MDS vs ECO

[crazy jerry]

in 6k miles never one time have i noticed a eco light on '17 wagon . maybe its broken

 

[Ratket]

When im cruising around town my eco light comes on and off and i never hear my mds kick on. I have an exhaust cutout and when its open and the mds turns on you can definitely hear it for sure. Tow and haul wont turn off mds but selecting the gears on the steering wheel will for sure. Just put it in 8th and drive, the trans will shift like it normally would.

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This ^ my 14 25006.4 was easy to tell but on my 18 1500 it’s harder to tell.

 

[Ratket]

in 6k miles never one time have i noticed a eco light on '17 wagon . maybe its broken

The HD”s didn’t get a “Eco Light” untill a certain year, you would also have to go into the settings on the 8.4 and turn the light on. Also to get a power wagon to activate MDs would prolly take a downward slope backed by a tail wind lololol

 

[Ratket]

To the OP- this topic has been beaten to death on here,
Manually selecting gears locks out MDS
Tow haul changes the parameters on the tranny and the shift points. I believe there is a difference in The way the 1500”s activate and the 2500”s but I could be wrong I’m happy with the mileage on my 1500 I don’t even pay attention “ wish I could of said the same for my 6.4 lol”.. and anyone who says “ you have to have an Eco light to have MDS “ can keep drinking their own coolaid... as I stated previously my 14 2500 6.4 didn’t have an eco light and the drone from my aftermarket muffler made it real easy to tell when MDS was active as well as the Jump in the current mpg read out on the dash. People have done studies and the fuel saved with MDS is minimal, not even worth writing about.

 

[olyelr]

The HD”s didn’t get a “Eco Light” untill a certain year, you would also have to go into the settings on the 8.4 and turn the light on. Also to get a power wagon to activate MDs would prolly take a downward slope backed by a tail wind lololol

This^^^^^^

The light can be set to come on or not come on in the settings menu. Mine was set to not come on from the factory. And yes, my power wagon RARELY EVER gets into eco mode. It cant even do it on a flat road... litterally has to be slightly downhill with absolutely no acceleration at all.

For reference, I drive the same roads with my pw and my 1500. We have a mile long straight stretch of road by my house that is ever so slightly sloped. My 1500 will stay in eco mode going up the slope keeping steady speed, while my pw will barely kick in going down the slope and then kick out at the slightest throttle.

And I religiously track my mpg’s, hand calculated vs digital readout. I get 18-20 with the 1500 and 11-13 with the pw. Thats dd cruising, NOT towing.

 

[olyelr]

... as I stated previously my 14 2500 6.4 didn’t have an eco light and the drone from my aftermarket muffler made it real easy to tell when MDS was active as well as the Jump in the current mpg read out on the dash.

Maybe yours was set for the light to not come on?

All I know, is when either of my trucks go into mds the eco light instantly pops up, and when it goes out of mds the light instantly pops off.

 

[G. Mcpherson]

Everything you want to know about MDS & ECO Mode. For the 100th time.

 

[DJ Mark]

On the 1500 and at least my 2016, ECO and MDS are not connected in any way.
On mine ECO means you are driving in a fuel efficient manner - 4 or 8 cyl.
MDS is 4 cyl mode.
I have seen
ECO on MDS off
ECO on MDS on
MDS on ECO off - rare though.
I can hear and feel it in my 16 Outdoorsman.

Tow/haul does not disable ECO or MDS, only ERS disables them on my truck.

Whether the HD's or other years are slightly different, I do not know.

My 2018 is the EXACT SAME as what you described...

The ECO light is nothing more than a dummy light that comes on when certain conditions are met but does not indicate any specific function (other than all requirements are met including driving like a princess).


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[Ratket]

Everything you want to know about MDS & ECO Mode. For the 100th time.

Get a stick... Let’s beat this dead horse..lolololol

 

[jackham]

So here is a question or two. Have you folks got your eco light to come on when you are doing 80 mph on the interstate?
Also when brand new does the MDS operate or does it stay off until the engine is broke in?

The reason I ask is my brand new 2019 Laramie Longhorn 3.92 did not flash the eco light once on my 250 mile trip through Montana to work.

 

[olyelr]

So here is a question or two. Have you folks got your eco light to come on when you are doing 80 mph on the interstate?
Also when brand new does the MDS operate or does it stay off until the engine is broke in?

The reason I ask is my brand new 2019 Laramie Longhorn 3.92 did not flash the eco light once on my 250 mile trip through Montana to work.

The light is not typically set up to come on from the factory. You have to go into the settings and manually allow it to turn on.

 

[jackham]

The light is not typically set up to come on from the factory. You have to go into the settings and manually allow it to turn on.

Thank you.

 

[GsRAM]

The light is not typically set up to come on from the factory. You have to go into the settings and manually allow it to turn on.

On my 17 2500 tradesman its (eco indicator) come on from day 1 without me changing any settings. In fact i don't believe I can turn it off.

When eco flashes I can hear a noticeable exhaust tone change and I know I'm on 4 cylinders. It's very obvious. Eco light on = mds activated at least on my truck.

 

[olyelr]

On my 17 2500 tradesman its (eco indicator) come on from day 1 without me changing any settings. In fact i don't believe I can turn it off.

When eco flashes I can hear a noticeable exhaust tone change and I know I'm on 4 cylinders. It's very obvious. Eco light on = mds activated at least on my truck.

My truck, and many others that I have read about online, did not allow the light to come on from the factory. I simply went into the evic settings and turned it on...

 

[GsRAM]

My truck, and many others that I have read about online, did not allow the light to come on from the factory. I simply went into the evic settings and turned it on...

Maybe it's because mines a tradesman?

 

[Jendsley06]

To the OP- this topic has been beaten to death on here,
Manually selecting gears locks out MDS
Tow haul changes the parameters on the tranny and the shift points. I believe there is a difference in The way the 1500”s activate and the 2500”s but I could be wrong I’m happy with the mileage on my 1500 I don’t even pay attention “ wish I could of said the same for my 6.4 lol”.. and anyone who says “ you have to have an Eco light to have MDS “ can keep drinking their own coolaid... as I stated previously my 14 2500 6.4 didn’t have an eco light and the drone from my aftermarket muffler made it real easy to tell when MDS was active as well as the Jump in the current mpg read out on the dash. People have done studies and the fuel saved with MDS is minimal, not even worth writing about.

I read elsewhere that when coasting (no throttle at all) it shuts off fuel completely. There was a term for it, but I have no idea what. The premise was to use engine braking to save fuel and brakes. Mine acts like you describe above, but don't remember what this was called and the post with the link elsewhere was removed because people were being immature about their personal opinions about how this system works. Any idea about this, has anyone here seen information about it?
2018 1500 Express 4x4 Hemi

 

[pacofortacos]

https://blog.ramtrucks.com/ram-technology/boost-your-fuel-economy-with-the-idfso-system/index.html

From elsewhere (not my info)

iDFSO is Interactive Decel Fuel Shut-Off. On typical vehicles when you get off the gas and/or are decelerating for any reason the engine is still being provided fuel to maintain idle. On these engines fuel is completely shut off to the engine under a number of conditions.

For example if your are decelerating while the torque converter is holding the engine RPM's, then iDFSO will shut off all fuel to the engine during the time you are decelerating. Which is part of the reason why the trucks don't seem to coast very far when you get off the gas. Once you go to accelerate or RPM's drop to about 900 rpm fuel will be fed to the engine again.

Or if your are coasting down a hill will foot off the brake and gas, fuel will not be provided to the engine due to the function of iDFSO as engine RPM is being driven by transmission/torque converter. Which is why people trying to "hypermile" by putting vehicle in neutral going down a hill (a bad idea anyway) don't see any benefit as putting vehicle in neutral means torque converter isn't maintaining engine RPM so iDFSO must provide fuel to engine to maintain idle. Which means in many cases you use more fuel in neutral coasting down a hill than coasting down hill in Drive.

Its actually a quite complicated flow chart on when iDFSO and/or MDS may be active and under what conditions. For example MDS may or may not be active when iDFSO is active when decelerating. So if all 8 cylinders are active when decelerating you get more rapid deceleration due to cylinder compression than if you were on 4 under MDS.

Some of that may have changed on the 2013/2014 models as its been a few years since my career change so don't have access to more current information.

 

[Sloverado]

The eco light is basically telling you its in mds mode. Thats all.

The hd’s with the 6.4 have mds. On the hd’s, when you switch into tow haul mode it will not come on. Also, if you switch the gear selecter to where can read the actual gear number on the dash (instead of just “D”), mds will not come on.

Well said

 

[Redd Eyee]

A lot of folks commenting on this seem to be upset that it comes up every once in a while. If it upsets you to see a discussion like this, don't read it. Move on.

But for us new Ram owners, this is a confusing thing. I have a 2012 1500 5.7. I only have the one line display between my speedo and tach. I can see mileage, odometer 1, odometer 2 and ECO and outside temp. So I don't have any way to go in a turn on or off.

My ECO light has never come on. Does that mean that ECO has never been 'active'?

 

[tron67j]

I have been reading more about this. In other forums I see some people saying MDS and the truck being in a state of high economy (enough to light the eco light) are not always linked. One comment was that the light will still illuminate even when using a tuner that disables MDS. Anyone have experience with that? With my 6.4 and gearing I get much worse mileage than my older 5.7 with similar gearing. I was not at all expecting good mileage but next time out will look to see if my eco setting is on.