K2500 Suburban 6.0L E85 Ethanol Tune

[rlathem_8]

I would add that at current prices here in Nebraska (3.98 today for unleaded no ethanol, 2.95 for E85) you can afford to lose around 25% in mileage and still be better off using E85.

(political rant here, so stop reading if easily offended...) As for conceptually using food for fuel, the world's got lots of starch, which is all that's used up in the process of making corn ethanol. The protein is still left in the feed that comes out of the plant, producing a more protein-rich feed, thus reducing the CORN needed in the feeder's ration. So we don't lose all the 'food' as the spinsters would have us believe. And I don't eat unprocessed field corn anyway, so i'm still eating just fine.

Now, WhiteBuffalo, you're killing me with that 22 mpg, I can't get over 20, cruising highways at 62 mph. What's your secret? (yes, i've got the LTFT's adjusted).

[marcoengineering]

I guess my FLX7193 is on backorder, seems the FLX7193 tool is part of U7193 upgrade program and the tool I eventually get will be the upgraded 7193 with the FLX7193 tune, as it is now with the old tool. The U7193 instructions and information is the same for the FLX7193 since it is the same tool built for use with the preloaded E85 tune. Not sure how the new tool will be different from the old tool (rumors has it being a much better tool), but I am assuming any upgraded functions from the U7193 will be carried over to the FLX7193 and approrpiate function(s) for E85 will be available or not depending on the E85tune and what can be adjusted safetly or better off left alone. I am hoping to have the tool by the time I get back from vacation so I can give it a try with these ever increaseing gas prices. If I just get the performance enhancement and .5 to 1.5 mpg improvement on 100% gas it will be well worth the investment in the long run. The ability to run on E5 to E85 blends if wanted will just be a bonus to have on the truck. I will keep posting on here as I get results. Now if we could just get free (independent) of this foreign oil mess somehow, we could have another national holiday to celebrate. A Happy 4th of July to all!!!

Thanks,

MarcoEngineering

[WhiteBuffalo]

Now, WhiteBuffalo, you're killing me with that 22 mpg, I can't get over 20, cruising highways at 62 mph. What's your secret? (yes, i've got the LTFT's adjusted).

Hey, I'm not one to hold back secrets like this.....I know your thinking I'm full of it...but here's what I did!

I use the performance tune with LTFTs dialed in to 0 to +1.(just a little on the lean side..)

I run my tires at 38-40 psi.

I run a Volant Powercore with the ram air scoop.

I try to minimize A/C use. I run it just enough so we won't roast.

I pulled and cleaned up all my plugs and cleaned the MAF sensor.

I put in some STP about every other fill up and only run BP premium....

I change my oil every 3 months or 3k miles whichever comes first...screw the darn oil life monitor!!

I put in a brand new battery and tossed out that POS GM paper weight!

I leave my DRLs off....don't know if it helps but, any alternator loads can't be helping....

I set the cruise and keep my foot out of it as much as I can.......Installing that bolt under my gas peddle helped a lot!!! (LOL just kidding!)

That's about it.....I struggled to get the MPGs but, it slowly got better as I did the above!

Now, I do admit that if I hit strong headwinds or stormy weather I notice my mileage takes a hit down to about 18-20 MPG. One time I had a strong wind on a trip and only got 17!!

Hope it helps you!!

WB

[rlathem_8]

WB,

I believe you, just frustrated I can't get there. I think there are maybe too many hills around here, although the trans stays where it should more when cruising with the Performance Tune, verusus searching around for a gear like before. (PROPS TO DIABLOSPORT GUYS!)

Most of what you listed I've done, except for cleaning plugs, MAF and I chose K&N, but they've got no ram air. That factory oil life thing makes me a little nervous, too. I haven't changed out the battery, but haven't had issues with it, yet.

I haven't tried your bold idea, but I have adjusted the nut behind the wheel. That helped a lot!

Something I'm toying with now is blocking off the entire front grille (both top and bottom sections). I've watched the temps closely as they've warmed over the summer, and think it's worth pursuing enough to go to something more substantial than my cardboard prototype. It seems I get enough airflow from the holes in my bumper and the grille slot on either side of the bowtie. Stole the idea from the Ecomodder website. Anyway, not sure if it's helping mileage, but it does make the front end more stable with a crosswind or a semi's wake.

Keep up the good work. I've enjoyed learning from all on this site.

[marcoengineering]

I am finally back from vacation, hope all had a good and pleasant 4th holiday. I put on 1300 miles all at various speeds, so now I have baseline to work with. I did my own mix when I left so I started with an E20 blend in the truck and factory stock 6.0L cal. This is all I had to work with since the FLX7193 is still on back order and I am waiting for andy to give me an update on the progress of filling the back orders for the updated 7193 series tools. Back to the info, running at 70mph with the truck packed (even a loaded hitch carrier since I had no trailer this year I needed to take along) I got 15mpg. This was with the AC on and pushing a pretty strong head wind the whole time. 15 is what I have seen before in these conditions so I don't think there was a mpg penalty with the E20 mix(might possibly have been a slight improvement since the usual mpg in those condtions is in the 14s most of the time). Running straight gas, AC on, at 55 mph I saw 17.5mpg, and even got 16.5mpg running 70 mph with a tail wind and very lighly loaded, AC on, on the return trip home. 65mph, AC on, netted me 16.0 mpg but I was moderatly loaded pushing a head wind again. 60mph hour gave me 16.5 moderatly loaded, AC on, with light head wind. Seems I always have a head wind no matter which direction I drive. These numbers will give me a baseline to measure against with both straight gas and E85 with the flex tune installed once I get the unit. The 70mph runs were done on my standard run up north to the cabin, so I will be able to do a repeat over labor day and possibly sometime in mid August and Ocotber and Thansgiving, but with gas prices north of $4, my trips up north are always subject to cancellation for any good reason these days. I wil keep updating as I get new information. I have some good numbers with the wifes 2008 Impala LTZ (3.9L, AFM, FlexFuel) between straight gas and E85, but I will post those numbers at another time, but right now with the GM factory flex fuel cal in the car it looks to be a 20% drop in mileage around the city (short trips, 10 miles being the longest 1 way trip), but the wife likes the performance of the car with the E85 over the straight gas, and I like, as does she, not buy oil from the mideast right now. Thanks to all for info posted on this site, it's all very enlighting and informative to me.

marcoengineering

[marcoengineering]

Just an update, I am still waiting for the upgraded FLX7193 tool for my 2005 Suburban K2500 6.0L. Last I heard from Andy that he was working on getting all the E85 tunes to the updated tools templates last week, so hopefully I will get one as soon as the backorder queue fills out here in the next week or so. Thanks,

Marcoengineering

[marcoengineering]

This one is for DiabloSport I think. MikeL? Johan? Anyone who knows the answer? I have a few emails into Andy, but I know he is on the road alot thsi time of year and busy too, so I am hoping someone out there might have an answer on delivery timing for the newly tooled FLX7193s? I know there were a few template(or something like that) issues and that Andy was working on it last week or so. I had ordered mine from Andy (DynoTune) during the tool switch, which I am told is a good thing since the new tool comes with more capabilities (less truck/template bugs as well), but I was just curious as to when I might expect it since I am headed out of town on a long weekend next weekend. Thanks,

MarcoEngineering

[mikel]

This one is for DiabloSport I think. MikeL? Johan? Anyone who knows the answer? I have a few emails into Andy, but I know he is on the road alot thsi time of year and busy too, so I am hoping someone out there might have an answer on delivery timing for the newly tooled FLX7193s? I know there were a few template(or something like that) issues and that Andy was working on it last week or so. I had ordered mine from Andy (DynoTune) during the tool switch, which I am told is a good thing since the new tool comes with more capabilities (less truck/template bugs as well), but I was just curious as to when I might expect it since I am headed out of town on a long weekend next weekend. Thanks,

MarcoEngineering

Shouldn't be too long at this point, I am pretty sure that Andy is about done with everything we needed from him, and once we have that, it should only be a matter of a couple days to release..

Thanks

[marcoengineering]

Thanks for the quick answer Mike. I look forward to getting the new unit when they are ready for release and loading in the truck. My buddy just bought a 2006 Ford SuperDuty Diesel and he is considering getting a Predator to help boost performance and his fuel economy some. Now I need to head over to that forum and do some research for him. Thanks again,

Mark

[mikel]

Thanks for the quick answer Mike. I look forward to getting the new unit when they are ready for release and loading in the truck. My buddy just bought a 2006 Ford SuperDuty Diesel and he is considering getting a Predator to help boost performance and his fuel economy some. Now I need to head over to that forum and do some research for him. Thanks again,

Mark

My roommate has an 06 6.0, he is seeing an average of +3.5 MPGs over stock with our economy tune installed, and he loves it.

[marcoengineering]

Hey Mike, Just looking for an update as to the availability of the new tool FLX7193s? I had purchased one at the beginning of summer during the retool from Andy, and have been awaiting the "backorder fill" of the new tools with is worth the wait from what I have gathered. Waiting is not a problem for me, but I notice the graphics on the products page has changed and there is a FLX7198 tool too, that I had not noticed there before, but I could have missed it. I have an email into Andy as the unit will come through/from him, but I thought I'd post up too as he is away from the internet alot of the time. I have been custom blending an E20(with OEM tune) in my truck this summer with no difference in around town fuel economy or performance, so I am curious to see how the tune does.

Thanks,
Mark

[marcoengineering]

Hi Mike,

The Predator was on my doorstep when I got home last night, just waiting for the usb interface cord from Andy(?) to complete the original order. I like the included window sticker in the box. I will try to install into the truck this afternoon or as soon as I get a chance. Some question(s) though, being that the E85 tune is a fixed tune, is there any need to update the tool if U7193 updates become available since the base tune will not be changing? Since the FLX7193 and U7193 are the same tool, I am wondering if it has to be update lwith the U7193 update or does the FLX7193 get seperate updates if needed? If I log parameters, not beng able to change the tune, what can I do with them?, and lastly, would I be able to get a custom tune for (whatever) the reason and store it on this tool along with the base DS E85 tune? Thanks Mike and everyone for all the effort, good work, and support on this site.

Thanks,

Mark

[marcoengineering]

A few other questions Mike, I loaded the tune no problem, and all seems good. At the end I unplugged the predator like the system told me before hitting the continue button, I am confussed, should I have hit the continue button 1st or did what the screen said first? Next time I will hit contiune 1st, but I want to make sure I did not do anything detrimental to the tune install by unplugging when it said to, intead of the continue hit. The paper instructions just said unplug unit and cycle key and go.

Also in addtion to the FlexFuel tune it listed a Factory HP tune. Is that tune available to me?, and what does it do? the flexFuel is what I wanted, but I am curious as to if I have other options. Also there is a modify tune listed, is that option avaible to the Factory HP tune? or is this tool soley dedicated to the unmodifiable FlexFuel tune? Just asking questions.

Thanks,

Mark

[mikel]

You can either unplug or continue there, it is up to you, like for example if you wanted to go to diagnostics or something, you could have hit continue then rebooted the tool and monitored data.

As for the factory HP tune, that is a version of your stock tune that you can use and modify through the adjustable parameters. It will not have the Flex capabilities.

Thanks

[marcoengineering]

Thanks Mike, good to know that I can modify my Stock tune if need be in the future for whatever the reason or use my FlexFuel tune. It is nice to have versatility built into that one tool, and I am going to assume I can get a custom tune made and keep in the tool, say if I wanted to add electric fans in the future or modified it somehow.

Thanks,

Mark