just bought 02 DMAX. should i tune it?

shocker45 · June 27, 2006

alright i just bought a 2002 silverado with a 6.6 duramax. it has 183 000 km on it. has a brand new set of injectors and a freshly rebuilt transmission. now i absolutly dont want to risk hurting anything. but i would like to see a little more power and wake the turbo up a bit so i can hear it spool a little better.

would a 40-65 horsepower tune hurt the truck in anyway? that would add about 100 ft lbs extra. closer to 120 with a 65 tune. another guy was saying i would pick up 1-3 mpg and that, doing that low of a tune would not raise any of my temperatures even close to hurting something. if they would increase at all.

i can get the tune done for fairly cheap, so let me know what you guys think. i want to be 110% before i risk doing something to my truck

keep this in mind, im young and can't afford if anything breaks i have 2 hefty vehicle payments now

Roofer · June 27, 2006

A tune or chip will not hurt your expensive truck, you will. Read a few posts about EGT's and most will say that their temps stay low until the "abuse" starts. Use your head and it should be fine.

Machine · June 27, 2006

Just install a pyro and watch your exhaust gas temps very closely. Depending on the tuner - even 65HP can cause very high temps while under a load. have fun.

shocker45 · June 27, 2006

well so far, the most ive had it floored was like 9 seconds. and that was on the highway. in the city, probabaly closer to 5 or 6 seconds. yea maybe ill get a pyrometer. where do i mount it in my exhaust? close to the header?

and basically if i watch my temps and i dont get into the hot zone i have absolutly nothing to worry about?

p.s. what would be to hot? and whats normal operating temps?

tthomass · June 28, 2006

nice #'s on your camero btw......got pics? times?

shocker45 · June 28, 2006

nice #'s on your camero btw......got pics? times?

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running 12.7's and 8's for the time being, traction is non existant due to the crappy rearends in the cars. im running a hard street radial. i spin until 90 km\h.

my mph in the 1\4 is usually around 112-114 mph. so i should be good for low 12's if i hook. but i risk blowing up .

http://media.putfile.com/01-SS-smoke-show here, lil crappy vid. but you get to see and hear it.

http://media.putfile.com/01-SS-1286--11060-mph here is another one, this is at the track. 2.29 60 ft time. 12.86 @ 110.60 mph, this was 2nd or 3rd run of the day. brutal 60 ft's.

duramaxHD · June 28, 2006

running 12.7's and 8's for the time being, traction is non existant due to the crappy rearends in the cars. im running a hard street radial. i spin until 90 km\h.
my mph in the 1\4 is usually around 112-114 mph. so i should be good for low 12's if i hook. but i risk blowing up .

sell the Camaro, you can make the truck run that fast!!

no but in all seriousness, 99% of the time you will hurt the trans before EGT's get to the point where they hurt the engine. DO get an EGT guage tho, and dont run more than 1300 degrees sustained. Its fine to see much higher for a 10 seconds or so, but longer than that for a sustained time can be bad. Even so, these trucks have proven to be pretty idiot proof. At the track im around 1500* at the 1/4 mile mark, but thats with a bigger turbo. Stock turbo I would see 1900* at the 1/4 mile....as I said before its how long you sustain the temp, not "how hot".

Any tune over 100-120hp is getting into the danger zone for hte tranny. The Allison will "limp" itself if you start pushing it too far tho, which is nice. Basically it means you wont be cruisin along not a care in the world, then BOOM, truck wont move. If you load say a 120hp tune and go beat on it hard, it will probably limp it. Doesnt mean you "broke" something, just means the tranny is telling you to take it easy. You can limp an Ally upwards of 20 times before it will actually get to a serious point where you run the risk of the truck "not being able to move anymore". With Ford and DOdge tranny's, they hold great, work great, then BAM, no warning and you're on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck. Id rather have a conservative 100 extra hp-capable trans than a 130 extra hp trans thats a ticking time bomb

EGT guage, and keep it under 100hp extra you'll be fine. You can even go with bigger tunes, its all how you drive it. 5th gear is the weakest, and the 4-5 shift is also vulnerable too. I drove for the longest time ever running probably 200hp extra, yet I would always let off a bit on the 4-5 shift, and never "rolled into it" in 5th gear on the highway. My trans lasted for a LONG LONG time, and when I did rebuild it (not because I had to, because I wanted to make more power), the clutches really didnt look all that bad.

the Edge Juice is an excellent programmer/chip/box, and it gives you guages too, and you can adjust the power level on the fly. I would stay away from Banks, they are more or less a tuning joke with a good marketing scheme to make their name known everywhere in order to hook everyone...but thats just my oppinion.

ben

shocker45 · June 29, 2006

so a 50-60 horse chip, and a egt (pyrometer) guage and im set, just watch tranny and exhaust temps? maybe a boost guage for somethin to stare at

brady · June 30, 2006

has anyone had any experiences with the BULLY DOG POWER PUP downloader? I had the codes downloaded into my duramax for the trial period and WOW! what a difference but I am stock except for the 2 stage (AFE) air intake system.