diesel tuning boxes ( again )

[Executer]

Hi all,

I know it has been asked before but I am interested in buying a diesel tuning box for my focus but I have the impression that it may not be safe to use.

There other cheap boxes out there for all cars but all they have is a resistor and just sends a false reading to the ecu.

I am thinking that perhaps these diesel boxes are not much different?

I was reading on another forum yesterday ( cant remeber which one ) that all it does is lie to the ecu and up the fuel pressure and someone even posted that their fuel rail broke due to the increased load.

What are your thoughts?

I'd like a dyno tune but I'd have to wait till warranty is up.
Can you get a Haltec piggyback ecu to work with a tdci focus?

[T.M]

I've got an 08 tdci focus and initially bought a tuning box from tdi-tuning.co.uk however this had very little if any positive effect and would bring the engine warning light on sometimes.

The general consensus is you'd be better off spending a little bit more and getting a flash tune via the diagnostics port (Bluefin, Code:Red etc), or a little bit more $ again and getting the ecu properly remapped and dyno tuned by someone that knows what they're doing

[Loris]

Originally Posted by T.M

I've got an 08 tdci focus and initially bought a tuning box from tdi-tuning.co.uk however this had very little if any positive effect and would bring the engine warning light on sometimes.

The general consensus is you'd be better off spending a little bit more and getting a flash tune via the diagnostics port (Bluefin, Code:Red etc), or a little bit more $ again and getting the ecu properly remapped and dyno tuned by someone that knows what they're doing

I sent my tuning box from tdi-tuning back for the same reasons..
I now have a cr tech one installed from bluespark.. So far so good, hasnt gone into limp mode or any engine lights lit up.
Definately improvement in power with less turbo lag, gear changes feel smoother.. Dont know about the fuel economy side of things yet though

[xgrig]

Originally Posted by Loris

I sent my tuning box from tdi-tuning back for the same reasons..
I now have a cr tech one installed from bluespark.. So far so good, hasnt gone into limp mode or any engine lights lit up.
Definately improvement in power with less turbo lag, gear changes feel smoother.. Dont know about the fuel economy side of things yet though

Know it's been a long time since this thread opened, but just wondering if anyone has a tuning box in their car and more speicifically how Loris went with his Cr tech bluespark one as i am looking at my options for out 2008 LT TDCI Focus.

[Franco Cozzo]

Turbodiesel is the man here with the knowledge on these things, I think he mentioned he has a blufin.

If you decide to go remap, Black Mamba Racing, a sponsor on the forum can do a full remap on these cars.

[Executer]

Thanks guys, I think I'll save my hard earned dollars for a proper remap. I had a feeling these boxes werent quite right. Fair enough they may make better performance, but I want to keep my car for quite a while and would enjoy it much more knowing that I havent cut any corners and having it modded properly.

I once had resistor box installed in my commodore for a test. It ran extremely rich, went harded but dranka heap of fuel. The fuel pump went as well. I think the diesel tuning box isnt too much different.

[Turbodiesel]

Yeah I did lots of research on them, and I didn't like the fact that they "Lied" either.

I went Bluefin, haven't had a single issue with it and would highly recommend it. Not sure if they do anything for the new Focus yet but another guy got his diesel tuned by Tunehouse I think with very positive results!

[Binny]

I bought a CR Tech 1 for my Mondeo which is pretty well the same engine. There is definitely an improvement in response when you first fit it, especially at small throttle inputs.
At the end of the day though it just modifies the fuel pressure sensor like any of the others do, regardless of what Bluespark say. It just plugs inline with the sensor. The "pro" also has "boost control" so may plug into something else as well. But is still just modifying a sensor to fool the ecu.
Because it modifies fuel rail pressure you will get indicated better fuel economy which is false. The ECU thinks you are getting better economy because it is being told the fuel pressure is lower than it actually is by the tuning box.
I also think the ECU adjusted to it somewhat over time and reduced the effect.
Due to not knowing the long term consequences to fuel pumps, DPF etc I ended up taking mine off.
If you can stretch to it I think something that actually reprograms the ECU like a Bluefin would be a better option.

[Franco Cozzo]

I've got a TDCI Focus which was remapped, I went that route rather than the tuning box things.



Mine was tuned with a Dimsport Genius tuning tool, mine has a few modifications:

Hybrid Garrett 1749V turbo with billet 56mm compressor wheel
Airtec FMIC
3" turbo back exhaust
2.5" stainless IC piping

It went from 87KW at the wheels (first run you cant see in dyno sheet) to 118KW, but I've hit some issues with fuelling so I can't really take advantage of my hybrid turbo, I'm thinking about swapping back to the factory turbo and going for another tune session.

I ran it down the 1/4 at AFF Heathcote:



and ran 16.32:



The injection pump can handle the extra output no worries, it shows no sign of struggling with more fuel but the ECU is hard to tune as it will start starving the engine over 3000 RPM of fuel and if you want to put more fuel in it adds it across the whole rev range, so if you ask for more fuel it gives you more at idle too.

If you start playing with injector duration to get more fuel that way it'll pull fuel back elsewhere to stop you.

It appears to have multiple fuel maps it will switch between as well on certain conditions.

If you stay with the standard turbo it won't be an issue for you.