I have always seen advertisements for chips in diesel trucks claiming huge gains in power. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge about whether these are safe? I realize I should break my engine in first prior to modding it, BTW what is the break in period on the Cummins? The manual says 500 miles before towing, is there anything else I should be cautious with? Thanks, Jeff
Most if not all of the 'out of the box' 'chips' are actually boxes (semantics) and they are totally safe. I put an Edge EZ on my '01 and it is flat amazing how it woke up the stock motor. No idea on the break in thing.............thought it was more like 100K before it's really broken in~! rotfl
100k rotfl Thats funny cuz that's what everyone tells me on the Cummins. The dealership I bought it from had an old Cummins truck with a Million miles on it!!!!! I haven't even gotten on it yet due to fear of the engine break in period
I would just drive it normal for a thousand miles or so. I've heard more than one dealership guys say "run it like you stole it, because if it was built properly it should be fine, or let it blow up and bring it back." The high powered boxes are NOT safe. It also varies between years. The second gen trucks like mine and Torquer's have to monitor fuel pressure on top of EGT's, and tranny temp. Your ISBE shouldn't have any fuel pressure problems with any box, that I am aware of. Big boxes like the Edge Competition and TST add a LOT of timing and fuel. This produces higher heat levels and more cylinder pressure within the motor. You probably know this already but the main thing to watch with a turbo diesel is your exhaust gas temperature. Diesels can run leaner, and much richer than a gas engine. A rich mixture produces lots of heat, unlike in a gas engine. Combined with the back pressure of a turbo charger and the head, manifold, and turbo will heat up. Out of control EGT's will destroy the engine. Take the Edge Comp box, for an ISB it produces 40 to 120 HP over stock with five adjustible levels. (40 60 80 100 120) A completely stock engine should be able to handle the lowest 40HP setting fine, probably the 60 setting also. The larger settings use more aggressive timing, pulse width, and fueling which will produce more heat. Basically, the higher settings of most large boxes are unusable (IMHO) with a stock engine. Like Torquer mentioned, something milder like the Edge EZ that is something like 65HP is perfect for adding a little bit of pep (actually its a lot) without pulling EGT's up too far over stock. If you want to run a box, do it right! Get yourself a triple A pillar guage pod that will hold a Pyrometer, trans. temp, and either fuel pressure or boost. I don't think fuel pressure is as important to monitor on your engine compared to mine because of the different fuel systems. But, I'm not big on third gens so someone else could better help you with that. Then, a good free flowing 4" exhaust should be used to help lower EGT's. The big, free flowing exhaust helps the gases get out quicker, helping keep the heat out of the motor. Thats the route most guys take. A mild chip, aftermarket exhaust, and guages. This is especially true with the Dmax and PSD guys.......But you're in the Cummins Club. imp: There are all KINDS of aftermarket support for our engine. The way to enable being able to use the higher settings on a big box is with a better turbo and injectors. An aftermarket turbo goes from mild to wild, like cams in a gas engine. A large housing turbo will lower EGT's greatly but will lack in low RPM boost and spool up. It will scream in the higher RPM's though. A smaller housing (like stock) spools up more quickly and produces more boost in the lower end but is restrictive in the exhaust and can't pump out lots of boost like a larger turbo. Regardless, there are plenty of street friendly turbos that greatly lower EGT's, spool up much quicker than stock, and provide much more boost over a stock turbo. Injectors are a subject I don't understand very well. I do know it's the angle they spray at and the amount they can spray that makes power. THe stock transmission is a WHOLE different discussion all in it's own. opcorn:
And don't forget, most boxes will void your warranty. If you want a box you can grow into I would recommend the TST but I would get gauges first as mentioned, as well as exhaust and an AFE intake system, then a new pusher pump setup for the fuel system so you don't kill the injection pump. Then buy the box.
Thanks for the replies. RJF thanks for all the info, and no, I didn't know most of that information. I am pleased with the power so far, even though I haven't really tested her out yet. Going from a 6cyl Explorer to 325 HP is a big enough jump for me. I saw on Superlifts off road adventure TV show about some sort of chip that will set everything back to stock settings for when you take it to the dealership. Is this to prevent them from knowing you had it modded?
The cummins computer stores all boost information so as soon as you blow a head gasket, take all your boxes off, go to the dealer, and they read that you had multiple over boost sessions, bye bye warranty. There is no way to get rid of the trail of info that lets them know you had mods.
You are going the right route by asking us instead of th dealer. Some dealer actually sell fueling boxes! Realistically speaking, there are ways to deal with this. A mild box is usually also the simplist to install, and uninstall before warranty work. Me, I have a very involved build that will soon include an new camshaft. However, my local dealer has a good diesel tech who doesn't go out of his wat to void your warranty, he goes out of his way save it! My buddy has twin turbos and 5" exhaust blah, blah, blah and he still gets some work done there. Also, the only part of your warranty they can void is the parts affected by the chip. So, if you fan clutch goes out and you have a 65hp box on, they HAVE to fix it. This disscussion could go on for ever.
Also, I have noticed that timing adjustments reduce heat and increase mileage. My TST runs cool as I could ever want with the setup I have. Pulling 13K lbs over the mountains from Sacramento all the way north of Seattle I was hard pressed to get her above 1100* on hills at 65! As far as break in, I dunno. I bought my truck with 20 miles on it, hooked up a flatbed to it, loaded on a 3/4 4x4 QC Cummins I drove up there and pulled that 8500 lb ish trailer 500 something miles home. I think I broke it in ok.
