Hi folks
I purchased this unit from Wes, I had it in my 97 PI but now that it has been sold, this unit is awesome!!!! I am putting it in my 98 Continental now. I read thru the Continental manual and couldn't find the fuse for the fuel pump fuse to shut it off to install the programming either in the engine compartment or inside the vehicle . Could I just hit the emergency fuel pump switch and install the programming and hit it again after I install the Program, or could I just ibstall it without turning off the fuel pump

The service CD shows a mechanical fuel pump enabled when the crank sensor shows the crank is spinning and also another verison with an electrical fuel pump.

If it has an electrical fuel pump, the fuse needs to be located and removed so it does not run momentarily and cause a system transient. You could try the trunk fuel disable too. The key is that the car needs to be free of electrical transients while programing. Keep heater motors and other accessories quiet during download or upload also.

I edited my previous reply, I was looking at the CV data by mistake. It is a 20Amp fuse, circit 1 on 1999 CV.

Larry

IIRC, if you look for the Fuel Pump Relay in the Relay box under the hood, you can pop that out.

I can't find it in my manual, the closet thing would be the the PCM fuse. other than that there is nothing regarding the fuel pump relay or fuel system fuse. I am stump!!!!

Will the switch in the trunk let you turn it off? I thought it was sort of a ratcheting switch in that it could be used to reset but not turn off.

If it will turn off, it will certainly keep the fuel pump from coming on, allowing you to program. It should be fun on the DOHC My grandmother traded in her 95 with 35k miles on a Lexus 430. I'm sure it made someone a wonderful car.

If you smack it hard it will turn it off.
It's inertia activated, just like a seatbelt tensioner or an airbag sensor.

Give it a good whack with a hunk of 2x4. It'll trip.

do I hit the switch itself? it's on the b- Pillar near the seatbelts latches.

You can't program the computer if you pull its fuse. The schematic shows the Fuel relay and PCM relay are the same part. (I.E. pulling this relay will disable power input to the PCM)

The inertial fuel sensor, located on the right side B pillar can be unplugged and that will remove power from the fuel pump. Don't wack on safety devices with 2x4's.

Larry

If you pull the plug to the inertia switch, the fuel pump will not come on. I do this all the time when changing the fuel filter (to make sure the system is not pressurized)

Let us know how that DOHC likes the tuner.

While we are talking about the 1725 Microtuner, I would like to ask folks what settings they have found to be advantageous.

My goal is to have the transmission in the next lower gear instead of lugging the engine when the grade changes upwards. I have the 2.76 gearing. I'm not yet ready to change that and lose fuel economy. The computer upshifts suitably to my old fart driving style (or even when spirited moments) but the transmission is not in the right gear for higher loading on up-grades. For instance, slipping out of OD for a moment on the highway would be intuitive on a manual shift transmission but seems lost to the OEM Ford software.

I'm please with fuel economy with the stock setup (25.3 mpg mixed driving), but when the engine lugs on an upgrade the time to respond to accelerator input is inappropriate while software sorts things out.

So, I guess I am asking if others have tuned things with the 1725 to this sort of geezer driving to advantage. I'm interested in other settings too, but this is my prime complaint with stock. Since it's not a simple matter to tweak a setting, a good starting point would help. In the old Caprice, I used to touch the brake to disable the OD and that was just right.

Larry

Larry, I have mine tuned right now with all custom settings from the Tuner. Tomorrow I'll go find some hills and see if the car lugs or if it downshifts out of overdrive like it's supposed to. I don't think the car lugs, I would've noticed it doing that because one of the things I absolutely couldn't stand about my '91 was its inability to sense when to get out of overdrive. My experience with the '98, even before I got the Tuner, was that it came out of overdrive easily without excessive throttle input. Even with the cruise control on. But let me get out there and pay closer attention to what it's doing and I'll report back. FYI, I too have the slug highway gears so we'll be comparing apples to apples.

Slentzer, that would be great to hear you feedback. In Maryland, there are not lots of hills at least around here, just rides uphill. I'm talking about maybe 15% or 20% grades. I think the car figures the steeper ones out okay. I might be a bit anal about the gear it's in. These are just indecision points where the wrong gear is running stock. The gentle hills are the issue, not the steep ones. Slightly more throttle works, but it seems like going out of OD would be better than more throttle input. Maybe I'm just lazy. Probably pressing the OD diable button would work. I'm still learning my way around this sled.

Edelbrock IAD shocks and a factory 21 mm sway bar are waiting for my brother to visit. I've not warned him what awaits. ;o). Ron is too far away to visit or I would surely buy him a beer or six in exchange for a shock swap out in the parking lot of the Pink PussyCat. The ENS front sway bushings are unbelievable for under $20. They took about 70% of the bump steer out of the car and that was the only modification so far. Soon I will have the correct mix of geezing,comfort and control and performance out of this ride for my tastes. Thanks to all in the group for the help.

Slentzer, thanks in advance for your ideas.

My pleasure. I'll check in tomorrow.

If I recall, the literature that comes with the tuner says it affects only upshift points, not downshifts.

I would also bet that higher gears (like 3.23s) with less throttle would net better gas mileage than the 2.73s and more WOT driving. Only on open highway would the 2.73s consistantly deliver better mileage.

Hey Guys. Well, I had some time today to mess around with the Tuner, here's my impressions. I made three test runs, each run consisted of a loop about twelve miles long (I love drivin' my car). Each loop has everything from crap Pennsylvania two-lanes with no shoulder and monster potholes (River Road) to brand new, smooth concrete, limited access highway (Route 222 North). First loop settings: 1-2 2-3 shift max rpm, 3-4 shift Superchips, 1-2 2-3 3-4 shift firmness max. Car made the 4-3 shift easily with light accelerator input. Using cruise, the car maintained 70 mph on the highway with only one mph loss of speed regardless of terrain. Second loop settings: Deleted Tuner settings returning car to stock configuration. It took noticeably greater accelerator input to trigger a 4-3 shift on all roads traveled during the loop. Maintained 70 mph on highway with three to four mph loss of speed on hillier terrain. Third loop settings: 1-2 2-3 3-4 shift max rpm, 1-2 2-3 3-4 shift firmness max. Same results as the stock setting for the 4-3 downshift.
Tomorrow I want to set the 3-4 shift point to the minimum rpm setting and see how that affects the 4-3 shift. I'll bet it comes out of fourth gear easier, we'll see.
So my opinion is that, when certain Tuner program configurations are applied, the car makes the 4-3 shift more readily than when stock. However, at least with my car, that tranny comes out of fourth gear damn easy to begin with when you give it gas, regardless of whether you're going 40 mph or 90 mph. So if you're looking to the Tuner to cure your car's tendency to not come out of fourth gear to your liking, it may not make as much of a difference as you're looking for. Reminder folks, the above is purely my opinion, nothing more. YMMV.
I will tell you one thing, even though it's off topic here. When I reinstalled the performance tuning from the Tuner and went out on that third loop, the difference in the low and mid rpm throttle response was BIG. I had forgotten how much difference that Tuner makes compared to the stock programming because I've been running the performance tune uninterrupted for a few months now. In lieu of the MAF/air box/chip route, that thing WORKS. Money well spent.
If there's something anyone would like me to try with that Tuner tommorrow, as far as settings go, let me know and I'll do it.

Thanks for all your information and experimentation Slentzer! It sounds like your loop 1 settings

"First loop settings: 1-2 2-3 shift max rpm, 3-4 shift Superchips, 1-2 2-3 3-4 shift firmness max."

along with some premium fuel and the performance tuning will correct my complaint about the downshift behavior.

The issue is no where near as noticable as it was on my 4.3L ought '86 Caprice, but driving that car has made me more aware of the downshift behavior. I'm really nitpicking here, but if the tuner will improve it, all the better! Probably just the performance tune alone would give the car the oooompf it needs even without the downshifting.

On the shift firmness setting, what setting would provide maximum transmission life? How much firmer was the firmest setting?

I'm asking all these questions before I start tuning so I begin closer to the final configuration. I have the PATS and the Superships manual says this system might get confused during tuning and require resetting the computer to get the car started again. That would make experimenting a bit more of a nuisance if it did this every time.

I'm still pulling a code P1000 after 250 plus miles since the battery was disconnected. I've read and tried the Ford "driving cycle" instructions. It would sure be easier if I knew which check isn't completed yet. Maybe one day I'll get an OBD II interface for the notebook computer. I've got emissions testing soon where they pull the codes; that is why I'm concerned at all about resetting the ecm right now.

Larry

Larry, Re: Your previous post...

"Probably just the performance tune alone would give the car the oooompf it needs even without the downshifting."
I believe you'll definitely notice a difference in the performance of your car with the Tuner on board. Don't get me wrong, the Supertuner won't turn your car into an eleven-second fire breather, but it makes a NOTICEABLE difference for an everyday driver.

"On the shift firmness setting, what setting would provide maximum transmission life? How much firmer was the firmest setting?"
I've been asking the first question myself and no one seems to know for sure. I have mine set on the max firmness for all shifts and am concerned about long-term wear on the tranny too. However, to answer your second question, the setting doesn't seem to be harsh or make the tranny bang into gear. It's just a solid, firm shift now, much nicer than the factory shift settings. So I've quit worrying about it hurting the tranny. And that's hard for me.

"I have the PATS and the Superchips manual says this system might get confused during tuning and require resetting the computer to get the car started again."
I too have PATS and it's very important to me for the system to be operational. Just estimating, I've probably done about thirty tunes on my GM and have never had a no-start condition after completing a tune. Hopefully that info is in the manual to cover the infrequent glitch that messes with the PATS. But, I do all my tunes at home JUST IN CASE...you know how that goes.

"I'm still pulling a code P1000 after 250 plus miles since the battery was disconnected."
I've had that code constantly sine I got my Tuner and could read the codes. That code, along with 1260, which is “Theft Detected Vehicle Immobilized”, are the only codes I've ever gotten off my 113K mile GM. The second code is obviously a result of the Tuner but the first one's been there for a while. So if you figure out what's causing that one, let me know. I don't get a MIL from it though. Which is good.

Lastly, I finished my fourth test loop this morning. The settings were: 1-2 2-3 shift max rpm, 3-4 shift minimum rpm, 1-2 2-3 3-4 shift firmness max. At 70 mph, the cruise control maintained speed with no discernable drop in vehicle speed whatsoever. I interpret this as the tranny being the most willing to slip out of fourth gear and into third when set to these Tuner settings. Another thing I noticed is that when decelerating, right at thirty miles an hour, the tranny shifts from fourth to third noticeably. It didn't do this during any of the other settings. I guess this isn't a bad thing, I don't think you want the car to spend any more time than it has to in fourth gear. I'm going to let this tune alone for a while and see how I like it.

Well Larry, I hope this helps. By all means, pick up a Tuner if it's in your budget. I think that down the road, when you get to some more serious mods and no longer need the Tuner, it'll be an easy sale to someone else on the board. On the other hand, you can keep it around as an expensive code reader. Or you could have some fun with your Parent's friend’s Grand Marquis too.

Larry, lemme know if I can be of further assistance. Go Colts!

I lowered the 3-4 firmness back to "Superchips" because I didn't like feeling it shift into OD at like 2% throttle. That setting put it back to almost unnoticable. With 3.23's I won't be shifting into OD until after 120ish so that shift won't be happening too often at WOT.

Remember too that the firmer and quicker your shifts, the longer your transmission will last. All the soft & slow shifts wear it out faster.

The single biggest weak point on our transmission is a WOT shift into or out of OD so I now avoid that completely. When passing I'll accelerate slightly to drop to 3rd, then hammer it. Around town I'll leave OD off completely.

John, Re: The above post...

"I lowered the 3-4 firmness back to "Superchips" because I didn't like feeling it shift into OD at like 2% throttle."
Yeah, the tranny popping in and out of fourth gear with very little throttle input is an aquired taste.

"Remember too that the firmer and quicker your shifts, the longer your transmission will last. All the soft & slow shifts wear it out faster."
Thanks for clarify that. I will be keeping the shift settings firm. And it just makes the car feel so much better too.

"The single biggest weak point on our transmission is a WOT shift into or out of OD so I now avoid that completely. When passing I'll accelerate slightly to drop to 3rd, then hammer it. Around town I'll leave OD off completely."
Some more good technique which I'll be adopting from here forward. Thanks for all the info John.

Just wanted to clarify that it still shifts in & out of 4th with only a slight throttle change but it's just not as abrupt as before.

The most common situation was when I was just riding with the flow of traffic around 50 mph and it would shift into OD with a jerk. Since I was barely on the throttle I thought it should be a less jerky shift. Now it's almost as soft a shift as stock yet it's still willing to shift back into 3rd with the slightest acceleration.

To me it isn't important to have the 3-4 shift particularly firm because I'll almost never do it at WOT. I say "almost" because I'm sure I'll eventually go over 120 mph

Slentzer, I finally cleared the P1000 codes. Not that this is of any concern except for the emissions check where they read these codes back. There is a driving loop to drive for clearing this codes and if you can't read the software checks real time with a code tool it takes a bit of driving to run them all. If you never do any city driving or geezer driving below 40 MPH you'll probably never run all of these OBD II tests and not clear the 01-P1000 code. It only means that all system checks have not completed.

Since you've not experienced any PATS problem with programming the Superchips 1725 changes and have made the alterations so many times, I will give them a try as soon as I have visited for my emissions check. I've got a tank of 87 to burn up too before tweaking for more engine advance.

Thanks much to all who have replied with experiences with the combinations possible and drivability changes resulting with the tuner. I bought one of these Superchips tuners from Les when they were available on group buy and will tinker with it soon, now that the error codes from disconnecting the battery are cleared out.

The other question about OD seems to be best attended to by disabling the OD during off-highway as somene above recommended. Off highway it's probably a non-issue for gas economy because 2.76 gearing is likely to be a disadvantage for city driving anyway.

Larry

So, is this tuner recomended?

I tried to buy one, called superchips and was told its discontinued....sct seems to be the way to go. I'm running a hypertech for now, and its completely un-tunable for a 96. Just no user options at all....so next month may get the sct and see how that works.