Today's Tuners
Are today's tuners on diesels reliable and trouble free? If properly installed, does more power negatively impact the longevity of a properly maintained engine? Thanks in advance. Mike
Forum Discussion
wintersun wrote:
Most diesels are already maxing out the capabilities of the transmission in stock form. A mild tune to get an extra 50HP may not cause a problem and "in general" the Ford transmissions handle this with little in the way of problems.
My Flashpaq only adds about 45 hp and about 10% increase in torque. I certainly hope you are correct. My take away from recent readings says you are.
A friend with a 2005 truck with the Duramax LLY engine saw a 1.5 MPG gain or about 20% with a tuner when pulling a 13,000 lb. trailer around the USA. Over a distance of 40,000 he would have saved enough in fuel costs to recouped the cost of the tuner. He sold the truck before he put the 40K miles so for him it was a net loss on his tuner investment. Your friend must have paid a lot for his tuner. 40,000 miles at 10 mpg would require 4,000 gallons of fuel. A 20% increase in mpg would save him 667 gallons of fuel, or about $2500. I didn't buy my tuner for better mileage, but it looks like I might get another mile or so per gallon. If so, my $325 tuner will pay for itself in less than 10,000 miles.
