Chipping a Ford Ranger 3.2 diesel
The vehicle is in Thailand. Tempted to use Superchips bluefin modification claimed to increase torque by 117 nm from 417nm and power by 45hp from 197hp.
Apparently I would need to take the ECU probably to a dealer in the UK to have it Bluefin enabled, presumably when I visit the UK, given the following notice on Superchips website:-
Before a bluefin can be used on this model, the ECU must be "bluefin enabled"
The vehicle's ECU will need to be removed, opened, reprogrammed and refitted, which will then allow us to communicate with the vehicle through its onboard diagnostic port. This process is done with specialist equipment at one of the Superchips dealers listed, from whom you buy the bluefin at the same time.
The process is not detectable diagnostically by the servicing dealer.
Most of the time the vehicle is driven lightly, no towing ever, heavy loads exceptionally if ever, however extra urge occasionally for overtaking would be useful, although it is already good for a heavy pick up.
Given high ambient temperatures is it likely to run too hot? I plan to keep the vehicle many years, about 12000 miles pa. Is it going to make much if any difference to longevity and fuel consumption? What sort of difference is it likely to make? Any other observations please?
By the way, I am very impressed with the truck, no problems in the 5000 Kms so far, and averaging 27.5 mpg, mostly outside of town on mixed distance runs.
Apparently I would need to take the ECU probably to a dealer in the UK to have it Bluefin enabled, presumably when I visit the UK, given the following notice on Superchips website:-
Before a bluefin can be used on this model, the ECU must be "bluefin enabled"
The vehicle's ECU will need to be removed, opened, reprogrammed and refitted, which will then allow us to communicate with the vehicle through its onboard diagnostic port. This process is done with specialist equipment at one of the Superchips dealers listed, from whom you buy the bluefin at the same time.
The process is not detectable diagnostically by the servicing dealer.
Most of the time the vehicle is driven lightly, no towing ever, heavy loads exceptionally if ever, however extra urge occasionally for overtaking would be useful, although it is already good for a heavy pick up.
Given high ambient temperatures is it likely to run too hot? I plan to keep the vehicle many years, about 12000 miles pa. Is it going to make much if any difference to longevity and fuel consumption? What sort of difference is it likely to make? Any other observations please?
By the way, I am very impressed with the truck, no problems in the 5000 Kms so far, and averaging 27.5 mpg, mostly outside of town on mixed distance runs.
Asked on 20 November 2014 by alfabetagamma
Answered by
Honest John
Superchips codes BlueFin to an individual ECU so it cannot be used with any other ECU. I don't think this can be done online and, knowing Thai Internet you could lose the connection halfway through the coding process anyway. But I'm puzzled as to why you would want to chip a Ranger 3.2 anyway. Isn't 200PS and 470Nm enough? And the point of BlueFin is that it's plug and play or plug and restore to standard for servicing and insurance purposes. Plenty of people in Thailand can chip the ECU for more power, more torque, better fuel economy or whatever your requirements are. An alternative would be to change the gearing to that of the 2.2. The 3.2 pulls an exceptionally long top gear. If you switched to a 2.2 rear axle to get shorter overall gearing you would get faster acceleration.
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technical issues
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