FordExcursions.com Forums
E. Long
 
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• Subscriber since 1/1/2001 |
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• Atlanta, GA, USA |
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• Registered on 1/23/2001 |
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• 2,228 posts |
• 1 Vehicle
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 Posted:10/25/2003 00:55 |
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| Quote: | | Quote: | | With all that money into it and wieght, I cant imagine why the tranny and torque converter are stock. That would be the first $3500 I would spend before kick ass audio or security. And once you get a real tranny youll find the Western Diesel chip is garbage and it will be time to track down Gearman Mike and get a TTS Chip. But thats just my .02 cents Look forward to seeing the finished product. |
CWBYINAJEEP,
I was wondering your complaints about the western diesel chip, quad power setup with the exhaust and ram air? seeing when i was on the old forum last year, everyone swore by it, and actually a few people who emailed me still do. this isn't my vehicle, it's a customers, and alot of reaserch and development went into hand picking the parts to go in it. we always pick the parts that are proven, tried, tested, backed by a company that won't be out of business in a day, has been around for a long time, are specialists, have an awesome crew and technicians who are enthusists, and at any time we can, run with a product that was made and designed in the USA. western diesel met and still meets that criteria today. as for the performance of the excursion and the western diesel setup, the customer has had no complaints and is thrilled with it. this is coming from an owner of the f-150 lightning, lamborghini diablo vt, and an s600 benz, he just wanted something different from most excursions out there. the tranny was done out of a shop in arizona, when we picked up the vehicle in minesota, we noticed it to be sloppy, and our tranny guy here is too busy with race cars to play with it, so we had him take it to a shop in az, that was recommended by our tranny man.
the a/c vents are from the new f-150, we stuck with a ford part  . ii hope that clears up the western diesel thing, he doesn't race it and .01 times aren't his concerns, he just occasionally likes to smoke a honda si while towing his horses 
jim |
If you need another tranny guy, you should hook up with "gearman" here on the forums. He's based out of Inglewood, CA though.
You should get a hold of him and discuss power chips. He is in the business and can set you straight on the chips, performance, etc. of the diesels.
-Eric
'67 Galaxie 500 - 390 FE, .030" over, FE to AOD adapter, disc brake conversion. The Daily Driver.
'00 Excursion - 7.3L PSD, LANDYOT Gen-II Radius Rods, Factory Tech Valve Body, 200K+ miles and going |
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cwbyinjeep
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• Atlanta, GA, USA |
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• Registered on 8/5/2003 |
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• 47 posts |
• 1 Vehicle
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Posted:10/27/2003 10:00 |
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Well my experience with Western Diesel started out good over the phone with repeated inquiries to their claims and how the product functioned. After speaking to the then owner I decided to make the purchase a QuadPower Chip and TurboBrakeIII back in spring of this year for my 2000 Ford Excursion 4x4 PSD Limited. Well they never said at the time they had only done a couple chips successfully and that they werent used to dealing with the X and its OBD engine management requirements due to its passenger car oriented classification. Well, I ordered the combo through my buddies shop and provided them with the AXD0 code on my computer as confirmed by the local Ford Dealer. They sent the chip, I went to install to no avail. I removed the computer from the X and recleaned everything, examined and inspected and everything was proper. Reinstalled puter with chip and no go. Truck would not start. Remove chip and everything is dandy. Send chip back to Western Diesel, they send another and now I can start the truck, but no performance gain whatsoever. They then tell me I will have to send them my computer if I wish to proceed any further to get the chip running right.. So I then remove my computer and send it to them and truck is down for good part of a week. All along the rapport with the tuner at Western Diesel started to give me the indication that he was nothing short of a plug and play kinda guy meaning he didnt create the program, he just installs them on a chip. Which means Western Diesel is more then likely selling someone elses tune and cant address unique problems. Either the chip works or it doesnt. Finally get the puter and chip back and get it installed. I already had a diablo powershift valve and maghytech tranny pan on the X. I got more go out of the pedal and the 3 different performance settings were different, but the hot setting was real sloppy and truck didnt seem to shift consistantly in any mode. I attributed this to a tranny with 120K on it and just monitored my gauges. Well a few months went by and the tranny was heading south really quick. I then replaced the stock tranny and converter with a Suncoast combo. After a couple hundred miles the tranny really started to act up triggering the O/D light to flash alot. I became concerned and it was incredibly intermittent. On a hunch I removed the Western Diesel chip and found all my codes and problems went away. When I called Western Diesel to ask why my transmission was acting up with thier chip the answer was obvious to them,..........my tranny. Well with owner of Suncoast having driven my truck and standing behind his product, would not remove the tranny until I tried another chip. Western Diesel had no answers or solutions for me and even went so far as to say they do no reprogramming of the transmission shift points or values, which is a core component to their sales pitch that the tranny will shift better and get mroe power to the ground with thier chip installed. When I asked them to tailor the chip to my exact setup he gave no options other then a one program works for all. On top of this I would ask questions of thier programmer and he would have to " do research and call me back" this was their head guy who had to "do research" which means call someone else and get an answer to the question he thought I was asking. It read clear to me they do not actually create the program or do inhouse tuning for the chip they sold me. They did not want to issue any refund whatsoever as they felt thier chip was doing fine and it was evident to me it was probably the cause of my transmissions accellerated demise. They did agree to reprogram it at no charge to me once I made my stand clear that thier chip was not working for me and they were unable to make it work for me. So it sold on Ebay and Gearman Mike set me up with a TTS chip that worked right out of the box first time and performed 10 times better and much much more consistantly then my Western Diesel Quad Chip ever thought about and the best part was no more flashing transmission codes/limp mode. I have yet to install their Turbo Brake on the X because of the amount of stock wire harness that has to be tapped. After the chip experience though, my faith in them is lost. I like integrity and dealing with someone who knows their product and is responsible enough to support thier product. Thats my experience with them.
Bobby Wooldridge
BMW Motorcycles of Atlanta
2000 Ford Excursion LTD 4x4/ TTS Performance 3way chip/ Suncoast Transmission& Torque Converter/4"exhaust&downpipe/Autometer/K&N air charger kit/ 33"BFG AllTerrains/Rancho9000's/149k/dual yellow top optimas
1991 Jeep Wrangler/4.0L/Ford HP Dana 60fr/ff dana 60rear/nv3550/AtlasII 4.3/40"boggers/Beadlocks/5.13 gears/Detroits front&rear/dual yellow top optimas/WarnHS9500I/and too many custom doo dads to list |
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jbondox
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• cleveland area, OH, USA |
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• Registered on 10/12/2003 |
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• 58 posts |
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Posted:10/27/2003 13:05 |
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CW,
i thankyou for your reply and lengthy explanation. i know that being without your ride at times can be an inconvience, trust me, i have customers rides here for months at a time... anyways, i was wondering if you asked them about the origination of the programing software, was done in house or scourced out? anyways, did they have an authorized dealer in your area that does the performance upgrades as a shop? i was wondering if you took it to someone that has expeirence with the wd setup. I probably would of just drove up and had them look it at personally, 10 hour drives in an x could be very pricey however. i would of at least asked if i drove it up would they look at it and gaurentee it too perform. i thankfully have had not the issue you did with yours, and i am a master micro-manager when it comes to work on the vehicles. i let my partner do the chip install, and it worked out of the box, a few things i didn't like however since we got everything was that there was an abundance of cheap abs plastic for the ram air setup, including the new battery tray. i would of liked to see the tray made of a stainless so as not to warp from the heat as mine did, and i would of liked the ram air kit needing less assy of the pieces. it was like playing with legos. a flat black would of looked nicer than the textured gloss, or in fact another color as yellow, blue, or red. but, it seems to work flawlessly. again thankyou for the reply, i think i will forward this to wd, to actually get some of their input into this.
jim |
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cwbyinjeep
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• Atlanta, GA, USA |
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• Registered on 8/5/2003 |
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• 47 posts |
• 1 Vehicle
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Posted:10/27/2003 14:03 |
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Well I only live about 3 1/2 hours from their office( I dont say shop because I honestly dont think they have anything resembling a garage/shop). When I offered to make the trip to Western Diesel the second go around I was advised they do no performance work in house and had no place to do such. So then I took it one step further and said how about dyno work? After a brief chuckle they said they didnt have a dyno nor were they interested in proving their gains or fine tuning it to my setup. That was the first clue of many. This final go around clinched it though with it being very clear they do not do inhouse programming/mapping. They are definitely buying someone elses stuff and private labelling. They didnt seem too eager to address any of my unique issues in the least and every question I posed was a game of tag with return phone calls because again,........they would have to call someone else to get the real answer until the point it got over thier head and they realized they werent going to accomplish anything with my satisfaction. I put two calls into TTS after a lengthy discussion with Gearman Mike and on the second call I actually got to speak to the guy behind the curtain himself and he took the time to tell me what parameters he could change and what his experiences were with various states of tune. He knew what he was talking about and didnt need to "get back to me" or "do some research" to answer simple questions about what they do or dont reprogram. Western Diesel in my mind is far from innovative and your quality observations of their Ram Air setup is evidence of such. They came up with a simple ram air and electronic device to manipulate the stock wastegate and exhaust valve and decided they needed to have more product offering. Thus I am sure they are private labelling someone elses chip and would love to be proved wrong, but the signs are clear. I have had buddies with positive experiences with the WD chip, but they were driving much more popular F250 and F350's with less OBD constraints. For a great switchable on the fly chip you should give Gearman a shout and he will set you up with a TTS Chip and probably a trial period if you need to be convinced. I just got done with my second tank since the TTS Chip was installed and I am getting about 2mpg better then I was with the WD chip in Economy mode, but I also have a new tranny and torque converter.
Bobby Wooldridge
BMW Motorcycles of Atlanta
2000 Ford Excursion LTD 4x4/ TTS Performance 3way chip/ Suncoast Transmission& Torque Converter/4"exhaust&downpipe/Autometer/K&N air charger kit/ 33"BFG AllTerrains/Rancho9000's/149k/dual yellow top optimas
1991 Jeep Wrangler/4.0L/Ford HP Dana 60fr/ff dana 60rear/nv3550/AtlasII 4.3/40"boggers/Beadlocks/5.13 gears/Detroits front&rear/dual yellow top optimas/WarnHS9500I/and too many custom doo dads to list |
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jbondox
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• cleveland area, OH, USA |
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• Registered on 10/12/2003 |
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• 58 posts |
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Posted:10/27/2003 16:32 |
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THANKS for the quick reply, however i forwarded this to wd, i believe that every story has two sides to it, plus i'd love to see them in such a forum as this. you have to admit, there isn't too many people out there offering anything to diesel owners, and i believe that they are a very respectful company. as for the ram air piece that i mentioned, i really don't have any complaints about it other than cosmetics. it serves its purpose so far and with the 20k miles on the vehicle since we installed it, the owner still has a big grin when he talks about the performance mode. i still would rate them at the top. i personally would of loved to seen a prepainted intake that mounts to the hood or the front drivers side fender for the ram air, but then again, it has to do with marketing, i see people that baulk at a $50 part that is a must, imagine trying to market something that costs $2500. as for mercedes customers, they want to add video to their $100k ride, but always ask if there is something cheaper...  i believe western diesel has a product to market that is very good, however if they go crazy with a $3000 intake i am sure they will sell about 1 or 2 of them vs what they sell now. then again who knows. i'll leave this thing go about the western diesel, and start a new topic when i update more pics. i think i'll change the title of the topic also
however all the info that was posted is great to know.
jim |
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jbondox
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• cleveland area, OH, USA |
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• Registered on 10/12/2003 |
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• 58 posts |
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Posted:10/27/2003 16:34 |
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also i am a big nit picker when it comes to the final look, that is why i stated what i did about the ram air, if there was only a real santa clause, he'd have to start reading mywish list jan 1 to get it done before xmas |
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gearman
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• los Angeles, CA, USA |
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• Registered on 1/22/2003 |
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• 336 posts |
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Posted:10/27/2003 20:37 |
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jbondox
i was going to stay out of this till you got pissy. i am not here to sell anything except knowledge and experience,something i think you are lacking. I think you sell your customers anything that makes profit for you. I am not here to tell you that the chip you are selling may not make the horsepower advertised. I dont like your answers to the questions presented. You answer questions like they were written on a sheet form. You say you sell these things to your cusomers, lets hear some tech. Lets hear some testimonials from happy people. Lets hear the bad stuff. Lets hear from Western Diesel about the post that you supposedly forwarded. Lets hear some facts, this is an open forum and people need to know facts before they spend their money and why. I dont mean to jump on you but you sound like a weasel. prove me wrong.
mike
01 excursion psd hellwig rear stabalizer 285 michelins suncoast converter transmission custom built with Transgo shift kit,by me.
TTS computer chip,next mod-TTS exhaust system
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jbondox
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• cleveland area, OH, USA |
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• Registered on 10/12/2003 |
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• 58 posts |
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Posted:10/28/2003 10:24 |
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| Quote: | jbondox
i was going to stay out of this till you got pissy. i am not here to sell anything except knowledge and experience,something i think you are lacking. I think you sell your customers anything that makes profit for you. I am not here to tell you that the chip you are selling may not make the horsepower advertised. I dont like your answers to the questions presented. You answer questions like they were written on a sheet form. You say you sell these things to your cusomers, lets hear some tech. Lets hear some testimonials from happy people. Lets hear the bad stuff. Lets hear from Western Diesel about the post that you supposedly forwarded. Lets hear some facts, this is an open forum and people need to know facts before they spend their money and why. I dont mean to jump on you but you sound like a weasel. prove me wrong.
mike |
gearman,
pissy? when? sell my customers anything that makes a profit? you have it all wrong, for all the time and research going into it, special orders, time to put it on, we probably are paying the customer to do it. unless it is audio and custom fabrication of it, then we don't make a penny, so it seems. however we like to play around and add toys to the vehicle. when i was on here last year everyone one pointed to the western diesel chip as being the greatest, where were you? now there is the tts chip, i geuss you have something to do with it, so i believe you are getting pissy about wd getting some glory,, and not having any issues with their chip. as for technical, what do you want me to tell you, do you need the codes on the can bus, what data is transfered on the ford standard corporate protocol data line, or the iso 9141 k line? i am sure i can bust some out for you, however i don't know them all. or are you wondering about the knowledge of how a transmission works? hmmm i know the basics and could care less about all the little check valves, springs, gears, fluid and everything else, not my speciality. as for customer satisfaction, you want my customer to get on here? tell you he is in love with his vehicle, it performs better than 99% of the ford ecursions out there, could care less about fuel economy, and personaly thinks that ford screwed up when building this transmission? i will try to coerce him into it, however he is a nfl player and would probably think i was nuts, but i will try. performance on american vehicles is not my speciality, so as for technical on this i really don't know what you want from me, you can say i just ordered this and added it to the vehicle like a normal customer would from western diesel. i had no problems with it nor any issues with it, until i chopped off the switch and lost it while designing a new one with a digital readout, and had to call wd for what was where. what questions were presented to me that you believe they were answered from a sheet? i don't really know where you are coming from this, but i geuss it was the mood you were in when you read this... 
as for emailing it to wd. i emailed it yesterday to [email protected] . i don't work for them, i just use their products, so i can't make them write back.
so mike i am not trying to start anything here, but i don't get where you are coming from, you lost me?
jim
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jbondox
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• cleveland area, OH, USA |
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• Registered on 10/12/2003 |
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• 58 posts |
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Posted:10/28/2003 19:47 |
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updates
jbx |
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Posted:10/29/2003 10:48 |
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more pics??
please  |
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