600 owners,....your gonna love this....

[FDrake]

I have the 305/555 engine. I started out getting about 12. 5 MPG around town. Well below the MPGs I got with my 1997 & 2003 diesels. After 8 months I now have about 3000 miles on my truck and the MPGs have risen to around 14. 5 around town. I talked to the OWNER of the place where I bought the truck and explained my concerns about the sick MPGs. He said to bring it in and he would personally have it checked because those trucks do better than that.

An interesting note is that when I tow my 5th wheel, I get the same mileage or a little better than I got with the older trucks. It averages about 12 - 12. 5 MPG with a 19,640# combo. Go figure.

Frank

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[OT-OF-HERE!!]

No. I'm certain not yet following my last conversation with Jerry @ Cummins.

 

[GWoody]

It seems, no it's clear that there are two different kinds of 600 engines.

Those with good mileage and those with very loww...



Confusing?



I'd dare to say not. Most probably they use more than one software in the production of that engine. DC has not yet released the latest update of the SW sheet so I have no hard facts but I'm rather sure that's what's going on.

It's always been that way with DC products. Several softwares during the production become then updated into a single SW for that application.



Just for an example, during the production of the MY 98. 5 there have been more then 20 different SW's used. Today they use only ONE... .



Marco

Marco, this being the case, is it safe to assume that once all the reflashes are done we should all be getting the same software in the ECM, hence, comparable fuel mileage with the exceptions of driving habits.

 

[OT-OF-HERE!!]

Ok,. . you asked. Hope this doesn't start a flame out. Short answer YES,. . it did help my fuel economy, but I also had another injector replaced. I can't say definitively that it was the TSB 18-007-04 that did it or the injector. The fact is, per my overhead as I haven't refueled yet to hand calculate,. . it should be about 3. 5 mpgs better. My overhead has been within . 3 mpg since I got the truck so for relativity basis the 3. 5 is that much better which gives me 16. 7 total for 80% to 90% in town and the rest highway. I don't baby my truck as far as driving on egg shells either. I accelerate and sometimes pretty strong depending on conditions. In other words it's real world driving like most of us do. I will tell you this,... I had a bad injector rattle probably for the last 2500 miles and white smoke on startup. After this last injector (this is the 7th one!!!) it idles great, ..... no smoke,... and sounds like it did initially when I got it. White smoke is not a standard condition of these trucks as I have read in some posts. Bunk to that. It was embarrassing to start up at work after sitting for 9 hours. I had a feeling when I got delivery on the truck 3/21 that it hadn't had the latest update of the TSB listed above, but the dealer insisted it had. Because of the injector situation I still can't say for sure that it was the TSB rather than the injector, but because of the white smoke they reflashed it. Hint!! Hint!!! If your getting 12 or 13 mpgs or worse you might want to try this TSB if possible. It may work for you.

 

[Marco]

Marco, this being the case, is it safe to assume that once all the reflashes are done we should all be getting the same software in the ECM, hence, comparable fuel mileage with the exceptions of driving habits.

That's about what happened with the VP trucks too...

In the begining the reflashes gave sometimes worse mileage than the original software that was stored @ the factory. Then they got better and better.



The last information DCX has released about the different softwares used in the trucks is for the MY 03. 5 . Seven different softwares for the AT, eight for the 5speed, seven for the HO... . I doesn't take much immagination, the same goes for the 600. It's always been that way.



Seems obvious that some SW's get bad mileage, some do better.



Marco

 

[Greenhorne]

Hint!! Hint!!! If your getting 12 or 13 mpgs or worse you might want to try this TSB if possible. It may work for you.

I took the hint and as for me and mine... we have had an increase of about 1. 8 mpg and the truck seems (by seat of the pants) to feel smoother in the day to day ops with 18-007-04 done. Also, the High Idle option would not work prior to this update for me, and now works great.



Engine Build Date: 01/23/04

Engine # 57144847





BTW: Howdy to everyone!

 

[Schicken bone]

with 4. 10 gears and 6 spd i can baby 19 out of mine. but driving habits get me 14. 4 consistantly. i guess with 3. 73 gears 19 and 20 should nbe easy. by the way, do you have to take perfomance mods off to get a "reflash?"

 

[MLee]

If you are going any where near the dealer to have them look at your ride, LOOSE THE BOX. If it looks like it has been tampered with, they might point a finger at you and say SHAME ON YOU. just make it appear stock.

Marv.

 

[tschwab]

To ALL who have read this post,... READ THIS if you don't read another thing:



that a TSB for MPGs and White Smoke was being developed by Cummins per his contact within Cummins who does these updates and that it would/should be out/ready in October.

So, my question is this: If this tsb is not ready until October, does that mean that my '05 (built in aug) needs to have the reflash, or do the '05's already have the new software?

 

[JVolpe]

I have been monitoring this thread with some hope that there actually is something identified on a specific 325/600 engine group/plant/etc. that is causing lower than normal milage, or maybe expected milage is a better phrase.



My engine manufacture date is 03-15-04 same as OT-OF-HERE, I haven't seen any real correlation between mfr dates and low milage reports.



I have about 7800 miles now and have seen a little improvement in mpg, but not much. I am now around 13. 5 all city empty and 16. 5 65-70 highway empty, anything over 70 drops significantly. Just put on mods so it might not matter to me at all anymore.



This is not that bad and I would just forget about it except I see posts with 18-20 mpg for same truck. Then I get to wondering again.



So I will keep coming back and look for the current status of this hopefully soon to be released TSB.



Oh well its raining and I didnt have anything else to do.

 

[Boostn]

I just got back from dealer for oil change. I told them about the TSB. They said they could do the reflash, but claims it will lower the power of the 600. I didn't really believe him so I wanted to know from everyone on this board if the truck would lose some power after the reflash?



I could make appointment and have them do the reflash no problem. My truck is all stock except for 2 inch lift in front with 35" tires.

 

[JVolpe]

Look at this thread that says TSB 18-037-04 (NOT 18-007-04) for milage installed today.



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112371

 

[txhawg]

I took the hint and as for me and mine... we have had an increase of about 1. 8 mpg and the truck seems (by seat of the pants) to feel smoother in the day to day ops with 18-007-04 done. Also, the High Idle option would not work prior to this update for me, and now works great.

Hmmm, was the high idle part of the reflash? It was my understanding it couldn't be enabled on 2004. 5's.

 

[OT-OF-HERE!!]

I haven't noticed a high idle but someother member did mention that his did after the reflash. We haven't been below 52* yet overnight. It is temp activated, right?



And for those still with us,... NO I haven't been back in contact with the Cummins tech yet, but I haven't forgot either. I'm just waiting till at least Oct, as he said, before I go back to him. I guess Cummins TRP (Technical Repair Procedure) is reformatted into a TSB once DCX gets their hands on it. So hopefully they will have the TSB # to give me when the time comes.

 

[Matt400]

I haven't noticed a high idle but someother member did mention that his did after the reflash. We haven't been below 52* yet overnight. It is temp activated, right?

The high idle feature is for auto's only and allows the driver to manually bump idle up in increments using the cruise control while in park. Separate from the cold fast idle.

 

[CAgnoli]

The high idle feature is for auto's only and allows the driver to manually bump idle up in increments using the cruise control while in park. Separate from the cold fast idle.

The High Idle is in the flash, but not enabled. I had my High Idle feature enabled in July. I don't think you can enable it on a 6 speed though.



Very nice feature, use it quite frequently, just to keep the Air conditioning on when I'm in the store.



C

 

[chris.curley]

I haven't noticed a high idle but someother member did mention that his did after the reflash. We haven't been below 52* yet overnight. It is temp activated, right?



And for those still with us,... NO I haven't been back in contact with the Cummins tech yet, but I haven't forgot either. I'm just waiting till at least Oct, as he said, before I go back to him. I guess Cummins TRP (Technical Repair Procedure) is reformatted into a TSB once DCX gets their hands on it. So hopefully they will have the TSB # to give me when the time comes.

OT-OF-HERE,

check out this other thread, it's here already !

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112371



post #40 (klenger) on this thread has online copy of TSB 18-037-04.

 

[JCotte]

I had my high idle enabled 2 months ago and it works great. now i just need to get it back for the mileage TSB

 

[phloop]

As this thread has already been hijacked with the high idle questions, I have one of my own. Does any one have the procedures that the DC tech has to go through to enable it? I had my truck in a couple of months ago for this and the tach said he was unable to enable it.

 

[OT-OF-HERE!!]

I appreciate the input. And yes I have the auto,. . but... what exactly would I need it for since they say to limit your idling anyway so why would I ever want it to be on high idle except for cold startup unless I guess if I had a power takeoff. Confused.