Auto chip

[Art]

Jim, if you come up with a "miracle chip" that is cost efficient, I would love it also! My 2004, 8.1L averages 7.5 mpg @ 62-65 mph. I think this IS the best I will ever get and expect! I just think of it in these terms: "I only average 3000-4000 a year pulling so I just visit alot of gas stations on my way!" (It's a bathroom break for the wife!) Happy hunting!
I considered Banks options but by the time I did the numbers, it would take several years to break even.

[bigmurf]

No such thing as: 1. Too loud of horn.
2 Too big of fuel tank.
3. Too much horsepower.

On my Dodge I have a pedal to control the horsepower.

Get at 8,000 feet and headed to 10,000+ and then tell me you don't want more. JMHO

[mlh]

1/4 mile times are an indication of the power an engine is putting out. The advantage of the tuner for me was getting rid of the DPF that was dumping fuel in the oil. I had 13% fuel in my oil. 6% is quite common at 5000 miles. That was not acceptable to me. I think, well I'm convinced, my truck is better off having the tuner.
Quote
P.S. The egts on my truck are lower when I have it turned up
rather than stock and I feel that is because it is not working as hard. Keep in mind I don't drive like a moron, I never see speeds above 62.I find our eastern mountains are harder to pull in than the Rockies.
X2 Well almost I will take exception with the moron part, but it is all in fun no harm done.
I think my EGTs are lower to. I drive what ever speed the law will allow. I live near I81 and find most campers are being pulled as fast as I pull mine.
Lynwood

[richfaa]

If a tuner could give a significant increase in MPG and 3 or 4 MPG more would be significant to me I would have one but they just don't do that.We have our gage set to give me a set of red lights when my EGT hits 1250 degrees. We have plenty of power left but back down so I can't understand the more torque/power thing. We would never use it...What am I missing. We do not deny anyone a tuner.Your truck, your money. I am not a expert by any means but I do not understand how the EGT can be lower when the torque and power are increased.More power..more boost...less MPG????

Out truck worked fine at 8K feet plus. Oh well..

[mlh]

Rich I think it has to do with your DPF. I know I haven't seen my EGT at 1250 since it was installed. As gentlemen I guess we will haft to agree to disagree until you ride in a Spartan tuned truck then you will understand. It is just a different truck. I, I'm sure like you thought anybody that put a tuner on their truck was just nuts, who needs all that power? For me it wasn't about the power. It was about getting rid of the DPF and fuel in the oil. I had read for years you should have less than 2% fuel in the oil. I had 13% and Ford said they could do nothing about it. They couldn't do any thing about it but I could and did. I DO NOT abuse my equipment. I may or may not have a warranty. I don't care. My truck is over 4 years old so it doesn't matter much now anyway. It's not about the power but it sure is nice, and I use no more fuel probably a little less. I got rid of the DPF have a lot more power, whether I use it or not and get a little better fuel mileage and have a lot more responsive truck, to me it is a no brainier. I do understand how you feel about a tuner. It is exactly how I felt about them.
Lynwood

[Champ_49]

This is really a preference thing. Some like the tuner, others believe it hurts the life of the engine. If you understand engines inside and out you may come up with a different thought. I built engines for racing for over 30 years and know how things work with fuel, torque and longevity. But no one will ever change the mind of a believer, and its not necessary to do so. This is as I said a matter of preference.

And I am not trying to say that the nay sayers are wrong! I am not trying to start an argument here at all. I'm just expressing my thoughts and experience to the subject.

Have a good day all!!

Dave

[richfaa]

we have nothing against the tuner if you want one. Yes when the truck goes into regen the EGT temps will increase by at least 300 degrees.We hesitat to remove the DPF because of emission testing.

We never had 13% fuel in our oil. We do need the warranty as we can not afford that kind of expense should we have a major failure. We now have the ESP plan. As stated we have been in a truck with the spartan tuner and yes it is a different truck. Way more power.

I guess the bottom line is we are completly satisfied with the performance of our 08 Ford and see no reason to increase the torque or power.All we want this truck to do is pull this 3400 anchor and it does that very well completly stock. We do understand what a tuner will do we just do not need our truck to do that.

BTW Dave..with your 7.3L Ford as I stated above the tuner was a big improvement and IMO If I had that motor we would most likely have the tuner as it needed the increase in power and torque.

[c214dick]

The jury may be out with regards to which tuner and I know there are a number of good ones. I'm not asking for a recommendation as I will be the one responsible for which one I select.

My question is I see that some have a screen available to monitor what is happening while you are driving. Others seem to only display while being set up. If I choose the latter, how do I change the setting when I approach a steep grade or does it know as the demand increases? For those that have driven through mountains regularly, do you have a tuner?

My signature shows I have a Dodge diesel. For you Dodge owners is there a preference of one tuner over another?

[MIMF]

Dick, My old Silverado is stock except for the low restriction washable air filter I have in it. The Duramax is factory rated at 300 HP and 605 ft lbs of torque. I have pulled the Challenger thru the Rockies and most recently up thru the Smokies. I use the tow/haul mode on the Allison and set the cruse at around 62 mph. As I recall, going thru the mountains, it gets around 9 mpg. But, I can let it do it's thing down shifting as it needs to and it will still pass 18 wheelers going up grade. But, on average when towing, she still gets 11 to 12 mpg. All done without a tuner.

[richfaa]

Our gauge can monitor all the Ford parameters and there are many of them.It plugs into the trucks computer port and we have a pyro fed into it. we only look at.. pre EGT, transmission temp, oil temp and boost.

[mlh]

Dick I know less than nothing about tuning a Dodge truck, but I can tell you about gages. There is a, lets say a sat of gages you can get to monitor any of the dozens if not hundreds of signals your truck puts out. You can monitor oil, coolant, exhaust, transmission temperature. Transmission slippage, boost PSI. I monitor 10 things on my truck, and can switch from screens to screen on the fly with the touch of an arrow either forward or backward. Each screen can be set up with alarms both high and low for every thing you are checking. You can set, lets say oil temperature different for each screen. You can set oil temperature on one screen for lets say 230F the next screen for 220F or 500F if you wont to. You can set a warning as the temperature gets close to the limit then a loud warning and color warning when you reach the limit. And the nice part it just plugs in the computer port under the steering wheel.
Do a Google search for Dasdaq.
Lynwood

[c214dick]

Thanks MIMF, my 03 Dodge does not have the tow/haul mode. I think that was available on 04 and up. Thanks Rich. Which plug in monitor do you have?

Thanks MLH. I looked up Dasdaq and was referred to Nasdaq. As I was not looking for any stock tips I did some more research and assume you meant DASHDAQ. I see you have a Ford and almost all references I found for the Dashdaq were for Ford. I did find some info on the Cummins Forum for Dodge and it was negative.

As I mentioned, the jury is still out so I'll keep looking and listening to your suggestions. I know I should have gauges to monitor what's happening but I still think I will need some extra horsepower/torque when we go west. I know how my truck handled Monteagle outside of Chatanooga, Tn. As long as I start my acceleration early enough, kept it in third gear w/o o/d, start my climb at 70 mph, I will hit the top at 55 mph. As it is only about 6% grade and is less than a 5 mile climb, I don't want to take any chances through the Rockies.

[c214dick]

MLH, I did receive an answer from a Dashdaq retailer. The unit will fit my Dodge. I have found a number of gauge monitor/tuners which seems to be the route I will be taking. Bully Dog, Quadzilla, VIVID and Diablo all offer this type of unit. Prices range from $495-$719 which does not seem unreasonable compared to Dasdaq for $599. They all seem to be plug and play with the exception of Bully Dog which requires an additional wire to the fuse box.

I guess my next step is to check the various diesel forums for recomendations.

[Champ_49]

When you get out west your going to find 7 and 8% grades and in some instances even more steep. Going over the Bighorn Mtns if I remember correctly there was plenty of 8% grades and I'm thinking it was pretty much uphill for around 19 miles. It was not 8% all the way, but it was still a steady climb. This was the southern route over the Bighorns. My understanding is that the northern route is even harder climbs. This is when I found out my tuner was needed.

On the other hand when you get to the top its becomes a trip down. This is where I found the extra money I spent on an exhaust brake pays off big time. I truly believe you need to worry more about going down than going up.


Dave

[mlh]

These are the 10 perimeters I monitor:
Engine oil temp
Engine coolant temp
Transmission fluid temp
Torque foot pounds
EGR open %
Torque converter slip in RPMs
Exhaust gas recirculation temp
Fuel rail pressure
Fuel rail Temp
and boost
Lynwood

[richfaa]

http://www.aeroforcetech.com/ remember this is a Monitor guage....NOT a chip. Pyro can be inputed to the guage

[mlh]

Yes Rich I understand. Mine is a gage that came with the tuner. All of the tunes came on a SD card that plugs in the, lets say gage. Its a touch screen 2.25 x 4 inches. The user can make it look like round gages, graphs or a numerical readout. It will also read the error codes stored in any car or truck computer and erase them. It will also log all 10 things I monitor on a SD card so I can check or store them on my computer.
Lynwood

[richfaa]

Actually the boost OEM guage on then truck is accurate. In my opinion ALL diesel trucks should have the a EGT gauge OEM EGT . When I see these rigs screaming by me on a steep grade when we are backed off to keep our EGT;s down we know they are abusing their motor.
The only time we had the coolant and trans temop go high was on those 9% grades between breezewood and Gettysburg..and I mean high. We just pulled those hills to see how the 6.4L performed pulling a GCVW of about 23K..It did well but will not do that again.

We monitor the parameters we feel are most important to the motor. EGT, Trans temps, coolant, oil temp. If we are on a real hard pull we will scan through the rest of them.We know what the optimum parameters are and we try to stay withing them..speed be Da** ed

[MIMF]

As I mentioned in my earlier reply, I have a low restriction air filter. My next trick, should I decide to keep this truck a couple more years, is to install an over-sized low restriction exhaust system. That will increase torque and hopefully increase fuel mileage a smidge.

[mlh]

MIMF be careful with the low restriction air filter. Some of the ones that you coat with oil, the racers say will "dust" your engine and wear it out.
Lynwood