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Cr-Box Tuning Plug In Box...anyone Got One?i


bladeage
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Excellent post FOCA !

I for one I did not realize there were so many different ways and outcomes that tuning boxes offer!

I guess I have one of the cheaper ones (£59) and it does fit to the common rail sensor, I do know it is a digital one as I specifically asked the question as per your prompt to do so.

I have noticed today that because of the extra power/torque when I am changing up then when I get into fifth and eventually sixth on occasion then I seem to need less throttle to keep it at that speed.....I guess what I am saying is my foot is not pressed down nearly as much when I get into the upper gears and infact in fifth gear now on a flat road my foot is hardly pressing the accelerator and now only needs a very slight press to overtake etc.

I did notice something slightly different this morning though and that was the sound of the injectors were a bit louder, perhaps they sounded a little bit more clattery (the tdci noise) however 2 miles down the road when warmed up properly everything sounded normal again, maybe the injectors dont like the extra fuel until warm?? Are the injectors in the 150bhp version the same as the 130bhp? p.s. it was awesomely freezing cold this morning so it could have been just that!?

cheers :)

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I'll be honest I took mine off my focus last week purely because of the extra noise the injectors made when started. Was worried about the extra load the injectors were under, now I don't know what to do for the best!! Try again or sell the box!

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Oh and it was very cold too -3 degrees...

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Thanks for the info m8, it seems I was not imagining the clatter then!

It maybe that the extra fuel on a cold start up requires more air than the air filter is allowing; I have done some thinking and think that I am going to remove the air filter for a couple of days and see if there is any improvement in the noise on a cold start up, it could be the old problem of.....how do I get more air into the tight space I am now flooding with fuel!??

Like I said, when my engine is warm the clatter almost vanishes totally so I am guessing that the ecu when being fooled by the piggy back when the engine is stone cold maybe isnt able to compensate properly for the fuel being added, therefore possibly a messed up ignition map is happening until the ecu recognizes a temperature variant or air flow it is familiar with when the engine and sensors are warm>????

Sorry, I am not a mechanic/engineer but do like to get involved in stuff like this.....lol....twin carbs and two litres were always much easier to fathom!

I am sure FOCA will slowly shed some light! :D

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No pressure LOL - the Ecu adds a bit of extra fuel for cold starting which is "superimposed" on the extra fuel the tuning box adds, there may be a bit more smoke when you start as well

The clatter may sound a bit taxi/ transit - like but its ok, unlikely to do any harm - if there is a lot of smoke when you start it up and or when you "boot" it it may be worth talking to/ discussing this with your tuning box suppliers to try different settings maps etc/ or have it reprogrammed

if the clatter goes away/ settles down soon after starting i think it should be ok, this may not happen in the summer

A long time ago i ruined a metro turbo engine by experimenting with no filters,(wore out the bores with grit/ sand) i would never run a car on the road without an effective air filter now

Try a new, pattern filter every 6 months, a K&N pipercross panel filter, should run a bit better with the tuning box fitted, i cannot guarantee the "rattling" will stop (in cold weather, anyway)

Also try ressetting the ECU (if you have not already/ if you change somthing - tuning box/ filter etc) it can make a big difference

Does the "rattling" happen when you start the engine (without using throttle) or when you 1st pull away (1st time you open the throttle in gear with the clutch up ) ?

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That's good to know! Mine was just as it had started with no throttle, but mine also stopped after it had warmed up. Might connect it back up tomorrow now, cheers FOCA! :)

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Ya's are mental. See in 3 months when ur car sounds like a bag a bolts,dont say you werent warned. And i suppose mr information can buy your car since he knows so much.

I told you what happens with that tuning box but you dont want to take advice.

Oh and by the way,its not your injectors you hear.

Ive done ALL this before on stronger cars than fords and they ALL end up fubar'd!!

When are you guys gonna take good advice for christs sake.

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Ya's are mental. See in 3 months when ur car sounds like a bag a bolts,dont say you werent warned. And i suppose mr information can buy your car since he knows so much.

I told you what happens with that tuning box but you dont want to take advice.

Oh and by the way,its not your injectors you hear.

Ive done ALL this before on stronger cars than fords and they ALL end up fubar'd!!

When are you guys gonna take good advice for christs sake.

You were the same with solid flywheels -

Tuning boxes are like anything else, they are fine if set up/ used properly and can cause damage if abused (for example if they are turned up too much or fitted/ set incorrectly)

When there was a poll on another site/ furum, "tuning boxes, good or bad" the "Pro" tuning boxes outnumbered the "con", with many Ford owners using them for years with no problems, most of the Ford owners that were "against" tuning boxes had not actually tried one/ fitted one to their car

Im the 1st to admit that a good remap is better (in most ways) than a tuning box, but with a remap costing as much as £300-500 and bladeages tuning box costing £59, its a "no brainer" :)

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"Ya's are mental. See in 3 months when ur car sounds like a bag a bolts,dont say you werent warned. And i suppose mr information can buy your car since he knows so much.

I told you what happens with that tuning box but you dont want to take advice.

Oh and by the way,its not your injectors you hear.

Ive done ALL this before on stronger cars than fords and they ALL end up fubar'd!!

When are you guys gonna take good advice for christs sake."

Christ man chill out! If its not the injectors what is it?

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mate i couldnt be anymore chilled. Anyway Im finished with this. Its time ya all found out for yourselves

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Hi :( ,

Just signed into this thread I started and it seems tempers are fraid somewhat?

I didn't really intend for anyone to fall out over the subject and I can assure all parties that I and many others have been listening intently to "all" the advice given,all advice etc was/is very welcome on the subject.....absolutely!! :)

I guess we are all here to gain information on the cars we drive on a daily basis...and mostly...there are certain posters here that offer excellent advice and opinion which is based mostly on either/or, experience and practical theory, without these people then the lesser experienced people on here such as myself will not benefit except for stabs in the dark sometimes based on mis-information. (I speak of FOCA and STOOGE 75 being excellent contributers!)

I for one have learned loads about fuelling and how these piggyback units work now!

Anyhow...........

I left the car over night and started it up around 2pm, the diesel rattle was not there at all so as a guess I think that the outside temperature has some bearing on the said rattle (what is the rattle stooge? :) ), soooo....guessing again...when it is very cold the ecu compensates with more fuel to get things going and with the piggyback unit telling the ecu it is already cold and to add more fuel/pressure then the ecu either gets confused and I am just over fuelling the engine which is now running out of time for the amount of fuel being added.

I can see if this is the case that it would be much better to have a full remap!

We went for a meal 40 ish miles round trip on the motorway and the car was averaging 60- 62 mpg at 72 mph, funnily enough when you let it come down to 68 mph then the mpg dropped to 58-59, my missis's Signum Elite does the same thing also and I now think they have a sweet spot for best mpg!???

My commute is still returning between 49-53 mpg on A road and city stop starting (24 mile return journey), I have not yet done a scientific calculation with brimmed tank to empty but I do think the gain is looking to be correct on the 40 quids worth of fuel I put in last week, and I really do know that My right foot is well backed off to the point that I am feathering the accelerator pedal at minimum on flat roads to keep it at speed.

I think you may have guessed I am not a thrasher and I have to be honest that if I were, then I think the extra noise the car makes if you put your foot down in a morning when stone cold (-0) would equate to damage if repeated on a regular basis as it is obvious there is a fuel/timing issue probably resulting in the cylinders being hydraulicked on a very cold start up,knowing this I have backed right off at first until the engine is warm (as everything sounds normal that way!) and wait for a few miles until the engine is warm when everything is good and working great.

Obviously this is not an ideal situation and not one I want to stay with but I feel that with the warmer weather coming and the fact my driving is limited to slowish commuting anyway then I will continue to use the piggyback and keep reporting back.

Just something to take note of though.......

On cold start up before I fitted this box this sound was already there and the engine acted exactly the same way....but to a lesser,quieter degree! so deduce it is extra fuel being added by the piggy back.?

also....I have not once seen any smoke from the car before or after fitting and when warm (2 miles down the road) everything is very good, if it werent for the cold start bit then the £59 tuning box I brought would be and absolute bargain, as it stands right now, then I am reserving long term judgement!

How do I reset my ECU ????

cheers

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Hello again !

You reset the ECU by dissconecting your battery (20 mins should be enough/ watch you don't loose your radio code) or you can disconnect a specific fuse (again for 20 mins)

The car may run badly at 1st after the reset as the ECU "learns" then after a while of driving the ECU will be "set up" for the changes (whether its a new tuning box or filter etc)

It may make the cold start "clatter" quieter but this sounds a bit like typical diesel "cold weather start up" to me - cold pistons/ cylinder head and a compression-ignition (diesel) engine that "likes" to be warm - perhaps the tuning box just makes it more noticable (more or less what you said) - also, check your glow plugs

The ECU reset may help the MPG or performance too, and may make the engine feel smoother

I can't remember if/when you changed your air filter but if you change it often it can help your MPG and help add a little bit more air to balance the extra fuel of the tuning box (some tuning box supplliers/ Bluefin sellers on e-bay sell filters together with them - because of this)

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Hi,

There is no disputing the power increase and also the economy seems to be much,much better but I started the car this afternoon and on my return journey from work it sounded loud again,clattery and out of time, I drove on for a couple of miles and again like the morning starts everything smoothed out and we were back to full power and running smoothly.

I decided to remove the box mid journey and see if and what difference there was and found that it was much smoother and quieter without it, lots less power in the upper gears but it fealt more responsive in 1st and 2nd gear,it could be that like FOCA said it needs more air via an up rated filter so as an experiment I am going to remove the filter altogether for one journey to work and see if anything improves, taking on board this is not such a good idea long term it will give me an idea if that is the way to go!

lol.....I really am only doing an experiment with this tuning box to see if there can be a happy medium achieved for the £59 they cost opposed to a £300+ ecu reprogram (as they are also not guarenteed!!), the deal so far is that it works well in the higher gears and economy is the stated 20% better ish they advertise and but for this glitch when starting from cold then I would say everyone should buy one, but there is definitely an issue with cold starting so cannot wholly recommend one at this point!

I must say though, if it is overfuelling then I am not seeing this in the form of black smoke out of the back....no smoke at all!???

cheers :)

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I'd say if your engine is in good condition,then you shouldnt really see any black smoke,apart from when its under load & EGR opens,which is normal. Its not a good idea to remove your filter mate. Any foreign debri that goes up the intake is not going to be good for engine,turbo etc. I have removed an air filter & ran it like that before,as well,but still not good practice :P

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Ive got to agree on this point, removing the filter is not a good idea, sand and grit, small stones, debris can find its way into the filter box, without the filter these things could damage the valve seats bores and pistons/ rings, contaminate the MAF sensor, damage the compressor wheel, clog the intercooler

Ever been driving along and a small stones hit the bumper/ grill/ edge of bonnet, screen etc? without a filter this could go into the engine/ all the above the time you don't have the filter on, could be the time you need it most

Just buy a new panel filter - about £10 online for a pattern one - i use one and my 2.0L puts out 160Hp & 368Nm

if you took a stock/ pattern paper filter and spread it out flat, it would be massive, the folded design gives it a large surface area, not alot of people know this, but the air intake may be more restrictive than the (if its new/ clean) air filter element itself

There is a tuning box from Italy that has a remote control as an option, (i think i may have recommended it in my PM) you could have started it with the box switched off, warmed the car up a bit then switched it on as you drove - to have the best of both worlds

You could have the tuning box plugged in on certain occasions and removed for others

Its always your choice to have the tuning box removed, it depends on your priorities

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Thanks for all the posts on this folks,I have decided to remove it for a while and may refit and try it in the summer,its obvious there is a problem with cold starting/running and to be honest I really should change the glow plugs as it has always been a bit clattery on start up with or without the box, maybe that is being exaggerated by the box? who knows?

Now removed the car has dropped back down to 45mpg tops but until I learn more then it will stay off due to the poor cold start problem.

45mpg...from a 2 litre....bargain! :)

Thanks again all!

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.....not wanting to harp on!

Do you think the glow plugs could be causing the exaggerated clattery starting in the mornings as it still does it to a less degree without the box.

No smoke etc .

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Hi New to forum. I have had a DTUK CRD2 for 4 years without any bother. But i now have a CRD2+... could someone tell me if the wiring loom/harness connector that fits my 2004 TDCI 1.8 focus engine would also fit the connector on a 2011 TDCI 2.0 (163) focus engine... Also what info would you have about using the CRD2+ and the DPF on the above 2011 car... Thanks

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Hi New to forum. I have had a DTUK CRD2 for 4 years without any bother. But i now have a CRD2+... could someone tell me if the wiring loom/harness connector that fits my 2004 TDCI 1.8 focus engine would also fit the connector on a 2011 TDCI 2.0 (163) focus engine... Also what info would you have about using the CRD2+ and the DPF on the above 2011 car... Thanks

Hi - they are very different engines, so i doubt it - often tuning boxes are set for each type of engine and even if the connectors are the same it may need set differently - speak to DTUK - they may help you with this

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Hi

Yeah, i did ask DTUK... they give auto `answer you back in 24 hours` blurb but they dont ... maybe i should put `I send cash quick` in the header to get a response...lol

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.....not wanting to harp on!

Do you think the glow plugs could be causing the exaggerated clattery starting in the mornings as it still does it to a less degree without the box.

No smoke etc .

Temperatures are up today and I found when I started the car from cold this morning that all the clattering had disappeared so I am thinking my glow plugs need changing, which I am going to do then re fit the tuning box and try again!

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nothing to do with glow-plugs. it'll be your cam(lifters) or something.

I get this as well,when engines cold for 1st few minutes. I used comma oil last time & wont ever use it again as i never had a squeek before the oil change.got myself a Ford dealership oil this time.let you know how it goes after an oil change.

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nothing to do with glow-plugs. it'll be your cam(lifters) or something.

I get this as well,when engines cold for 1st few minutes. I used comma oil last time & wont ever use it again as i never had a squeek before the oil change.got myself a Ford dealership oil this time.let you know how it goes after an oil change.

Mabee its your teeth chattering with the cold lol

I agree that fresh oil change with quality oil can quieten the top end down a bit but there is no hiding the sound of diesel combustion with a cold engine on a cold morning

A Mondeo has (almost) exactly the same engine as a Transit or a London black cab/ taxi - so now you know why it sounds like that!

Try a mazda petrol v6 - so quiet i often tried to start it when the engine was already running! (was'nt my car, it was brand new/ i worked at dealarship)

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Hi,

The clatter when it was cold outside last week and before then actually retarded the power, i.e. it did not accelerate as quick as when warm, I take it from the above two posts that the lifters are hydraulic, if so then the quality of oil would make a big difference in the cold so next question is....do I put Mobil 1 in or similar for cold weather running?

cheers

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