Whipple Installed!

[ccradier]

Wow, just WOWWWWW. To many toys in the sandbox ehhh. Well congrats on figuring it out. I would have never have wondered how the 2 would have faulted in a perfect storm.

 

[DTX2023Tremor]

I want to update my lockout no start, as it might help someone in the future. It wasn't the TB.
I was able to replicate my no-start, and it has to do with the Ravelco I installed about 6 months ago. Without giving away the Ravelco install, before the new Whipple map was installed, if you forgot to plug in your Ravelco key and tried to start, the truck wouldn't start, and no codes were thrown. You plug in the key and everything starts normally.

Now with the Whipple and new map installed, if you forget to plug the Ravelco key in, you get about 6 DTCs, and the truck is locked out from starting. You can't clear the faults with Forscan. It's "hard broke". I got lucky after about 10 days with a broken truck, when I tried a remote start with the Ford app on my phone, the truck didn't start, however, if you then get in the truck and try a conventional start with the start button, it starts and you can clear the faults. I was already planning to have it towed to the dealer until I discovered this. The problem is that all the fault codes have nothing to do with where the Ravelco is installed. No codes with the OEM map and 6 codes with the Whipple map. Go figure. I talked to Ravelco tech support before I installed it, and the 2 circuits they suggested were used because those don't throw fault codes. I'm looking at other areas to relocate 1 of the circuits of the Ravelco to another area. Maybe this info will help someone in the future. I've emailed Whipple all the info, and hope they'll look at the map they are using.

That is bizarre to think that an analog kill switch product would cause so many issues that simply plugging the Ravelco key in would not immediately resolve. Makes me wonder what, if any, issues might arise from the IGLA since that is a software solution. Thanks for chasing this one down and sucks that you had to go down so many rabbit holes to figure out it was the Ravelco+Whipple not playing nice with each other.

 

[Isthatahemi]

Interesting. I imagine some Whipple tech guys are yelling at their screens when they got that email.

I’m still waiting on Whipple to provide a updated calibration for my truck making barely more than stock power in 1st and second, barely spins the tires……720hp should blow them off in 1st and 2nd….
And the persistent CEL’s of course…. 10 weeks now.

 

[Isthatahemi]

So Whipple is gonna send me a new bypass assembly and spring to deal with the power loss, still waiting on the CEL tune update as mentioned. Fingers crossed…..

 

[X5Pilot]

Oh, that's good news. Can't wait to hear that result.

 

[Isthatahemi]

Wrench in the gears, did logs in manual shift mode, made 15% more power at 4700 rpm in 1st, almost 12% across 1st gear, 10% in 2nd gear.

Almost conclusively the tune. Truck runs not bad, no bog when shifted manually.

 

[Isthatahemi]

Did some follow up testing, even automatic shifting works fine, so long as I inhibit the 1-2 shift (push upshift at 4500, it shifts just in time to miss the rev limiter) using either manual or selectshift. Wow, did not see that coming. Logs also show now that it’s tracking the torque target in this scenario, a smaller pulley would help it achieve target, with proper octane of course.

In simple terms; the 3.875” pulley is very conservative for this setup and engine, and works decently well with 91 octane. My testing shows 93 or more would be very useful and essential for max power.

Love the way this thing blasts off now.

 

[X5Pilot]

Now that i've had a chance to drive around a bit more, I've noticed the transmission sits in 8th or 9th gear when the speed is 45-60 mph since the whipple map has been installed. Before the truck would get to 10th very quickly and stay there . I've only seen 10th gear a few times. Has the shifting strategy changed?

 

[GT-SD]

This is my current shift strategy.

22mph – 5th gear
28mph – 6th gear
34mph – 7th gear
42mph – 8th gear
~50mph – 9th gear
~55-58mph - 10th gear

Depending on how much throttle and variability, it might hang in 7th, 8th, or 9th gear a little longer until it's sure you don't need the power, but for the most part, if you are consistent with the throttle, these are the shift points. To your point, the fuel economy would probably improve if the map was moved closer to something like this: (I have done this in manual mode and know it works and improves fuel economy)

19mph – 5th gear
23mph – 6th gear
29mph – 7th gear
38mph – 8th gear
45mph – 9th gear
~50mph - 10th gear

The truck has lots of power so really no need to hang the shift strategy out, it would probably improve 2 MPG if it maintained a lower RPM range under light throttle.

One thing that is nice, is that it usually doesn't hunt in the 8 - 10 gear range. When riding with people who have the 7.3, the transmission will shift to 9th or 8th on an overpass or hill situation at highway speeds. With the Whipple, it holds 10th and keeps cruising.

 

[X5Pilot]

I have a non-Tremor truck so my rear gear is a 3.73. Great info, I'll keep an eye on it. I read somewhere you can submit a calibration request with Whipple after your initial map, is that correct? I wonder if they can put the shift strategy back to where it was?

 

[Isthatahemi]

I have a non-Tremor truck so my rear gear is a 3.73. Great info, I'll keep an eye on it. I read somewhere you can submit a calibration request with Whipple after your initial map, is that correct? I wonder if they can put the shift strategy back to where it was?

The Whipple Supercharger shift strategy on both the 150 and 250, closely reflects the TOW Haul shift mapping without the "verification delay" that slows the Tow Haul shifting when at a steady speed.

 

[Isthatahemi]

Now that i've had a chance to drive around a bit more, I've noticed the transmission sits in 8th or 9th gear when the speed is 45-60 mph since the whipple map has been installed. Before the truck would get to 10th very quickly and stay there . I've only seen 10th gear a few times. Has the shifting strategy changed?

I don't believe it has, as it reflects the same philosophy as other Whipples I've driven (but I can't say for sure). That said, there is a new calibration available for pre 2023's currently

This is my current shift strategy.

22mph – 5th gear
28mph – 6th gear
34mph – 7th gear
42mph – 8th gear
~50mph – 9th gear
~55-58mph - 10th gear

Depending on how much throttle and variability, it might hang in 7th, 8th, or 9th gear a little longer until it's sure you don't need the power, but for the most part, if you are consistent with the throttle, these are the shift points. To your point, the fuel economy would probably improve if the map was moved closer to something like this: (I have done this in manual mode and know it works and improves fuel economy)

19mph – 5th gear
23mph – 6th gear
29mph – 7th gear
38mph – 8th gear
45mph – 9th gear
~50mph - 10th gear

The truck has lots of power so really no need to hang the shift strategy out, it would probably improve 2 MPG if it maintained a lower RPM range under light throttle.

One thing that is nice, is that it usually doesn't hunt in the 8 - 10 gear range. When riding with people who have the 7.3, the transmission will shift to 9th or 8th on an overpass or hill situation at highway speeds. With the Whipple, it holds 10th and keeps cruising.

I found similar on my 2024, but the mileage did not change (surprisingly) with the addition of the Whipple, and I much prefer the truck not having to drop multiple gears just to modestly speed up. ECO mode might retains stock characteristics, I assume these trucks have that shift mode?

I have a non-Tremor truck so my rear gear is a 3.73. Great info, I'll keep an eye on it. I read somewhere you can submit a calibration request with Whipple after your initial map, is that correct? I wonder if they can put the shift strategy back to where it was?

No custom calibrations are available through Whipple, in theory if there is an objective flaw in the tune (for example, mine short shifts at 4700rpm in 1st - 1000 rpm early) they should fix that, but it would be an across the board calibration update, issued to all new customers or those who ask for the latest.

That said, I'm sure Palm Beach dyno would be happy to extract more power and change shift character to your desires for about $1000 - with a set of injectors and a small rev limiter bump, it would be an animal, oh, and a smaller pulley, and on and on....

 

[xrocket21]

I don't believe it has, as it reflects the same philosophy as other Whipples I've driven (but I can't say for sure). That said, there is a new calibration available for pre 2023's currently

I found similar on my 2024, but the mileage did not change (surprisingly) with the addition of the Whipple, and I much prefer the truck not having to drop multiple gears just to modestly speed up. ECO mode might retains stock characteristics, I assume these trucks have that shift mode?

No custom calibrations are available through Whipple, in theory if there is an objective flaw in the tune (for example, mine short shifts at 4700rpm in 1st - 1000 rpm early) they should fix that, but it would be an across the board calibration update, issued to all new customers or those who ask for the latest.

That said, I'm sure Palm Beach dyno would be happy to extract more power and change shift character to your desires for about $1000 - with a set of injectors and a small rev limiter bump, it would be an animal, oh, and a smaller pulley, and on and on....

It's my understanding that nobody but Whipple has access to the 23+ ecu because they work with Ford?

 

[Isthatahemi]

It's my understanding that nobody but Whipple has access to the 23+ ecu because they work with Ford?

I don’t think they have access either, my understanding is Ford is building the tunes for Whipple now, I am not certain though.

 

[VB!]

It's my understanding that nobody but Whipple has access to the 23+ ecu because they work with Ford?

I don’t think they have access either, my understanding is Ford is building the tunes for Whipple now, I am not certain though.

Whipple writes the code and submits it to Ford. Ford approves and issues the file for each truck. That is at lease how I understand it. I saw it while they were working on some updates once when I was there. I quietly snapped a picture of them working on it.

 

[Isthatahemi]

Whipple writes the code and submits it to Ford. Ford approves and issues the file for each truck. That is at lease how I understand it. I saw it while they were working on some updates once when I was there. I quietly snapped a picture of them working on it.

View attachment 210961

So no access. I can do the same thing with HPTuners basically.

I was looking over the stock tune from a 2022, and it seems as though ford maps the power for the supercharger right in the stock file, but then limits it further down the process tree.

 

[GT-SD]

With my very chaotic travel schedule, the miles I have been putting on the truck have slowed down some, but last month it rolled 40k miles, so it was time for an oil change and a few other maintenance items. Below is the update.

Oil Change:

This was the 2nd 5k-mile run using Valvoline Restore and Protect. After the 1st oil change using this product, there was quite a bit of trash and soot in the oil filter as well as the oil catch pan when draining it. This time did not disappoint either. Although not to the same extent as the first time, there were still quite a few items at the bottom of the pan, as well as the oil filter. The analysis below indicates that everything is good and there are no major issues. However, given the numerous oil changes I have performed over my lifetime, finding these quantities of "trash" left in the pan and soot is not normal. I am starting to wonder if sloppy assembly, including the overuse or substitution of assembly materials during COVID, is the real reason behind lifter failures, these materials that plug the small oil passages. I installed fresh Valvoline R&P with an OEM filter and will let it run for another 5,000 miles. Still researching if the next change will be Valvoline or if a switch up to another brand might be in order, however the iron wear came down, so maybe one more run!?. Either way, it doesn't appear that the Supercharger is having a negative impact on wear.

On a side note, as an experiment, we took my son's 2018 F-150 (2.7L), which I have owned since new, with oil changed every 5,000 miles using Mobil 1 EP, and used Valvoline Restore and Protect during the last oil change at 75,000 miles. We swapped the oil filter at 2500 miles on the interval (77.5k) and it looked clean. It will be interesting to see what comes out at the drain interval.

Below are some of the photos with the oil filter cut open:

You can see there are non-metallic items on and in the filter media.

This photo does not do itself justice, as there was more "soot" or small solid particles, but I lost quite a few trying to pour the oil out of the filter housing to get this photo.

 

[GT-SD]

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned replacing the idler pulleys that came with the Whipple kit, in an attempt to isolate a very infrequent, slight chirp at startup on humid mornings. The kit pulleys were not the issue. Given it is likely a Ford part, it would probably be covered under warranty once it became severe enough to replicate consistently. It bothered me, so for around $300, I purchased all the primary idler pulleys and tensioner. The changeout was easy and took about 30 minutes. Below are some before-and-after pictures. You can see, that (2) of the idler pulleys had already started to sling some grease from their sealed bearings. I hope this helps, along with the instructions for anyone experiencing a similar type of noise. So far this has fixed it, but we will see.

Below is the torque spec and removal for the (2) idler pulleys.

Below is for the tensioner

 

[Isthatahemi]

Thanks for the write-up, any chance you have part numbers handy?

I had an intermittent low rpm chirp on my F150, and strangely, a shorter belt "fixed" it.

 

[GT-SD]

Thanks for the write-up, any chance you have part numbers handy?

Smaller Upper Pulley - YS-384
Larger Lower Pulley - YS-382
Tensioner - BT-154

Below are the full part numbers:

Hope this helps.

I had an intermittent low rpm chirp on my F150, and strangely, a shorter belt "fixed" it.

This noise was not a belt slip noise, which has more of a squeal. This was a rotating noise, more consistent with a pulley issue.....at least that what it sounded like to me.