Duramax tuner

Lantley wrote:

ShinerBock wrote:

Lantley wrote:
So now you guys are coming full circle to make my point.
Be it emissions or transmissions something is likely to give or malfunction as a consequence of tuning.
Tuning ultimately increases maintenance and or repair cost. hat additional power creates other issues that I can do without.
Pick your poison, pay me now or pay me later. Experience has taught me tuning leads to unintended consequences that maybe minor or they maybe costly


Reliability and longevity are more important that fun to drive, although ShinerBock I do get your point, you enjoy the performance and fun tuning provides you and your willing to pay for it. Totally understand it,we all have are vices.
Every $$$ we earn does not need to be spent in a rational way. It's OK to spend a few $$$ for pleasure.
To those that enjoy tuning go for it, for those cheapskates like me be ready to pay for those unintended consequences if you tune.
At this point I simply rather drive my truck than tinker with it! Tuning leads to tinkering.

No, we are not coming full circle if you read my previous posts especially my post about piggy back modules versus actual custom tunes. Piggy back modules only add power and do nothing to help the transmission handle the added power. Custom tunes like I am talking about increase the max line pressure threshold, makes the shift points higher, and adjust the TC lockup to allow the transmission to handle the added power. It also makes the shifts more firm since the stock smooth shifts are harder on your clutches than a firm shift. With trans tuning, you don't have to sacrifice reliablity.

Case in point is my brother's old 2010 2500 CTD that he tuned/deleted at 50k and sold at 175k to a friend of his who is a fishing guide down in Rockport. His friend worked in SA and used the truck to drive his boat 160 miles down to the coast just about every weekend. Him and my brother mostly left it on the level two tune (that I posted earlier) when unloaded and level one when towing. My brother's friend ended up trading it in at 375k miles without one issue and being tuned(with a trans tune) for 325k miles.

I also have another friend who has an LMM Dumrax that he tuned/deleted within 25k miles. It currently has over 200k and is now being driven by his 18 year old son. Not one issue yet although he did put a FASS system on it to keep the fuel clean.

Point being, a proper tune with transmission tuning will make your truck just as if not more reliable than stock if driven responsibly. It will not if you are wanting to do 4wd boosted launches at the track or burn outs everywhere. Then again, stock will not last long doing that either. Piggy back modules don't tune the trans for the added power and you are taking a huge risk of premature trans failure with them. These used to be very common and were one of the reasons why tuning got such a bad rap because people would stack these modules on top of each other and drive it like they stole it without doing any supporting mods.

Of course there is always a limit to what something can handle and if you want to start going past 475 rwhp then you need to start doing supporting mods to handle the added power. Today's diesels can easily handle under 475 rwhp for a long time and hundreds of thousands of miles with the right engine/trans tuning and a sensible driver.

That custom tune maybe syncing with the transmission but what if anything is that custom tune doing to the emissions? How is the emissions system accounting for the increased power/heat?

Diesels run better and more efficient at high combustion temps. In fact, it is because of how efficient they run at these temps is the reason why the EGR is there to introduce spent exhaust gas into the intake to cool these combustion temps down in order to reduce NOx. This creates more soot, makes the engine less efficient, and less powerful all in the name of 2 g-hp/hr. It is also is not good for the longevity of your engine especially with the fuel/soot dilution in the oil.

Overseas in places like Europe, they do not have as strict NOx requirements as the US over there and many of the diesels are starting to come out without EGR's and just have two SCR/DEF systems like the "twin dosing SCR" systems from Cummins and VW in overseas markets. They essentially allow the engine to operate at peak efficiency and performance, and all emissions are taken care of afterwards.

As far as the tuners go, they are either turning off the EGR and just letting it emit a more NOx or forcing the SCR/DEF system to pick up the slack similar to the "twin dosing SCR" systems overseas. Most if not all of the emission intact tuning is still not 100% EPA compliant and is mainly for those who want to keep their emissions on and return it to stock when they need to. The system can easily handle the heat. After all, it handles the 1,500F plus for tens of minutes when it is re-genning so I doubt the 1,200F coming out of the engine at moments of full load will harm it. Although, that 1,200F is coming out of the manifold, it is generally 200-400F lower once it comes out of the turbo hand has another 2-3 ft to go to get to the DPF.