Engine chip

[Shipper50]

I just bought a used 93 Silverado 4x4 with 175,000 on it. Its in great shape with cap and Rhino bed liner. It has the 5.7 engine and my question is, has anyone ever put a electronic chip in their trucks to improve gas and overall efficiency?

Shipper

 

[SlyFerret]

I just picked up an '04 Silverado a week and a half ago. I'm thinking about doing the same thing. Part of me thinks its best to leave it alone though. I've heard horror stories of people damaging their engines by pushing the programming too hard.

-SF

 

[Corey]

Fuel saving devices and chips are mostly bunk. You have much more to gain by watching your driving habits, keeping your tires aired up properly and watching your speed.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/autos/aut10.shtm

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has evaluated or tested more than 100 alleged gas-saving devices and has not found any product that significantly improves gas mileage. In fact, some "gas-saving" products may damage a car's engine or cause substantial increases in exhaust emissions.

 

[mayhem]

The only ones I've ever heard of that actually may help are the custom PCM tunes. Considering doing it myself to wake up my 6.0 a bit.

Go to fullsizechevy.com and troll the forums a bit...you'll find hundreds of threads on this very topic as well as some links to places many have used to improve their economy.

Driving habits and proper maintenance are absolute key though, I agree 100%. Even if you get a tune and pick up a 20% improvement, that can all get eaten up with underinflated tires and jackrabbit starts.

Avoid as seen on tv products like the tornaod and fule line magnets...they don't anything except lighten your wallet.

 

[velvetfoot]

I had one on my VW diesel Beetle.
That plus oversized injectors caused the clutch to slip so I had to put in heavier duty one (VR6).
No change in economy, but it was a turbo diesel.
Made it smoke a little more when on the pedal, which I didn't like.
People use them mostly for power vs economy though.
Then, since you're operating outside the original design, you're always worried about stuff like exhaust gas temperature, so of course, you need gauges for when you're hauling that heavy load and things start getting hot and the chip didn't quite manage the turbo boost as well as the car maker's engineers did, etc.

I sold the car at a good price with 225,000 miles on it, but no more modding for me!

 

[Highbeam]

I put 175000 miles on a 98 chevy half ton pickup with an injected 350. I tried the PCM tune where you swap out the computer. It gave me more power but only minor mpg and caused pinging. Put on a nice quiet flowmaster exhaust system and enjoy the ride.

The old throttle body 350 from 1993 has some hop up potential but it won't be from a chip. It will be from ignition, cams, headers, etc. typical hot rod stuff from the carburetor days. Really, that's what it is.

The newer 6.0 is more tunable.

I am now in the diesel world where my 444 cubic inch engine can be adjusted to give 60, 80, or 120 more HP with a simple programming change. MPG also goes up several mpg on a diesel with modifications. One of the reasons I switched from gas to diesel was becuase I like upgrading things and the gas trucks just didn't allow it.

 

[wingsfan]

We had one in our 97 f-150, had it there about six years when it started running bad. Ideled fine , just had no power to pull itself down the road.Took it to the repair shop and they had a heck of a time finding the problem. So they pulled the computer to check it out. That is when they seen the chip in it. Come to find out the chip had come loose just a lttle and was making contact on and off as it ratteled around. Well with it working and not working , it burned out the O-2 sensors and on this truck there is 4 o-2 sensors. It cost us $600 to fix it and I told them they could keep the chip.I wasn't going thru that again. I got the chip to help with pulling my boat, But I really didn't notice much of a differance myself.

 

[Czech]

Skip the chip and open up the intake and exhaust as mentioned above. A flowmaster exhaust and a K&N;air filter kit will make you and your truck much happier imho.