Im gonna pipe in here seems how this is going tits up a bit. Ive been diesel mech for the better part of my life. the company I work for is quickly changing over to complete gas mainly gm 6.0. due to high operating cost and durability with all diesel engines. From the 6bt to t444e & the huge pile of sh** vt365 and the complete line of isb Cummins engines best advise, just leave them alone they will last longer and be alot more durable stock with the admit of def delete just leave them be ! As for a low tolerance for stupid questions thats complete bs your in customer service selling a product there's gonna be stupid questions. there's gonna be people that don't understand thats why they are buying it from u. I go to the doc and ask stupid sh** all the time thats what I'm paying for answer my stupid sh** and move on !
A couple things on here I’ve heard just aren’t quite what I believe. First of all is the “no tune” for durability, engines aren’t actually factory tuned for optimal power nor longevity. They are tuned for emissions which sometimes starves the engine of what it needs to be happy. The second thing I heard were all diesels are more expensive to run then gas engines, might be true with some but NOT ALL. Especially if keeping long term or concerned about resale value. Not going brand specific here but I’ve absolutely seen and experienced the opposite to be true, and I don’t baby equipment nor do I maintain stuff well. Once on the road I’ll just drive it.
If I were to buy a newer truck I’d throw a conservative tune on it and the day it fell of warranty there would be a def delete done. Period. Both mileage, longevity would go up, maintenance down, and as a bonus a little added power. That’s what I would do (for off road purposes only is what the lawyers tell me lol)
Well I can respond with good authority to part of your response; I'm mature and have owned them all and have been exclusive diesel for over 40 years on my personal vehicles.
If you're going for fuel mileage and operating cost diesel is cheaper once you own the vehicle; the engine is a $10-$15K upgrade if you drive a lot or have for more than 100K miles and do a lot of towing at the very least it's a wash as to overall cost. If you tow heavy weight and climb mountains like we do here in AZ the additional power is always a plus but not always needed (if you don't mind going slow up-hill or being passed LOL). What is needed in almost all cases (but many will disagree) is a 3/4 ton tow vehicle, this is more about suspension, stopping power, weight distribution, etc.
If you don't own or keep it way over 100K miles gas is cheaper overall but slower with less power, for guys it's always about the power LOL.
As to tuners, exhaust, etc. I've also tried them all.
I agree with you as to the factory tune being mild for emissions and leaves a lot to be desired.
If you don't tune more than an additional 100 HP it's awesome, if you go more than that you start slipping the transmission and stretching head bolts. If you drive it exactly the same as before the tune you will see slightly better fuel mileage...the thing is for most guys additional horsepower and fuel mileage don't go together we just seem to need to show off and hit the pedal harder because we can and its there!
So with that said adding a tuner usually results in additional mods or expensive repairs as a result.
They absolutely throw off the dash readings or show way better fuel mileage than real world, if you hand calculate you know it's all smoke & mirrors but we want to believe the dash so that's what we tell everybody. I hand calculate and compare the two with every single fuel fill.
My question about the DEF which my 2013 RAM has now is I've read there is no real advantage to power increase or fuel mileage by deleting but that it can save you $$$ on up-keep and maintenance. As it is now I'm getting a code that my turbo controller is bad which equals loss of power, I'm told that the DEF systems gums up the turbo vanes and the inside of the intake parts of the engine, of course up to 2012 you could change just to control module but not on the newer rigs you have to change the complete turbo kid which I've been quoted $5K, I'm stressed!
I was hoping the DEF delete might cure the issue or at least keeping it from happening again.