Anyone with a Dodge truck experience?

[MaSonZ]

well...not to be a dick....but compared to ford and chevy, dodges v-8's suck why im a Cummins freak  , as do their fuel systems, and computer control systems. actually, their exhaust isn't too good either.

i agree though, Furl systems arent so hot... as for Computer Ive only heard good and seen good on the Cummins. as stated..im a Cummins freak. Eff Dodge's v8 gas job. I6 is all we need 

[CAP1]

i agree though, Furl systems arent so hot... as for Computer Ive only heard good and seen good on the Cummins. as stated..im a Cummins freak. Eff Dodge's v8 gas job. I6 is all we need 

well unfortunately, i can't argue with the cummins....i pretty much know nothing about dodge diesels......given the opportunity though, i'll learn.

[icepac]

Actually the dodge ECUs are more sophisticated than ford and almost equal to GM but suffer from inferior components.

More sophisticated does not necessarily mean better as evidenced by my only having found 2 bad toyota ecus in 31 years of wrenching..........but I did see 15 out of about 1400 sent in having a failure while the rates were much higher in hondas, chrysler, ford, and GM.

Don't get me started on mitsubishi because I fully believe that most in service will suffer a component failure within 6 years of being manufactured though the newer stuff has proven more robust.

Of course, I've replaced tons of ICP sensor circuits and IPR drivers in fords as well as 02 sensor heater circuits on the gas cars but I normally find those parts fine in the chrysler units with chrysler suffering from the 555 timer units and the 5v regulator burning out.

GM?  they have problem with the conformal coating swelling and popping surface mount components right off the board as well as the same cold solder joints as ford and chrysler suffer where the connector legs meet the board.

Shake the ecu you can often hear loose components rattling around in the box.

[MaSonZ]

well unfortunately, i can't argue with the cummins....i pretty much know nothing about dodge diesels......given the opportunity though, i'll learn.

same idea..but its compression not spark, and the fuel system is different. ITs more complex then that, but it needs air like a normal gas engine, it needs coolant, oil, all the normal stuff. Turbos are another thing they need. If your lookin to learn a lot about them quick register to www . cumminsforum.com. more info then youll ever need.

 

[CAP1]

same idea..but its compression not spark, and the fuel system is different. ITs more complex then that, but it needs air like a normal gas engine, it needs coolant, oil, all the normal stuff. Turbos are another thing they need. If your lookin to learn a lot about them quick register to www . cumminsforum.com. more info then youll ever need.

 

ooo...i know how diesels work......i've worked on a few power strokes, and a few of the non-turbo 7.3's.......i've just never worked on a cummins, nor any diesel in a dodge, so i'm not familiar with how they're controlled.

 a non-related funny.......

 my neighbor took his stump grinder to a mutual friend of ours about 2 months ago to try to get it running. he partially disassembled it, and then it sat....and sat....and sat.

 tom finally got pissed off, and told the guy he was pikcing it up to take it somewhere else. the guy was pissed when he found it was coming to me.
 he's talking to me on the phone, ranting and raving about how i know nothing about stump grinders.  i go.....excuse me? what kind of engine is on it? he goes a kohler. i go....no...not the brand, what KIND of engine. he answers that it's a v-twin 4 stroke. i go....right...and they all EFFING run the same. i'll have it running before the weeks out.
 that was this morning. it's back together and running. 

[CAP1]

Actually the dodge ECUs are more sophisticated than ford and almost equal to GM but suffer from inferior components.

More sophisticated does not necessarily mean better as evidenced by my only having found 2 bad toyota ecus in 31 years of wrenching..........but I did see 15 out of about 1400 sent in having a failure while the rates were much higher in hondas, chrysler, ford, and GM.

Don't get me started on mitsubishi because I fully believe that most in service will suffer a component failure within 6 years of being manufactured though the newer stuff has proven more robust.

Of course, I've replaced tons of ICP sensor circuits and IPR drivers in fords as well as 02 sensor heater circuits on the gas cars but I normally find those parts fine in the chrysler units with chrysler suffering from the 555 timer units and the 5v regulator burning out.

GM?  they have problem with the conformal coating swelling and popping surface mount components right off the board as well as the same cold solder joints as ford and chrysler suffer where the connector legs meet the board.

Shake the ecu you can often hear loose components rattling around in the box.

 in nearly 30 years, i've replaced more gm puters than chryslers, and more chryslers than fords.....and fords were adaptive when gm still had prom chips.....but we've already been over this.

[Masherbrum]

in nearly 30 years, i've replaced more gm puters than chryslers, and more chryslers than fords.....and fords were adaptive when gm still had prom chips.....but we've already been over this.

You reading my mind?     

[rpm]

I have an '02 Ram 1500 with the 4.7L. Unless you're pulling an empty trailer, I wouldn't recommend the 4.7L. Runs like a scalded ape empty or with a light/medium load, but not a lot of towing power.

[icepac]

in nearly 30 years, i've replaced more gm puters than chryslers, and more chryslers than fords.....and fords were adaptive when gm still had prom chips.....but we've already been over this.

Yes...we were over this and you were not correct.

My 1990 nissan ecu is adaptive and the GM ecus were flash programmed within months of ford ecus being flash programmed with chrysler beating both by 2 years.

Facts are that chrysler and GM ecus are more sophisticated.

Since was the general manager of the facility that rebuilt and tested all ecus sold by standard, bwd, blue streak, and a ton of other names to the tune of many thousands per year, I think I am pretty accurate in my conclusion which is based on my personally sitting in on problem customer ecus as well as being the ecu technician who stood in for the ford guy when he was getting married/honeymoon, sick, vacation...etc

I can accurately say that have personally rebuilt/tested  at least 1000 ford ecus as well as solving hundreds of "ECU issues" that were the car's issue since I would routinely send ecus from problem customers to somebody else and they ran fine.

[CAP1]

Yes...we were over this and you were not correct.

My 1990 nissan ecu is adaptive and the GM ecus were flash programmed within months of ford ecus being flash programmed with chrysler beating both by 2 years.

Facts are that chrysler and GM ecus are more sophisticated.

Since was the general manager of the facility that rebuilt and tested all ecus sold by standard, bwd, blue streak, and a ton of other names to the tune of many thousands per year, I think I am pretty accurate in my conclusion which is based on my personally sitting in on problem customer ecus as well as being the ecu technician who stood in for the ford guy when he was getting married/honeymoon, sick, vacation...etc

I can accurately say that have personally rebuilt/tested  at least 1000 ford ecus as well as solving hundreds of "ECU issues" that were the car's issue since I would routinely send ecus from problem customers to somebody else and they ran fine.

 well..the conversation was ford vs gm.....and fords were adaptive in the 80's whereas gm wasn't....till the obd2 requirements. fords had better/faster processors, they rarely failed, and they controlled the systems better than gm or chrysler.
 chryslers just fail. a lot. or at least they used to.....till the obd2 requirements. i can't tell you how many dodge pickups, jeep grand cherokees, and k-cars i've towed.
 grand cherokees were always no-starts, and almost always computers. when not computers, they were ckp's.

 the only reason techs don't like ford computers, is that you were unable to get datastream from them till about 92 or so. techs didn't like this, because now they had to think. oh yea....and much like todays obd2 computers will do......fords have almost always triggered lots of codes for one problem. techs didn't like having to think to figure out which code caused the rest of them.
 gm's i've had to replace computers, and/or proms. it was a dumb assed system to be honest, but at least it was pretty simple to figure out.

 if we go into japanese, i can't recall ever replacing a honda computer. i've done a few toyotas, back in the 90's. and lots of nissans back then. nissans were the worst. i don't recall ever replacing a mazda computer come to think of it.........

 and since you(based on your statements) seem to think my word doesn't hold any weight, not a single computer i've replace has ever come back as having been a wrong diagnosis. not one. i'm not a "guesser", and i don't order a part until i'm 110% sure it's needed. this is why i'm trusted by my customers.
 people that taught me now ask me for advice, which sometimes i can't help them with, although i try.

 what i say, i say from working in the bays 5 or 6 days a week, and from being the guy that everyone gave the poop that they didn't wanna fix to me.

[Babalonian]

Manual trannys do not get better mileage or perform better. In days of old that was correct... but no longer.


My Chevy 2500 HD Crew with Duramax / Allison combo has never been in the shop. Heck... it has 94000 miles or so on it and has never even needed a brake job. It has pulled a 22' and 28" goose loaded on many occassions. It has also pulled the heck out of a 24' Vindicator boat.

I agree with you, automatic transmissions have gotten better across the boards and come a very long way, but a just as modern manual driven (governed) as fuel-conservatively minded as possible will still spank the pants off an automatic, there is just no way an auto being driven in a fuel-conserving manner will ever come close to a manual also being driven in a fuel-conserving manner (gunning it though is of cource another matter).  But I admit this is almost an undebatable issue because it (still, as always) heavily depends on the driver, his knowledge and experience, and the direction a breeze carries his fart.

[CAP1]

I agree with you, automatic transmissions have gotten better across the boards and come a very long way, but a just as modern manual driven (governed) as fuel-conservatively minded as possible will still spank the pants off an automatic, there is just no way an auto being driven in a fuel-conserving manner will ever come close to a manual also being driven in a fuel-conserving manner (gunning it though is of cource another matter).  But I admit this is almost an undebatable issue because it (still, as always) heavily depends on the driver, his knowledge and experience, and the direction a breeze carries his fart.

 ACTually, modern automatics can and will. they don't slip in final drive, or overdrive anymore, thus they've become very effecient. the only disadvantage to a clutch vehicle now, is the shifting. you always lose something during the shift, whereas the automatics no longer do.

[Spikes]

Not really, think about pure efficiency and not just MPG. 

Just for fun I looked up some stats.

2011 Honda Accord V6
-Weighs:                 3559 lbs
-Combined MPG:      24

Do the math, and that's burning 1 gallon of fuel, to move 148 lbs, 24 miles.

Now consider my fathers, '04 Dodge 2500 4 door pickup towing his travel trailer, which is about 15,000lbs GVW and he gets ~ 14mpg towing it.

Do the math and that's burning 1 gallon of fuel, to move 1071 lbs, 14 miles.

Now which more efficient?



Now... .... if your talking about people driving a pickup as a commuter, I agree, that's not very efficient.

EDITED: for math fail.

You could put it that way. But I love the guys who look for trucks with good gas mileage. If you want good gas mileage, get a freakin smart car.

My truck doesn't change when it comes to gas really. Always around 10mpg whether I'm towing or not. 2200rpms is the sweet spot, keep it under it and you're above 10, keep it above it and you're at 7ish.

[Babalonian]

ACTually, modern automatics can and will. they don't slip in final drive, or overdrive anymore, thus they've become very effecient. the only disadvantage to a clutch vehicle now, is the shifting. you always lose something during the shift, whereas the automatics no longer do.

Well, again I agree with the improvement in the technology and that you always loose something everytime you hit the clutch... _if_ you don't want to replace your clutch before the end of the year (and I'm not talking that shiftronic or hybrid trani bull$..).   You're gonna always loose some during your typical acceleration, especialy from stop into first.  But CAP, as a current or previous manual driver, I'm sure you've been in a situation where you got two gallons left in your tank but 50 miles still left to go until the nearest station, and after pulling out all those tricks in the manual-driver's hat ontop of driving as fuel conservatively on the accelerator as possible, I would be surprised if you ever once didn't make it to the pump.

[CAP1]

Well, again I agree with the improvement in the technology and that you always loose something everytime you hit the clutch... _if_ you don't want to replace your clutch before the end of the year (and I'm not talking that shiftronic or hybrid trani bull$..).   You're gonna always loose some during your typical acceleration, especialy from stop into first.  But CAP, as a current or previous manual driver, I'm sure you've been in a situation where you got two gallons left in your tank but 50 miles still left to go until the nearest station, and after pulling out all those tricks in the manual-driver's hat ontop of driving as fuel conservatively on the accelerator as possible, I would be surprised if you ever once didn't make it to the pump.

 that's actually one thing that i've only ever done twice...running out of gas that is. both times were faulty fuel gauges. the first time...there was no way in hell i was making it.
 the 2nd time was just a few months ago in my jeep./.....gauge was stuck just above half. going up a hill, she sputtered, and quit. thankfully i had enough energy to coast to the top, and the fuelpump got supplied again.
 i did everyting i could think of......built up speed, then coasted till i absolutley had to let the clutch out again......made it by the skin of my teeth.

 i try to never let my tank below half...when i can.