04.5 flash to improve fuel economy available today

[sbutter21]

I went to my scheduled apointment today, they gave me no hastle about doing the work, didn't even ask any reasons why I wanted it done. They seemed very happy to take care of it for me. However, they had problems connecting to DC. I'll have to make another trip to the dealer. Maybe in a week or two when I have a day off.



If any of you guys in the LA area want to know the dealer send me a PM.



-Sam

 

[R.M.THOMPSON]

MVaden,

Did you not have the fast idle featuure before ? Did the shop incorporate two updates in any particular order ? The reason I'm asking is that my (use to be) prefered service department wacked me for 80 bucks for the fast idle update as my"engine serial number was not specificly referanced"and the minimum computor/dianostic machhine charge is 80 dollars per hour (although He admitted that it took the shop foreman and a mechanic 1. 5 hours to get it to work... ... ... ... . ) I hate being treated like a number!!!!But anyway I think if there is a feature residing in the software that anyone had to pay for it should be noted before the service bulliten is applied that we require it to be there afterwards

Mark T.

 

[phloop]

R. M. Thompson,



It is my thinking a TSB should covered under warranty. When I had my truck in the first time shortly after getting it to have them enable the fast idle, I was told as it was a TSB it would be covered even though my truck/engine was out of the range of the TSB. The bummer part of that trip was the fact they were unable to enable the fast idle. This last trip to have the fuel mileage TSB done I had them enable the fast idle at the same time, didn't cost a dime. I also had the passenger side air bag switch enabled for the switch I had installed in my QC and that only cost me $15, which surprised me as I was thinking I was going to have to pay at least an hour worth of the tech's time.

 

[R.M.THOMPSON]

Thanks phloop,

I'm gonna have to find another service shop. The one I'm using(no flames),just seems to be obsessed(way past a healthy interest) in short term profits. Things aways change in due time. When this recent service manager moves on :-laf .

Mark T.

 

[KO_RAM]

Got mine done Saturday

I took my truck in Saturday for the reflash. No problems at all with the dealer. It took about an hour. It's too early to tell what the MPG is doing, but the display shows it to be about 2 to 3 mpg better than before. I'm not going to put much weight in this until I check it by hand. I'll have to get some miles on it now I didn't notice any difference in performance. I didn't have any complaints before, and none after. I problably won't know exactly how the mileage compares to pre-flash until next summer. They switched us over to winter fuel now. Overall, I say it's worth it to get it done.

 

[BlueRam2500]

I have had the truck back for a few days now, and the major thing I noticed about it is that the overhead DTE says 200 miles and I have about 1/2 a tank of fuel left. If it continues like this, I will only get about 380 miles to the tank. Maybe I have to wait until I fill up again in order for the DTE to go up? I also looked again for the sticker, and I don't see anything new, so I am going to take the truck to another dealer so they can check to see if any work was actually done. I figure because I had to go back twice to get the speedo correct, maybe I will have to go twice to get the flash done.

 

[MVaden]

R. M. Thompson,



No, I did not have the fast idle feature before I had TSB's 18-037-04 and 18-004-04 done. There was a 3rd TSB listed on my invoice and the tech came out and explained to me that the extra TSB was just a combination of the 2 TSB's that I had requested. The 3rd TSB was listed on the invoice as TSB 18-34-97.



I was not charged for the updates.

 

[FDrake]

I talked to the dealer manager and service manager Thursday. The answer for me was "No !!". My truck does not fall in the VIN thay will reflash. They tell me the real problem is if they reflash the truck and the truck is outside the affected VIN, the reflash wont take and beyond that, the reflash will erase the computer completely. Then they will have to reflash with the correct program and I will eat the bill. So I guess I drive as is and maybe redo (reset) the computer by removing the battery power temporarily and then have it relearn my driving habits. oh well.

Frank

 

[swexlin]

I just made an appointment to have mine done on Friday. I have a January-built "600". It runs smooth as silk, but if my mileage can be improved, then what the heck.



I just told the service manager I had white smoke and poor mileage, and he said bring it in.

 

[CGresswell]

Do I need both

I read thatTSB 18-007-04 and TSB18-037-04 have a common serial # group. I fall into that group as my # is 57139812 (date of manufacturer is 01-13-04, Model ISB 325). And I read that # in both.

Wouldn't the later TSB cover the former?

Thank you for info,

Dick

 

[KO_RAM]

From what my dealer said, the later TSB covers all the former TSB's. As long as the TSBs are talking about the same firmware, such as this case, the ECM. All they are doing is wiping out the firmware that is in there and loading in a new program over it. That is why you can't go back to a previous version if it doesn't work. DC doesn't have the old version available for the dealer to even download. Tech Connect just has the latest and greatest version for your VIN available for your dealer. So as long as the TSBs in question are talking about the same firmware to update, you've got it. If they talk about different computers (TCM, BCM, MIC, SKIM, etc. ) in your truck, then they would be applied separately. Both the the TSBs you are questioning say "involves erasing and reprogramming the Cummins ECM with new software. "



I watched when they did mine. I think when they loaded mine it was something like 684KB. I think they must load it at a really slow baud rate. It took the computer about 20 minutes to download to my truck.



I'm happy with mine. I can definately see an improvement in fuel mileage and no noticeable change in performance (it worked good before too).

 

[klenger]

I think that this TSB may finally give the 600's the respect they deserve.



The power I have is 80 HP (advertised) more than my 01. 5 2nd gen, and the fuel milage is better than the 01. 5 too, and it's all bone stock.

 

[CGresswell]

Question

MVaden wrote on 10-18-04 about dealer putting in a 3rd TSB (TSB 18-34-97). What is this for?

Dick

 

[MarcRoth]

Hey Ray. What gear is in your truck? I also have an 04. 5 and this truck is a pig on fuel 12. 5 man I miss my old 99 :{

 

[SKelly]

I had the reflash done yesterday. Mileage from the overhead went up from 17. 4 to 21. 4. I will hand calculate later today. Not to bad.

 

[CGresswell]

TSB's

I posted a question recently about a TSB (TSB 18-34-97) that came up in an earlier post... ... ... . didn't see any response??

MVaden, posted and I believe he has a truck like mine and he stated that this TSB was installed as well as TSB 18-037-04 and TSB 18-007-04 (three installed?).

Is there a "location or source" that you can go to that "defines" what a TSB's purpose is?

I saw that we have a TSB location but it is "not that up todate?

I have an appointment next Tuesday and want to have the best information when I go to the dealer.

Thank you for your help.

Dick

 

[klenger]

There's a pretty good list at http://dodgeram.info/tsb/2004-index.htm, but it does not have 18-34-97.

 

[RCovert]

Hey Ray. What gear is in your truck? I also have an 04. 5 and this truck is a pig on fuel 12. 5 man I miss my old 99 :{

I've got 3. 73

 

[DJOliver]

Got mine done today. Of course I have no milage claims to make but it does run smoother and the turbo spools up a lot earlier . Will post milage reposts later.









David.

 

[TX Gooseneck]

I'm not sure if I am going to have this done or not.



I just rolled over 100,000 miles in mine (8 months and counting) My mileage had began to come up at around 80,000 miles, then my transfer pump went to hell on me. The first several tanks it was WAY down - 490miles per tank running it almost out. It was replaced at 89,000 miles. The mileage has steadily increased the more I put on it. Not sure why. I was driving back from S. Texas last night, cruise on 70 and my OHC was showing 20. 5mpg. Hand calculating it at half of a tank, it was pretty close (based on the instrumentation). It fell off again today back to around 18. 5, but I was scooting a bit faster and more stop and go.