Tuner/chip for 460?

aofarrell2

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Hey Guys,
First post but long time reader :D. I've got a 1989 Ford F350 with the 460 V8 and E4OD automatic. A friend said there are a few tuners/chips out there for this. Any suggestions?
 

Black dawg

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Hey Guys,
First post but long time reader :D. I've got a 1989 Ford F350 with the 460 V8 and E4OD automatic. A friend said there are a few tuners/chips out there for this. Any suggestions?

All a chip can really do on a gas engine, is advance timing. You can usually add 5 degrees or so by turning the distributor. Next, add a set of L&Ls, and some good exhaust.
 

LCAM-01XA

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Hey Guys,
First post but long time reader :D. I've got a 1989 Ford F350 with the 460 V8 and E4OD automatic. A friend said there are a few tuners/chips out there for this. Any suggestions?
Your 460 uses what's known as batch-fire injection, meaning it fires the fuel injectors 4 at a time and of those at least two cylinders don't need the fuel right away so it just kinda sits there until the intake valve opens and it gets sucked in the combustion chamber. 351 engines used the same setup as well. Always wondered why that was, considering the 302 had a true-SEFI (each injector fires separately from the others and only when needed) so technology was definitely there and already in use... Anyways supposedly the late 351s and 460s (IIRC '96-'97) got switched to SEFI setup like the 302s had, but I don't know that for a fact. If it is true, then you'll need a PCM from one of those vehicles, along w/ its engine wiring harness (or you can modify your factory one). Alternatively you can use a 302 PCM (already SEFI-enabled) and have it reflashed w/new air/fuel tables, heck if I know where or how you can get the data for those tho... Overall it's all definitely doable, tho not a simple plug-and play 5-minute job...

Black dawg said:
All a chip can really do on a gas engine, is advance timing. You can usually add 5 degrees or so by turning the distributor.
Actually that depends on the chip - the stuff that some 5.0 Mustang guys stick in their ECMs completely recalibrates them IIRC, w/ new load tables and such. And once you get into mass-air conversions you can really have some fun. Provided the ECM/PCM has the slot in it for the "chip", not all EEC-IV ones did. But I digress - on the '89 the OP is working w/ the best bet for cheap performance tuning is indeed base timing at the distributor. Not sure if he can pull whole 5 degrees over factory, generally on these older Fords anything over 12*BTDC is asking for trouble on 87 octane, his truck will have the knock sensor to limit the PCM-added advance so he has some safety nets there, but still I wouldn't go too crazy there. I'd say check where it is now, bump it up to 12, see how it works. Also put a gauge on the fuel rail, see what pressure looks like - no amount of fine tuning is gonna do any good if the basics ain't covered first.
 

Black dawg

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I have never ran into any trouble till about 18 deg.

A maf conversion would be cool. I have worked on a few 97 or so with a maf 460 (apparantely pretty rare). They run like a whole nother engine than the map 460
 

aofarrell2

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Your 460 uses what's known as batch-fire injection, meaning it fires the fuel injectors 4 at a time and of those at least two cylinders don't need the fuel right away so it just kinda sits there until the intake valve opens and it gets sucked in the combustion chamber. 351 engines used the same setup as well. Always wondered why that was, considering the 302 had a true-SEFI (each injector fires separately from the others and only when needed) so technology was definitely there and already in use... Anyways supposedly the late 351s and 460s (IIRC '96-'97) got switched to SEFI setup like the 302s had, but I don't know that for a fact. If it is true, then you'll need a PCM from one of those vehicles, along w/ its engine wiring harness (or you can modify your factory one). Alternatively you can use a 302 PCM (already SEFI-enabled) and have it reflashed w/new air/fuel tables, heck if I know where or how you can get the data for those tho... Overall it's all definitely doable, tho not a simple plug-and play 5-minute job...


Actually that depends on the chip - the stuff that some 5.0 Mustang guys stick in their ECMs completely recalibrates them IIRC, w/ new load tables and such. And once you get into mass-air conversions you can really have some fun. Provided the ECM/PCM has the slot in it for the "chip", not all EEC-IV ones did. But I digress - on the '89 the OP is working w/ the best bet for cheap performance tuning is indeed base timing at the distributor. Not sure if he can pull whole 5 degrees over factory, generally on these older Fords anything over 12*BTDC is asking for trouble on 87 octane, his truck will have the knock sensor to limit the PCM-added advance so he has some safety nets there, but still I wouldn't go too crazy there. I'd say check where it is now, bump it up to 12, see how it works. Also put a gauge on the fuel rail, see what pressure looks like - no amount of fine tuning is gonna do any good if the basics ain't covered first.

Batch injection.. So that's why it's a gutless fuel hog :D.

Over time I'm gonna beef the engine up a little, I've been thinking about getting a "chip burning" setup so I can make my own tunes. The one I am looking at has a 5 position switch so I can switch between 5 tunes on the fly.

Thanks guys!
 

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Is that setup you're looking at compatible with EEC-IV (also spelled as as EEC-4) ECMs and PCMs? This is a product that was specifically designed for them, and from what I've been told works quite well: http://www.tweecer.com/index.htm

Be aware, however, that while you may be able to TwEECer your ECM from factory batch-fire into sequential fuel injection, the wiring required to utilize such programming is not present in your truck - you'd need an individual ground between each injector and the ECM, however your engine harness only has two grounds, one for each batch of 4 injectors. Therefore, you may have to hit a junkyard for some SEFI wiring harness, lucky for you every 302-powered '87-'91 big RWD Ford car is SEFI and uses the same type of injectors as your truck, so sourcing the harness you'll be cannibalizing shouldn't be hard at all. May wanna also grab a properly-sized large MAF sensor (from a newer vehicle) to further expand your tuning capabilities...
 

aofarrell2

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Yeah it's a EEC-IV. Tweecer was one I looked at, I like the Moates system alot too.
 
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