Diesel Programmer's

wmonroe · Jul 24, 2015

Those engines respond very well to programmers and can make an impressive amount of power. I wouldn't go over the 60 hp level when towing to keep the auto tranny happy. Keep an eye on your exhaust temps as you don't want to sustain too high of a temperature. One thing related to egt's is that the more timing you use the lower the egt that should be sustained. The reason for this is because the more you increase the timing the sooner the fuel is injected and it creates more "heat soak" into the piston. Increased timing gives the appearance of lowered egt's on the gauge because more of the exhaust heat is used up in the engine but your pistons are taking the brunt of that heat and is why the max sustained temp needs to be reduced a little.

foreman Etexas · Jul 24, 2015

wmonroe said:
Those engines respond very well to programmers and can make an impressive amount of power. I wouldn't go over the 60 hp level when towing to keep the auto tranny happy. Keep an eye on your exhaust temps as you don't want to sustain too high of a temperature. One thing related to egt's is that the more timing you use the lower the egt that should be sustained. The reason for this is because the more you increase the timing the sooner the fuel is injected and it creates more "heat soak" into the piston. Increased timing gives the appearance of lowered egt's on the gauge because more of the exhaust heat is used up in the engine but your pistons are taking the brunt of that heat and is why the max sustained temp needs to be reduced a little.

Yeah he told me not to pull over the 60Hp with timing but it's also not the most advanced timing level.
What I'm trying to figure is what the norm is for the EGTs to run when pulling a good load

dodge man · Jul 24, 2015

I've seen numbers of 1300 sustained, and short bursts you can go higher.

foreman Etexas · Jul 24, 2015

dodge man said:
I've seen numbers of 1300 sustained, and short bursts you can go higher.

When pulling the load of hay I never seen over 1100 but it wasn't really pushing it cause only 12rolls,barely breaking a sweat. Thanks for the numbers,I also need to study up on the others,the whole thing about get where I can watch is to make sure everything is going good but need to know what is good. Now in 10yrs when my son gets it that may be a whole different story lol

wmonroe · Jul 25, 2015

Are your readings pre or post turbo? It makes a big difference in the temps that are acceptable. I normally tow on either the 60 or 90 hp setting, with the timing set on either the 2nd or 3rd of three levels, and don't sustain more than 1200*. By sustain I mean for more than a minute, I've seen much hotter for short bursts. My 1200* number is conservative by most but there isn't a set safe number that is set in stone, when you start modifying these engines some respond different than others and the number that is good for me might melt you or vice versa. I choose to err on the side of caution and avoid repair bills, and at 92,000 miles with about 87,000 of those with the programmer on it I've been happy.