MDS....Did you turn it off or leave it on?

[barryjay]

How do you shut down MDS?

 

[DeckArtist]

Trans in drive....Gear- you will see a 1 in the dash....then Gear+ 7 times til you see 8. After that you are still shifting all eight speeds but MDS is off. The cool thing is it will show what gear you’re in when it changes just to the left of the eight. I wish there was a way to turn that on all the time and MDS off all the time without having to buy a $500 tuner.


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[Addicted2fishing]

Trans in drive....Gear- you will see a 1 in the dash....then Gear+ 7 times til you see 8. After that you are still shifting all eight speeds but MDS is off. The cool thing is it will show what gear you’re in when it changes just to the left of the eight. I wish there was a way to turn that on all the time and MDS off all the time without having to buy a $500 tuner.


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Mine doesn’t show the gear it’s in. So while I’m driving it just shows 8. I have a poor mans sport blacked out express so is that why? I have the little display from a 97 Toyota Corolla [emoji2369]


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[dhay13]

Tried mine the last 2 days putting it in 6th manually. It is a pain. Every time I put it in park I have to do it again.

 

[DeckArtist]

Mine is a Sport, but it's optioned well. Love being able to see what gear it's in. I am new to the Ram family so the extra step before driving off is not too big a deal.

 

[Wahrsuul]

I have the old 5spd with 3.55 gears. In town I'll turn it off if I remember.

 

[DeckArtist]

Not sure Addicted....I would think that would be standard along any trim level.

 

[tones2SS]

How do you shut down MDS?

See post #58!!!
Video included.

 

[ramsare4real]

Other members have reported they found the same small increase in MPG.

All I can think of is 4 cylinders are not powerful enough for the 3.21 gears without having to gulp copious amount of gas...

 

[gapi]

Not as heavy as the truck but not a light weight my Charger R/T has 2.65 gears and will run on MDS 110 mph up light inclines.
It really saves gas on traveling, 15 -20% highway is not shabby.
I have 120k on the car now and have it disabled based on mixed reports of cam/lifter failure contribution. Some say it does and some say not. I don't mind running it at all. If I make it to 140k I'll celebrate.

 

[Fitz-0518]

All I can think of is 4 cylinders are not powerful enough for the 3.21 gears without having to gulp copious amount of gas...

I think it might be the MDS program which is a active soft logic program. Could be that when it is off, the vehicle air, fuel and gas intake is more consistent and at higher speeds the engine does not need as much fuel.
On the other hand the MDS program in the cars is different and I can see a more significant gas savings being realized.

 

[ramsare4real]

Could be that when it is off, the vehicle air, fuel and gas intake is more consistent and at higher speeds, the engine does not need as much fuel.

So when it's on it's not as consistent and it needs more gas to cope with the situation?

 

[buddy guy]

i just finished a 1200 mile trip and after the first 200 miles turned the mds off. i wasn't seeing any improvement on mileage with it on against off. went to pass a chevy on the highway today that was doing 70 and stepped on the hemi hard and it went like a rocket (3.55 -6 speed) felt it immediately smack me into the seat on the way to 85 very quickly. my son (22) yells..."what are you doing????!!!!!". lol

 

[Addicted2fishing]

Well, today just doing some running around in town briefly I turned off the MDS. Feels like a different truck. Sips gas just putting around town. And when I hit the gas pedal I can feel the power and torque. With MDS active it sort feels like there is a moment where the system has to catch up and go. Pretty neat. It’s annoying having to set it to 8, however, I think I’ll try it for a bit.

My display just shows 8 all the time and doesn’t show active gear. I don’t really care as when it’s “normal” mode it doesn’t display gear so it doesn’t change anything for me as far as that goes.


If my gas mileage goes completely down the toilet I’ll switch back to MDS. But so far I notice a more steady fuel consumption on the meter thingy.


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[DeckArtist]

I doubt you’ll notice much of a difference. The biggest difference I’ve heard of so far is half a mile per gallon loss. Some guys even say they were gaining.


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[ThunderMug95]

My biggest gripe with the MDS is the logic they put into it...i usually shift to 8 as soon as it goes in drive by the way...but I dont see the logic in having it cut on under say 55mph! What mpg benefit is it for it at 25mph basically idling out of my neighborhood or in city driving?!?! Mileage in those conditions is going to suck no matter what. Have it programmed to kick on in 7th&8th or over 55 or something for freeway and interstate speeds. I guarantee that mds has more effect on increased mileage in higher speed cruising than it does stoplight to stoplight.

 

[Fitz-0518]

So when it's on it's not as consistent and it needs more gas to cope with the situation?

I suspect that is right.

 

[Fitz-0518]

And I think Thunder is right in his 156 post. Two points 1. If they had written the code to activate at the higher speed when cruising as stated, I too believe we would see something more than .5 mpg improvement when on. Remember the old North-star system in the Cadillac. I think that was how their program worked. Even though they found out, it caused unexpected engine repairs. 2. The code that is in the program, focuses on only one thing. When MDS should engage and under what driving conditions. It is driven by the manufactures need to hit CAFE standards. To hell with drive-ability, wear or long term effect on reliability.

 

[dhay13]

In drove to the marina today about 15-20 miles away and put it manually into 6th. It does show what gear it is in at that time too. In the past with this truck and my 2013 1500 I always turned tow/haul on but that locked out 6th gear. I like this better. Never knew about this trick.

 

[Lucy Girl]

On hwy trips the mds definitely helps mpg. Around my rural area, I don't notice it. I am not aware of the mdd causing issues.

You will SOL.