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Old 05-01-2013, 04:02 AM   #1
K0LCB
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Performance chip

Has anyone had experience with performance chip in Cummins Diesel?
 
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Old 05-01-2013, 04:30 AM   #2
Tom S.
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They do work as far as adding HP and torque, however fuel mileage is debatable because they can also affect the driver information center if your truck has one, so manually computing of mileage is recommended. However.... if your truck is still under warranty, it will also void your warranty. Many people use them with no problems, but there is always that warranty issue.
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Old 05-01-2013, 05:30 AM   #3
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Depending on what you do with it. HP and torque are variable, mileage will increase if you do a delete of your pollution system and you EGT will run cooler in a stock or close to stock tune, due to more air flow and no regen cycle. However many of the major tuners have pulled back on deleted systems due to EPA pressure. H&S Performance is a good place to start, I have run their tuner for years with no issues. But as Tom mentioned there is that issue of warranty.
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Old 05-01-2013, 07:55 AM   #4
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I ran a chip in my previous Ford F-250, and yes there was an increase in power, but over an identical 1200 mile journey, with and without the chip, my fuel economy suffered by about 5%, and I was running the chip in the "economy" mode. Now with my new F-250 I don't run a chip, I've learned my lesson.
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Old 05-01-2013, 09:23 AM   #5
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by Rainer

I ran a chip in my previous Ford F-250, and yes there was an increase in power, but over an identical 1200 mile journey, with and without the chip, my fuel economy suffered by about 5%, and I was running the chip in the "economy" mode. Now with my new F-250 I don't run a chip, I've learned my lesson.
I used a programmer on my 2001 Ford Excursion Diesel. It worked fine but it eventually fried my onboard computer. That cost me a few bucks. My mechanic warned me, but I did not listen.

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Old 05-01-2013, 11:41 AM   #6
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If you have ever notice what happens when your truck goes into regen, and your MPG drops 30 percent, you will eliminate that lose, with deletes. 2008 F250 PS, pulling 33 foot TP trailer, 6 trip aver 1450 same destination, MPG increased 1.2 MPG, empty increased 3.5 mpg. Some aren't great and some are. Go to the diesel forums and look around. See who is top ranked and why. Just a note, you will not see Banks mentioned much, for good reason. They do make good brakes though.
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Old 05-01-2013, 12:32 PM   #7
H. John Kohl
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I put a full cold air intake, exhaust and electronic on my 03 Dodge Cummins. As stated I did not see much increase in MPG but did have extra power for pulling. I do not plan on putting it on the 12 model. I feel it is good nuff.
Good luck. Before you chip it check the cold air intack and see if they recessed the intake to bolt it down to the intake manafold. If yes then my first recommendation is to replace that and see what happens.
Did I get $3000.oo worth of performance on my 03 Ram. Probably not but it was a cash bonus so I spent it on my toy.
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Old 05-01-2013, 12:54 PM   #8
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As John said, these new trucks are pretty good out of the box. We do a lot of dino testing, the new air boxes(factory) are good up to about 500 HP after that you will need to open up the intake side some. But I just dropped Dodge CTD and went to Chevy DMax, don't get me wrong I still love Ram, just a change for awhile. The Ram was tuned and deleted, the Chevy.....not yet.
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Old 05-01-2013, 03:01 PM   #9
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I had a chip on my 1999 Ram and it really did make a big improvement. Fuel milage went up from 17 mpg empty to 22 mpg empty and while pulling the Monty I got about 15 mpg. It added 150 ft. lbs. torgue and 75 hp. It was a VA (Van Acken) box. On my new 2009 I am not going to do it though. Times are a bit tighter now and don't have the funds.
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Old 05-02-2013, 03:33 AM   #10
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If you go the Chip/Programmer route, make sure you read on the specs. From what I've read on some of the Diesel Forums around the 1st of the year they have been prohibited from selling units that will delete the pollution crap, Big Brother getting into the act. And if you read the fine print on the older units, most had disclaimers that they were for "Off Road Use Only". Just a Buyer Beware
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Old 05-02-2013, 04:45 AM   #11
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I have a 2008 6.7 that is basically the same motor you have in your 2009. While working in Yellowstone summer of 2010 we were driving short distances from employee campground to work daily and truck would display message about every 2 to 3 days DPF 80% full need to drive highway speed for regen. We would have to make about a 10 mile run to get truck to regen and clear DPF. I ordered H&S tuner and removed DPF. This allows EGR to be unplugged with no CEL lights. If I use +60hp setting mileage is much improved, but I put truck back to stock hp when towing, due to boost pressure and head gasket concerns and mileage is close to pre delete. I read one of the diesel forums daily and most say motor soot is moslty eliminated by running deleted. Unless you are having issues with regens, I would not recommend deleting. Mileage difference is not cost prohibitive and when you trade you will need to put all deleted parts back on. Also some states inspect for deletes and will not pass a deleted vehicle. I still have all the parts and when I trade in the next couple of years, I will have to reinstall. Had I not run into the trouble while working in Yellowstone, I would definitely not buy a tuner and delete DPF.
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Old 05-02-2013, 05:13 AM   #12
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by pappy65
While working in Yellowstone summer of 2010
I worked in Yellowstone (Fishing Bridge) in the summer of 1969....it's where I met my wife!
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Old 05-02-2013, 05:43 AM   #13
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by pappy65

I have a 2008 6.7 that is basically the same motor you have in your 2009. While working in Yellowstone summer of 2010 we were driving short distances from employee campground to work daily and truck would display message about every 2 to 3 days DPF 80% full need to drive highway speed for regen. We would have to make about a 10 mile run to get truck to regen and clear DPF. I ordered H&S tuner and removed DPF. This allows EGR to be unplugged with no CEL lights. If I use +60hp setting mileage is much improved, but I put truck back to stock hp when towing, due to boost pressure and head gasket concerns and mileage is close to pre delete. I read one of the diesel forums daily and most say motor soot is moslty eliminated by running deleted. Unless you are having issues with regens, I would not recommend deleting. Mileage difference is not cost prohibitive and when you trade you will need to put all deleted parts back on. Also some states inspect for deletes and will not pass a deleted vehicle. I still have all the parts and when I trade in the next couple of years, I will have to reinstall. Had I not run into the trouble while working in Yellowstone, I would definitely not buy a tuner and delete DPF.
You are correct as far as soot is concerned, due to the EGR system putting it back thru the engine, when deleted, the EGR is taken off line. Oil stays much cleaner, Cummins stated that with EGR the 6.7 is a 250,000 mile engine, without, nearly a million mile engine, tells ya something about pump soot back into engine where it can be oiled washed down cylinder wall back to crank. Talk to you friendly Dodge mechanic and they will tell you 80% of warranty work relating to power train is from EPA required equipment, the Cummins very rarely has an issue. Generally turbo failures go back to high EGT, from regen cycle, which hold temps at 1500 plus for way to long.
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Old 05-02-2013, 05:46 AM   #14
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We worked the laundry/showers at Grant village. Our oldest daughter worked at old faithful during college 1988, the year of the fires.
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Old 05-02-2013, 07:06 AM   #15
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After my first trip with my 2001 Dodge 3500 6 spd standard I had the Edge Juice installed. It increased the HP and Torque considerably, but also changed the power band and was a huge improvement. For mileage I averaged 20 - 22 empty and 12 pulling the 3402RL. It was important to watch the exhaust temp when pulling a hill but I just shifted down a gear to address that and kept the temp at acceptable range.

My new 2012 Dodge 3500 at best with a tail wind will give me 11 mpg towing the same unit, but the worst part is I cannot get better than 13 - 15 empty. The oil is black almost immediately and looks like it was never changed. Although the truck is "ok" towing and I can live with that mileage, I am absolutely not happy with the mileage when not towing.

I do not want to loose my warranty but will be looking at options to get rid of some of the garbage attached to the truck. I love the Cummins engine and they are tougher than a pigs ear but what they have done to the engine now has to shorten it's life expectancy.

So back to researching for now.
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Old 05-02-2013, 04:07 PM   #16
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The EPA is cracking down on the tuner manufactures. I would be surprised if you could buy a DPF delete tuner a year from now. So if you wont one you better get it. If you buy one to get better fuel mileage you wasted your money. If you buy it to get a better more reliable truck it is money well spent. You can destroy your truck with a tuner installed but you can also destroy it stock. I monitor 10 perimeters and have never had a single one go out of spec. Oh the fuel temp will go to about 145 when the truck is not running but it would have on a stock truck, I have had fuel rail pressure over 25,500 PSI for less than a second. These are things almost nobody monitors let alone know what they are. The main ones EGT, engine oil and coolant temptress stay well within limits and probably lower than stock. Like someone said when Cummings put the DPF on their engines they reduced the service interval by 100,000 miles. That tell a lot about.
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Old 05-04-2013, 02:53 PM   #17
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Most Dodge forums seem to recommend Smarty from MADS Electronics for the Cummins, as opposed to other brands. Bully Dog is said to be notorious for doing damage by upping performance beyond stock motor capabilities if not carefully monitored. The Smarty Jr. has +40/+70/+100 hp settings, and on my '07 5.9 is touted to be undetectable if reverted back to stock tuning. Have not noticed much gain on mileage, but towing power is much improved. I have 6sp manual trans, so do not have to worry about burning up an auto trans with too much towing power.
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Old 05-08-2013, 12:11 PM   #18
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If your 2009 truck is still under the 5/100,000 powertrain. Leave it stock. I spent 1/2 a day Monday at the Dodge Dealership with a MIL on my 2012 with 2500 miles. I probably spent close to a hour visiting with a Cummins Tech. First, they can detect every tuner ever connected, despite the fact you return it to stock when you bring it in. If you have deleted it, forget getting any powertrain help.

IF you need more power, buy a class 6 truck. These are class 2 and class 3 light duty trucks. I do not care what they claim.

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Old 05-10-2013, 05:53 AM   #19
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Like Jim posted, they can detect every tuner made. They can also tell you every time a scan tool has been plugged into the port. (Although a scan tool or code reader will not void warranty) and that tuner detect will sure increase your repair cost because they will red flag you in the system and have a BIG warranty void by the VIN
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Old 05-10-2013, 02:12 PM   #20
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I had my Ford dealer tech, using the dealers equipment check to see if he could detect my Spartan tuner and he could not. Ford says they can detect any tuner but he could not. It probably doesn't matter anyway. My tech tells me he has denied only one person warranty coverage that had a tuner on their truck and then only because that person got "smart a$$ed" with him and has never had Ford come and check a diesel truck. If a high pressure fuel pump goes out Ford will wont to see it to check to see if there is any rust or dirt in it and will deny converge for that. The best thing anybody can do to insure GOOD service is to tip the tech and thank him for his help.
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