Is it safe to disable MDS on a regular basis?

[6.7CumminsDrvr]

Mine has been turned off via custom tune since I bought the truck, she’ll be hitting 80k miles before next weekend

 

[GMcD]

Thanks for all the replies! I have not tried tow/haul mode yet so i will try that tomorrow.

 

[ThunderMug95]

I toggle it up to 8 everytime. MDS is just annoying. Anyone here with a performance exhaust knows especially well how horrible the exhaust note sounds with it on and turning on and off. I bought this truck with this motor because I wanted power...They can keep that .2mpg difference or whatever it allegedly is this week.

 

[bamafan76]

get yourself a diablo tuner or bully dog you can permanetly disable the mds i turn mine off 3 years ago no problems at all

I went to Bully Dog website, but they didnt show anything for the ‘18 Ram 1500. All I may be interested in doing is improving response time, disabling MDS, and maybe improving MPG. I’m not looking to run 1/4 mile, etc. I’m also not wanting to pay $1k to program either.

 

[tantore]

bamafan sorry to hear about the tuners did not see you have a 2018 diablo is the only that offers the tuner for the 2018 and is pricey my ram is a 2012 hope you find an answer good luck

 

[Wild one]

bamafan sorry to hear about the tuners did not see you have a 2018 diablo is the only that offers the tuner for the 2018 and is pricey my ram is a 2012 hope you find an answer good luck

HP had tuning out for the 18's a couple months before Diablo had tuning for them.

 

[Nystagmus]

Install a catch can to stay on the safe side.

What is the purpose of a catch can ? I see them referred to all the time here.

 

[mohemipar]

What is the purpose of a catch can ? I see them referred to all the time here.

It's so this doesn't get recycled back into your intake manifold (RLK's pic)

 

[fpdsniper]

When you shift the truck manually, or when you enable the tow/haul mode it disables MDS.

I don't know about anyone else's truck, but simply enabling tow/haul mode does NOT turn off MDS! I simply set 8th gear as the highest and that does it.

 

[boblonben]

Recently joined the ram family and traded my 2014 Silverado for a 2016 ram 1500 with 17k and some change. I have the hemi and immediately noticed that i do not like the feel of the MDS. My Chevy had this and i hated it as well. Luckily, its easy to disable via the manual shifter on the wheel but im wondering what are the long term effects of this, if any? Im really hoping there isn’t because I pretty much disable it as soon as i get into the truck.

Love my MDS, and actually most of the time one simply can not really tell it is even on. So curious as to what exactly bugs you about it? And NO there are no ill affects of turning it off all the time, you just burn a bit more fuel is all.

 

[ncgrl1]

Love my MDS, and actually most of the time one simply can not really tell it is even on. So curious as to what exactly bugs you about it? And NO there are no ill affects of turning it off all the time, you just burn a bit more fuel is all.

I am somewhat confused as I see a quite a few folks like yourself who say they can't tell when it's on. And then there are the ones like me, who it drives them nuts when it comes on. Mine has such a vibration and just the feel itself is very annoying. There has to be differences in the trucks or something. I can assure you that you would not like mine when it is on.

 

[PolarisCobra]

I have struggled to know when mine is on, can't really tell. It is a stock truck, I think that makes a difference. If you put a different exhaust on, it will probably sound much different.

As for the MDS doing long term damage, I doubt it. My brother-in-law has a 2007 Magnum with a 5.7, he just drives it, doesn't worry about MDS. Not much for oil changes, probably 10,000 miles between. It has 298,000 miles on it, valve covers or oil pan have never been off the motor, it runs and sounds just fine. (body and frame are getting pretty well rotted out, but the drive train is fine).

 

[blackbetty14]

From what I recall using the manual gear selector does not disable MDS. It shuts off ECO mode but the ECO display on the cluster does not correlate to the MDS being used/not used. I'm not sure about the TOW button disabling the MDS.... only sure way is to turn it off via a tuner.

 

[Ohio5pt7]

I notice the mds from the helicopter sound from doing a x pipe muffler delete. Needless to say I manually shift mine have since it had 200 miles up to 15k and it's only 4 months old lol

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[ExpressRules]

What is the purpose of a catch can ? I see them referred to all the time here.

While most members won't admit it, many install a catch can as the first upgrade to increase HP.

 

[pjs386]

I don't use MDS, when it kicks in on my 6.4 it seems to bog down to much, much more than my 5.7. I just put it in manual mode and forget about it. Between the two trucks I got 75-80k miles and never an issue.
Forum member H395 proved MDS is a hoax, monitored fuel when MDS kicked in. 4 cylinders shut off and the other 4 cylinders that keep running receive Double the fuel per the onboard computer programming. So the fuel doubles in the 4 active cylinders saving you no gas to speak of, twice the fuel means twice the combustion pressure in those cylinders. And more stress on those active internal engine components. MDS is a hoax imo.

I'd really like to see a Ram engineer's response to this. Not a CEO or a VP of whatever but a real Mechanical engineer's opinion (not from Ram because he/she'd be out of a job I am sure for speaking the truth!.

 

[Ohio5pt7]

I'd really like to see a Ram engineer's response to this. Not a CEO or a VP of whatever but a real Mechanical engineer's opinion (not from Ram because he/she'd be out of a job I am sure for speaking the truth!.

I would like to see this to bit I can believe it

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[goodcat]

My 14 Hemi Ram, 16 Hemi Ram and current 18 Hemi Rebel we’re and are daily driven with the MDS turned off every single time. Every blue moon I’ll enable MDS on long hwy drives but that’s it. I can’t stand the way the truck drives with it. Now a days my thumbs are already disengaging it before I even think about it. I find my hand trying to do it on auto pilot even when I’m driving my wife’s VW.

 

[xtremeroller]

After I installed my Carven exhaust I noticed how harsh it sounded going from MDS to the full 8 cylinders and to me that can't be good on the motor or valve train. I have a 2017 and used my Diablo tuner to shut mine off. I put in the mileage booster tune on my recent trip from Florida to Tennessee and back. I averaged 21.7 mpg on that whole trip with MDS disabled.

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[50BMG]

It's so this doesn't get recycled back into your intake manifold (RLK's pic)

OK, now I am really confused, what the heck is that "stuff" and where is the catch-can placed; in-line with the intake snorkel? What the heck is there to "catch" from the intake snorkel?
To me, a catch-can is a radiator overflow catcher on my Cobra; a requirement for when I have tracked the car...