HELP PLEASE!!!! Bought a used FiST that may have been tuned

[Stgtr]

I bought a Fiesta ST about a month ago. Love the car. I drove today with my windows down for the first time (finally warmed up a bit) and noticed I could smell the exhaust and it seemed to be running rich. When I got the car it had a Catback Exhaust and lowering springs on it, and I got it for a bit less than others cause the fenders are a little messed up from the PO attempting to Roll them. I met with one of my friends who has tuned a newer car with a Cobb AP and he said that it is running rich and he sees soot on the back. (I didn’t think anything about the rear being dirty cause they’ve been salting a lot)

I was not notified of a tune by the dealership. There was no Cobb AP with the car. I spoke to my boss about it (has owned multiple BimmerSport tuned M’s and has a protuned R35) and he said the car is totally tuned. However, he said that I should figure out what tune it is so that if I ever have the desire to tune it I can remove that tune as just running a new tune will cause issues.

Do these cars just run rich? Is some soot normal on the rear with just an MBRP Catback?

Lastly, is it true that if I buy a Cobb AP and put a new tune on it, it will mess it up?

Also the car was bought in Lancaster, PA if anyone knows who’s it may have been or recognizes it.

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[Jabbit]

Could be an aftermarket downpipe. I can smell exhaust/gas fumes after a long 3rd gear pull or similar. Do you have a shift up indicator in your cluster? Almost everyone disables that with a tune so that's one way to check.

 

[Stgtr]

I do have an up shift indicator and that seems to be doing what the factory does. Someone else recommended seeing if it has launch control, and it doesn’t.

I’ve had it up on my lift at work to do fluids on it (I always do fluids when I buy a vehicle). The only mods that I’ve found are the MBRP Catback, H&R Springs, and EBC Yellow pads. Has factory pipes (charge pipes, crossover, intake, and down pipe) factory intercooler, and even still has the symposer. The only signs IMO of it being tuned is the exhaust seeming rich, and what I think is Soot on the car.

My big worry is that it may be Stage 2 tuned and not have the supporting mods on it.


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[FiestaSTdude]

I do have an up shift indicator and that seems to be doing what the factory does. Someone else recommended seeing if it has launch control, and it doesn’t.

I’ve had it up on my lift at work to do fluids on it (I always do fluids when I buy a vehicle). The only mods that I’ve found are the MBRP Catback, H&R Springs, and EBC Yellow pads. Has factory pipes (charge pipes, crossover, intake, and down pipe) factory intercooler, and even still has the symposer. The only signs IMO of it being tuned is the exhaust seeming rich, and what I think is Soot on the car.

My big worry is that it may be Stage 2 tuned and not have the supporting mods on it.


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If you get/have an Accessport, you can flash it to stage 1 Cobb OTS tune. I think it stores whatever tune is on the car as well, so you would still have this unknown tune.

 

[Stgtr]

If you get/have an Accessport, you can flash it to stage 1 Cobb OTS tune. I think it stores whatever tune is on the car as well, so you would still have this unknown tune.

I wouldn’t have to worry about it just writing over the current tune? It was also recommended to me to just take it to a dealer/specialty shop and have it flashed stock before doing anything. $50-$150 insurance that I won’t have an issue.


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[FiestaSTdude]

I wouldn’t have to worry about it just writing over the current tune? It was also recommended to me to just take it to a dealer/specialty shop and have it flashed stock before doing anything. $50-$150 insurance that I won’t have an issue.


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I'm not the most knowledge person on here, so please guys correct me if I'm wrong, but it should be 100% fine writing a Cobb OTS tune over whatever tune is on there. Do you want to save the mystery tune?

 

[Stgtr]

I'm not the most knowledge person on here, so please guys correct me if I'm wrong, but it should be 100% fine writing a Cobb OTS tune over whatever tune is on there. Do you want to save the mystery tune?

I’ll call Cobb on Monday as well as the dealership I got it from.

I guess saving the current unknown tune would be best cause I know it atleast runs good with it so if it runs odd when changed I can put it back.


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[dhminer]

Looks like a tb crash bar in there. If so, I’d almost guarantee it was modified more than it is today and returned to stock to sell. Owner may have forgotten to uninstall the tune. I’d avoid flooring it until I know what’s happening in there. If you’re not opposed to having it tuned instead of running the stock map, just buy an accessport and a flash tune from stratified, dizzy, etc. and it’ll run great.

 

[SteveS]

In Maryland you have required smog checks. If that includes sniffer tests or anything more than a visual check, the prudent thing would be to take it to the dealer and have the ECU flashed with a stock OEM tune. If after doing that the exhaust is till sooty, then something is wrong. Fiesta STs don't have black exhaust that stains the back of the car.

If you later get an accessport and run a tune, the accessport will save the OEM tune so you can put it back for smog testing or future sale. If you get the accessport now, it will save whatever tune is currently on the car and you won't have an OEM tune to fall back on.

 

[DEss]

I was not notified of a tune by the dealership. There was no Cobb AP with the car. I spoke to my boss about it (has owned multiple BimmerSport tuned M’s and has a protuned R35) and he said the car is totally tuned. However, he said that I should figure out what tune it is so that if I ever have the desire to tune it I can remove that tune as just running a new tune will cause issues.

Do these cars just run rich? Is some soot normal on the rear with just an MBRP Catback?

Lastly, is it true that if I buy a Cobb AP and put a new tune on it, it will mess it up?

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3 Likely possibilities:

1. No tune is on there and your car just isn't running properly. A Cobb AP can be installed but if your car isn't running properly stock, then it's probably unwise to do so. If you believe the dealership, then it's probably not this.
2. It has a tune that is other than one derived from Cobb software. Installing a Cobb AP may be detrimental to your ECU.
3. It has a tune that is derived from Cobb software. Installing a Cobb AP will recognize that you have a previous installation and give you the option overwrite the current tune. If you confirm the overwrite, the tune will be lost. When you uninstall again, it will load a stock map for you.

One clue to help determine if it's a Cobb map is to press the cruise control cancel button while the engine is running. If the rpm gauge jumps and you're able to control it by pressing the cruise control up and down buttons, then it's likely a Cobb with map switching. AFAIK, only the AP tunes offer this type of switching. G'luck.

DEss

 

[Jabbit]

The only way you are getting soot on one of these is with a catless downpipe or gutted stock cat.

 

[Stgtr]

Not a TB crash bar. I think you were seeing the top of the factory one in the photos.

So I called Cobb today and they said that if there is a tune on it installed by a Cobb AP that it’ll tell me, and it’ll be safe to install a new tune on it no matter what. I shouldn’t have to worry about getting it flashed back to factory beforehand at a ford dealership.

The dealership I bought it from is being no help, just stating over and over that everything is “as-is”.

That being said, I’ll probably still take it to a dealership to have it flashed back to factory to be safe, and I’ll get a Cobb Accessport and probably get a tune from Stratified. I do plan on getting a VTA BOV (probably GFB) as well as a Mishimoto Intercooler/charge pipe kit and a Whoosh Motorsports Catted Downpipe, so Ill be needing a tune anyway.


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[Stgtr]

One clue to help determine if it's a Cobb map is to press the cruise control cancel button while the engine is running. If the rpm gauge jumps and you're able to control it by pressing the cruise control up and down buttons, then it's likely a Cobb with map switching. AFAIK, only the AP tunes offer this type of switching. G'luck.

DEss

I’ll have to check that. I checked if it had Launch Control (it doesn’t) and the Shift Light is operating like factory.


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[Stgtr]

The only way you are getting soot on one of these is with a catless downpipe or gutted stock cat.

It could be gutted I suppose, but it’s totally the stock dp there. It definitely looks like soot on the back of the car unless that is the new salt Maryland is running. I’ll take a photo of the backend in the light tomorrow. It doesn’t smell super rich to me, but I’ve driven an open long tube header 5.0 94 f150 for the last year so :/


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[NateDawgST]

I don’t think the exhaust is too much to worry about. Over the years, my Mbrp has gotten pretty dark. Granted it does have a whoosh higher flow cat, but if you drive decently aggressive, I would think it would get sooty anyway given the enough time, since afr on turbo cars under load needs to be richer regardless.


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[Mycooking]

Being turbo charged direct injected a little soot is a given but if its covering the back of the car I'd have that looked into. I bought my Fiesta ST last fall from a Ford dealership and we had a hard time passing the state emissions inspection. Had a tune that disabled the cars onboard emissions systems check. Granted find out after the purge valve solenoid had crapped out. Dealership took care of everything and gave it a tune (not stock) that would still pass emissions testing. The Dealership is full of car guys and the techs run some sweet Focus STs and RSs.

 

[Mycooking]

They also suggested I pick up an AP so I can save a stock tune and the tune they put on it plus the added bonus of adjusting and updating tunes as the car gets modded. Not alot more that I want to do to it though. It already came with the ST200 air box, a Whoosh hybrid turbo(I believe the 2860) intercooler. I pretty much just want to finish it off with better pipe work, radiator and suspension, as my wife's car whoops my butt in the twistys lol and possibly down the line throw down for a mechanical diff. It already makes great power from 2500rpm to around 6800rpm so I can't complain on output.

 

[dhminer]

They also suggested I pick up an AP so I can save a stock tune and the tune they put on it plus the added bonus of adjusting and updating tunes as the car gets modded. Not alot more that I want to do to it though. It already came with the ST200 air box, a Whoosh hybrid turbo(I believe the 2860) intercooler. I pretty much just want to finish it off with better pipe work, radiator and suspension, as my wife's car whoops my butt in the twistys lol and possibly down the line throw down for a mechanical diff. It already makes great power from 2500rpm to around 6800rpm so I can't complain on output.

Forgive me if I misunderstand what you’re saying.. but you should absolutely refrain from getting into boost if you’re using a tune done by a dealership if they didn’t tune it on a dyno or via data logs to compensate for the aftermarket turbo. You’ll be running super lean and make a nice lawn ornament out of your engine. Get an accessport and tune it ASAP.

 

[Mycooking]

They've tuned it for the turbo wasn't the factory tune it's just the tune the previous owner was using turned off the emissions check so it was impossible to get the state inspection done. The techs there own some pretty crazy Focus STS and RSs and used the data logs plus dyno to tune using an AP for me but suggested I get my own AP if I plan on doing anything else. One of the guys there is also gonna lend a hand tuning the wifes Mini after the supercharger upgrade is done( he's about that R53 mini life also). It's nice having a dealership with techs that actually under stand these cars and are enthusiasts themselves. Heck they're the ones who turned me onto to this Forum😃😃