GDE/SFT? Tune

3316 Views 59 Replies 15 Participants Last post by Bounty Hunter, 3 mo ago

z swind

Discussion Starter · 4 mo ago

Hey guys, new to the forum and a new owner of a 2018 ecodiesel thats fully stock.

I have been trying to figure out which tune to purchase and the research has been confusing to say the least. Some people say GDE is the way to go but also say their new EPA compliant tunes are trash. Other people swear by SFT but say they do shady business and their tunes arent reliable. I emailed GDE and asked a few questions and got very "EPA compliant" responses saying their tunes will not work with any EGR deletes (however I have been told that GDE's tune does disable the EGR?) When asked if their tune supports turbo back exhausts or straight pipe exhausts that delete the DPF, I was firmly told that the GDE tune will not work with a turbo back/ straight pipe DPF delete and it is ILLEGAL to do so quoting exact dollar amounts for fines by the EPA if observed. Not sure if GDE is just covering their asses via email and their current tunes do support DPF removed exhausts.

When I emailed SFT I was confidently told that their tunes disable the EGR and that their stage 2 tune requires a "fully deleted closed course exhaust" (not clear as to what this is? It seemed like SFT was very open about their tunes disabling the EGR and being DPF delete friendly.

I say all this to ask for advice and to hear from anyone that has purchased a tune from either GDE or SFT recently. My main goals for my truck are to run cleaner, get better gas mileage, and sound like a diesel should. I dont necessarily want to delete my EGR but definitely want it disabled. I also want to run a turbo back or straight pipe style exhaust (not sure if this is even reasonable).

Sorry for the long post, thank you for the guidance.

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1 - 14 of 60 Posts

Bounty Hunter

· #5 · 4 mo ago

I've heard good things from those who run the GDE emissions compliant tuning. While it doesn't disable the EGR, it does minimize it and greatly cleans up the combustion cycle. It will lead to less soot load and longer engine life. It's an engine/trans tuning package so the transmission tune will improve performance a LOT. GDE customer service has always been top-notch. As you've seen, they're strict with their responses due to the heavy-handed epa.

SFT, stay away. Problematic tuning and they will ghost you when you have issues. They're a tune reseller, unable to actually fix tune issues.

Ecodiesel Owner's Canada is the way to go if you want to disable the EGR with a stage 1 tune, or lose the exhaust emissions with a stage 2. Reliable tuning with top notch customer service.

Reactions: 5

Bounty Hunter

· #7 · 4 mo ago

John Jensen said:
I'm finding the MRT tunes to be excellent. I am concerned with their regen cycles.
SFT regened an average of every 190 miles, MRT tunes are regening an average 0f every 137 miles. Part of the difference is SFT included some hiway miles, so far the MRT miles are all local miles. MRT is regening at about the same intervals as the stock tune.

My pre-ban GDE usually performed a regen every 600-650 miles.

@z swind it's still relatively easy to find a used ecm with GDE's pre-ban tune if you wanyed another option.

Reactions: 2

Bounty Hunter

· #10 · 4 mo ago

GDE said:
It is a shame how dirty the illegal tunes are. GDE compliant tune regens once every 400-600 miles. They can even make clean combustion sans egr...rookies lol

And the uneducated still bash the egr as the root of all evil lol.

Reactions: 2

Bounty Hunter

· #18 · 4 mo ago

z swind said:
Another question. Is the MRTuning transmission tune universal? By that I mean, if you pair a stage 1 engine tune with a transmission tune and later want to change to stage 2, do you have to purchase another transmission tune?

You keep the same transmission tune. HIGHLY recommend a transmission tune.

Reactions: 1

Bounty Hunter

· #21 · 4 mo ago

Docmcg said:
Can a trans tune be used without an engine tune? Just curious.

Yes. If stock, you're transmission has tuning currently, just lazy as hell lol.

Bounty Hunter

· #26 · 4 mo ago

z swind said:
Are you running MRT or another tune? I got an MRT stage 1 and added the DEF disable as well. With the EGR disabled and now the DEF disabled I feel like I should be able to run a turbo back without getting coded??

Wrong. Gotta keep the dpf and scr when stage 1.

Reactions: 2

Bounty Hunter

· #27 · 4 mo ago

z swind said:
Hey guys thanks for all the responses. I think I have decided to go with MRT. Does anyone know if stage 2 absolutely requires EGR removal, or if like stage 1 the EGR is just disabled?

The owner of EOC, reseller of MRT tunes, will strongly suggest EGR removal when stage 2. There can be issues if you don't.

Reactions: 3

Bounty Hunter

· #32 · 4 mo ago

MYTRUC said:
I even had them modify it slightly for better control of the transmission. My preference.

I didn't think they would do this because their canned tune is the only one with EPA approval. Any variation from that would put them in a spot.

Reactions: 2

Bounty Hunter

· #37 · 3 mo ago

MYTRUC said:
Correct the tune was untouched. But the trans control I had tweaked slightly.

Trans tuning is part of the EPA approved tune package. But if GDE modified it for you, all the better.

Bounty Hunter

· #39 · 3 mo ago

John Jensen said:
Right on Bounty. I would think GDE after all they've been through with EPA and CARB they wouldn't dare alter their ECU or TCU tunes in any way. Very surprising, unless there's more to the story; like they didn't modify their TCU tune for the customer, they modified something else in his tranny.

Kind of what I was thinking. I was initially curious but have realized it's kind of a moot point.

Reactions: 1

Bounty Hunter

· #42 · 3 mo ago

MYTRUC said:
I guess I was kind of miss leading. Sorry. To be clear, it was just a dashboard display change so I could easily see what gear I was in and control them from the steering wheel. We did not modify shift points and such. now that I am used to it I can tell just by the tach.

I had them turn on gear display in my trans tune years ago, I love it. I've since done it to a '17 using AlfaOBD.

Reactions: 2

Bounty Hunter

· #44 · 3 mo ago

John Jensen said:
I couldn't get it to work on my 2016, AlfaOBD turned it on but the EVIC didn't have it.
I do have it on my Edge CTS2

Ya I don't understand why it's able to work on my '16.

Bounty Hunter

· #58 · 3 mo ago

Go4Mac said:
I have the same issue getting the gear display to stay on manually using an alpha obd.

What year truck?

Bounty Hunter

· #60 · 3 mo ago

Go4Mac said:
2016 Laramie longhorn 4x4

I was able activate gear indicator on a '17, haven't tried a '16.

I don't get the safety issue, but whatever. GDE are the pros.

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