Last weekend was my first time to the drag strip since getting my micro tuner (Thanks Mike & Anita T.). It was great, I ran 9/10 of a second faster than I ever did stock.

Problem I had was with boost dump after burnouts.

I know there are boost bypass kits so you can prevent it without your engine setting codes in the computer, but I was wondering if since I had the micro tuner, I could just unplug the boost dump solenoid before I go to the track. Then once I'm done at the track, I could plug the solenoid back in and clear the codes with the micro tuner.

Would there be any problem with doing that, or am I missing something else that would be affected by unplugging the solenoid?

 

Hi MadRabbit,

Congratulations on your 13.15 ET, excellent!

Yes, that dumping of the boost after a burnout is one of Ford's abuse prevention modes on the supercharged 5.4's, & that is easy to deal with exactly as you mentioned. (You can also shut the engine off & restart it to get out of that abuse prevention mode, but that's not convenient after a burnout at the drag strip of course.)

You can either install a boost bypass kit (which we carry in stock), or you can just unplug the connection to the boost actuator mechanism and plug it back in when you're finished racing, either way will work just fine.

Now as far as resetting a code for disconnecting the boost dump mechanism that with the Micro Tuner, and you may or may not be able to do that. As long as it's a generic OBD-II code, (P0), then sure, the Micro Tuner will read it and can clear it. But anything that is manufacturer-specific, that is not part of the generic OBD-II system, generally the Micro Tuner will not read or clear, as that is a manufacturer-specific code and not an OBD-II code.

Worst case scenario, you can always just disconnect the battery to clear that code, of course.

Have fun!

 

Thanks for the info, Mike!

I'll just unplug that solenoid before I go down to the track tonight.

Maybe next paycheque I'll get a boost bypass kit.

 

Hi Mad,

I just noticed that you are at 2200 ft. elevation, I wasn't paying attention to that before, that makes your 13.15 ET that much more impressive, as you lose 3% of your power for each 1000 ft. above sea level. So you were operating at roughly 6.6% less power than you would have had at sea level. On a 400 HP motor, just for example, that's over a 26 HP difference!

So I'm guessing that with a good launch from a shallow stage, you just might have been able to break into the 12's under those same conditions if you were at sea level. We may have spoken about your elevation over the phone at some point perhaps, but I didn't catch that before in reading your post.

And that's about right, as in general, all that just about any '99-'03 Lightning needs to break into the 12's is the Superchips tuning, a good intake kit and a set of slicks. In that trim most will easily run in the mid to high 12.90's, we call those the "chip & filtered" Lightnings.

Good luck at the track tonight, stage as shallow as possible & let us know your ET's & trap speeds! In fact, try to get all the numbers, if you can get the short times (that's the 60 foot times), the 1/8th mile ET & speed as well as the 1/4 mile ET & speed, that data will help show the picture of where the truck is making it's moves & where it can be improved on, etc. But then, you probably already know all about that.

Oh, and one last tip........if you are running at the track on the stock tires, don't bother doing a lengthy burnout to heat up those stock tires on Lightnings, as those factory radials just don't respond much to a lot of extra heat on launch, that's really for those using slicks. When using the stock Goodyear F1's, we generally advise just doing 1 short dry "hop" to clean off the tires, and *don't* go into the water, that's definitely only for slicks!

Sorry if any of this is redundant or doesn't apply, & best of luck at the track tonight!

 

Last week's runs at the track were not as good as the previous time out. I couldn't get hooked up and my 60' times showed it - BAD.

Eveyone seemed to be having trouble with traction that night so I was in good company. I pulled a .508 light though so at least I had something to smile about.

I unplugged the solenoid and boost dump problems disappeared. (Anyone new looking to do this, do a search on the forums and you will find a picture of what wire to unplug )

Here's my times from the 13.15 run on May 2nd:
R/T: 0.692
60': 1.940
330': 5.438
1/8: 8.378 @ 82.92 MPH
1/4: 13.154 @ 102.81 MPH

Air temp for that run was an incredible 2 degrees celsius so that helped make some extra power.

And then last week here's a typical run where I couldn't get traction:

R/T: 0.508
60': 2.202
330': 5.896
1/8: 8.941 @ 81.33 MPH
1000': 11.573
1.4: 13.812 @ 100.70 MPH

And air temp that night was 16 degrees celsius so that made a difference too.

Mike - I'll be calling you soon about getting a driveshaft loop. Now that my truck is running low 13's the track officials want me to get one.

 

Hi MR,

Congrats on the .508 light, that'll put a gate job on just about anyone!

This last outing shows an increase in ET's & decrease in speed everywhere, in the short times, and at every interval thereafter. Each segment is slower, and that's what happens when you lose significant power. You lost almost 3 tenths just in the short times, and then lost almost twice that much afterwards. Traction was obviously not as good, which kills ET's, and the higher temps obviously had a lot to do with that.

All in all, I'd say you did pretty well considering the difference in weather conditions, another +14 C is a lot of temperature difference. That .508 R/T was *very* nice, anyone that can consistently cut better than a .600 light will generally be in a position to win if he/she can dial in their vehicle accurately.

Thanks for your data & of course we'll be happy to help with the Driveshaft Safety Loop.

Have fun,