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Who's running a tune

WesMgc

Active Member
Aug 18, 2015
128
33
Truck Year
2014
Any one running a tune if so what tune and how do they like it and what's the best out there.

1 GDE
2 Banks
3 Blue spark
Many more please up date if you have one or looking at one or testing one.
Thanks
 

BoostN

Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
Jul 27, 2013
4,288
1,127
Truck Year
Not Listed
Not me, not because I don't want to it's because of issues coming up with the EcoDiesel (oil in coolant, etc) that would be costly out of warranty.

Hopefully when they get a lot of things figured out I will form a different opinion.
 

Dieseldave

New Member
Aug 23, 2015
3
8
Truck Year
2014
Any one running a tune if so what tune and how do they like it and what's the best out there.

1 GDE
2 Banks
3 Blue spark
Many more please up date if you have one or looking at one or testing one.
Thanks
I run the GDE and i love it
 

WesMgc

Active Member
Aug 18, 2015
128
33
Truck Year
2014
I am thinking about that one waiting for a bit to get the bugs out and a stronger Canadian dollar .
 
  • Like
Reactions: MRD

WesMgc

Active Member
Aug 18, 2015
128
33
Truck Year
2014
Hi diesel Dave did u gain 2-5 miles per gal and fewer regens like they advertise I have bin thinking about that one
 

Dieseldave

New Member
Aug 23, 2015
3
8
Truck Year
2014
Hi diesel Dave did u gain 2-5 miles per gal and fewer regens like they advertise I have bin thinking about that one
I have gained 3 mpg. I have the edge CTS gage and it shows the soot levels, and let's me see my regens. my regens use to be around every 150 to 200 miles. Now they happen between 400 to 600 miles. The most important feature of the GDE tune is it shuts down the EGR CYCLE eliminating a huge amount of soot and cap the gets into your engine and oil. This will increase the life on the motor. The engine exhaust Temps are cooler by around 100 degrees , with much improved acceleration. The transmission shifts are prolonged for better proformance . To see more go to GDEs website. I really like mine.
 

WesMgc

Active Member
Aug 18, 2015
128
33
Truck Year
2014
Nice very nice thanks for the update.
 

seiko

Active Member
Jul 23, 2015
263
57
Truck Year
2015
I'm doing a wait and see. So far my economy and performance is excellent. Don't get no diesel pee smell. I do have the Edge CS2 and REGEN seems to take care of itself, without me having to help or alter my driving. Just had a recent update to the EcoDiesel. It disable the REGEN DISTANCE on the edge, in that it constantly read zero. Edge is aware of it. Everything else is still working.

One can increase power/hp with tunes, increasing gas fed into cylinder, but normally it raises the gas exhaust temps and if pushed to far, it can burn out your engine. This is more critical if towing a trailer. I notice at 3500 rpm towing up steep hills, the temp can jump to 1500 F. But never happen when not towing.

Yes, forget warranty if you use a tune. Yes forget passing pollution standards, depending on the tunes.
 

Connie

Member
Sep 16, 2015
56
25
Truck Year
2015
I am a bit new this .. but if using a tune is really worth the cost and you do get the extra levels of efficiency why wouldn't it be part of the this new embarkment of Ram to this Eco diesel engine..much of the documentation info I read on a tune. makes it sound so much better.. I am reading it does increase savings of fuel consumption along with improved fuel economy and lower emissions.. there has to be a negative.. because Ram wants to be more competative and has worked pretty hard to bring their trucks to front runners... so why not incorporate this techonlogy? What is the negative ?
 

seiko

Active Member
Jul 23, 2015
263
57
Truck Year
2015
Here one opinion express by one company that makes tunes and monitors. Something to look into it, or at least make you pause about the claims of tunes. (I'm now at 9K with the truck, time will tell me more, no doubt, so far the EcoDiesel has met or exceeded my expectation)

My fuel economy is fantastic (30-40 mpg imperial) as is and lots of power (the torque is the secret sauce). So is it worth the cost, as of this time, I don't feel it worth the cost to me and increases the chance of unreliability for the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel 3.0L. It probably be more cost effective and less risky on a Cummins motors , etc. When towing, I never allow the EGT (exhaust gas temperature, hit 1500 F). It will happen when your rpm hit 3500 and cruise control on.

I originally bought the Edge CS2 monitor to watch my REGEN, now I see it as no longer an issue, a necessity. For my driving, highly unlikely I reach 90 percent soot and get an evic message. Yes, I can't tell when regen is occuring without the monitor, but if you have a habit of idling for 1 to 2 minutes when engine is hot/normal temp as per manufacture, it will cool down enough to turn off the vehicle.

However, monitoring the EGT, especially when towing, can save you engine component failures.

Here is what I paste from another site: Judge for yourself the contents.

Q. IT SEEMS EVERY PRODUCT I SEE ADVERTISED CLAIMS 100+ HORSEPOWER GAINS, YET WHEN I HAVE DRIVEN A FRIEND’S TRUCK THAT HAS ONE OF YOUR COMPETITORS’ PRODUCTS, THE PERFORMANCE JUST DOESN’T SEEM THAT GOOD. HOW COME?

A. When it comes to horsepower claims there are many people in the industry state horsepower and torque gains using methods that while accurate, are not particular relevant to what the enthusiast is looking for in an upgrade.

The most common example of this is flywheel or crank horsepower claims vs. rear wheel numbers. If your crank shaft was connected to the road, this would be great a number to know. But in fact, your crank shaft is connected to other components, like your transmission for example, that act like a parasite and reduce power. What you really want to know is horsepower gains at the wheels. A typical truck uses about 30% of its power turning the gears, drive shaft and other components that sit between the flywheel and the tires. This means someone claiming a 50 horsepower gain at the flywheel is probably only making about a 35 horsepower gain at the wheels. Not bad, but not really as advertised.

The second popular method of “super sizing” horsepower claims is by quoting horsepower gain numbers based on some totally unusable part of the power band. Who cares if all your power gain comes after 3,000 RPM? When do you ever cruise on the highway at redline?

What you should be interested in is usable power gains in the low and mid range. This is particularly true if you tow. Before getting mesmerized by that 100hp claim, look at a before and after dyno graph and see if the gains are really where you drive. Just so you know, Some tuners only use rear-wheel horsepower numbers and some tune all our products to provide maximum performance in the most useable part of the power band.

EGT stands for exhaust gas temperature, and is the single most important indicator of how a diesel engine is performing. Unlike a gasoline motor, a diesel motor will continue to make power as more fuel is added. As more fuel is added, heat will be generated until the motor just gets too hot and things start to melt.

This is a situation to avoid. Exhaust gas temperature is the ideal measurement of how hot the motor is, since temperature fluctuations in the gas are almost instantaneous. You should consider using a monitor or installing an EGT gauge even if you make no performance upgrades, since EGT is such an important indicator of engine load. This is particularly if you tow.

There are basically three ways for a box to make more power in a diesel: timing, duration and pressure. Some boxes just do pressure, some do timing and duration and some do all three.

If a box does just pressure, the box is fooling the truck’s computer into thinking it has less fuel pressure than it really does. In response, the computer increases the fuel rail pressure and so when the injectors fire, since there is increased fuel pressure, more fuel is released into the engine and additional power is created.

This is the simplest type of power upgrade module and we have found it works very well for most Dodge applications and the Ford 7.3 Powerstrokes, as long as your power gains are limited to less than 70 horsepower.

We have found raising fuel pressure on Ford 6.0 and the Duramax puts too much strain on the fuel system and so we do not make pressure boxes for these vehicles.

Also, as mentioned, 70 horsepower is about the most you can safely gain in the Dodge and about 50 horsepower is what you can get out of the 7.3 Powerstroke.

As the name implies, a timing and duration box changes the timing of when the injectors fire, either advancing or retarding timing, as well as how long the injectors stay open when they fire. This takes considerable sophistication when it comes to understanding performance tuning as well as vehicle communication systems.

We have found re-tuning through timing and duration works very well on the Duramax and the Ford 6.0. When done correctly, it can also produce big gains on most of the Cummins motors; however these gains will usually require additional aftermarket enhancements to the vehicle.

There are basically
three ways for a box to make more power in a diesel: timing, duration and pressure. Some boxes just do pressure, some do timing and duration and some do all three.
 

Connie

Member
Sep 16, 2015
56
25
Truck Year
2015
Here one opinion express by one company that makes tunes and monitors. Something to look into it, or at least make you pause about the claims of tunes. (I'm now at 9K with the truck, time will tell me more, no doubt, so far the EcoDiesel has met or exceeded my expectation)

My fuel economy is fantastic (30-40 mpg imperial) as is and lots of power (the torque is the secret sauce). So is it worth the cost, as of this time, I don't feel it worth the cost to me and increases the chance of unreliability for the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel 3.0L. It probably be more cost effective and less risky on a Cummins motors , etc. When towing, I never allow the EGT (exhaust gas temperature, hit 1500 F). It will happen when your rpm hit 3500 and cruise control on.

I originally bought the Edge CS2 monitor to watch my REGEN, now I see it as no longer an issue, a necessity. For my driving, highly unlikely I reach 90 percent soot and get an evic message. Yes, I can't tell when regen is occuring without the monitor, but if you have a habit of idling for 1 to 2 minutes when engine is hot/normal temp as per manufacture, it will cool down enough to turn off the vehicle.

However, monitoring the EGT, especially when towing, can save you engine component failures.

Here is what I paste from another site: Judge for yourself the contents.

Q. IT SEEMS EVERY PRODUCT I SEE ADVERTISED CLAIMS 100+ HORSEPOWER GAINS, YET WHEN I HAVE DRIVEN A FRIEND’S TRUCK THAT HAS ONE OF YOUR COMPETITORS’ PRODUCTS, THE PERFORMANCE JUST DOESN’T SEEM THAT GOOD. HOW COME?

A. When it comes to horsepower claims there are many people in the industry state horsepower and torque gains using methods that while accurate, are not particular relevant to what the enthusiast is looking for in an upgrade.

The most common example of this is flywheel or crank horsepower claims vs. rear wheel numbers. If your crank shaft was connected to the road, this would be great a number to know. But in fact, your crank shaft is connected to other components, like your transmission for example, that act like a parasite and reduce power. What you really want to know is horsepower gains at the wheels. A typical truck uses about 30% of its power turning the gears, drive shaft and other components that sit between the flywheel and the tires. This means someone claiming a 50 horsepower gain at the flywheel is probably only making about a 35 horsepower gain at the wheels. Not bad, but not really as advertised.

The second popular method of “super sizing” horsepower claims is by quoting horsepower gain numbers based on some totally unusable part of the power band. Who cares if all your power gain comes after 3,000 RPM? When do you ever cruise on the highway at redline?

What you should be interested in is usable power gains in the low and mid range. This is particularly true if you tow. Before getting mesmerized by that 100hp claim, look at a before and after dyno graph and see if the gains are really where you drive. Just so you know, Some tuners only use rear-wheel horsepower numbers and some tune all our products to provide maximum performance in the most useable part of the power band.

EGT stands for exhaust gas temperature, and is the single most important indicator of how a diesel engine is performing. Unlike a gasoline motor, a diesel motor will continue to make power as more fuel is added. As more fuel is added, heat will be generated until the motor just gets too hot and things start to melt.

This is a situation to avoid. Exhaust gas temperature is the ideal measurement of how hot the motor is, since temperature fluctuations in the gas are almost instantaneous. You should consider using a monitor or installing an EGT gauge even if you make no performance upgrades, since EGT is such an important indicator of engine load. This is particularly if you tow.

There are basically three ways for a box to make more power in a diesel: timing, duration and pressure. Some boxes just do pressure, some do timing and duration and some do all three.

If a box does just pressure, the box is fooling the truck’s computer into thinking it has less fuel pressure than it really does. In response, the computer increases the fuel rail pressure and so when the injectors fire, since there is increased fuel pressure, more fuel is released into the engine and additional power is created.

This is the simplest type of power upgrade module and we have found it works very well for most Dodge applications and the Ford 7.3 Powerstrokes, as long as your power gains are limited to less than 70 horsepower.

We have found raising fuel pressure on Ford 6.0 and the Duramax puts too much strain on the fuel system and so we do not make pressure boxes for these vehicles.

Also, as mentioned, 70 horsepower is about the most you can safely gain in the Dodge and about 50 horsepower is what you can get out of the 7.3 Powerstroke.

As the name implies, a timing and duration box changes the timing of when the injectors fire, either advancing or retarding timing, as well as how long the injectors stay open when they fire. This takes considerable sophistication when it comes to understanding performance tuning as well as vehicle communication systems.

We have found re-tuning through timing and duration works very well on the Duramax and the Ford 6.0. When done correctly, it can also produce big gains on most of the Cummins motors; however these gains will usually require additional aftermarket enhancements to the vehicle.

There are basically
three ways for a box to make more power in a diesel: timing, duration and pressure. Some boxes just do pressure, some do timing and duration and some do all three.
 

Connie

Member
Sep 16, 2015
56
25
Truck Year
2015
That was a great response to a tune.. I think I learned quite a bit.. thanks for taking the time!!!
 

seiko

Active Member
Jul 23, 2015
263
57
Truck Year
2015
When Soot level start to climb to about 65 percent in truck components. The vehicle software activates controls to heats up the components to burn off soot and throws in DEF to meet exhaust standards. Reduces pollution. A requirement for all diesel vehicles.

BoostN FYI: I got my EcoDieselRam sticker, thanks!
 

Connie

Member
Sep 16, 2015
56
25
Truck Year
2015
ok I have been researching the Tune and what type to run. since i am new to the diesel engine and the workings it all.. I Talked directly to GDE to find out all they would tell.. and theirs will not void the warranty... because the dealer will not know you have it it is a ECM change out..
I look into Banks.. and I don't see on their website a tune for the ECO outside the bullet which seems to just control some parameter of what you can force the truck to do.. I could be very wrong but I look at other sites and unless it is a new unit and not totally advertised.. I don't find one in Banks that does the GDE with out the delete.. I don't want to delete .. I just want more power, and mpg and less soot.. we all bought an expensive truck and I don't want to screw it up because I have read what other think or base my decision on just wanting to have all the cool sounding stuff I see in the groups or better suited people then I under stand more..

I did buy and EDGE and I am disappointed in it.. I thought it also did some sort of tuning.. and it is because the descriptions for these things are more suit for people who already know what the heck they are or if you have an older truck and like seeing the performance on gauge form of what is happening in your engine.. our truck already does what the compatible RAM ECO D EDGE cst2 insight does.. it shows us our various temps and psi.. ect.. our truck does not show us our boost or when we are having a regen.. the EDGE will do that and allow you to do a manual regen.. however you need to upgrade the soft ware.. I have a mac and you need PC to upgrade to be able to see a regen and I if understood right when talking to EDGE tech support.. it is only shown by your exhaust temp..because your regen is happening at a high temp when it burning the crap out.. I asked the tech with EDGE geez what did I pay $334 dollars for (i bought on amazon EDGE wanted $410, rollin diesel $355... and I got free shipping with amazon)... cause this expensive monitor .. does what my truck already does.. and he said well it will show you codes.. and yes that is true but my truck will too and the app on my iphone and $13 obd reader does the same and explains the code.. so my edge is going back.. and I will use that $334 towards what ever tune I decide on or new rims or a fancy bed cover..

So if people who do have a tune here with no delete could help with the best choice please do.. also I asked GDE what happens if the flashed ecm goes bad or gets overwritten..?? not a clear answer on that.. if I hadn't read a blog I would not of known about the overwriting issue they did not volunteer that info in the first email.. i believe that if something goes wrong or you need to be upgraded or rewritten.. the fix for rewrite is $50 but you have to take it out and send it back and wait for it to be fixed and then re mailed. .. so your truck is dead in the water..

Many of the tunes I think were designed for older trucks to do utilize more power and for off road.. now they are popular for on road to up the power and mpg.. I don't want to mess with my exhaust.. I don't know enough about it... I don't mind having a quiet sounding truck and I don't want to deal with the epa stuff if I even need to be tested where I live .. right now I don't but every county around does so it is only a matter of time..

The next thing is should a person keep the stock ecm just in case???? so your truck if it is dead you can change out the stock back and at least keep your truck running?? if you do that tho your don't get the $650 core charge credit.. it is like taking a gamble will I have problems with my truck and need the stock ecm.. will I have problems with my soot build up and should I have gottena tune????. Please anyone help I am confused LOL.. and if I am going to change my truck I want to do it right.. this is much more complicated and has more problems attached to it then buying new rims or a lift.. I am messing with my trucks main computer that makes my truck run...how much risk should be taken with $50,000 new truck??? So just like the first question on this thread.. who out there can give info on what and why they think a certain tune is worth it or do we be safe and stay stock .. afterall this is a great truck and so many people what to change it makes me wonder why did they buy it? but I see even the cummins, duramax and powerstroke.. the tune concept is big.. so why are the companies not upgrading there trucks knowing that a tune can make it better?
 

jdn112011

Well-Known Member
Oct 18, 2015
1,242
336
Truck Year
2015
The issue with the factory tune is well FCA. they just stated with the 2016 press release that they intentionally detuned the Cummings so every year they can increase towing numbers without actually Changing anything. No one wants to see the same numbers every year and I understand that as well as the constant need for improvement but when the engineers admittedly detune an engine just so they can make it look better 6 years down the road when they introduce the tune and power it was supposed to have from launch? I find it dishonest and not very good business.

It's a necessary evil.

And I'm sure the same goes for the ED so that they can eventually factor in better numbers when sales percentages drop on the eco. Boost numbers to boost sales. But only when it's necessary to do so. It will take either another manufacturer to produce a serious and reliable high economy diesel that puts pressure on the ecodiesel's sales or just sales in general seriously dropping due to market.

Then and only then will we see a REAL factory tune come on this engine. Until then it will drag us owners along knowing it could be better.

Only it won't show it's face until there's competition. (Ecoboost obviously isn't a threat) Gm canyon/Colorado diesel or a gm electric hybrid full size that puts out some serious numbers; because until that point, ram is winning the numbers war. And until that changes FCA will do what they do best and hold out on the real tune they have in store
 
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