So I have been doing a little reading online regarding the SC tow tune, and the need for 91 octane gas.

It seems to be the consensus that you should try to run 93 octane because there are some people (at least one thread on DT that i ran across) that have problems with knock retard even with the 91 octane, or a 180 t-stat to keep the A/F a little richer. Now I will be traveling to Colorado towing 2 quads and I would like to use the SC tow tune, but more than likely i will not be able to find any gas in excess of 91 octane in BFE western KS.

would the 180 t-stat be a good investment to mitigate any KR problems? I would need to get on this ASAP as we are planning on heading west on Thursday and would need to order one from the parts store tonight in order to get it installed before i take off Thursday.

any input would be great

thanks

nateroach

 

Absolutely! And you'll be a smidge faster.

 

does a 180 t-stat impact gas mileage? I was doing some reading on DT and most said that it will drop .5-1 mpg, which i am not too fond of being that I have to drive ~50 miles round trip to work.

nateroach

 

I just installed one last week. Overall I like it. Truck runs much cooler. Temp needle sits at about 1/4 as opposed to 1/2. I did notice a slight drop in MPG but that could be because of my heavy foot since I love the sound of my exhaust. I have the DSP 93 oct tune installed and noticed a slight increase in power. I got it so it helps my future e-fan and prevents my future headers from leaning out the A/F mixture too much. I know how you feel about the commute to work since my house is 22 miles away from where I work.

 

BFE western Kansas huh. I here ya, you are lucky to find 91 octane in western kansas and it gets even worse in eastern colorado.

 

I got the 180 stat, seems like a good mod. And some guys say it will cause a build up of sludge in the engine but when I had my engine apart last week I saw zero evidence of this.

 

Are they talking about oil sludge? I fail to see how it would cause that.

 

I don't really know how it would happen either, but I have heard guys saying that bc the engine doesn't reach a certain operating temp that sludge will build up. Not sure how a 18 degree difference could cause that, but that is what some guys say. Anyway, when I checked out my engine last week while doing the cam install I saw no evidence of this.

 

Well thanks for the input guys. It looks like I probably won't be able to get it here in time anyways. I guess it will just have to wait for another day. I am hoping that since the timing advance on the tow tune isn't as much as the 91 perf tune I should be ok with 91 gas. Any one had any experience with the tow tune and kr issues?

Nateroach

 

Sludge build up is associated with the engine being used for short runs and not fully warmed up. This was also a problem when no thermostat was installed. Basically the oil needs to be 180 degrees for long enough to eliminate any moisture, thought to be 20 to 40 minutes.