Raptor ECU Flash

stephous said:

40% E85 to 60% 91 PON will yeild 95 Octane PON which is about E40, and no CEL.

Click to expand...

I'm surprised on a gasoline tune that your FJ can handle an E40 blend. I would think that at WOT near redline you'd get CEL's or other issues.

For background on my 91/93 octane gasoline tuned Supra I accidently ran a 93 oct E30 blend. The power is awesome on a boosted application and on the street it ran fine, but at the track I was running into issues with the computer going into limp mode to save itself from either going too lean or reducing knock. Took me awhile to wrap my head around why an ethanol blend is not good on my non-flex fuel sensored "gasoline tuned" Supra and the gas station I went to did not have E content listed. I know for a fact the Supra fuel pump can handle the flow rate that even E50 demands so the issue was my current tune was not designed to run on ethanol.

How does a warm climate help your situation? Doesn't colder air reduce detonation that can be caused by running lean, which is the most likely scenario to happen in your case?

I think you already answered a lot of your own questions. Here are some assumptions and data from manufacturers but I would love others to dispute this with factual information:
1. Toyota says the fuel systems were all upgraded for Ethanol ending in 2001 so there is no risk of damage from the fuel itself. They do not recommend running more than E15 without larger injectors, fuel pump, and E85 tune. Engine performance will not be within specification.
2. Without a tune the AFR will be out of spec
3. I can run my PT with a blend because my effective octane is 95 minimum
4. I cannot tell a difference between 100 octane VP and E40 / E30, but that's subjective
5. With E40 my spark plugs and tail pipe are very clean
6. I have never triggered a CEL running on E30 or E40, and I have been testing at WOT, a lot
7. Without dyno testing I can say that 100 Octane VP and E40 feel exactly the same, but dyno numbers may not be
8. My Fuel costs dropped from $225.00 per tank full to $60.00 per tank full with E40 blended
9. I never store my FJ so water in the gas is not an issue
10. Vehicles prior to 2001 may not be Ethanol compatible for a variety of reasons
11. Never run Methanol. It's corrosive!
12. Running Ethanol on a stock tune or normally aspirated stock engine seems like a waste of time. When you need octane it makes more sense.

At the heart of the matter is the tune. Tim created a custom PT based on opening up my exhaust and intake, but the caveat is that the tune it's for 95 PON fuel which I have to make or find. My Pump Octane number here in CA is 91 with winter 10% or summer 15% Ethanol. So I had two options, 100 Octane VP or VP octane boosters. Neither was economical. For dune bashing I tank up with 100 and run the PT. For street driving I run the AFT. I got tired of switching tunes. The local off road shop suggested that I try E30 with my PT. They run it in their Tacos. No issues on two tanks, so instead of buying their off road gas I started blending my own at the pump. E40 seems to be the point where I don't get any more return. So E40 is empirical, not measure with a test kit. MY FJ likes that ratio. I may switch back to E30 just to compare.

In a colder climate without the right fuel maps a vehicle may not idle on E85 or may idle badly on E40 because it is leaner than gasoline. Start up requires a rich mixture and I'm finding that my idle is not smooth until my engine warms up completely. It's not bad, but it's not silky smooth like running pump gas. Once the engines hot the idle is like normal. So cold starts could be an issue if your not running a tune and your in cold weather. It rarely gets below 50F here.

Because Ethanol runs cooler than gasoline it's even better for hot weather because the intake charge temperature is reduced allowing you to run more boost and timing advance without detonation. Engine heat goes down. There is a balance between how much Ethanol makes sense. CA is suggesting that pump gas will be required to reach E30 by 2025. That's not far away.

Brazil: Has lots on Ethanol and most of their cars are flex fuel. With the rising cost of everything it's worth a shot and the alternative to go electric is probably no practical in other parts of the world.
https://www.rapidtransition.org/stories/the-rise-of-brazils-sugarcane-cars/

I could also Flex Fuel my FJ and then I can run on anything anytime...but right now E30 / E40 seems to work great.

Clarification: This is not an Ethanol specific tune. PT is an Octane and AFR tune, but not formula specific. It increases timing and fuel based on AFR and timing feedback.

PT = Performance Tune. We were told that any problems or failures were on us. Detonation will happen if you run low octanes with this tune because the advance curves are wide open. This is a racing tune, for dunes and drag racing.

AFT = All Fuels Tunes. This tune takes into account both higher and lower octanes, has more ignition advance available, has more valve advance, but limits the total advance to prevent detonation if knock is detected.

Correct, the PT is not an Ethanol specific tune. It is an Octane specific tune.

The Taco guy's have already had these discussions so I will defer to them:
Flex Fuel conversion

And this article tells the story that is not Toyota specific:
Mixing E85 With Pump Gas: Getting Higher Octane For Less Money

Welcome to the forum!

No expert. I did the tune on my 2013 Auto in January 2020. I have the All Fuels Tune. I have an Airaid Intake and URD exhaust. The tune doesn't do much with a catback system. With the Airaid there is an increase of HP in the high RPM's but a loss of power at low/mid torque that the tune restores plus some. (In my case, auto trans, the tune makes some changes in how the transmission shifts.

I mostly do trails, logging roads etc and the RPMs are kept in the low/mid range. I do like the subtle changes in how the AT shifts.

Lots of testimonials in the previous posts.

No complaints about the tune. Lots of help here if you decide to go that way.

Lee

Early Engine sVVTi: I don't want to kill your enthusiasm but if you have a 2007 to 2009 FJ your going to get betters gains from adding a supercharger. New gears might make better use of your low end torque but kill your gas mileage. If your doing it to correct the shift points it might be worth it. The early models run about as good as they can without major upgrades.

Later Engine dVVTi: This is the engine after 2009. It has dual variable valve timing and a higher compression ratio. The Raptor Tune changes the intake and exhaust valve angles significantly, and increases ignition timing, and changes the fuel map. Though the tune does brighten up this engine real gains will not be realized unless you also mess with the intake, exhaust, and fuel. The performance tune made my FJ very peppy in stock form, but real gains didn't happen until I changed the Intake filter, exhaust, and I'm running a fuel mix.

The reality is that the FJ is pretty good as is. I wouldn't mess with a 2007. Just drive it. Otherwise buy a 2010 or later and go crazy like I did.

Sorry if this has been answered and I’m sure it has. But this thread is 56 pages long now lol.

I have a 2012 FJ with 39k miles. I looked in the raptor website and it said the SC will take the truck from:

200kw = 280hp approx
To
310kw = 415hp approx

are those the real numbers. I’m not seeing anyone else talk about them?

secondly how much is this SC and other than the SC what else do I actually need?

Thirdly, is this still for sale and if so how much?

lastly. What is the power gate people are talking about?

cheers

This is about the hotter performance tune from Raptor and fuel: I have the 98RON tune in my FJ. I kicked the habbit of buying $15.00 / gallon 105 Octane Sunoco, and blending E85, or buying E40. I also stopped using the Octanium unleaded which contains MMT and turns spark plugs orange. I started using Klotz which has Naphthalene, not MMT. The FJ feels like it's running on 105 and one pint costs $11.00 from Summit Racing. Mixing with 91 it adds 10 numbers = 101. That's how I turn my CA gas into race gas. Total cost per gallon with Klotz added = $5.98 / gallon Vs $15.00. If you look at race gas ingrediants I'm making the same basic product, unleaded version, but I'm mixing it at the pump, and it doesn't lean out the AFR like Ethanol does. Klotz will eat the paint so don't spill it while pouring. Again this will probably do nothing unless you have the 98RON tune.