curio

Ugh; well I think my PTU leak is back - at least it smells like it. This is on the new PTU that was installed last year after the dealer got sick of putting in new seals every month. I'm fed up with taking it in; I'll probably trade it for a different vehicle.

When I said 'until slip is detected' I meant the same thing as you just said - 'before slip occurs'.... ie it is proactive. I can see how you can take what I said the wrong way though - 'before slip occurs' is a more proper way of saying it because like you say, it doesn't wait to detect slip since it accounts other factors like vectors and throttle position. For short periods. It still is not symmetrical, and it has a clear front wheel bias. This system was based off of a Land Rover design when Ford used to own them - and about 97% of the torque goes to the front wheels most of the time when there is no need for AWD, but the rear wheels can accept up to 100% of the torque for short periods when needed. And I'm talking milliseconds. On average, the rear gets at best 50%.

I never suggested that it couldn't electronically detect slip or that it couldn't split torque to the front and back. What I said was that Ford's AWD system is not a symmetrical AWD system - it is a FWD-based AWD system. This is why the Edge has a PTU, where as symmetrical AWD vehicles do not. This type of system in our Edge's will send up to 50% of its driveline torque to the rear wheels when needed. Until that point though, most of the torque goes to the front wheels until needed otherwise. In other words, it is biased towards the front wheels - but at a moment of need the rear wheels can receive anywhere from 25-50% of the available torque. The downside of this type of system is that it is still culpable to potential understeer, because even though the AWD tries to compensate when needed, the system still sends most of the torque to the front wheels most of the time. In contrast, symmetrical AWD systems do not have a front (or rear) bias, they do not keep the torque in either front or the rear for most of the time. It adapts constantly between the front and rear, and does so more often. It also does not have a transfer case or PTU - instead they have what they call a viscous coupling center differential - which is similar in a way, but is clutch based instead of a lock in gear type. This allows for in a nutshell, all wheels powered at all times with no bias. Symmetrical AWD also has the advantage of being able to send up to 75% of the torque to the front or rear wheels (compared to Ford's 50% to the rear). For instance, it can send 75% to the rear for acceleration and 25% to the front for direction changing agility. Ford's AWD system cannot do this since it is always bias towards the front - at best the Edge can make it 50/50; but it cannot give the rear more than the front. Edit: There are vehicles that have RWD-based AWD systems too, like the Nissan GTR.

Ford designed their own AWD system inhouse so they didn't have to license the tech from another company's design. Unfortunately their design is quite a bit less superior than most; for instance Ford's isn't symmetrical and is in FWD most of the time until slip is detected.

It isn't illegal. Well maybe it is in California, but not in any of the other 49 states. 10-20 horses isn't exactly small change. And a CAI will make that even better (not exactly the most complicated or expensive bolt on); along with keeping your air/fuel ratio in spec. And personally I find the change to the drive-by-wire throttle response to be worth it in itself. And again the tunes are NOT a few hundred dollars - the tuning device is what costs so much. Most tunes are only $60 or so.

Well I simply had enough of them replacing the seals, so I had a nice talk with the dealer and they got the authorization to put in a whole new PTU unit. It was still a warranty item so no cost to me, but the cost to them was roughly $1500 parts + labor. I'm hoping that this new unit has been updated since the original one that kept leaking... (crosses fingers)

Just got back from the stealership - we'll see how long before it leaks this time. The good news is that they installed a newer kit than the last one, this new one being 8T4Z 7275 DD.

Mine goes back in on Tuesday for the fourth time. Last kit lasted about a year.

All I could find was this video of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqCh6DFn7hM The chart is blurry and you can't see any ft-lbs numbers, but the horsepower numbers are clear - 206.6 at the wheels after intake and SCT custom tune. That's around 35 more at the wheels since I'm guessing these pre-2011 vehicles put down around 170 stock (and even less for the AWD versions). That would make me assume the torque is around 20-25 ft-lbs more at the wheels in that video, but that's just a guess too. I wish they showed more of the chart, so frankly I'll have to take Steeda's word for it. I've seen charts of theirs on Mustangs though and they were always legit. Here's some info I found about it on this forum: http://www.fordedgef...teeda-cold-air/

Well I run regular octane (87) with my tune, while still passing emissions, and it operates just fine in all weather conditions. I just happen to do it all quicker then you Besides, I'm not sure how changing shift points, shift firmness and changing the fuel trim & timing would make for non-acceptable operation in certain weather conditions. These aren't carbureted engines. As far as emissions are concerned, passing is always more about the usual suspects than it is about a tune - ie spark plugs, oil changes, air filter, O2 sensors, catalytic converter etc... And I hate to break it to you, but most manufacturers including Ford have been tuning conservatively for decades now. Heck even a 2011 Corvette ZR1 or Mustang Boss 302 can benefit from good custom tuning. And I'm not talking about getting some 'g-force' IAT resistor or a turbonator; I'm talking about proper dyno mapping from respectable tuners, which can be quite beneficial for most cars. Shelby, Steeda, Roush & Saleen have been custom tuning Ford's for decades now - and they all maintain a good direct working relationship with Ford in the process. If they provided no benefit, or blew up engines, or caused Ford's to fail emissions; then they would have been out of business by the 1970's. Besides tuning conservative in the first place, frankly it just isn't cost effective for Ford to make tunes that perfectly satisfy every type of condition for their mass produced vehicles. So unless you're buying a Ford GT, it pays to get a custom tune. If you have a laptop, you can then datalog your vehicle, let the tuner adjust it and really get it dialed in. If you really want to fine tune it even further than that, go get it dyno'd yourself at a local shop - you just might find some differences between your map and the tuner's. And just so you know, Ford releases new ECU firmware (tunes) all the time - you can probably go to your dealer tomorrow and get them to flash your ECU to the latest code. And they do this because they are constantly tweaking the software of their vehicles, which should show you that even Dearborn changes things around in their own tunes. But they ALWAYS keep their tunes conservative; mainly for liability reasons. But not always for liability either - sometimes they do it for comfort. For instance, Ford factory tunes use softer shifts for auto transmissions - which sacrifices clutch slip & tranny temps in the name of comfort. Overall, whether for liability, performance or comfort, factory tunes leave plenty of headroom to tweak and still maintain safe specs - and that's what the people over at Shelby, Steeda, Roush & Saleen do best.

No that isn't the only thing custom tunes do. They also adjust STFT & LTFT, WOT fuel, optimize air/fuel ratio through the fuel trim & MAS adjustment, adjust knock detection, adjust shift points, adjust the firmness of the shifts for less clutch slip, increase drive-by-wire throttle positions and accuracy, and increase factory conservative rev limits - and these ideal points are found from dyno mapping your specific vehicle and applying it to your specific ECU. They also allow for datalogging for even finer tuning, cooling fan on/off temp adjustments, speedometer adjustments for different tire sizes, and allow for adjustments if you change gear ratios. Hardly just a simple timing advancement like you suggest. How much flow it can handle has zero to do with the turbulence - and an increase in diameter certainly increases HP through more air flow. If aftermarket intakes don't increase airflow, then why do aftermarket intakes typically lean out the mixture; thus usually requiring a custom tune to get the air/fuel ratio back within spec? And if more air flow doesn't increase HP, then why do superchargers and turbos work? And a good intake with a custom tune for the 3.5L Ford Edge can add up to 35 HP and near 30 ft/lbs of torque at the wheels edit: a custom tune doesn't cost $500 either. The tunes themselves cost as little as $65 if you already have a compatible flash device. Even if you have to purchase a flash device most places charge about $400 and that includes multiple tunes for different octanes - and they don't 'necessitate' a 'premium' fuel (I put premium in quotes because that's a misnomer); you can still get a tune for 87 octane if you want.

Have you tried getting your wheels rebalanced? If a regular balancing doesn't work, try finding a shop that will do what's called a 'road force balance'. Just narrow this down one thing at a time, and start with balancing.

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I purchased a custom tune from Steeda last week and I wanted to share my experience. IMO it's well worth the money, and the boys over at Steeda were a pleasure to deal with. My 2007 Edge is now much more responsive, has firmer shifts (but not annoyingly so) and it has decently more pep. I already owned an XCal2 for my old F150, so I purchased a tune only for $65 and figured I'd save some bucks by using the old XCal2. They emailed me the tune, I uploaded it to the XCal2 and then to the Edge. Well I got the P163F DTC error code that I read some others had been receiving. Looking up the code I found that it said "TRID block not programmed"; and after verifying that my strategy code before and after the tune was correct I shot an email back to Steeda describing the problem. So eventually they came to the conclusion that although my XCal2 was updated to its latest firmware, it wasn't programming the Edge correctly. So I bit the bullet and order an XCal3. Once that arrived, I uploaded the tune to the Edge and voila! It worked, no DTC codes thrown. After a week of driving around, so far so good. We'll see if I can get better gas mileage out of it, but I can't seem to keep my foot of the pedal now that it's so fun to drive lol While I couldn't use my old XCal2, Steeda does include two tunes with a purchase of an XCal3; so I've got two octanes to play with now. Anyway, I hope this helps anyone who ran into the dreaded P163F code.

Troy from Colorado here again Just got back from the dealer - this is the third time my wife's Edge had a leak. The first two kits installed were 8T4Z*7275*C, and that one obviously wasn't working so I put my bid in for the latest kit last month. The dealer finally got them in and I had the new kit installed today, I think it's item number 8T4Z*7275*DC but I could be wrong. It definitely has a 'DC' on the end of it. We'll see if this one holds.

I use Lucas UCL at each fill-up but not for it's cleaning ability since it's quite a weak cleaner. It's best at like the name implies, lubricating the upper cylinders, piston rings and valve seats as well as keeping the fuel pump lubed.