Diesel Tuners??
 

Anyone use the cortex SuperChip for the LB7 Duramax?

http://www.superchips.com/products.p...M+Applications

Not looking to go crazy with a Banks Kit even though they're really nice. Intake, exhaust, hardwired pda, etc...

With the superchip, you can put your stock file back and there will be no record to void any warranty. Just wondered if anyone has used this programmer with everything else being stock? Seems like a nice deal at the price - 88HP for $500 plus other extras.

Get and Edge Juice and be done with it. I've been running one in my '03 for about 4yrs now and have zero complaints.

Neither.... get the diablo sport. Can find them for about 350 ish, and they work great. Easy to take back out, however there are always ways they can tell a tuner was in.

Don't forget the weak link is the trans, you will need a shift kit to use the higher tunes. Also gauges are mandatory, figure around 250 for them.

I've not heard of Edge Juice but i'll look around. Still wanted to hear from any SuperChip owners with my truck (LB7).

thanks

No offense but I disagree with you in the biggest way. The Allison 1000C is NOT a weak tranny. In fact, it most likely will out last the engine. Also, the Duramax truck comes with trans guages so I see no need for that either. You must have thought I was talking bout Ford or Dodge trans..

:party-smiley-004:

Still looking for Chevy owners that might have tried the SuperChip.

I didn't say weak transmission. I said weak link. Trust me, I know. I am at my friend's trans shop every day. We have done a bunch of duramax shift kits, in LB7 and LBZ's.

Now, again, the transmission is not weak by an means. However, the duramax is so friendly to power adders that the transmission quickly gets over whelmed. They say 5th gear in the Alison is rated for 700 -750 ft lbs of torque. Thats strong! But, stock on the LB7 is what, 600? (I'm more familiar with LBZ). So, your tuner just added minimum 100-150 ft lbs in the higher tunes. That over powers the stock trans.

Be careful with tuners and that trans before you do a shift kit (increased line pressure). That still doesn't solve the 5th gear holding problem though.

If you still don't believe me, check out the dieselplace.com. You will see many, many smoked Allisons. Is it a good transmission? Yes. Is it somehow bulletproof because its an Alison? no.

After that, If you still don't believe, get the diablo sport, put it on the 120 hp tune, and do some pulls through 5th gear and see how long it takes to get it to limp the trans..

Edit: As far as gauges, you need boost and EGT to be able to run a tuner. Especially on the duramax's, they run HOT!

okay but i don't want the diablo in part because of what you're saying. that's why i'm liking the superchip at 88 or so horsepower. i'm not racing other truck owners up the grades with 14,000 pound trailers. I'm towing a small 5500 - 6k boat and would like "just a little" more. the 3 tunning options look nice, you can adjust shift points a little, adjust for tires, wheels, etc. If you back off and don't let the trans get hot or drive it like it's stolen I don't think i'll have problems.

I'm the original new owner. got 119000 miles as of today with original factory brakes and 75% of the way through my SECOND set of tires. I'm not a hotroder. It also is supposed to help out with that stupid annoying 4th gear hang up and over sensitive down hill brake.

I appreciate the input but all i wanted was to hear from someone who has used this seemingly entry level tuner.

gauges gauges gauges.. i cant stress that enough.. got a brand new motor in my superduty because of my lack of gauges. just because its on the dash doesnt mean its accurate. MINIMUM, spend the money on EGT, TRans Temp and Boost. then, tune away! stock gauges are HOOOOORRRRIIBBLY innaccurate

my brothers truck is in a chevy store now for a blown engine due to a bad injector. He now has to sue GM to warranty the engine since they say the engine failed due to a computer upgrade even though there is not one on the truck and there is no way to prove one was even there. The truck has 70,000 miles on it and the factory is saying take a hike. The dealership has told the factory no programmer is on the truck and has been real nice, but the factory says no warranty. Now he has to sue GM to make them warranty the engine. Moral of the story he has found that GM has voided lots of people's warranty due to programers so be careful.

Yeah, if you use lower tunes you'll be ok. The diablo has a 45, 65, 85 and 120 hp tune AFAIK. They all have multiples.

My friend has one in his LB7, runs it mainly on the 45hp tune.

Its the cheapest way to go. Also, programmers can not adjust transmission shift points on the duramax. The TCM is very separate from the ECU, not like the fords/dodges. So, you have to let the trans re-learn the new program before it shifts 100% right.

What the auto programmers do is defuel the engine on shifts.. that is why the programmers are for either auto, or stick. The stick programmers do not defuel on shifts.

Chevy/ford/dodge can tell if a programmer was on an engine by burn pattern on the piston tops. So if you grenade an engine from the programmer (not going to happen) they will know. However, if you loose an engine from a bad injector (more likely) they will also try to not warranty you. You should win that case since it was not the modifications fault, however you are on shaky ground with that case... plus the whole suing thing sucks.

my brother has talked to gm zone reps and there seems to be lots of trucks sitting waiting for engines. It seems gm tells you they won't warranty thinking you will just roll over and trade it in on a new one.

Superchips says right on the site that it adjusts shift points. Talking bout the GM version 2950. It fixes the 4th gear lag that so many people complain about. It also does not exceed the stock egt.

With the superchip, you can put your stock file back and there will be no record to void any warranty. -quote-

Aren't you out of warrenty already?

Negative ghostrider. GM upped the factory warranty on all 1st gen duramaxes due to known injector failure problem. Since their apparently not fixing or redesigning the injectors for that motor, they simply decided to keep replacing them a little longer but you're still hosed in the end I belive so far...

How pissed would you be to pay 750 retail each injector after the 200,000 expires??
:angry-smiley-038:

Check out painless performance. They make one called the stryker 1 . I bought it from jegs performance 373.00.
Untraceable. It just plugs in, 5 minutes no tools,no gauges needed. 10 settings from fuel economy to 100hp. Works great for me. you can adjust it on the fly. I have 2000 f-250 7.3. Probably not as good as the high dollar ones but I think it works great. Makes it fun when you need a rush. Very noticeable when set at 100hp.

Where on earth did you hear those injectors cost $750ea? Most I've EVER seen them is about $200

Duramax and 7.3 are worlds different as far as tuner types/needs

www.gmfullsize.com

You could either get EFILive and gauges, or get a programmer that has the gauges built-in. The Edge Juice/Attitude is a great entry-level programmer and has an EGT probe, and all the other gauges you'd need. I had one in my LBZ Duramax.... here's a pic:

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...D/DSC_2482.jpg

That is contrary to everything I've read/know about the duramax/allison combo.

The TCM takes a RPM, TPS, and load input from the engine, along with a wheel speed thats all the data it uses.. I'm not an expert, but I do like try and figure out how everything I work on works together, and thats what I remember about the dmax.

Since the TCM (transmission control module) is not part of the ECU (engine control module), any programmer that re-flashes the ECU through the OBD2 port can not have any effect on the TCM.

The only thing I can think of is they do something with a gear reference and loading to get the TCM to do what they want. So its either improperly tricked, or marketing, or I have no idea what I'm talking about. Go to the dieselplace.com before you spend money. They will save you a **** load.

had a sct tuner on my diesel, blew a head gasket, ran the truck back on stock for 200 miles, took it to the dealer and they said it had been tuned, so they voided warranty, The tuners can be detected, fact. cost me 13,000$ to fix, no more tuners here

so you were not able to flash the stock file back on the computer or?? I know they were working on trying to install spyware so that they could see the entire history but if it is installed in today's trucks it was not available when I got mine. There may have been a big legal fight over whether or not the manufacture could use spyware but I'm not sure bout that.

They look at the burn pattern on the piston tops. They know how a stock fueled diesel will look, and how a tuned one will. No matter if they have a way of knowing the computer was re flashed or not.

13k though is too much. If a dealer told me they were not going to warranty my engine, I'd take it right out of their shop. No way am I paying top dollar for stock/re manufactured parts. At 13k I'm building a race engine that will not blow, or searching ebay for stock parts.

In the end, you run the tuner at your own risk. Pay to play. Your safest with the duramax. They are tuner friendly, much more so than the 6.0l ford that doesn't need help from tuners to blow up.

On your LB7 use the tuner (whether super chips, diablo sport, ect) to read the DTC codes. You can run an injector balance check on the LB7s to find any early warnings of injector failure. If you have an big difference in injector balance numbers, then take the tuner out and have chevy warranty the injectors. I thought they finally had a fix for the injectors? If they don't you can retrofit LLY heads/fueling.. but that would cost more than simply replacing the injectors twice.

The goal is to watch your injectors carefully.. monitor fuel consumption, and balance rates.. this way you catch the problem before you loose an engine.

Now all late 07' and 08' Duramax computers can detect that they have been tampered with. They will not be able to figure out what you did even if you put it back to stock but it will show it has been altered before. It is completely undetectable in the computers in the older models. If you have a problem with an older model, they can only assume by inspecting the damage to the piston and the cylinder wall. There is no way for them to prove it!

General Motors Bulletin #06-06-01-007A:
Information on Identifying Duramax Diesel LB7,LLY,LMM,LBZ Overpower Engine Breakdown or Non-Function Due to Aftermarket Power-up Devices vs. Non Overpower Engine Non-Function of Pistons, Cylinders-(Sep 28,2007)

Generally, in inspection of Duramax engine failure due to power-up failures two or more cylinders will be affected.

A fuel injector failure may fracture a piston or melt a piston but the damage will be limited to that cylinder only and all other pistons and cylinder walls are Ok. In some cases, hydraulic lock will occur on the suspected cylinder with an over-fueling fuel injector. Hydraulic lock on the suspected cylinder will cause a bent connecting rod. This can be verified with piston protrusion measurements

Aftermarket Power-Up Kit Check List:
1) Piston cracked parallel to wrist pin.
.Piston cracked in lip area
.Hole in piston connecting top of piston to oil cooling channel
2) Melted Pistons.
.Lip of combustion bowl melted
.Top of piston melted/ missing
3) Cross hatching polished off cylinder wall.Cylinder wall missing crosshatch on major thrust face of cylinder below ring belt travel.
4) Piston pin bore,Wrist pin, and Rod bushing.
.Scoring in upper piston pin boss/black discoloration/ oil coking.
.Wrist Pin Wear.



This is what they are looking for. :cool-smiley-027:

Just for a heads up: The stock Allison Transmission is good for up to 700 lbs of torque! When you go past that, you need to upgrade the transmission and torque converter.

was reflashed stock, dealer told me they can detect a modification very easily, take pictures, send to manufacturer , voided warranty.

I have a 06 LBZ and think it is plenty strong/fast/good puller in stock form. Not that more power is nice, however I think the trade off with GM and their BS if it is tuned is to leave it stock.

Just put one on my 05 dodge and love it

No, the dealer cannot detect it unless it is late 07' or newer. The main reason you want to remove them when you take it to the dealer is, Most of the time if the factory has any new updates they will reflash your computer with them and you will loose your tune. The only pictures they can take will be of damage and they will still have to prove that whatever upgrades caused the said damage. It is case law. It is called the (Magnuson Moss Warranty Act) :cool-smiley-027:

Over on the Diesel Place (dieselplace.com), One guy reported that he had a LBZ that was making 520 Rwhp. He split the crank in two and took it back to the dealer and they waranteed it. Not that I would chose that route or support having GM warantee in those situations, but the warantee really depends on the dealer and other factors. I have heard that the newer 32 bit Bosch processors (LMM) can tell how many calibrations have been applied which can be an easy electronic way to detect mods....

If you are willing to write off your warantee completely and want to go balls out I would go with PPE or EFI Live. My truck has made just under 500 Rwhp with both setups. Be prepared to spend some cash on transmissions, lift pumps and all the other typical diesel stuff to get there though.... There are some other bonuses to the programmers when compared to the edge as well in that you can disable things like EGR check engine lights and DPF etc. The new edge boxes can read and clear the codes but they cannot make them go away permanently.

I just put a Edge Juice w/Attitude on a 08 Ram and saw all the things that it could do so I ordered one for my 05. You can do a lot more with the newer trucks than my 05, You can't clear codes or even monitor trans temps. I still love it though.

So if I was to take my truck in for a TSB for my transmission I would have to take the tuner off so it doesn't clear the tuner???

Yes I would recommend it. :cool-smiley-027: