with a fuel rail chip a lot of money down the crapper and a new fuel rail later. This time I want some thing with better and safer options. With the last chip and exhaust package, they only managed to squeezed out 106 hp at the wheels. Am I dreaming in expecting more. from what I can see about the diesel smart unit I'm surprised I haven't heard more about it sounds like a great deal

 

[DieselTuner]

DPF loading shouldnt be an issue if you use injection timing, boost and fuel to achieve power gains.

On chips that just load it up on fuel and increase fuel alot below the boost threshold where the majority of smoke is generated, yes it will obviously fill it faster.
They cant always be regened either, once they are really blocked up doing burn offs is only going to damage the matrix and blow the back out of it completely destroying it.

Storm - Diesel smart is made by DTE/DTUK, rebadged for use over here and put in a different case just like pretty much all the other brands out there.

 

[storm83]

Diesel tuner you sell unichip do you ? If so what price fitted with a full
custom tune 2010 d22

 

[Chip Tuning]

Joe the DPF definitely has a life span dictated by the amount of Regens or more precisely how effective the Regens have been. ie a REALLY HOT regen 650+ deg Cel will clean the soot off better than a regen at 580.

The following will cause degraded life span of DPF:
Faulty EGR, Dirty injectors (not spraying correctly), short trips (to kid's school and back etc), faulty temp or Lambda sensor(s)

Most DPFs will fail at around 120-150,000 Kms. If you get them failing at under 100,000kms it has had less than optimal burns

This is a good article on burns if anyone is interested: Click Here

Its the link that says DPF_Regen Process

 

[joe2006]

Thanks guys.

Your right Robert, it is a good article and it's also a good reference. A bloke was on here not long ago with a query about an unusual smell and heat from his truck, querying whether it might have been a burn. We could have directed him there.

Hopefully my saving grace will be that nearly all my k's are on the highway.

Something to be said for high EGT's!

 

[Chip Tuning]

absolutely

 

[boostin_7]

For any SA guys here, Willall Racing have been doing unichips for most of the newer diesels for a while now.
IIRC they are claiming 20-30kw & upto 100nm