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Tune/Delete now or wait until after EPA outcome?

10K views 33 replies 22 participants last post by  Longhorn ram 
#1 ·
Was thinking of doing GDR Hot Tune. Not sure if it would be a bad idea to do so now or wait until the EPA investigation is sorted out. Whenever that might be....
 
#2 · (Edited)
Why rush into it now? I was on the fence a few months ago due to having highish miles (~45k at the time). I'm glad I held off. This could go either direction, being that nothing could happen other than FCA gets a fine, or it goes the complete opposite direction and we are looking at a "fix" and potential compensation, etc. If the "fix" is to reflash then you have to go through the whole ECM swap song and dance. Worse worse case, there is a buy-back, then you are dumping money into the truck that you would be getting rid of. Some may see that as an ill-gotten gain. I, however, am dumping money this weekend into wheels/tires/Bilsteins. I'm going the opposite - spending money to lose MPG as opposed to gaining MPG.
 
#3 ·
We would recommend not deleting any hard parts while in warranty, just not worth it in the long run. We would however, highly recommend the base GDE HOT tune as no mechanical changes are needed with this. If the dealer ever reflashes the ecm during service, we charge $50 to reinstall it. FCA's internal issues will take time to iron out and if they are forced to buy back all these vehicles it would be about 6 billion and bankrupt the company. That does not seem to be in the best interest of this country when we are trying to gain jobs and grow the economy. There are better alternatives.
 
#24 ·
If VW didn't go bankrupt buying back their TDIs, I don't know how FCA would on much much smaller volume. Seems to me the bigger issue is what to do with all the 2017 EDs they can't deliver. And given what the new administration has said about the EPA and consumer protection in general (not trying to start a political discourse, just speculating,) the whole controversy may disappear.
 
#4 ·
Theoretically, if FCA starts buying back trucks, they will in all probility check for any "reasons" to not have to buy a truck back, aftermarket ecm tuning which negates federal emissions might fall into that category, it's only buisness.

But if the EPA is about to be defunded and negated, who cares, burn coal, na, I prefer to live in a sane world.
 
#9 ·
Keep in mind a particular dealer is assigning vins to every GDE tuned ECM.

I am pretty sure this action itself may put you on a list easily compiled by FCA.

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.


Red

This statement is incorrect and there is no list of GDE tuned vehicles within FCA for sure. Why would you even post this hearsay?
 
#8 ·
Wait for what? No one knows if/what will happen. The tune is great and really improves the driveability of the truck. Do it now and enjoy it, rather than waiting months/years for something that may or may not happen.

Keep in mind a particular dealer is assigning vins to every GDE tuned ECM.

I am pretty sure this action itself may put you on a list easily compiled by FCA.

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

Red

What?
 
#14 ·
If you want the tune, I'd say do it, but if you think that FCA did something wrong and there will be a buy back and you'd take it, why spend the money at this point? You may have to wait for a few months but if they do a buy back and you want the $'s, you'd have spent money for something that may not have any value. If FCA has to "de tune" your truck more to comply with EPA, then you can decide on what to do.

That's where I'm at. I'm waiting but I also have a year left on warrantee even if GDE tunes don't invalidate them I don't want to mess with swaps, etc. at this point. Once the FCA/EPA thing is resolved, then I'll have the data I need to make an informed decision.

IMHO of course :)
 
#15 ·
LMFAO here guys, sorry I just dribbled in my trousers a bit...Most dealers can't even keep track of simple stuff to fix minor problems on trucks, you really think they have a "database" of ECU's that have had VIN's reassigned to whatever vehicle? They don't know why, and can't prove said ECU is being tuned. I seriously doubt we are gonna see any buybacks with these trucks, GDE made a good comment regarding that. Even if there was, maybe it will be like the VW buyback where they don't give a crap about what comes in for a return. This is heresay, but some guys I know at a local VW dealer told me some owners were dropping of Jettas without interiors and other bits missing, they were selling off the parts...and they got their full buyback amounts.
 
#16 ·
Now is not the time to find out that FCA has found the smoking gun needed to ID tuned vehicles.

All they need to do is review the number of ecm purchases by any dealer and cross reference it to the number of ecodiesels sold by that dealer. The fact that a dealer bought 100x more ecm than vehicles they have sold when the vast majority of those vehicles are still under warranty would be beyond suspicion. Would be curious how many ecm have actually been replaced under warranty?

I do know vw has bought back tons of tuned tdi models though.

Why take the chance?

Red
 
#28 ·
Call GDE and ask as they are the experts and can explain it to you, but the short answer is no it does not address the issue.
 
#26 ·
Let me ask a dumb question. Suppose they do come down w/a flash to fix it. Do you have to take your vehicle in to get flashed? Couldn't you just keep your truck the way it is, especially those vehicles that are out of warranty and you do most of the sched maintenance on anyway? I'm looking at getting the tune soon. I bought my 15 Eco Diesel used w/about 32K miles on it, and its prob around 37K now. If i did get the tune, and they offered a buy buy, yeah i'd lose $800 on a 30-36K buy back (estimated based upon KBB, what i paid, and 130% value which isnt unreasonable). Not that worried about that considering it could be worse. I lost more than that on resale the moment i left the lot, and chances are the buy back would be more than the current resale, or even the potential drop in resale. Option 2 is they flash it and do a payment settlement to the customer (if they can't deliver fuel promise, and i see this as most likely) and with the money i can reflash it. So options 1 and 2 aren't bad. Option 3 is they don't do anything and your truck stays the same.
 
#27 ·
My guess is if you are going to be entitled to compensation for the reduced fuel economy there would be no choice but to bring it in to have it flashed as it would most likely be required for the payout.
 
#29 ·
I went ahead and ordered the tune tonight, not sure if my poor economy is related to winter fuel and cold weather or if the "oil update" and TCM flash played a role, but I chose to forgo my better judgement and ordered it with the EPA scandal looming in the background. I live in MT, no emissions testing, so if they do require a fix, I know my service manager well enough where hopefully I can avoid it. If I can't avoid the fix then I guess I'll be paying $50 for a reflash or whatever if that time comes.
 
#30 ·
GDE won't respond for a variety of reasons.

I know certain shops that tune lots of different engines and have the same tech that dealers use.
I also know of shops that tune performance engines for power sports motors that had the ability to tune (re-program the ECM) and have the ability to override security keys and program new keys if needed without having to go to a dealer, so, yeah, it's all possible, just depends on how close to the engineers the shop is. Lots of equipment is needed for testing and calibration/diagnostics especially when you work on programming ecm's. Very difficult to track down ECM's. ECM's go bad all the time and get replaced. soon as I get my tax return, I'll be ordering up a tune.
 
#32 ·
I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the tune myself. It will be waiting on me when i get home. Got a busy week ahead of me. Tune, rear air bags, and front level shock replacements. But i figured with every other little thing i've done to the truck (subwoofer install, the forementioned products, tonneau cover, and new tires) that i'm not going to worry about what if and enjoy the now. Unless your truck is stock, you've already done stuff to it that you wont "recoup". So why not enjoy it. And if the day comes where i need to reflash, i'll pay the $50. You can catch it on sale or go to thier facebook and can always luck up on a code that will save you that anyway.
 
#33 ·
I used RAW Performance to tune my truck with Celtic tune! They are out of business I tinink because their phone isn't working anymore! How can I get safely back to stock if I need warranty repairs ? I have a check engine and my MPG as drop down significantly!!!! Am I f£#ked up ?
 
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