Diesel Tuning Systems....

Uncle Rog · Aug 7, 2008

Howdy, sounds like a few of you out there have the Edge system, has any one heard of or used this system.............

http://www.pmtdiesel.com/_e/GM_Dies...ageGM_6_6L_Duramax_Diesel_2004_5_2005_LLY.htm

A friend of mine uses it in his GMC and hauls eqipment trailers with it and swears by it............??
I am considering the tuner alone or the complete system, not sure if the intake / exhaust adds are worth it............

jmgratz · Aug 7, 2008

Do a search on this forum as this issue has been discussed several times....

Smokeyfl · Aug 7, 2008

Flashpaq

I have a 2002 F250 HD diesel, 7.3 and installed a Superchip Flashpaq. I did not do any other performance modifications. The increse in power is amazing. I have it set on the lowest level (tow safe).

StevieWonder · Aug 7, 2008

The Edge is a great system. There are MANY other excellent ones including Banks. Do some research but I HIGHLY recommend a good performance programming system. My experience over nearly two decades is that they improve HP, torque and fuel mileage and make the towing experience much more enjoyable and economical.

ONE note of caution:

Do NOT "overtune" your engine to a power level that will raise operating temperatures above a safe level. Most tuning packages have several selectable power levels. The levels above the 1st or 2nd typically are for "show" and NOT for "tow". They radically increase exhaust gas temperatures (EGT) and will literally burn down your turbo, exhaust and engine without dramatic/expensive alterations to the turbo intercooler and exhaust system. That's why every single system I'm aware of warn, and warn again, about using those upper power levels. They all recommend, in the strongest of terms, an engine monitoring system to help keep you from destroying your drivetrain.

Forrest Fetherolf · Aug 7, 2008

One chipped his 06 Duramax...............did increase HP with the higher settings and smoke to match............absolutely no increase in fuel mileage. Three other's chipped their Fords...........two blew a head gasket and one blew both head gaskets and grenaded the turbo.
Nice gadget to have, I guess, I wouldn't want to chance the consequence's, my 06 Duramax pulls a 3600RL (22460 CGW) without any problems at appropriate freeway speeds and I'm not the one slowing up traffic.

Forrest

bsummit · Aug 7, 2008

I've been running a power puck chip (similiar to the basic Edge) in my cummins for 6 yrs now. Did increase power, torque, and fuel mileage. 106000 miles and still going strong. It did increase exhaust temp a little but after I put an K&N air box on it that cooled it back down.

boatdoc · Aug 7, 2008

I'm not going to name manufacture's but be careful of what you use and when you use it. My puney little 50-65 hp "performance modifier" just did a major meltdown on the turbo and I have aftermarket gauges, BD Xmonitor. I never saw anything over 1100 degrees but boy did it do a number on the turbo blades. It ran great but got the "sticky's" that most Ford 6.0's get when they sit, when it went in for the stuck vanes they found the bad exhaust side rotor. I'm glad the "helper" was removed before it went in for the stickys because they fixed it also. Ran this past weekend with the 5er and yes it was down a little but still got the job done and the helper WILL NOT go back on. Be careful guys.

tkdmike · Sep 2, 2008

Lots of good advice. I have a custom, 4 position chip in my 01 F250 that adjusts HP to 40, 85, 105 and 145 HP above stock. But I also have an exhaust gas temp gauge, tranny temp gauge and boost gauge to monitor temperatures in addition to oversized after market exhaust, intake, turbo housing and wheel, and intercooler. Even on the lowest setting, for towing, I have to watch EGT temps to avoid melting something down when we hit the hills. Lots of computer programmers and chips will add horsepower by changing the fuel delivery timing and volume but all that extra fuel needs to have extra air and exhaust flow, too. A programmer by itself can be dangerous if you don't stay informed about the effects it is having on your engine. Hope this helps.

SLJKansas · Sep 26, 2008

Before you chip it, go to a turbo back 4" exhaust. You don't need stainless steel, diesel doesn't rust out the exhaust like gas does. I saw an inprovement in mine with the exhaust change, but haven't had it on road to get any good numbers as yet, but daily commute I 'm seeing about 1-1.5 mpg improvement. I haven't had the new trailer out on the road except the 10 miles from dealer to lake for the summer. The Fords air filter flows pretty well, so I'm not going to change it, but may open the snorkel up a little. I don't plan on chipping it, the 6.0 PSD has enough power to get me down the road.

jbeletti · Sep 26, 2008

SLJKansas said:
...The Fords air filter flows pretty well, so I'm not going to change it, but may open the snorkel up a little. I don't plan on chipping it, the 6.0 PSD has enough power to get me down the road.

I have yet to change my filter yet (12k miles) but Jon (Jon&Patti) at the MI rally last weekend showed me his mod where he cut a long hole in a plastic shroud around the radiator in front of the air filter opening. It was unbelievable to me (6.0 PSD) that the path to the air inlet was so restricted. Jon removed the grill and used a 4" hole saw to cut a hole, then moved it down to cut again and ended up with a nice elongated hole. He then covered the hole with some metal mesh to catch the big stuff from entering the filter.

Jim

rideblue · Sep 26, 2008

What Jim describes above is called the "Zoodad" mod. I have a programmer but plan to change to an SCT programmer. This will allow to run the engine keeping the EGR valve closed without creating a "check engine" light. I unplugged my EGR awhile ago and got exhaust temps 150 degrees lower, towing or not, but I got the dreaded CE light.

pmmjarrett · Sep 27, 2008

SCT with custom tunes is the way to go with the 6.0 PSD.

Tried the "unplug the EGR" on my '06 F350 and it threw codes too. IIRC some of the early 6.0 engines can run unplugged without throwing codes.

bigredtruck · Sep 27, 2008

Edge Programmer

Hay Roger

I’ve read the other reply’s you got on the Edge question, some have pretty good advice. One thing that no one has mentioned is when you program your truck it also changes your transmission shifting pattern on an automatic trans, at least it did on mine. I have a 1996 F350 with a 7.3 power stroke with 300,000 k on it and I use the Towing program only because of the high mileage, I don’t want to destroy anything. I have done some mods to the exhaust, I changed the turbo down pipe to a bigger one and also put on 4 inch exhaust. This made the biggest improvement and also gained 2.5 miles / gal ave. If you are towing anything big you should get yourself some gages (Exhaust, Trans Temp and Boost) as mentioned in some other posts especially if you reprogramming. You need to know what is going on under the hood or it will be costly later on. The towing program on the Edge works great for me, I program it for towing when I hook-up the trailer and set it back to stock when I’m done. The Edge is a great product.

Oldlthrneck · Sep 28, 2008

Gauges are a must whenever you run a programmer on your engine. EGT, Trans Temp and Boost at a bare minimum. I also added the deeper trans pan to mine and it lowered my trans temps by 20 deg across the board. It also lowered my engine temps. Not sure how that happened, but it works. I also found that my stock gauge for engine temp was way off. It goes to 195 deg and never goes higher. My Edge engine temp gauge will show that I can get up to 215+ deg, when pulling a long hill. I look at my stock gauge and it never budges. The value of aftermarket gauges, when pulling a load, cannot be emphasized enough, IMO.

pmmjarrett · Sep 28, 2008

bigredtruck said:
Hay Roger

One thing that no one has mentioned is when you program your truck it also changes your transmission shifting pattern on an automatic trans, at least it did on mine.

That's going to depend on the transmission/model/manufacturer. That worked with the 4R100 and E4DOA

opps I mean E4OD Ford but not the 5R110 aka torqushift behind the 6.0 and 6.4. The 5R110 "learns" what the shift strategy is supposed to be (at least it tries to) and you have to follow some instructions to get it to reprogram itself

GM I havn't a clue on the Allison and programming it.

Uncle Rog · Sep 29, 2008

Howdy, as I have said I am delighted with the intake / exhaust mod, however, over the weekend a friend of mine tried to explain why I should or have to go to a tuner now. He explained that by opening up the intake and freeing up the exhaust that the fuel mixture has been "leened out", causing higher temps, even though the gauges say just the opposite............any ideas or does the computer automatically adjust to the new air flow?

bill40 · Sep 29, 2008

I have had three banks systems starting back in 95 on our chevy desiel and then on our 2000 gas motor home. We now have the system on our 3500 duramax. We have not had any problems with any of their systems. I would suggest researching any system thorouhgly. As you have heard they can both help and hinder. Good luck.

pmmjarrett · Sep 29, 2008

Uncle Rog said:
Howdy, as I have said I am delighted with the intake / exhaust mod, however, over the weekend a friend of mine tried to explain why I should or have to go to a tuner now. He explained that by opening up the intake and freeing up the exhaust that the fuel mixture has been "leened out", causing higher temps, even though the gauges say just the opposite............any ideas or does the computer automatically adjust to the new air flow?

That's gasser mentality. Gassers run hot when they don't get enough fuel, diesels run hot when they get too much fuel.

Diesels are lean burn engines and all you did was let it breath easier. Diesels run cooler when they can breath easy. Kinda like taking it from trying to suck soda through a coffee stirrer vs a straw.

Forrest Fetherolf · Sep 30, 2008

Uncle Rog said:
Howdy, as I have said I am delighted with the intake / exhaust mod, however, over the weekend a friend of mine tried to explain why I should or have to go to a tuner now. He explained that by opening up the intake and freeing up the exhaust that the fuel mixture has been "leened out", causing higher temps, even though the gauges say just the opposite............any ideas or does the computer automatically adjust to the new air flow?

Rog,

Your friend speaks with "forked tongue"..............computer is paid to do that job and does it well...........don't mess with it.

Forrest

Uncle Rog · Sep 30, 2008

Forrest, you speak truth, friend is lumber trader not diesel engineer.............
I guess I have to trust the gauges......
No sense in pushing the envelope when it runs so well now............
Thanks for the in put gent's...............

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