Chipped 450 Cummins

[Mile_High]

Anyone chip their Cummins diesel? I looked at a guys Class A and it said 550 where it should say 450, and he said it's chipped because he hauled a trailer. 39K miles on the odometer.

Is that a "run away from the deal" or is that pretty common practice?

[Mile_High]

Well, as it turns out, the chip concern was minor. This thing was rode hard. We drove it, found some issues but rusty cabinets and a jammed slide made us decide it was not the right one for us.

[DSDP_Don]

"Mile High".....When I had my 400 ISL and added the "chip", I thought about pulling off my 400 decal and adding a 450 decal. It's that simple. I now have a decal that says 450 HP, but the newest version of my coach says 450HP/XCR which stands for the chassis type. I'm going to pull the old one off and put the new style on. So.....it's not a big deal to change a badge. I could put on a 600ISX badge and really screw with people's minds.

[Mile_High]

I appreciate what you are saying, and I'm sure there are some bragging fish stories associated with it, but what caught my eye was he changed the 450 on the back to 550 somehow, and when I said I don't recall a 550 he went into his chip story. Hope to get some better detail from the Dealer today, but unfortunately they are going to filter out the bad stuff from the owner. Just happen to catch the owner unloading it yesterday but may not be that lucky this time and I'm sure he has no motivation for sharing any more info with me - he made his deal.

[DSDP_Don]

Parleys Diesel sells a "chip" called the DIGI CRTV.

It fits pretty much all ISL's. It connects to a plug on the fuel rail and changes the fuel timing. It's got a double plug on one end that allows you to disconnect the plug on the engine, plug into their cable and the plug their cable back into the engine. The cable is about 20' long and is usually mounted inside the coach. The "chip" plugs into the other end and is adjustable. It also has a "dummy" plug that comes with it. If you install the "dummy" plug, it puts your engine back to stock, like it's not there.

I believe the "chip" is used for multiple engines and has about 16 adjustment points that you adjust by turning with a small screwdriver. Everyone who has used one adjusted theirs to either "8" or "9", when installed on an ISL. Some pulling excessively heavy loads got a "Check Engine Light" when set at "9" and turned it down to "8".

How it works......the "chip" changes the fuel timing, but reverts back to stock at WOT (wide open throttle) so you don't hand grenade the transmission. It does not leave an imprint on the engine computer.

I installed one on my 2005 Monaco Diplomat. I saw a .5 mpg increase and a substantial power increase. One poster bought one almost a year before I did. I waited and stayed in touch with him to see how it worked. After about nine months and no damage, I bought mine. Several months later he put his on a dyno (Monaco Owners Forum). The chip added 52 HP at the "9" setting.

With all that said, I doubt there is a 450HP ISL (in a motor home) that is putting out 550HP. I think the person the OP was talking to is living in a fantasy.

Before the haters start in, the DIGI CRTV works and works well, at least in the older engines. When I sold my coach, I removed the "chip" because it was going to a dealer and I didn't want some buyer to get the coach and not know there were some changes. Figuring I would never use it on a new DEF engine, I sold it to a friend for his ISL. I later found that it does fit ISL's all the way through 2015. My coach is new with only 18K. I acquired another "chip" that was removed from a coach that was sold and have it in my garage. Since I'm still under warranty and haven't seen anyone running it on a DEF motor yet, I'm holding off on installing it.

[crasster]

I would check on a few truck forums as well. From what I've heard from owners it's somewhat negligent. The comparison was trying to squeeze more juice out of an already very well squished orange.

[45Ricochet]

Mile High wrote:
Anyone chip their Cummins diesel?
is that pretty common practice?

Well chip isn't exactly what I'd call it, but Cummins offers what they call a " engine horsepower uprate". I don't believe its common because they charge a arm and leg for tweaking the ECM.
They will not tweak it past the other install components.
I'd keep looking Brad :W

[Mile_High]

It's in a Tour, and the brochures says the 3000 6 sp.

[barmcd]

Mile High wrote:
Anyone chip their Cummins diesel? I looked at a guys Class A and it said 550 where it should say 450, and he said it's chipped because he hauled a trailer. 39K miles on the odometer.

Is that a "run away from the deal" or is that pretty common practice?

Find out what Allison transmission it has--it might have the 4060 which would be okay. The 3060 would be over matched with 550 hp.

[wolfe10]

What engine, what transmission?

We do not know if this is an ISL/Allison 3000 or ISM/Allison 4000.

BIG difference.

[Blaster_Man]

Ivylog wrote:
Run, the Allison 3000 tranny is maxed out at 400 HP... 1200 ft lbs max. The ISL 450 has a flat torque curve from 1200 to 1600 rpms to not over work the tranny.

They've up rated the 3000 to 450/1250 and the 4000 to 650/1950.

[Ivylog]

Run, the Allison 3000 tranny is maxed out at 400 HP... 1200 ft lbs max. The ISL 450 has a flat torque curve from 1200 to 1600 rpms to not over work the tranny.

[Tom_Barb]

We have a Banks intake and exhaust kit and a programer on the 8.3 / 350. over the past 48k we have put on the coach it has averaged 9 MPG.
This last trip we ran 65-70 up I-15/ I-84 it didn't seem to make a big difference to fuel millage. that tank gave us 8.mpg, but we didn't do 65-70 for the whole tank.
Yes, we do keep a log of the fuel we buy.