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GDE Dealer can tell?

24K views 99 replies 38 participants last post by  RansomT 
#1 ·
So a "friend" of mine brought in his tuned truck to the dealer to get them to investigate an engine light that comes on intermittently.

Apparently, the service manager came up to him and whispered - "We learned that you have the GDE tune installed".

The manager told him that he understands why the truck has been tuned and that many others have this tune and then - the manager told him to go home and swap out the ECM so that they can repair the truck under warranty.

IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE FOR THEM TO FIGURE OUT THAT A TUNE HAS BEEN INSTALLED?

The dealer told him to re-install the tuned ECM afterwards.

Confusious says; SUM TING WONG!
 
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#3 ·
Probably a hunch on the part of the service tech or manager based on the effects of the tune, such as clean oil, cruise activation below 25mph, lack of turbo lag, etc. Reportedly dealers aren't able to look at the code on the ECM as it would have to be sent to FCA for deeper analysis.

Could be the guy is an idiot and put the supplied GDE sticker on his truck.
 
#4 ·
Nope - no sticker and no other evidence.

Service manager was really cool about it though.
Basically telling him to swap out the ECM's before they dig any deeper.
The truck has the GOLD warranty plan which is what the manager was concerned with - he wanted to protect my buddy from FCA's bull-crap.
 
#68 ·
Sorry for the long delay, I was away for work.
So, in case anyone is wondering, yes I have emailed GDE.
I have not been in town but will see if i can get any other information out of the dealer on how they theorized that the truck "might" be tuned.

Correction - the dealer did NOT specify the "GDE" tune but did imply they thought the truck was tuned...

No clue how they could have guessed.

To all of the non-believers out there - it happened. Don't care if you believe it or not.

Maybe they saw the ECM sticker was torn off - who knows?

Maybe when they started it up - it went into high idle which is what I thought happened as it was a cold day.
Either way, the ECM will need to be swapped before it goes back to them...
 
#8 ·
Dealers up here haven't even heard of GDE. They are lost and don't know squat about Ecodiesels and the benefits of GDE. There are a ton of them up here as I see four of five every day in my travels. I say your "friend" is full of it and his story is fabricated.
 
#9 ·
No fabrication whatsoever!!!

Dealer didn't specify GDE, he just indicated that the truck was tuned and then did them a favor and said; "Psst. We know it's tuned"...
 
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#12 ·
- "We learned that you have the GDE tune installed".

If you're going to quote something like that, expect people to question it. One moment the dealer, in "quotations" specified GDE tune, but the next response you said there was no mention of GDE specifically. Because of this, we question many other aspects of this visit and what was actually communicated between your "friend" and the service advisor/manager.
 
#13 ·
Gee. Again found out I am an idiot. Of course I knew that many, many years ago.

My Green Diesel Engineering sticker has been prominently posted on the side of my truck for years. Many times I took it to the dealer early on with that sticker. Told the service adviser about it. Everyone at the dealership seemed to know how clean it made the engine run. They literally all liked it. Never had a hint of an issue that was anything but positive.

Always thought the real idiots were the ones operating an Ecodiesel without GDE.

Just look on the side window of the cap - GDE. The "idiot" is below that in the picture.
IMG_3774 by Larry Malinoski, on Flickr
 
#17 ·
Gee. Again found out I am an idiot.
I never took you for the sensitive type. You must be a big 'ol Teddy Bear lol.

Not all dealers are tune friendly. Unless you know they're okay with the tune in advance, you would be an idiot to advertise.
 
#16 ·
GDE. The comparison and timing is scary. Think of it as your Boeing and those that installed your tune are the airlines with max 8s.

What are the most like scenarios that they could detect a tune? EGR? Data logger comparing mileage to some basic factor like mileage or hours.

These guys are relying on you for guidance.

As Trump said. Figure it out quick.
 
#18 ·
You are joking right? Boeing has some computer code that might get confused and thinks the plane is stalling. This has killed over 300 people. Don't make light of real problems.

We will not know what FCA is doing until the recall is released in early June. Our recommendation to GDE customers is wait 2-3 months after the recall is released before scheduling anything with dealer. That will afford us time to see what they are doing.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Hi: Captainmal... Nice shot!!! Idiot here, no God Dam Enviroment evade yet. My kids say I'm not able to tie my own shoes either!!! Just about ready to change the oil again. I have 2/ 5L jugs of Rotella T6/ 5W 40 Synthetic so I can't be that "Squirrelly" and I don't want to test the Ontario Guv. over air quality either.
Great trip to Florida but the last 2 1/2 hrs turned to 3 1/2 due to fierce headwinds/ driving rain, and running 6th. gear to buck them.
Dieseldragon North shore of Lake Erie.
 

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#22 ·
Two things are certain. OP has contradicted himself, and most service departments think that the Ecodiesel is made by Cummins. These guys can't even put the right viscosity in our motors during an oil change, now all of a sudden they are ECM and GDE experts. They can't detect a leaking EGR, but now they are tune sleuths.

I agree with the poster who recently exclaimed that he will be glad when we get back to talking about EGRs and blown engines. I swear you guys are taking the flash for cash way too serious. I hope the Ford and Chevy guys aren't reading all these silly "sky is falling" posts. They will think we are a bunch of dolts.
 
#23 · (Edited)
Small town dealership ordered the truck from my brother in law and the service manager is my cousin. When I spoke to my cousin about GDE he was read up on it by his own interest. He was very favorable about the tune. Said they (service managers) generally just don't want to be made aware of it as it can put them in a bad position with FCA. Though FCA on some fronts is likely positive toward this type of tune as it likely saves them lots of warranty service work money. He said service managers or their mechanics and FCA don't go looking for a tune unless directed to by FCA on a specific truck for a particular warranty case. I had this discussion with him shortly after I turned 100k IE post warranty. Like Captn my truck sports a GDE sticker. When I put it on my truck I didn't think I would be back in a warranty position with FCA but I am through the end of the year. Guess if I had to take it into an unknown dealership for potential warranty service work I would peel the sticker first. Doubt GDE would mind sending me a new one. :)
 
#25 ·
GDE has made a generous offer to investigate how or if the dealer detected the tune.
If the story is legitimate I hope dieseldoya will follow up with GDE as it is important to all of us to know the answer.
 
#26 ·
DITTO on what "JENSEN" said, give em time to investigate.
 
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#38 ·
Sorry I missed the question. WYOMING. There are hills we drove through around Howie In the Hills, Florida. That's really a place just south of Eustis where we pass on the way to Daytona.

Have hauled the toy hauler to Wyoming a few times with the Ecodiesel. Wife and I hunt prairie dogs. Did not go last year because she was so sick. Now she wants to go back despite multiple places in the East we literally have to go this May and June. Not sure if we can physically fit that trip in this year but the desire is there. Well maybe a fleeting desire as she shoots for a while and then gets enamored with House and Garden magazine.

IMG_3803 by Larry Malinoski, on Flickr
 
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#35 ·
Look I have said this over and over a dealer can not tell you have the GDE!!!!!! I won't call the OP a troll but there is no way for a dealer to know it is a GDE tune! Can they suspect a tune maybe but that is all they would be doing. GDE does not stamp the ECM "TUNED BY GDE" nor can the dealer even see the code on the ECM. My dealer has told me that the only way FCA could tell is if they had the dealer download the code off the ECM and send it to them (FCA). There is no one at the dealer level that can read the code and say "gee this ECM has a GDE tune or a PPEI tune or whatever tune"! Now the dealer could looked up the trucks O.E. ECM serial number and compaired it to the installed ECM serial number. But that would not tell them what tune is on board only that the ECM was swapped out and not by a dealer!

If the dealers S.M. did actually say this "We learned that you have the GDE tune installed" then the owner of the truck told him it was there at some point or someone he knows told them but the dealer did not find this out on their own!
 
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