Considering buying a new truck

[Dieselnut59]

The time has almost come to buy a new truck. I bought my current 1996 and 2003 trucks new in 1996 and 2003. I insist on a 6 speed manual transmission and with the rumors floating around about manual transmissions being discontinued, I want to purchase my final new truck soon. I am looking at ordering a 3500 cab/chassis 4 door 4x4 6 speed. I have not kept up much on the 6.7 engines and the associated issues, except through a local friend who owns several. He has done the DPF delete on three of them and the EGR delete on one of those, the latest of which is a 2015 which was ruined when a guy put diesel in the DPF tank. I have seen a few posts about "EFI Live" that some guys are running when they do a delete. I want to get all the necessary parts lined up before I ever get the truck and I want to "do it right the first time". Any of yall who have done a delete, please offer me your tips and suggestions, as well as what to avoid. Thanks!

 

[Dieselnut59]

crickets....

 

[Grey Wolf]

Dieselnut59 eventually you should get some responses. Out here I have a friend with a Diesel performance shop and he has all but stopped doing any deletes. Kind of obvious for this state, however those that were done or have come from other states seem to have more problems than they are worth. One that comes to mind is head gaskets too many to be a coincidence. Anyway most are leaving them alone now and if they do put a tune in they are left with all the emissions equipment intact. Remember that is this state!

 

[Jim W]

I own a 2008 6.7L 2500 Ram and my two sons each own different year Ram trucks with the 5.9L and 6.7L engine in them. Any truck purchased new and or used that is built after 2013.5 with the DEF system, I would not delete them. Why? The newer trucks perform better and have less issues with the emission systems on them. I counselled my younger son who owns a 2013.5, 6.7L Ram not to delete his truck. My reasoning was for the cost of deletes and the mileage improvement you would get if deleted, I think it would take over 5 years to pay for these delete components. The cost are as follows EFI live $899.0, MBRP exhaust to replace the DPF and components in the exhaust system, TBE (2006 model year) $700+, block off plates for the EGR system $100, ARP head studs $400+ and then the components to delete the DEF system$$$.

My son's 2013.5 gets the same fuel mileage that I get in my 2008 6.7L Ram truck with the changes that I have made. So why delete?

I would do a search on this topic and see what others have said!

 

[Dieselnut59]

I am a little torn about this. I already have the $ for the delete stuff and the flatbed. I am not gonna do the EGR delete, or at least not immediately. That seems to be what might cause the head gasket issues. I just want the exhaust to flow freely like my 2003 does. I would like to vent the crank case to atmosphere because those closed crank case vent systems always end up gooing up the turbo, intercooler and intake.

 

[sag2]

I am a little torn about this. I already have the $ for the delete stuff and the flatbed. I am not gonna do the EGR delete, or at least not immediately. That seems to be what might cause the head gasket issues. I just want the exhaust to flow freely like my 2003 does. I would like to vent the crank case to atmosphere because those closed crank case vent systems always end up gooing up the turbo, intercooler and intake.

You are really trying to fix something that isn't broken. With the way the new trucks run today you would have to be crazy to to delete one in my opinion. There just isn't any up side to it on a 13+.

 

[sag2]

I am a little torn about this. I already have the $ for the delete stuff and the flatbed. I am not gonna do the EGR delete, or at least not immediately. That seems to be what might cause the head gasket issues. I just want the exhaust to flow freely like my 2003 does. I would like to vent the crank case to atmosphere because those closed crank case vent systems always end up gooing up the turbo, intercooler and intake.

You are really trying to fix something that isn't broken. With the way the new trucks run today you would have to be crazy to to delete one in my opinion. There just isn't any up side to it on a 13+.

 

[KenHwy61]

I am a little torn about this. I already have the $ for the delete stuff and the flatbed. I am not gonna do the EGR delete, or at least not immediately. That seems to be what might cause the head gasket issues. I just want the exhaust to flow freely like my 2003 does. I would like to vent the crank case to atmosphere because those closed crank case vent systems always end up gooing up the turbo, intercooler and intake.

First of all, I wouldn't delete any truck under warranty. Just to clarify, a delete-capable tuner will turn off the EGR valve and make it non-functional. You can just leave it in place. Physically removing the EGR is optional and will require an EGR delete kit. If you do install a delete tuner you will have to remove the DPF because the tuner will turn off the regeneration and the filter will plug. Head gasket issues are not caused by turning off or deleting the EGR. The problem occurs because many of these tuners are capable of greatly boosting the HP which causes stress on the engine components. EGR is much less prevalent in the 2013+ DEF trucks and the EGR ugliness you hear about is mostly related to the 2007.5-12 trucks.
There are simple kits to vent the crankcase gases but you will probably get a trouble code if you do it to a new truck.

 

[Killer223]

Order your truck, put the flatbed on it, and leave it stock, it'll last a long damn time that way. If and when you have a true legit issue with the DEF and what not and it's out of warranty, then you can look into deleting, else leave it ALONE and it'll treat you right.

If however you are dead set on deleting, do it all, EGR and DEF/DPF, i'm happy with my anarchy tunes.
As for the crank case vent, you can get the parts from napa for about 10-15$.

 

[KPear]

You are really trying to fix something that isn't broken. With the way the new trucks run today you would have to be crazy to to delete one in my opinion. There just isn't any up side to it on a 13+.

I'm not sure on this. I know Ram and other manufacturers have found ways to decrease problems with the emissions systems present on the current diesel's, but to my knowledge they haven't really done anything to drastically change how the emissions system's work over the early, more problematic versions (they seemed to have tweaked them a little, mostly with programming). And more importantly, we are still lacking the same scope of long-term reliability data for the 2007.5+ 6.7L Cummins that we have for the older 5.9L.

The DPF, at least how Ram uses it, is still relying on late-cycle fuel injection (into the cylinder) to perform the active DPF regeneration. If you go watch the videos and read the articles about this process, you will understand that this causes some amount of fuel contamination in the engine oil. How much contamination and whether it will cause problems for the engine is still under discussion, but do note that many diesel repair shops recommend avoiding Ram's 15k oil change interval and instead advocate changing every 7,500, or sooner, to mitigate this issue.

The EGR is still putting exhaust gases back into the engine. As I understand it, the newer engines have better EGR cooling than previous versions, but the process still puts gunk and soot back into the engine and the internals.

The DEF seems to be the least intrusive of all the systems, and really functions similar to a traditional Catalytic converter in that it's relying on a chemical reaction to convert harmful exhaust into more benign elements. Still it's a complex system relying on additional sensors which can go bad over time and can have issues if the wrong type of DEF is used.

I'm sure the reliability on these systems has been improved from where it was back in 2007 or 2008. But the question still stands: how long will these systems run until they require a full replacement or repair (which will be very costly)? And, more importantly, how long will the engine run with these systems in place? The older diesels could regularly hit 400-500k with proper maintenance. Will these newer engines, on average, have the same lifespans?

I understand the harmful nature of the emissions produced by diesels (NOX and particulate matter), and I understand that the new emissions systems are very effective at curbing those emissions. But if you're mpg is suffering 2-3 mpg, and if you're replacing and/or repairing these emissions-laden engines more often relative to the older engines, how much benefit is the environment really seeing? The materials used in the DPF are very expensive minerals and require a significant expenditure in resources to harvest. It's an issue I'm torn on and I don't see an easy answer. These 2013+ trucks may work just fine for the first 150k or so. But after that, and when the warranty expires, how reliable will they be?