Hello,
Brought my 98 XLT in with a check engine light today. They found a leak in the intake manifold. The dealer also, suggested an optional software upgrade which is supposed to make my engine run more "efficiently". All I could pry out of them was that it changes the shift points (not clear how) and has a better misfire detection algorithm. Anyone know anything more about this and if it's worth doing?
Thanks Rob.
From time to time vehicle manufacturers will release software updates to address driveability concerns and/or reduce the occurance of "nuisance" codes..... one example was several years ago - the misfire monitor was just plain too sensitive. By reprogramming the PCM, they made allowances to keep the normal random misfires that occur from setting the MIL (no two cylinder charges are alike meaning no two combustion events are exactly alike).
If you are happy with the way your car is performing, I would leave well enough alone - some reflashes do not suit all drivers..... change a shift point or feel and some folks wont notice the difference while others will either love it or hate it. If, however, the update sounds like what you want, go for it.... just remember that we usually cannot 'turn back the clock' on refleashes.
Without knowing the calibration number of the planned replacement flash (and it would be a little too time consuming to go searching) it is difficult for me to search the concerns that the flash will address.
Jim Warman snipped-for-privacy@telusplanet.net
The shift points are at least partly controlled by computer. You might do a google search to see if you can find any messages about upgrading a ford computer to get a revised shift program. I don't recall the specifics or if it was even an explorer but I do recall someone posting that they were having transmission troubles and the dealer did two things, one was to actually fix the problem which was mechanical, and the other was to flash the computer with the new shift control points. The later posts said that the owner did not like the new shift pattern at all and wanted to have the dealer put the old one back in and was told "no can do", we can only flash in new ones, don't even have the old ones to flash even if we wanted to."
Great! Thanks, sounds like I made the right decision to decline. I didn't want to do it without knowing what would change. I have had no drivability issues in 6 years and saw no reason to mess with it.
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