Ok I'm back! Let me see if I can reply to your questions/comments without leaving anyone out.
L&W, I think you asked me before about sound deadening and I forgot to reply? Sorry! Not sure what help I can really give there since what I did was so extreme. I basically insulated between the engine and cab with a combination of foil covered foam, sprayed on expanding foam, mass loaded rubber, dynamat and dynaliner equivalents. It's basically just a matter of isolating sound and deadening vibrations.
Why didn't Ford put knock sensors in this engine application? Who knows? lol. I'd guess it was a cost cutting move, two less sensors, wiring and a more basic ECM/calibration package. They probably decided it didn't make sense since they aren't really worrying about gas mileage since they don't have to put it on the window. And their calibrations have been perfected enough over the years of these V10's that they know it won't blow up without a knock sensor system. Think about it, do we really have a choice when it comes to what brand or engine we get in most of these RV's? You kinda get what they build them on. It's not like they're competing with Dodge and GM for the Class C, RUV and a little of the Class A market like it used to be years ago.
5 Star tune... I've never been a fan of "canned" tunes, but they've got two things going for them. One is that this ECM and it's engine and trans calibrations are super simple and basic, so there's not much to really screw up. Second is that these engines haven't really changed in quite a while, and they're all almost identical in their use. That's an easy tune to build and sell. For those of you that are thinking about it, I'd say for 90% of the V10 owners out there looking for an aftermarket tune, it's the right solution. The rest of us would fall under the "would rather do it myself" category. HPTuners has calibration definitions for these late model Ford V10's. (You're welcome! lol. They didn't, until I sent them the files and begged the owner to add the definitions in their software. He did. He knows I spent a lot of time teaching guys how to tune on the HPTuners forum so that helped.) So if you want to learn a little bit about how engine calibrations work, you can buy the HPTuners hardware and tune your own engine how ever you want, whenever you want! Pretty cool huh? Scary? Not really.
Mustang... I'm actually not sure if the 3V engines have knock sensors or not. I think they might. It's easy to tell, just grab a flashlight and look in the valley under the intake. They bolt onto the block, one on each side. They're little round black plastic pieces with a bolt in the center and a wire coming out. If it doesn't have them, you'll probably see the two bosses sticking up that they bolt to.
10scDust... You can't just bolt in a couple knock sensors and wire them up, there are other pieces missing in the calibration software to make them work. I actually have an aftermarket knock sensor system on my Vegas, it has two Bosch sensors and a display that shows the amount of knock. It also inputs to my HPTuners scanner so I can log the knock signals. That way I know at what load/rpm/temp/gear/etc the knock is occurring. It's pricey though and not likely something you guys are ever going to want. lol.
https://www.phormula.com/KnockMonitor-KS-4.aspx
TheBreeze, yes, you can burn pistons if you run too lean for too long. These newer engines are REALLY strong though and can take a ton of abuse. If Ford can run these V10's at stoich (14.7:1 air fuel ratio) for a full minute of WOT before giving it any extra fuel, I'd say they trust these pistons pretty well!
And yeah, I also took a cooking class in jr high for the same reason. haha. It was just me and one other guy (ugly weird guy at that) in a class full of cute California girls. Then in High School I volunteered to be a camp counselor at camp for 6th graders. Again, about a dozen girl counselors from other schools and one other guy that happened to be gay. My buddies all thought I was nuts until I came back from a week in the woods with stories about a bunch of hot teenage camp counselors. My momma didn't raise no dummy. lol.
Did I answer everybody? What is the 5 Star tune going for these days? $400? That's exactly what the HPTuners hardware and license to tune one vehicle costs. Both are WELL WORTH the money, believe me. Just different approaches for different people. There's a ton of potential in these engines though. I'm showing an increase of almost 80 ft/lbs of torque in my tune. I think even 5 Star claims 70 or something. They're pretty drastically detuned and it's pretty easy to wake them up.
Thanks for the questions guys! You know there's always lurkers that are getting something out of this even though they don't post or might not even be members.
Thor Forums
