RAM 1500 Diesel Forum banner

New EcoD Owner Today, Deleted EcoD Owner Tomorrow

6K views 18 replies 10 participants last post by  jorgegarcia.sr 
#1 ·
Howdy from Dallas! (yes I'm an Aggie, yes it's a cult)

I am the proud owner of a granite 2016 Lonestar edition EcoD as of last night! I will need the truck for work purposes and have been waiting for the right 2016 to pop up for sale for a month or so now. I have always wanted someone to put a damn diesel engine in a half-ton and when the EcoD rolled out I knew I would eventually have one. That said, I have been prowling the internet ever since they came out and knew that I would want mine deleted if/when I got one because it appears most problems with these trucks is scr/egr/dpf/wtf related. I figured since I will be deleting soon, I would go ahead and introduce myself so that my first post wouldn't be a build thread!

The plan is to go GDE off road tune (no extra options, none appealed to me), 3" turbo-back to the duals, and do the CFT aluminum intake tube as soon as possible (title says tomorrow because it was catchy but in reality, its more like next month :p)

IF YOU HAVE ANY TIPS/TRICKS/INSTRUCTIONS ON DELETING PLEASE SEND THEM MY WAY! I could use all the help I can get, I will be doing everything myself seeing as none of the diesel shops around town have touched ecodiesels yet.

Are there any parts other than the GDE tune and exhuast that I will need to completely delete everything? For example, do I need any kind of monitoring device (edge?) to do the delete? It appears I may need a "Stage 2 Eco Diesel EGR FULL DELETE" from CFT but I am not for sure if that is 100% needed or not to do the install... again any tips/tricks would be greatly appreciated, also if you have a link to a step-by step video or something that would be awesome.

Oh, and here's the truck! Thanks and Gig 'Em!
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Motor vehicle Automotive tire
 
See less See more
1
#2 ·
The only memories I have of Texas is basic training in 1978....other than that welcome to the and to the world of the ED.
 
#4 ·
Lakeland AFB? I was there in April\May 1978.

GDE
no extra options, none appealed to me
I'm going with the oil pressure gage update to read actual oil pressure, not the fake readings shown today. Waiting until after the safety recall is applied, looks like the end of July.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Welcome aboard. Love the enthusiasm. I did a GDE tune at 33k and have been very happy with it. Cleaner oil yada yada IMO get the turbo brake. Do a poll most everybody who has that option will tell you to get it. My original brakes went 293,000 can't imagine that didn't have something to do with it.

A lil over 260k I got a clogged catalytic converter & practicallity dictated a full delete. I think the only thing I gained was Nox & tail pipe tips & bumper that needs cleaned more often. IMO unless you are going to a bigger turbo there is no substantial benefit to a full delete. On top of that keep your mouth shut and you won't lose any warranty.. but do a full delete & warranty loss is pretty much a lock. Emissions stuff is generally covered under federally mandated warranty for 80k. So my advice would be just do the tune & skip the full delete until something dictates it after turning 80k and many would say 100k when the full powertrain warranty expires.

Beyond that I support Ram's recommendation of using a no sway WDH for trailered loads above 5,000 pounds. Also if you regularly put over a 1,000 pounds on her between the bed & tongue you will really like axle to frame bags such as TLC or Timber Grove. Nice looking truck hope you enjoy it & our Ecodiesel community here.

I just delivered an Airstream TT to Dallas yesterday. Traffic was a bit of a pain and I was glad the AC in my truck works really well. BTW here is mine today at 333k.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Motor vehicle Pickup truck
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the warm welcome Vern! Love to see that the engine and transmission are capable 300k miles! I appreciate your thoughts and I can see that most people on the forum share your opinion. For me, I am not worried about losing a warranty and I will be well over 80k miles in less than 2 years anyway (a lot of work miles). I have already decided on the full delete.

Do you happen to know if there are any other parts I will need to complete the delete other than an exhaust and a tune?
 
#6 ·
Just the off road tune. We didn't even swap the exhaust just cleaned out the factory unit and put it back in place. Like B2B I also did the actual oil pressure mod in case one day it could help me save the engine in the event of a failed oil pump or blocked oil passage.
 
#7 ·
Congrats on the new ED & Welcome to forum. I would also do as Vern has suggested and just go with the Hot Tune. Many many here running it with no issues. Of course if your heart is set on full delete I fully understand.
 
#9 ·
Welcome Aggie nut.

If you start out with just a regular GDE tune you can later turn that into the off-road programming for a very minimal charge. Think it's $50 or $100. With the regular (hot) programming you will stop any more EGR sooting. allowing you some clean time to figure out what you might want to get and do for the full delete.
 
#10 ·
Well gentlemen, you have convinced me against the delete (that and I cant afford a new engine if mine decided to blow up one day) and to go with the regular hot tune. I looked into the oil pressure sensing but have decided against it as I plan to go back to a stock tune when I have to trade in the truck in 2020, work requires me to drive a vehicle that is 4 years or newer. Will be pulling the trigger on the hot tune in the next week or so.

I have appreciated all the feedback I have gotten on this forum, I have posted in a few different threads and seem to get solid information from everyone. So thank you!
 
#12 ·
Congrats on the new truck. You can't go wrong with the GDE Hot Tune. I have 52K on my truck and I have had the tune since 1K. I drive over 100 miles a day round trip and pull a 5500 lb TT on the weekends. The performance of this truck has been outstanding. You probably want to ditch the Goodyear SR-A tires as soon as possible if you have them on your truck. Worst tires I have ever owned. Worn out at 25K.
 
#13 ·
Yeah my SR-A's look okay, tread is fine at 24K miles but the letters are falling off and look terrible..... gonna try to wait 6 months to a year for tires but we will see. Seems all tires that come on brand new vehicles these days are complete garbage.
 
#14 ·
UPDATE:

CTF Performance aluminum intake tube installed and sound dampening foam and sound proofing under the plastic cover removed - love hearing the turbo and more engine noise in general, well worth it.

Bought Husky weatherbeater floor mats front and rear which was a great decision (truck came without mats....). I actually bought weathertech's and they got lost in the mail, my replacements wouldn't ship till end of august according to amazon so I got my money refunded and bought these huskys which shipped to me in two days. I spend a lot of time visiting jobsites so this was a must have.

MY GDE HOT TUNE IS BEING DELIVERED TOMORROW! Already love this truck and cant wait to see how great it is with the tune installed.

Only other major items on my list are a leveling kit, Line-X, and new tires but those will come later. Loving this truck as-is, especially the alpine system with the small subwoofer under the back seat. That thing can bump if you want it to!

Thanks again to all the feedback I have gotten on the truck, I am happy I did not got full delete, and I know the GDE tune will be more than enough. Cheers!
 
#18 ·
turbo spools up much quicker and is louder, quicker throttle response, and passing acceleration is greatly increased. No mpg gain in my experience, but I was averaging 24mpg city and 27-30mpg highway before the tune and I am happy with that.
 
#17 ·
Exhaust odor is a big deal breaker keeping me from a full delete. I like to be able to remote start the truck in the garage without odor, as well as hook/unhook trailers while idling.
 
#19 ·
Howdy from Dallas! (yes I'm an Aggie, yes it's a cult)

I am the proud owner of a granite 2016 Lonestar edition EcoD as of last night! I will need the truck for work purposes and have been waiting for the right 2016 to pop up for sale for a month or so now. I have always wanted someone to put a damn diesel engine in a half-ton and when the EcoD rolled out I knew I would eventually have one. That said, I have been prowling the internet ever since they came out and knew that I would want mine deleted if/when I got one because it appears most problems with these trucks is scr/egr/dpf/wtf related. I figured since I will be deleting soon, I would go ahead and introduce myself so that my first post wouldn't be a build thread!

The plan is to go GDE off road tune (no extra options, none appealed to me), 3" turbo-back to the duals, and do the CFT aluminum intake tube as soon as possible (title says tomorrow because it was catchy but in reality, its more like next month :p)

IF YOU HAVE ANY TIPS/TRICKS/INSTRUCTIONS ON DELETING PLEASE SEND THEM MY WAY! I could use all the help I can get, I will be doing everything myself seeing as none of the diesel shops around town have touched ecodiesels yet.

Are there any parts other than the GDE tune and exhuast that I will need to completely delete everything? For example, do I need any kind of monitoring device (edge?) to do the delete? It appears I may need a "Stage 2 Eco Diesel EGR FULL DELETE" from CFT but I am not for sure if that is 100% needed or not to do the install... again any tips/tricks would be greatly appreciated, also if you have a link to a step-by step video or something that would be awesome.

Oh, and here's the truck! Thanks and Gig 'Em!
View attachment 49050
I went with the SFT guys, they were not ast but had a little glitch and they stood behind their work, if not going to be playing around with the truck, as I was not, I opted for their cheaper option, it includes a cheap loader that does the programming and went with the egr and cat def delete, woke the truck up big time, no real economy boost, but the truck runs great and shift awesome, some people on the site swear by their transmission tune, I did not get it, I am a pretty knowledgeable driver, and my truck is a laramie limited loaded with everything, from electric brakes to air assisted shocks from factory, so when I hit the tow button and connect my RV, it's like it wasnt there at all. 7500 pounds hanging back there and I sometimes forget it's even back there. enjoy your truck, its an awesome engine if you remove the junk that's been placed on it destined for trouble. heck other than the slight smell of diesel, I don't really see any smoke coming out the back, I kept the original mufflers, the rest is gone.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top