Powermax why does it have troubles unless tuned::

91turbogsx · Jul 14, 2012

I lost almost 5 mpg after swapping a Powermax onto one of our company trucks. IDP tuned as well. Maybe I'll email him and see if he has something he can do. Anyone else lose fuel mileage?

windrunner408 · Jul 15, 2012

91turbogsx said:
I lost almost 5 mpg after swapping a Powermax onto one of our company trucks. IDP tuned as well. Maybe I'll email him and see if he has something he can do. Anyone else lose fuel mileage?

What year was your company truck??

91turbogsx · Jul 15, 2012

windrunner408 · Jul 15, 2012

Ok good to know.

what a mess · Jul 16, 2012

well i have a pmax and im only getting 12 mpg and most of my driving is at 55 mpg very little city heh i have stock sticks as well

05wh250 · Jul 16, 2012

I think ya'll got something going on cuz I've got the same and gettin almost 16

91turbogsx · Jul 16, 2012

I went from 17ish to 13 after the Powermax. I put it on the truck in anticipation for later mods but I'll probably swap a stock one back on. 4+ mpg difference is quite a bit on a vehicle that commutes 100+ miles everyday.

what a mess · Jul 16, 2012

yea i cant figure it out for the life of me heh

windrunner408 · Jul 16, 2012

I would highly suggest some live tuning to see if you can't get it corrected first.

05wh250 · Jul 16, 2012

I dunno guys? Maybe try pulling codes make sure nothing else is going on

what a mess · Jul 16, 2012

only code is for glow plugs and ficm software

Tjb9561 · Nov 16, 2012

I also have been having really bad fuel mileage and lack of power since I installed my powermaxx. I let my local dealer install it last summer and ever since then my truck has not been the same since. My first thought was I needed to get my tune dialed in a little better. Idp sent me 2 or 3 different tunes but not much different. So then I tired a new ficm strategy and still didn't notice a difference. Thought maybe injectors so I checked them with a snap on solus ultra and it showed they were good, not the most accurate but all I could afford at the time. Iv since tried tunes from Chris at TSD and the most recent from mike at KEM. I just can't seem to locate the problem. All the tunes seem to give my transmission a little trouble for the 3-5 shift and also the early lock up never works like it is supposed to. Unless I'm in the throttle hard it won't lock untill I back off the throttle. So Chris from TSD tried a few different ones but never got it to work. So I was convinced by a buddy of mine that my torque converter was getting bad. So I saved up and installed a precision industries with a billet input shaft about a month ago. And that's when I tired KEM and his tune shifts funny. It's like it's not getting the proper engine load or something. Bc trans was in great shape when I dropped it. I just don't know what else it could be. I have a 06 f250 arp studs, 4in turbo back straight pipe, egr deleted, zoo dad mod, innovative tuned ficm, precision industries triple disk torque converter, and powermaxx turbo. And suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I really love my truck just kinda giving up on it been spending money trying to get it running l want for over a year. I also have some live pid data recorded from that solus ultra at a few different rpms from driving down the road. I'm trying my best to learn wgat that all mean but with engineering school whipping my butt haven't had the most time to devote to it

kdogg85 · Nov 16, 2012

Have you checked the ebp tube and sensor(drivers side manifold front), that will get clogged ever so often and cause some of the symptoms.

Does the turbo scream when you accelerate? You may have a bad solenoid, being as it has has done it since new. Or you may have a leak in the air plumbing, check all of that over very thoroughly.

Mine lost about 2mpg and the bottom end was a touch worse, the top end and egt's wot were a good bit better. It cruised hotter by about 50-100*. The stock file was useless until around 2100rpms then off you went. The tunes make the difference, but having the tc lock at 50mph just kills it, it'll pull itself out but the smoke and heat are rediculous. It didn't really come into its own until I put 175cc injectors in, then it was a great fun setup.

Check that stuff I said, and 9 out of 10 ten times, it's something simple.

Back to this old thread, i never understood why garret never used the 13 blade turbine, they have the research skills and experience to know what should work and what doesn't.

Pizza pig · Nov 16, 2012

its not the turbine, its the vgt duty cycle that needs to be corrected, which is what the tuning helps with.

windrunner408 · Nov 16, 2012

Yep, it's a combination of the VGT duty cycle not matching up with the 10 bladed wheel. Correct me if I'm wrong here but Kdogg, didn't you have your Pmax live tuned and didn't that help with the low end response and driveability and fuel mileage??

kdogg85 · Nov 16, 2012

Sure did. I was around 15 or so with pmax/stock stick. Then came the 175's and a live tune, back up to 17mpg overall driving normally. The tuner did use an agressive vgt cycle and fairly hard low end fueling to make it work like one would want. I had other things to help the air out, so I am sure that made a huge difference as well. Now, I never had anything like what this guy is talking about other than with the stock vxcf4 file. It was the typical turd the 05-07 guys talk about. Then there's the infamous dead spot, I never seemed to have had it, the truck would shift into od at 48mph and it would fall under the charger(1200 rpms or so), it would pull itself out, but was very embarrassing if you weren't careful with the throttle. I am assuming that's the dead spot people talk about. I can get my 24v to do the same thing now if I want, but I just have it shift where it doesn't, won't hit od/lockup until 53 mph.

Greg, The vgt cycle is a huge factor, but no doubt the blade differences in turbines does as well. Kinda makes you wonder about playing with them in the nonvgt chargers as well, especially the compound setups, but that's another thread.

I do not regret buying it too much as it made for a very fun setup and was a true all purpose setup, but there are better offerings available now.

ODAWG714 · Nov 17, 2012

Matt at gearhead dialed my pmax in pretty damn good. No dead spots with stock sticks at all. Instant boost and response.

amarillo250 · Nov 17, 2012

so can somebody tell me what the max boost is you can see on a Pmax and what is the cure for the overall performance of the Pmax, beside changing turbos. Has a tuner found a cure for the lag and lowend response? I got a FICM from KEM and at 2500rpm's and around 15psi boost with locked converter the truck jumps right up to 28psi and pulls like hell. My temps jump way above 1400. I think my injectors are just to big for towing and they fuel great, Erick at IDP pulled some fuel already and they still throw a lot in it when I hit the pedal.

PTSUPERD · Nov 17, 2012

ODAWG714 said:
Matt at gearhead dialed my pmax in pretty damn good. No dead spots with stock sticks at all. Instant boost and response.

Mine too ( 68 pmax ). He lived tuned my truck and the turbo responds awesome. Thing is super clean too...very little smoke.....egts cruising at 75 are around 850 ( injectors are 175/75's). Matt told me a stock pmax would respond pretty close to the same with the files he wrote for my truck..so you guys might want to give him a shot.