TL;DR - at bottom
Hey folks, Steven here, a.k.a. "Vee Dubb" or "VWDieselJunkie" in the VW and Mercedes realms.
I'm basically a noobie when it comes to the electronically-controlled CRD's. I had an '05 5.9, but due to the P.O.'s abuse with a BullyDog Triple-Dog, it was little more than a very expensive lesson in buying pre-owned, neglected and abused (but cosmetically gorgeous) trucks. At around 65k miles, I got to spend almost $7k on a new transmission, a grand on p/s and hydroboost brake system (lifted on 35's without proper maintenance or consideration for the added load on the steering system). It really hurt my feelings, and like a scared moron, I traded the truck away after fixing everything, fearing that at any moment there would be yet another major (expensive) maintenance catastrophe.
Being an old diesel guy, I miss the days of manually controlled diesel engines. Volkswagens, Mercedes, 12v's, etc. I long for the "if it doesn't work, it's because something broke" approach. But it is what it is, and hitting stuff with a hammer doesn't help as much as it hurts, anymore. I don't have the time or patience to do much with my "project builds" like I used to, and have learned to rely on reliability rather than the "cool-factor" of a ride (even when I was the ONLY person who saw that it was as cool as I convinced myself it was).
So after lurking, reading and attempting to educate myself on what to look for, what to avoid, what to prepare for, I finally broke down and traded both my trusty OBS '97 PSD 4WD and the Jeep Rubicon together on an '08 SRW 3500 QCSB 4WD 6.7/auto w/160+k miles.
I drove it off the lot yesterday, feeling good about my purchase, having not rolled any negative equity into it. As I was pulling out of the dealership, I got the not-yet-forgotten cringe after hearing that notification "ding". The overhead read "service required" and "contact dealership" or some such, and the sound of the engine suddenly changed, like it was lugging, or the exhaust brake was on.
I roll down the street and into the local Dodge dealership. I start talking with the Service Manager. He looks in at the overhead and says "I hope you're ready to spend about a grand." I'm pretty sure the look on my face was something to the effect of "scuze me?". He says it's likely for the DPF/EGR manual cleaning. Needless to say, I didn't jump right on it and "make it rain" all over the service department, and here I am. Truck now sounds different, and went from 17mpg with two days of my test driving it, to 14mpg since the overhead warning came on. I'm guessing this is the regen cycle, dumping fuel into the exhaust stroke?
I called up my local exhaust-slash-offroad shop (done business with them many times over the years between the 5.9 and the various jeeps my wife and I have owned) and ask them about doing a full delete. His response was pretty simple. "Doing the physical delete is easy, removing all the egr system and setting you up with a strait pipe, but good luck finding a programmer since the EPA got its panties in a wad" and then mentioned something about a buy-back that happened with the programmers, and blah-blah, something else, I wasn't listening anymore because it wasn't what I wanted to hear.
So I've been led to ask you folks... Given that I have read as much as I can (and yes, my head hurts, and eyes have gone crossed a few times) what is the simplest way that someone like myself can program the egr/dpf delete so my truck will act right?
I DON'T want what I have in my mind as a transmission-destroying, ooh-look-at-my-tires-roasting/black-smoke-belching money pit programmer (which has been my only experience so far with the tripledog w/"crazy larry"). I DON'T want to increase any power producing capability of the motor. I DO need something that will work for someone who drives around like a grandpa, likes setting his cruise exactly on the speed limit, and watching the overhead-liar tell me what awesome mpg's I've been getting. It doesn't bother me to have to occasionally jump on the interstate and knock loose any carbon that has accumulated as a result of my barely-over-idle driving style (much like I always had to do on my many mercedes motors). I seldom put any real load on my trucks, just the occasional hauling around my tractor & implements to various friend's/family's place to help out with the farm/field/whatever. I will soon be hauling a big camper on occasion (whether 5th wheel, goose neck, or tag-along). But no serious pulling. This is a daily driver.
I don't need shift-on-the-fly programming changes or anything fancy. I wouldn't mind having the ability to have some sort of digital monitor for egt/boost/various temp readings. That was the one thing I liked about the bullydog, it had the outlook monitor on the A-pillar pod. THAT I liked.
TL;DR - What's the easiest set-and-forget program(er) for egr/dpf delete with only simplicity and economy in mind that has, or is compatible with something to the effect of an Outlook Monitor? :confused013:
![]()
Hey folks, Steven here, a.k.a. "Vee Dubb" or "VWDieselJunkie" in the VW and Mercedes realms.
I'm basically a noobie when it comes to the electronically-controlled CRD's. I had an '05 5.9, but due to the P.O.'s abuse with a BullyDog Triple-Dog, it was little more than a very expensive lesson in buying pre-owned, neglected and abused (but cosmetically gorgeous) trucks. At around 65k miles, I got to spend almost $7k on a new transmission, a grand on p/s and hydroboost brake system (lifted on 35's without proper maintenance or consideration for the added load on the steering system). It really hurt my feelings, and like a scared moron, I traded the truck away after fixing everything, fearing that at any moment there would be yet another major (expensive) maintenance catastrophe.
Being an old diesel guy, I miss the days of manually controlled diesel engines. Volkswagens, Mercedes, 12v's, etc. I long for the "if it doesn't work, it's because something broke" approach. But it is what it is, and hitting stuff with a hammer doesn't help as much as it hurts, anymore. I don't have the time or patience to do much with my "project builds" like I used to, and have learned to rely on reliability rather than the "cool-factor" of a ride (even when I was the ONLY person who saw that it was as cool as I convinced myself it was).
So after lurking, reading and attempting to educate myself on what to look for, what to avoid, what to prepare for, I finally broke down and traded both my trusty OBS '97 PSD 4WD and the Jeep Rubicon together on an '08 SRW 3500 QCSB 4WD 6.7/auto w/160+k miles.
I drove it off the lot yesterday, feeling good about my purchase, having not rolled any negative equity into it. As I was pulling out of the dealership, I got the not-yet-forgotten cringe after hearing that notification "ding". The overhead read "service required" and "contact dealership" or some such, and the sound of the engine suddenly changed, like it was lugging, or the exhaust brake was on.
I roll down the street and into the local Dodge dealership. I start talking with the Service Manager. He looks in at the overhead and says "I hope you're ready to spend about a grand." I'm pretty sure the look on my face was something to the effect of "scuze me?". He says it's likely for the DPF/EGR manual cleaning. Needless to say, I didn't jump right on it and "make it rain" all over the service department, and here I am. Truck now sounds different, and went from 17mpg with two days of my test driving it, to 14mpg since the overhead warning came on. I'm guessing this is the regen cycle, dumping fuel into the exhaust stroke?
I called up my local exhaust-slash-offroad shop (done business with them many times over the years between the 5.9 and the various jeeps my wife and I have owned) and ask them about doing a full delete. His response was pretty simple. "Doing the physical delete is easy, removing all the egr system and setting you up with a strait pipe, but good luck finding a programmer since the EPA got its panties in a wad" and then mentioned something about a buy-back that happened with the programmers, and blah-blah, something else, I wasn't listening anymore because it wasn't what I wanted to hear.
So I've been led to ask you folks... Given that I have read as much as I can (and yes, my head hurts, and eyes have gone crossed a few times) what is the simplest way that someone like myself can program the egr/dpf delete so my truck will act right?
I DON'T want what I have in my mind as a transmission-destroying, ooh-look-at-my-tires-roasting/black-smoke-belching money pit programmer (which has been my only experience so far with the tripledog w/"crazy larry"). I DON'T want to increase any power producing capability of the motor. I DO need something that will work for someone who drives around like a grandpa, likes setting his cruise exactly on the speed limit, and watching the overhead-liar tell me what awesome mpg's I've been getting. It doesn't bother me to have to occasionally jump on the interstate and knock loose any carbon that has accumulated as a result of my barely-over-idle driving style (much like I always had to do on my many mercedes motors). I seldom put any real load on my trucks, just the occasional hauling around my tractor & implements to various friend's/family's place to help out with the farm/field/whatever. I will soon be hauling a big camper on occasion (whether 5th wheel, goose neck, or tag-along). But no serious pulling. This is a daily driver.
I don't need shift-on-the-fly programming changes or anything fancy. I wouldn't mind having the ability to have some sort of digital monitor for egt/boost/various temp readings. That was the one thing I liked about the bullydog, it had the outlook monitor on the A-pillar pod. THAT I liked.
TL;DR - What's the easiest set-and-forget program(er) for egr/dpf delete with only simplicity and economy in mind that has, or is compatible with something to the effect of an Outlook Monitor? :confused013:
