anyone had their engine chipped up for more power? ■■■■■■■ will come and do it, taking the 380 to 420 or theres some independant firms who’ll do the same job for simular money, just wondered what the pro’s and cons are?
I was also wondering about chipping; the adverts claim that you get more power and better fuel economy!?! Surely if chipping is such a good thing then the manufacturers would’ve done it at the production/design stage?
I kinda believe that ‘you don’t get owt for nowt’ in this world, so there must be a downside?? Premature engine component wear & tear, maybe??
It’ll be interesting if someone who has had it done can comment on this.
Paul, are you expecting to get better fuel figures if you have yours chipped? It was already giving you good returns wasn’t it? You’ll be quids in if it gets even better!! 
Truck makers map the eproms so that they can cope with all grades of fuel that can be found in many parts of the world should the truck find itself there, as poor quality fuels can cause preingnition, pinking and knocking which over time can cause severe damage. The eprom remappers reprogramme to take advantage of the higher and more regular standards of fuel usually found in europe.
So some advantages are available, but I’ve heard of folks having more power added, only to have it reveresed because consumption has gone up. If I were to have it done, I’d want it on trial first.
marcustandy:
Paul, are you expecting to get better fuel figures if you have yours chipped? It was already giving you good returns wasn’t it? You’ll be quids in if it gets even better!!
thats the thing, the wagons that good on diesel i wouldn’t want to alter owt but i’ve read several articles where owners claim to have increassed the mpg along with some seriouse power gains, i think the idea being, more power means less gear changes and less revs needed, which i can see.
at 380 it is a bit underpowered for the job i’m on now which is max weight most of the time, i have thought about changing the unit for something with a more nightout friendly cab as i’m out four nights a week but to go to something that only does 7mpg like some of the lads have quoted on here would be like chucking a couple of hundred quid a week out of the window!
paul b:
at 380 it is a bit underpowered for the job i’m on now which is max weight most of the time
So what are you doing now then, do we get to find out?
Paul
paul b:
at 380 it is a bit underpowered for the job i’m on now which is max weight most of the time, i have thought about changing the unit for something with a more nightout friendly cab as i’m out four nights a week but to go to something that only does 7mpg like some of the lads have quoted on here would be like chucking a couple of hundred quid a week out of the window!
If you’re happy with the fuel figures why change it?
You could end up worse off so unless they will offer you a trial period (& if their product is soooo good why wouldn’t they?)
Anoth alternative to buying a bigger cabbed truck would be to contact Hatcher/Airflow or similar and have the roof lfted,
Sombody I knew a couple of years ago put a high roof on a Volvo for a couple of grand I think Hatcher did it and made a good job of it too.
chipping seemed to work on the f12 i drive but it has gone down in power this past 12mths■■? it satill is a bit better than standard but not as good as it was when it was first done? fuel wise not diffrent, pulling power was oooooh yes 
would i have it done again dont know to be honest is it worth it?? daz
I have often wondered how they come by their figures for torque & power increases , Do they go to Feathers or somewhere else with a rolling road to substanciate their claims? The only guy I knew who had his FH12 put up from 380 to 460 had overheating problem it used to cook going up detling hill on the A249 in Kent. I dont know if it caused any long term damage as he sold it approx 9 months after getting it done
marcustandy:
I was also wondering about chipping; the adverts claim that you get more power and better fuel economy!?! Surely if chipping is such a good thing then the manufacturers would’ve done it at the production/design stage?I kinda believe that ‘you don’t get owt for nowt’ in this world, so there must be a downside?? Premature engine component wear & tear, maybe??
Like Big Joe said, truck makers have to leave quite big tolerance because different types of fuel and because all engines are after all individuals. In the hands of good programmer engines program can be tuned to one particular engine and after that you don’t believe it’s same truck. Also some manufacturers offers this kind of updates. Volvo will update 420 hp engine to 460 without engine warranty disappearing so it doesn’t have to be case that there is more wear&tear after update. AFAIK those engines doesn’t have any else difference than their programming when they leave the assembly line. I think this ■■■■■■■ paul b has is quite similar case.
Fuel saving depends also heavily from weight unit is running. When you have unit running 44 tonnes I’d bet there is noticeable difference in fuel consumption when comparing for example 340 hp and 420 hp unit. Same reason is behind promised better fuel economy. If you’re running light weight it really doesn’t matter if unit has 340 hp or 420 hp as skilled driver will most likely get same fuel consumption from both of these. Btw that 340hp unit at 44 tonnes has better power-weight ratio than majority of trucks running at 60 tonnes at Finland
I bet that manufacturers know how much power increse/decrease fuel consumption but it cost more money for company to buy such truck. Company buys truck which doesn’t have top of the line engine and then they pay many times that difference in form of fuel bills during trucks life 
I know some cases of these kind of upgrades and not a single one has created any problems that weren’t already there before update.
R143-500:
The only guy I knew who had his FH12 put up from 380 to 460 had overheating problem it used to cook going up detling hill on the A249 in Kent. I dont know if it caused any long term damage as he sold it approx 9 months after getting it done
(Older) FH’s tend to have problems with heat when they get older. I think it’s somehow linked to waterflow to or from the radiator decreasing. This kind of engine update could have just made this problem to show signs before it otherwise would have.
the best way to do it is mechanically feather play with the fuel pump and injectors with a 380 daf they can increase it up to 430 or more .i drove a truck that was chipped and like globey says at first it pulled well but eventually it didnt seem to pull any better than the 420 it came out the factory as
yep you got it there carl with the chipping bit, but these days with modern tech you carnt open the pump /rack to give more fuel, its all done with ecu"s which control the fuel input as we all know, you carnt beat the good old mechanical derv pump to play with fuel / boost 
repton:
paul b:
at 380 it is a bit underpowered for the job i’m on now which is max weight most of the timeSo what are you doing now then, do we get to find out?
Paul
i’m on brick n block with a roll along crane trailer and really enjoying it, don’t think anything will ever compare to the rates i was getting on steel but theres absolutely no waiting time, they load you like lightning in the brick yards and you tip as quick as you can use the crane plus you go to somewhere new every day unlike the steel which was up n down the same road week in, week out, but wether i can make it pay or not is yet to be seen.
north surrey haulage:
paul b:
at 380 it is a bit underpowered for the job i’m on now which is max weight most of the time, i have thought about changing the unit for something with a more nightout friendly cab as i’m out four nights a week but to go to something that only does 7mpg like some of the lads have quoted on here would be like chucking a couple of hundred quid a week out of the window!If you’re happy with the fuel figures why change it?
You could end up worse off so unless they will offer you a trial period (& if their product is soooo good why wouldn’t they?)
Anoth alternative to buying a bigger cabbed truck would be to contact Hatcher/Airflow or similar and have the roof lfted,
Sombody I knew a couple of years ago put a high roof on a Volvo for a couple of grand I think Hatcher did it and made a good job of it too.
apparently the ■■■■■■■ m11 engine is well renowned for returning extremely good fuel figures, the engines come rated at 380, 405 or 420 with the chip being the only difference in the three versions, foden alphas also run exactly the same engine but with just a 420 version as standard i think, so i could swap the unit for an olympic cab version ERF or a foden xl cab without actually spending any big money for a wagon of the same age, it’s just that you hear that many horror stories with secondhand wagons, having dropped on a good,n for not a lot of money, do i want to take another gamble?
■■■■■■■ themselves say that at top weight the fuel returns of the 380 or 420 should be very simular, obviously depending how big your boots are.
i say it’s a bit under powered but not much passes me on the motorway but in traffic it takes a bit of getting going as your dipping into the bottom of the box all the time and it can be hard work with the twin splitter which isn’t the fastest box.
be interesting to talk to someone who runs say a foden 420 to see what they’re getting mpg wise.
paul b:
be interesting to talk to someone who runs say a foden 420 to see what they’re getting mpg wise.
Try PM’ing Big Truck; he runs a Foden unit on tipper work.
i had my fh12 460 chiped about 3 years ago by superchips.they put on a rolling road and was putting out around 600bhp.cost around £800.pulled like a train fully loaded up hill.seven bridge to m5 split 44t top gear all the way.on fuel found it was about 1-1.5 more to the gallon.wanted to get the daf chipped by cause its euro 3 they cant do it
weve had a daf 480 and a scania 16 litre done basily the the ecu is remapped to either give more power ie torque and better ecomony so a scania that produces 460 at say 2500rpm will then after chipping produce full torque at 14-1500 rpm so the maximum torque is available wher its usefull in the green band which is why yuo then get better fuel comsumpstion so then at 2500rpm where the truck used to produce full torque you now have over 600 veryish
hope that can be understood
Paul B,
You have PM.
I used to run the old L10s before EFM, and they would often go ‘off the boil’. I found a trip to the ■■■■■■■ main dealers, Eaglescliffe for me, at the time, would sort them out. My Renault was chipped from new to a stated 460 bhp which is probably a more realistic 430 IMO. And I am very pleased with it. Anyway to get to my point, yes I’d do it, but I’d go to ■■■■■■■■ and get them to give it a full health check, and 'chip it. It may cost a bit more, but you know it’ll be right.
600bhp■■?