Which Chip??

[camaro84]

Hi Guys!

I'm Christoph living in Austria/Europe and driving a 96 Chevrolet K1500 6.% TD Truck Vin code "S".
I've been reading many of your forum entrys about tuning the diesel, but i couldn't get the right answer.

I've Spend very much money on the exterior of my truck and now i really like my truck, but the more i drive it, i hate the weak engine.... I've been thinking of selling th truck, but the K Series till 99 have the most beautifull bodystyle of all.

So i give my 6.5l diesel a last chance. Is there a easy way to get a little bit of extra power out of the engine? I have two 3" High pipes installed, but no other modification concerning the engine.
By the way how do i notice if i have a catalytic converter in my truck?

The first thing i'd like to do is to install a tuning chip.
Wich one would you install? How does this work withe the core charge?
Does it means when i don't want to reprogram my ECU i pay the core charge and don't have to send my ECU to the company?

Which chip would bring the best performance at it's self?
What would be the second modification you would make on your car? Intake? Turbos? Exhasut? Wastgate?

Here in europe you find nobody who has any expertise on these trucks...

Thanks Guys!!

 

[NVW]

Welcome to TTS!

Being from Europe the best bet for a chip would be from a member here: KOJO, his are marketed in N.A. by Walking J Designs.

Exhaust and gauges are the first mods IMO.

 

[ak diesel driver]

x2 need guages so you don't burn up engine and yes core charge is a fee for not giving yours to them. Not alot of other performance upgrades but you could put on a turbomaster (wastegate control) or better yet an Ateam turbo to go along with your KOJO tune. Oh and do a search for feed the beast mod Walking J sells them too.

 

[SnowDrift]

Glad you made your way over here. I'm the guy that sent you the link for this site from our earlier email conversation, yesterday. Sorry for getting a little "vague" toward the last couple emails - just wanting to make sure it was real and not a scammer or something. You'll find this is a great site and there's a LOT of useful information here and guys with hundreds of hours of experience to help you out. Best to you!

 

[kojo]

Here in europe you find nobody who has any expertise on these trucks...

Here in finland we have some experience with GM made vehicles, indeed we have C/K series meeting on this weekend at Iisalmi. If you spare time come visit there and i'll let you test my tune in your own truck, if you dont like it we put stock program back and wont take your money

 

[Paveltolz]

For the CAT/Soot Trap. Inspect your exhaust pipe and less than a hundred cm from where the down pipe starts horizontally towards the rear you'll note the presence of a large, bulbuous swollen section about 4.5" thick (sorry for not doing the metric conversion) and about 12" long which then reduces to the normal exhaust pipe's diameter. Hope this helps with that question.

Agree with others. Exhaust, guages, tune in that order With the autobahn speeds available to you and fuel milage improvements, you'll want to tst drive Kojo's truck with his tune and turbo set up to see what is available to you.

Sven (Chevy Lover) lives up near Hanover if you don't want to make the commute. Sunshine comes down your way once or twice a year to bike around the Alps too. So there are a few in and around your area.

 

[Matt Bachand]

http://walkingjdesigns.myshopify.com/products/kojo-tuning-6-5-diesels

Check out that link. Super great service, and wonderful guys to do business with.

 

[Pruittx2]

http://www.thetruckstop.us/forum/showthread.php?21858-New-Guys-Read-gt-Reliability-Mod-List!

Heres some good reading for ya,,, to ponder,, I'd put off the chip, until after you have Exhaust, Pyro-boost gauges, better air in&out first,, then more fuel ie. chip/reflash

Your 96 will be an OBDll unit, and will require you to take out the ECM,, have it reflashed,, Unless KOJO can do it in the truck.
If you are close to him,, I'd for sure go see him. He really knows his chit, and can help you a bunch!


List of Things to make it Reliable

1) Relocate PMD Outside of Engine compartment on HeatSink
2) Pull Radiator, to clean in between All coolers, Use Only AC-Delco t-stats
3) New oil cooler lines with real plumbing
4) AC-Delco ONLY OPS W/Relay Mod for OPS reliability (on years needed)
5) Fuel Pressure gauge to keep tabs on Lift pump, fuel filtering issues
6) Battery cable fix, using Bolts&Nuts & Adding #4 wire from Alt to + terminal
7) Pull and clean ALL grounds!!

List of Mod's to get the most out of your rig

1) 4" exhaust with 2.25" or 2.5" crossover
2) Boost and EGT Gauges
3) Manual Wastegate Controller
4) 97+ Air Cleaner Assem or better
5) H/O Water Pump, Duramax Composite Fan with a H/D Fan Clutch or fan clutch Mod
6) Performance chip for more fuel, better idle, More Fun!
7) Feed The Beast Mod
8) Bosch Duraterm or ACDelco 60G Glowplugs with GlowPlug Override Mod
9) Known good injectors, if you don't know Test/Replace them! Bosch or Delphi
10) 1993 Lift Pump or better H/D unit ie Walbro or others

11) Then we can look to add bigger turbo's Att or Holset,
Water/Meth or Propane injection systems,
air to air or water to air InterCoolers, ect.

The explanation, and expansion of info on any or all of these mod's can me found here:
http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53309


I'm sure others can comment on a few other things, that should be on this list.
But for new members thinking of getting all they can out of there rig, This should about do it.
Guys that are pulling 20,000+Lbs here, have these if not more mods.

 

[Veg_Out]

http://walkingjdesigns.myshopify.com/products/kojo-tuning-6-5-diesels

Check out that link. Super great service, and wonderful guys to do business with.

Thanks Matt. Great customers help a lot.

 

[camaro84]

Thanks Guys so Far....


So the Cat think is clear for me now.... The pre owner allready took it out...

Why do i need the Gauges? Do they show me the boost pressure and the Exhaust Gas Temp? But what schould i do if theyre getting to high?

Should i stop the car and continue my way walking? Does these chips destroy the engine?

 

[Pruittx2]

Gauges,, are there for the EGT mostly to tell you when your pushing it too hard, if you exhaust temps get above 1200 for too long,, you'll melt pistons. If you over boost,,, you'll blow her up. So as a monitoring system before any further upgrades,, these are needed. These chips,, are going to give you about 30% more power. or so. But like the Reliability thread shows,, you should do them in a logical order. You could just put in the chip and go. BUT you will not net the full yield of performance from the chip with out first doing the exhaust, Better air intake setup,, like the 97 and newer air box, maybe a TurboMaster boost controller. Look at my sig, and others to see what I've done to my truck. These things will make your rig the best it can be safely.

 

[great white]

Why do i need the Gauges?

To monitor the engine parameters. I use gauges from this site : www.auberins.com but any quality units will do.

Do they show me the boost pressure and the Exhaust Gas Temp?

Yup, you want a boost guage and a "pyrometer". High egt's can cause everything from piston meltdowns to block and head cracking. You really need to back off if you get in to the 1100-1200 degree range. Momentary excusions into this range is tolerable, but I limit it to a few seconds at most..

But what schould i do if theyre getting to high?

Simply lift your foot off the throttle a bit

Should i stop the car and continue my way walking?

Nope. If empty, just lift your foot a bit, if hauling a load you can either gear down or lift your foot a bit. Boost and EGT usually drop as soon as you lift your foot, so it's relatively easy to control unless you're hauling a heavy load up a hill or somewhere where you can't slow it down because of traffic or other road conditions.

Does these chips destroy the engine?

Well, that's a complicated answer. If the programmer is experienced then it's relatively safe. If they're inexperienced they may be giving you greater power at the expense of engine life.

It also has to do with how much power over stock you're trying to extract from the engine and if the transmission tables have been messed with in the tune.

Either way, there's no "free lunch". More power means a compromise somewhere. Fuel mileage, engine longevity, etc. A "mild" tune has minimal bad effects but also modest power gains.

Ya pays ya money, ya takes ya chances....

Cheers

 

[thedole]

I'm leaning towards a heath chip myself after TD's comments on how the kojo tune has a tendency towards driving the egt's a bit high..

 

[buddy]

I'm leaning towards a heath chip myself after TD's comments on how the kojo tune has a tendency towards driving the egt's a bit high..

Thats the problem getting comments off a forum, and qualifying them because of who posted it. What about Aces high EGTs, or anyone else that has Heath tunes with high EGTs. He didnt try the same tune in the same truck so its never a clear comparison. Injector quality, exhaust size, intakes are different, all changes how these work. Besides, Heath isnt even a supporting vendor and Walking J has the best price for OBD2. And programming changes are made in seconds, and Kojo customizes, so if you say I want progressive fueling or whatever its done.

 

[great white]

I'm leaning towards a heath chip myself after TD's comments on how the kojo tune has a tendency towards driving the egt's a bit high..

Probably just running a bit too much fuel for the air available.....or the "curve" doesn't quite match the ATT response.....could be many other things too, like fuel timing.

But too much fuel would be my first guess.

Easily fixed...

 

[thedole]

He didnt try the same tune in the same truck so its never a clear comparison

True, and yes all that other stuff is piling up in kojos favour and he is in a neighbouring country also unlike Heath across the ocean. Bying from walkingj I see no way I'm able to not throw in an ATT if I'm bying a chip from him.. Decisions suck, I've been on the fence so long I'm starting to taste those fenceposts!

 

[WarWagon]

Let us tempt you more: The ATT is refundable if you do not like it...

 

[Acesneights1]

Let us tempt you more: The ATT is refundable if you do not like it...

Since when ?

 

[Acesneights1]

ALL of the Tunes cause higher egts. More fuel, more heat. Simple physics. Adjust pyro levels by right foot-o-meter...Heath also changes the trans shift points and did something to mine so the TCC stay locked for braking for a bit when decelerating.

Also steering people to forum vendors should not be the way of an open forum. I realize they help support and if they sell a comparable product , I agree that buying from them is a good thing but my point is pros and cons of each products should be discussed unbiased. Otherwise you might as well join Walt's forum. I have bought from a few vendors here with no issue but that does not mean someone like Heath Diesel should be tossed aside cause he doesn't advertise here. let us not forget he has done more for 6.5TD's than anyone.

 

[great white]

...Heath also changes the trans shift points and did something to mine so the TCC stay locked for braking for a bit when decelerating...

"Something?"

Hmmm, I may have an idea what:

Don't mind me, I'm just "the ghost in the machine"....