My SCT tuner thread.

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Okiespaniel

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Hey all...

This is an ongoing thread that will review my SCT tuner.
The reason I bought this tuner is to see if I could increase my gas mileage on my ram. I already knew about the power gains others have reported witht the tuner Hemifever sets up. But I challenged Sean to build me the ultimate "89 octane" can tune that would give me a boost for towing and a mileage boost while running 87 octane gas.

For the last 3 tanks of gas I have recorded miles driven/gas burned so I could get a mileage baseline. My truck is driven in mostly commute situations but under a variety of speeds ranging fom 30 to 65 mph. In a 10 mile one way trip I may stop as many as 9 times. Low end acceleration is important and my truck lacks this. I also need highway power to keep up with traffic patterns.
My truck is also ran on weekends as my toy. I attend functions for another very active local forum This involves highway and freeway speeds.

BTW, this is meant to be a simple real world test. No ultimate horsepower dyno runs, no trips to the strip. What I want to find is...do tuners really help mileage. or is "the potential for mileage gains" many manufactuers state just a buzz phrase.

So lets start. I've recorded the last 3 tanks of gas I purchased from my local QT. Plain jane 87 octane with a hint of ethanol. There is non ethanol gas availible, but simple math based on mileage claims others state shows there is no cost benefit to running it. In other words you save 2 cents per gallon burned but spend .20 to do so.

So after 3 tanks, my average mpg is 10.45, or 10.5. No onboard computer reading, juts plain old division.

This morning I installed the 89 octane tune from my SCT. Nothing could have been simpler! I decided to get the "wild hairs" off my butt and take it for a spin on a test circle which closely imitates my work route. But with a heavy foot. :) I still had just about a 1/2 tank of 87 regulaar on board.
Now, this tune didn't turn my truck into a tire smoking superbeast. But I immediatly noticed 3 important things.
1> Less effort needed to accelerate from a dead stop. Doesn't squeal tires, but doesn't fall on its face either. Goodbye torque limiting!
2> Truck doesn't hunt for lockup. Goes into OD at 40 mph. Slight rpm increase (mileage loss?) but if the advance and fuel were leaned up by the tune there's still a mileage potential increase.The truck doesn't lug along... then downshift violently into passing gear.
3> No pinging.

I will continue to report on the mileage, and yes, I will try the 93 tune for giggles...but not for a while.

:birgits_tiredcoffee
 
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wermbang

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this is what we have been waiting for. I should do this with my superchips too
 
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Okiespaniel

Okiespaniel

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Thanks Luke.

Couple of important points I should mention here. I have read a BUNCH of threads on tuners. For many years. This mod has been on the fence in my wallet for a long time.

Results can vary from truck to truck. It seems that '99 and earlier Rams recieve less of a benefit from tuners. They lack the torque limiting and death flashing that newer 2nd gen Rams have had.
Also SCT tuners do not have the capability to change speedometers for tire size. While this may affect my stats, my tranny rebuilder claimed he reflashed my BCM to affect accuracy. So I'll report my results and you can draw your own conclusions.
 

talon6

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any updates? curious.
 
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Okiespaniel

Okiespaniel

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any updates? curious.

Sorry, I filled up last Monday and am still driving on that tank of gas.

Its probably going to take a me a couple more weeks/tanks to get any kind of comparitive average.
Truck runs much better though. I'm very tempted to try the 93 octane tune in the future.
 
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Okiespaniel

Okiespaniel

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Well I filled up today...mileage is only up to 10.7 mpg.

And I'm worried about my transmission. The new shifts seem to heat things up quite a bit. Much more than I'm used to seeing.
I'm going to adjust my TV cable this weekend and see if that helps. Otherwise I may have to remove the tune.
 

talon6

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do you have a trans cooler? what kind of temps are you seeing?
 

the codes

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I have a sct tuner as well, I can post some results here as well if you'd like..I posted a thread somewhere on a few of my fillups since iv been doing a ton of highway driving for school lately.


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Okiespaniel

Okiespaniel

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I have a sct tuner as well, I can post some results here as well if you'd like..I posted a thread somewhere on a few of my fillups since iv been doing a ton of highway driving for school lately.


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Yes, that would be awesome. That way folks with 2wd trucks can get a comparitive analysis. Let me ask you a couple questions. How does your tranny shift? Is it late (or do you have to lift your foot) to get it to shift?
 
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Okiespaniel

Okiespaniel

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do you have a trans cooler? what kind of temps are you seeing?

I have a 10.5 gvw tranny cooler, deep pan, and a B&M guage. Temps are starting to climb above 160...not bad, but I don't ususally see those temps until it's over 90+ degrees out and I'm running my A/C in city traffic.
I know there's a tranny issue. It shifts late into 2nd and 3rd (at low speeds) and not into OD now until I lift the pedal. I had this issue before but the SCT exacerbates it...the truck wants to be driven harder. The shifting issue is a mileage and tranny killer for sure.
So I can't blame the SCT...and as far as power goes, the difference from stock, especially on the highway against the ever present Oklahoma wind is amazing.
 
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Okiespaniel

Okiespaniel

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Okay...adjusted the TV cable...and it was WAY off! Tranny shifts much better now, and I expect mileage to go up and based on a test drive the heat to stay down.

Will post here again when I fillup again.
 
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the codes

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well idk about being late but I don't have to lift my foot for it to shift


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Okiespaniel

Okiespaniel

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Hello all.
It's been a couple of tanks since I've posted but I thought I would update.

The last two tanks were 10.1 mpg and 10.7. Just filled up tonight.

I'd be thrilled if I got 11 ish mpg.

Will load the 93 tune after this tank runs through.
 
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Okiespaniel

Okiespaniel

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Today was rather interesting....

I went and filled my tank with 91 octane, which is pretty much what you can get for premium in this area.

I noted that my mileage had JUMPED on the last tank. I recorded an IMPRESSIVE 11.4 mpg! Fluke? Or did removing my bug shield drop my drag co efficient?

Anyway, after putting over 21 gallons of hi test in, I loaded in my 93 tune and took and took a test drive.
And then came home and loaded the 89 tune back in. Reason being the dam motor pinged like a &8^%&76798y%%4! So much for that. It may have had a bit more uummmfff down low, but not enough to warrant keeping the tune.

It seemed like the tune was set for about 40 degrees advance that was right now. Not what I would've have done with an old school mechanical distributor.

However, I would be estatic about a consistent 11.4 mpg city mileage, almost a full mpg over my baseline.
 

talon6

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sounding pretty good. is it flat lands where you live? or hilly? very hilly in my neck of the woods. when people do mpg posts, i think alot of them donnt consider that.
 
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Okiespaniel

Okiespaniel

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sounding pretty good. is it flat lands where you live? or hilly? very hilly in my neck of the woods. when people do mpg posts, i think alot of them donnt consider that.

I wouldn't call it "hilly"...rolling plains, maybe.
 

the codes

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I figured I could throw in some of my numbers as well and if you have any questions about my conditions just ask. I was running the 93 tune for a while, and driving probably 90 % highway was getting slightly above 14 mpg at least 4 tanks in a row. Got a few high 13 mpg tanks. I switched down to the 87 tune because gas is killing me (driving about 300 miles per week currently). With the 87 tune iv been getting 13 mpg tanks, and got one high 12 mpg tank, but that one had much more city driving than the others.
 

Mopar1973Man

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Geez... I'm late to the part like usual...

As for MPG's you are really low from the get go start. I'm only a 5.9L Dodge Ram 1500 rather stock but a Mopar Performance PCM.

Ride in the 96 Dodge - YouTube

Last trip to Ontario, OR which is a 360 mile trip I got 17.0 on the way down and 15.1 MPG on the return trip home fighting rain and flood roads. Yes I know the numbers are correct because when I go back to fill the SGII show exactly the amount of gallon to pump plus the price. :)
 
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Okiespaniel

Okiespaniel

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Geez... I'm late to the part like usual...

As for MPG's you are really low from the get go start. I'm only a 5.9L Dodge Ram 1500 rather stock but a Mopar Performance PCM.

Ride in the 96 Dodge - YouTube

Last trip to Ontario, OR which is a 360 mile trip I got 17.0 on the way down and 15.1 MPG on the return trip home fighting rain and flood roads. Yes I know the numbers are correct because when I go back to fill the SGII show exactly the amount of gallon to pump plus the price. :)

I had a 97 ext cab short box Ram that I could coax 16 mpg out of on the highway. It had no lift and much smaller tires and absolutely no other mods.

It could one leg a 25 foot patch of rubber with 3:21 gears. my truck won't even bark the tires. Probably just as well.

This truck has never been a mileage champ since I bought ot on 2001. 13 mpg is average for hwy. BTW thats running at 70+ mph. Running at 55 the mileage drops because the motor lugs and the tranny constantly shifts in at out of OD/lockout. At 70-72 mph the truck is in the sweetspot on the powerband and seldom down shifts. When I can come up with the 16 to 18 hundred bucks to regear I'll do it. It does appear that the SCT has removed enough torque management and/or reprogramed the OE pcm that the sweet spot may be about 2-300 rpm lower now. I haven't been on stretch of highway long enough and traffic free enough to find out.

After the tuner threead has run it's course, I'm going to have a thermal reading done on my cat (if anyone here in podunk OK knows how) to check its' condition.

BTW folks, when I started this thread, I didn't know what to expect because there isn't a lot of hard mileage data related to tuners, just buzz phrases like "ipotential for increased mileage." I was hoping for about 12 mpg, but would be happy with a 1 mpg increase in city driving.

Which translates to one free day driving back and forth to the office...:birgits_tiredcoffee
 
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the codes

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I have larger tires than stock, if I had my stock tires im pretty confident I would be at 15 mpg on the highway at least.
 
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