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04-07-2015, 12:43 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Oregon
Posts: 537
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Questions about 5 Star Tuning
I'm considering getting a 5 Star Tune for my Ford V-10 motorhome. Like many others I'd like to address the hard downshifts when traveling downhill.
My question: Has anyone experienced any driveability issues or other problems? I've read a lot about 5 Star Tuning in this forum and am aware of the positives and the many satisfied customers. I want to be aware of any potential drawbacks before making my final decision.
Thanks for any and all comments and advice.
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2016 Itasca Navion 24J (2015 Mercedes 3500 chassis)
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04-07-2015, 12:49 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Winnebago Owners Club
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Ft Worth texas
Posts: 1,110
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None here works as advertised.
Sent from my iPhone using iRV2 - RV Forum
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2003 Sightseer 33L
Ford F53
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04-07-2015, 01:20 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Fleetwood Owners Club Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: SoCal
Posts: 15,749
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Johndale
None here works as advertised.
Sent from my iPhone using iRV2 - RV Forum
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Ditto.
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Vince and Susan
2011 Tiffin Phaeton 40QTH (Cummins ISC/Freightliner)
Flat towing a modified 2005 Jeep (Rubicon Wrangler)
Previously a 2002 Fleetwood Pace Arrow 37A and a 1995 Safari Trek 2830.
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04-07-2015, 03:10 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Georgia
Posts: 1,127
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You probably won't have the hard down shifts if you don't use the towhaul mode. The towhaul mode uses engine braking to slow down. Everything is loud with the V10, when it's working fine either going up hill or coming down hill. I like how it works, but have talked to people that like the 5 star tuner. Dave
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no more rv's
2018 Honda CRV
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04-08-2015, 09:34 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Wasilla Alaska
Posts: 284
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Your signature indicates you have a 2013 model MH. You may want to give some serious thought if the benefits of the 5 star tuning are worth voiding your Ford drive-train warranty.
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John and Karen
2012 Thor Challenger 36FD
2013 Fiat 500 Toad
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04-08-2015, 10:28 AM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Chicago Metro
Posts: 3,963
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AKJohn
Your signature indicates you have a 2013 model MH. You may want to give some serious thought if the benefits of the 5 star tuning are worth voiding your Ford drive-train warranty.
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when asked, Chris at 5-Star says their product does not void the Ford factory warranty. I also asked the same question at the Ford website and am waiting for their answer.
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Rich, Ham Radio, Sport Pilot
Retired 9-1-1 Admin.
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04-08-2015, 06:32 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,360
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AKJohn
Your signature indicates you have a 2013 model MH. You may want to give some serious thought if the benefits of the 5 star tuning are worth voiding your Ford drive-train warranty.
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Under the Magnuson-Moss Act Ford has to prove that the issue in question was caused by the aftermarket item in order to deny warranty coverage. The mere existence of the item is not justification for denial of coverage. Given that you can reload the factory program before taking the coach in for service the risk is probably minimal.
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2014 Southwind 32VS
2013 Nissan Xterra PRO-4X
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04-09-2015, 04:55 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
Winnebago Owners Club Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 159
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I agree with the other posters. A number of v10 owners have used 5 star (including myself) and I'm not aware of a single instance of anyone reporting a warranty issue. When I spoke to Mike about this he also advised that he does a lot of work for people who work for Ford.
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04-09-2015, 06:34 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Tiffin Owners Club
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Maryland
Posts: 1,437
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I installed the 5 Star Tune in our 2013 Tiffin 35 QBA last fall. I am so pleased with the difference in the way it drives I am sorry I didn't do it sooner. I was also concerned about the warranty issue but was satisfied with the explanation that the aftermarket add-on would have to have caused the warranty problem. I don't tow and we stay east of the Rockies for now but do drive in the Smokey Mountains often. I can pull most of the grades in 4th gear now instead of that horrible gut wrenching 3rd gear.
On the flatter terrain the cruise control stays in overdrive most of the time and when it does down shift it is a smooth shift to 4th gear. Gas mileage doesn't really change.
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04-09-2015, 08:33 PM
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#10
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Junior Member
Winnebago Owners Club Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 17
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I installed 5 Star Tune on our 2014 Winnegabo Visa 27N last fall. Did not tell DW,she commented on the way south how well the Motorhome was running and that she was not hearing the loud downshifts. It's more responsive from a dead stop and you can use the cruise control. fuel mileage seems about the same.
Very satisfied
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04-14-2015, 06:11 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Tiffin Owners Club
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 388
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Installed 5 Star tunner on my 2015 Tiffin 36la last month (had 4000 miles on MH). Just returned from a week in the Smoky Mountains 1200 miles round trip. I used the cruise control and RPM never went over 3800 one time on the steepest hills. Worth every penny.
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04-14-2015, 07:35 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Oregon
Posts: 537
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Quote:
Originally Posted by curtsr
Installed 5 Star tunner on my 2015 Tiffin 36la last month (had 4000 miles on MH). Just returned from a week in the Smoky Mountains 1200 miles round trip. I used the cruise control and RPM never went over 3800 one time on the steepest hills. Worth every penny.
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I'm not an automotive engineer, so can someone explain how the effect of 5 Star Tuning allows the motorhome to maintain low RPM on steep hills? And why in tow/haul mode it won't do the hard downshift?
Thanks!
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2016 Itasca Navion 24J (2015 Mercedes 3500 chassis)
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04-14-2015, 08:09 PM
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#13
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Senior Member
Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Lowell, Arkansas
Posts: 7,301
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Well I'm not an engineer either but I've worked and studied the computer controlled vehicles for a time.
The transmission is programed to shift based on inputs. I may not get all of them but here's some of them.
Vacuum: Vacuum is directly related to load. When the engine works harder the vacuum drops. Vacuum is also related to fuel mileage. The higher you keep the vacuum by not opening the throttle to much the better the fuel mileage. If you have a scan gauge that gives you up to date fuel mileage. When I take my foot off the throttle the mileage jumps way, way up. Floor it and it drops to about 2 MPG.
TPS: Throttle position sensor: Most important input to the CPU. It's based on a voltage related to the position of the throttle plate. At idle it reads below 1 volt, usually about .7 to.9 volts. At WOT (wide open throttle) it reads 4.8 or so volts. The CPU uses that information for a lot of stuff.
Engine RPM: Probably taken off the crankshaft position sensor but could be taken from other areas as well. Also related to load and road speed.
MAP: Manifold absolute pressure. That's kind of opposite of vacuum. Aircraft monitor manifold pressure. On one side of the throttle plate you have pressure and on the other side you have vacuum.
There may be other inputs. The transmission from the factory is designed to shift using these parameters. The 5 Star tune changes the parameters to prevent down shifting under situations like while climbing a gradual incline.
As I drive our MH when we encounter a gradual hill if I keep it in cruise before long the tranny down shifts. It down shifts because that's what Ford and the cruise control want it to do to keep up the set speed. If I take it off cruise I can keep it from shifting by letting off the throttle which keeps the vacuum up higher but I will gradually loose some speed.
This is a place where 5-Star might change the parameters to tell the computer to not shift until the vacuum drops to a lower point. That would keep it in a higher gear longer. Maybe I would loose some speed but it wouldn't down shift. Once I crested the hill the DS threat is over and we are cruising.
I'm sure that the cruise control uses the same inputs to control when it down shifts. Maybe 5-Star adjusts those parameters as well so we can drop say 10-12 MPH before down shifting as opposed to say 5-6MPH.
When it's in TH (tow haul) Ford says since you the owner are hauling something big or a load we will allow it to down shift so you don't lug the engine down. Five Star probably tweaks it in some way maybe based on other parameters. In other words maybe you are in TH but you are not really pulling a larger load (a trailer). So 5-Star says why not smooth out the shifting even if in TH and not pulling a bigger load. If you are hauling a load up an incline you'd have lower vacuum (more throttle). If you didn't have the load but were still in TH then no load, less throttle and no down shift. That's kind of how it could work. It's just a guess.
I only use TH when I'm wanting the engine to downshift to slow down.
So it takes some computer nerds who know a lot more about it than I do to tweak these parameters to try and give us a better shifting pattern or what ever we want. They will customize it anyway you want it as long as you don't ask them to do something that might harm something.
That's a general idea of how it's done. Maybe a smarter guy than I can/will add some more info and I'm sure some corrections to what I've tried to explain. I've never actually studied this before. I just know what some of the inputs are and using some common sense to guess how they might do it.
Back when we had vacuum modulators on the AT (auto trans) to give us up and down shifting. You could be cruising around 30 MPH and hit the throttle. It would downshift because with an open throttle the vacuum dropped to about zero. If it didn't down shift you knew you had a leak in the vacuum modulator. Pull the vacuum line off the thing and transmission fluid would pour out.
Wow a long post!!! Sorry
TeJay
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TeJay Auto Instructor/4-yrs USAF/ Liz: RN/ WBGO 2014 Vista 30T/ F-53/CHF/5-Star/Koni * Bella & Izzy * Golden /Cocker mix/ Louie The Cat* All Retired
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04-15-2015, 03:43 AM
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#14
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Senior Member
Winnebago Owners Club Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 159
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Camper Ken,
I'm not an engineer either and I didn't sleep in a Holiday Inn Express, but if you call Mike at 5 star tuning, I'm sure he can give you a brief explanation. Best wishes,
Jim
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