Ford Procal installation issues

[Glisch]

Hey yall, wondering if any others have had issues getting this install done.

Searched through previous threads I’ve found, but haven’t seen where anyone else shared an experience like this.

So I ordered the Procal tune a week or so ago, it came in this past Friday. I called the dealer who first wasn’t sure if they would do the install, then gave me quotes of it taking up to 2 hours at $185 per hour. They offered to get more information to give a better quote after the weekend on Monday.

I went ahead and followed the steps in the instructions to get things ready in advance over the weekend. I registered the tune, backed up the stock tune, did the updates Procal4 offered, got the performance tune loaded on the device, etc.

Monday I talked to the dealer again and they said they would match the price on the ford performance website, which shows as $112 for the install (ford performance support told me that is giving 1 hour of labor to do the work). Okay, the install should only take a few minutes at this point since I did all the prep, scheduled for Tuesday morning.

I’ve now been at the dealer for over 3 hours. After having the truck in the shop for over an hour, they called me back saying the install didn’t work. There was a progress bar that stopped halfway through and some message saying the device needed to be reconnected to the procal4 software. The truck was in an inoperable state after this.

Well, I’m 30 minutes from my house where I installed the software, and my truck doesn’t work. I called ford performance tech support, since the dealer was saying they aren’t sure what to do next

Tech support says something has to have gone wrong with the install itself. Either all updates weren’t completed (Procal4 showed me they had been over the weekend), or the tech did something to interrupt the install process. I asked the service representative if anything happened, they said no, it just started the install then stopped. The ford performance tech support then said the dealer needs to reinstall the stock tune via FDRS, then re-attempt.

It’s now been over an hour since then, and I’m just being told they are still working on it. As far as the service rep knows they are still working to get the stock tune back on.

Is this anything that anyone else has encountered?

I’m also unsure how the billing is going to be handled now. What should be a 5 minute job (literally quote from ford performance tech support) is talking over 3 hours with no clue how much longer. I’m worried it’s going to turn into a fight on the hourly billing. There’s no chance I’m going to pay them 4+ hours of work on this. How does that generally get handled?

Thanks for any similar encounters / issues

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[superj]

they messed it up. you only pay the one hour.

the one hour is normally because they run the wire behind the dash and up the pillar trim so if you don't tell them to not do that, you are going to have to go home and undo that part of the install.

 

[Glisch]

Dealer got it completed, took about 6 hours in total. They only charged for the one hour, so I was concerned for nothing. Annoying to sit there that long, but glad it's complete and I get the warranty!

I did spend time talking to the Ford Performance Tech line. The tech thought for sure that the installer hit something while the install was happening (door locks, window buttons, etc). Apparently any of that can cause an issue, so for anyone doing this themselves, be very careful not to touch ANYTHING. Otherwise you will have to get a dealer to return it to stock, which can take hours.

 

[Boosted6G]

The install takes about 15 minutes. Any dealer say it took 2-6 hours is lying, or the truck just sat their most of the day until they got it. It's stupid easy to do.

My dealer said they didn't know how to do it, so I just did it myself. Tired of dealerships and incompetence.

 

[Glisch]

The install takes about 15 minutes. Any dealer say it took 2-6 hours is lying, or the truck just sat their most of the day until they got it. It's stupid easy to do.

My dealer said they didn't know how to do it, so I just did it myself. Tired of dealerships and incompetence.

Truck was in the bay for that entire duration. And I interacted with the service rep several times throughout the day, each time he said he was checking with the tech / installer and that they were actively working on it. The claim is that restoring the factory tune after the procal install failed (leaving truck inoperable) is what took all the time. (They had to restore to stock tune, then redo the procal installation, which worked the second attempt)

If that is entirely true, I really can't say. I couldn't see the work being done, it's possible it was just sitting in the bay without a tech at it.

I thought I'd be in and out within an hour, so didn't arrange to leave the dealer. Ended up being stuck there for the duration.

 

[thndr8]

Did they have a battery tender hooked up for the upload? If the battery falls below a certain voltage when installing, it will brick the truck. I always fully charge my battery first overnight and then leave it charging while uploading the next morning. Turn everything off and don't touch it until complete.

 

[Arsenall11]

Did they have a battery tender hooked up for the upload? If the battery falls below a certain voltage when installing, it will brick the truck. I always fully charge my battery first overnight and then leave it charging while uploading the next morning. Turn everything off and don't touch it until complete.

Yep, that’s what I was going to say. not always required but it can be an issue.

 

[RaptorME]

Wow, 15 minutes is about right. I set up the Ford performance account myself, dowloaded the software and loaded the tune onto the device. I then took the truck to the dealer and they sent a tech out to hit the install button. I waited 10 minutes in the parking lot for it to load and went on my way. They didn't charge me either and gave me an invoice that it was done. My local dealer really wasn't equipped to handle the whole process and I have done many tunes so I was fine doing most of the legwork.

 

[Glisch]

Did they have a battery tender hooked up for the upload? If the battery falls below a certain voltage when installing, it will brick the truck. I always fully charge my battery first overnight and then leave it charging while uploading the next morning. Turn everything off and don't touch it until complete.

I did ask this. They said that they didn’t have a tender hooked up, but had a monitor? That if it started to drop they would hook up a tender. I’m not really sure how a monitor is easier to set up than a tender, but they claimed that it never dropped / wasn't an issue. Really don't know though

 

[superj]

all i know is i am glad you are back on the road. that would have been terrible if it became a mulitday deal and you were stuck without a vehicle

 

[Hoss]

Truck was in the bay for that entire duration. And I interacted with the service rep several times throughout the day, each time he said he was checking with the tech / installer and that they were actively working on it. The claim is that restoring the factory tune after the procal install failed (leaving truck inoperable) is what took all the time. (They had to restore to stock tune, then redo the procal installation, which worked the second attempt)

If that is entirely true, I really can't say. I couldn't see the work being done, it's possible it was just sitting in the bay without a tech at it.

I thought I'd be in and out within an hour, so didn't arrange to leave the dealer. Ended up being stuck there for the duration.

How do like the tune?

 

[Glisch]

How do like the tune?

To be 100% honest with you, I really don't even notice it lol.

I've drove around 120 miles since it was installed, but all city driving. I even plugged the tuner back in to ensure it was installed (checking for "FP" in the serial, which it is). The shifting might be a bit smoother, but that also might just be me looking for a difference when I am driving around. My MPG hasn't really changed much so far either. Had an average of 15.7mpg over 1.5k miles before the tune. I reset it after the tune and I'm sitting at 15.8 as of now. (All of it on top tier 93o, mostly costco).

I know it has a 'learning' curve, so I don't know if I'm still in that. Or if you just really don't notice it when you aren't in sport mode, doing 0-60 launches, etc. My driving style is pretty tame, I do 10-15 over on the interstates, but no crazy acceleration or anything during most driving.

I never tuned my Tacoma or my Jeep, and the truck already felt like it has so much more power. Maybe I'm just the type of driver that doesn't notice adding even more on top of that.

 

[Hoss]

To be 100% honest with you, I really don't even notice it lol.

I've drove around 120 miles since it was installed, but all city driving. I even plugged the tuner back in to ensure it was installed (checking for "FP" in the serial, which it is). The shifting might be a bit smoother, but that also might just be me looking for a difference when I am driving around. My MPG hasn't really changed much so far either. Had an average of 15.7mpg over 1.5k miles before the tune. I reset it after the tune and I'm sitting at 15.8 as of now. (All of it on top tier 93o, mostly costco).

I know it has a 'learning' curve, so I don't know if I'm still in that. Or if you just really don't notice it when you aren't in sport mode, doing 0-60 launches, etc. My driving style is pretty tame, I do 10-15 over on the interstates, but no crazy acceleration or anything during most driving.

I never tuned my Tacoma or my Jeep, and the truck already felt like it has so much more power. Maybe I'm just the type of driver that doesn't notice adding even more on top of that.

Sounds like the way I drive. Maybe mor3 time will tell

 

[superj]

I learned odd with using the procal. If you have added apps and remove your tune, when you reinstall, the apps wont be there anymore.


I added youtube to my 2024 ranger when i reinstalled the tune, youtube is gone now.

I wanted to try removing and reinstalling the tune so i knew how to do it.

 

[nullderef]

The tune definitely holds gears longer (normal mode). For me it also fixed the very lazy and lethargic acceleration from a stop while taking it easy on the throttle. I've noticed no tangible changes in MPG, although I was already using 91+ in it.

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