TSB 18-037-04 (Any regrets??)

[tschwab]

Just had mine done today, have not put enough miles on it to notice whether it has improved. The one thing I did notice right away, was that the awful pinging it had was gone Now you can hear that low growl of the mighty Cummins, it may even be a little louder



Transmission seems to shift smoother and power seems better/smoother than before... . which was also good before the flash. Now, just need to see if I get the MPG improvement, will report back by Sunday with results.

 

[GCrowell]

Nervous

Well, as someone else said, she goes under the knife today. I am having the 037 reflash done and even though my engine serial is not included in the high idle group, I am going to ask to have that done as well. We'll see. I really hope the better fuel economy really works. I will be starting a trip of about 2500 miles on Wednesday to Florida and back so will have a chance to see if it makes any difference either way. It may be some time before I can post but will let you know.



Fingers crossed... .

George

 

[swexlin]

Second fillup now, pretty much the same. Over my same commutes and drives, I am up about 0. 7-1. 0 mpg. Anything is better than nothing, but not as dramatic as some have posted. However, these may be skewed a bit, because now we have gone to winter fuel. With my Powerstroke, I always lost at least 1 mpg on winter fuel.



And, my overhead is now inaccurate - still reading 1-1. 5 high (for instance - hand-calculated today was 12. 54, overhead said 13. 8). Before, overhead had always consistently been within 0. 2 of actual hand-calculated.



Finally, my "pinging" is still there, as always, although it's never bothered me. So, it would seem that we are all getting *slightly* different results, some better than others.

 

[GColeman]

I had the TSB 18-037-04 reflash done last Friday. I picked up an honest 2 MPG and as a bonus, the annoying pinging is gone. Driving at 75-80 on a 400 mile road trip, I went from 15. 5 to 17. 6.

 

[GCrowell]

Some good news

I had the 37-04 TSB flash done yesterday. I have not had time yet to tell if it will make any difference in the fuel economy. I did want to tell you I got the high idle done also even though my serial number and build date was outside the range given in the TSB. I took both TSB into the dealer and told them I thought the high idle was part of the fuel economy flash but they would have to enable it after the flash. That was the first thing I checked when I got it back, even before I left the lot. It works as advertised. This morning I had a real opportunity to test it out. I had not plugged in the grid heater and it was about 27*. I set the cruise and immediately it turned up to about 1100 rpm. I pressed the accel button and you can either hold it down or bump it a step at the time, about 100 rpm I think. I set it to about 1300 rpm for about 7 minutes before getting underway. It really makes a difference. It actually was putting out warm air after only 7-10 minutes. There is one thing I believe changed but I can't really be sure. I tried to set the air outside/recirc control to recirc and with the cruise/high idle on, the led would flash about 3-4 times and go out indicating to me that when using the high idle you cannot recirc the air. After getting underway, it works as before. I need to do more observing but that is a change I believe. No biggie but different. Is this a change or is my memory just not working these days?

I am looking forward to a fuel economy test in the next couple of days but so far, I am pleased. As long as the mpg doesn't get worse, it will have been worth it and if it improves, well that will be really good. The rattle or pinging seems to be gone too. Too early to tell if the power changed.



Will post more results soon.

George

 

[salstrip]

Help for overseas

Hi,

looks like the mpg is getting better ye ha , we have a couple of deisels that we have on a farm in australia ,both are 04 600s (i know there not meant to go out of the country they will be back ! ). is it possible to get the reflash info or programing from somwhere as there is no dodge dealers in australia and chrysler in australia dont even know they build trucks in the usa .

regards

conn

 

[KD7GYJ]

After reading the positive results of having this TSB performed, I stopped by a local Dodge dealer and asked about having it done. They scheduled an appointment for me for Tuesday AM. I am apprehensive and interested at the same time to get this done. My mileage has not been too bad, but would like to make the engine hum instead of the low grade pinging sound. I hope is improves the response of the vehicle.



Thanks for your inputs, without them, I don't think I would have had this done.

 

[BrentKaiser]

is it possible to get the reflash info or programing from somwhere as there is no dodge dealers in australia and chrysler in australia dont even know they build trucks in the usa .

salstrip, here is the full TSB from Klenger's website. Click Here!

Don't thank me, thank Klenger for keeping up such a great WEB SITE!

 

[Mopar4u]

Had the TSB done and have gained nothing. Still smokes white at start up, mileage has stayed the same 15 avg. still pings but have more black smoke on acceleration.

 

[CAgnoli]

Incidentally, is anyone with 3:73, 4x4, and 35's seen an increase in fuel economy. I know we had a discussion about this earlier in the year, and rolling resistance seemed to be the limiting factor, but most of us has less than 8000 on our trucks. So..... Do you guys with the larger tires see better mileage now, or just better looking trucks??

 

[buddys06]

I also noted more black smoke after reflash when i get on it. I am still waiting to see about mpg increase.

 

[BlueRam2500]

I am taking my truck to a different dealer on Monday 11/22 for the TSB. I am convinced that the dealer I bought it from, Warnock Automotive in East Hanover, NJ did not do the flash because my fuel #'s have not gone up and I still see white smoke on start-up. After contacting a few other dealers, I was told that BY LAW the sticker that says the flash was done is required to be under the hood, and it is not there. I had a mechanic friend of mine look over the whole engine compartment and not find anything to indicate that the work was done on the truck. I am taking the truck to Johnson Dodge in Hackettstown, NJ. Anyone have any experience with them??

 

[BStoecker]

I just had the reflash done this afternoon. I will be heading to Indianapolis tomorrow and back on Wednesday. I will be able to tell if there is any difference on this trip. I did notice that the motor seemed to be somewhat smoother and possibly even a hair quieter. Could just be the post-dealer visit placebo effect though...

 

[CAgnoli]

White smoke at cold startup is normal...

Interestingly enough, before the reflash I did not have any white smoke. For the past week and a half I always have white smoke in the morning. It clears up after about 5 seconds. Granted, the over night lows have been around 40 degrees.



Is the white smoke normal due to the fact that is colder at night?





Oh and BTW, upon initial startup the idle is rough for about 3 seconds. It sounds as if the mighty cummins is coughing.

It's been dropping into the low 20's here in the overnights, and from what I've noticed, If I plug the truck in, I get no white smoke what so ever at startup, and the rig fires right up, and still elevates to high idle after about 60 seconds. However, if I don't plug it in, there is a plume of white smoke at startup, even though she fires right up, and goes to the high idle in 60 seconds.



With that said, I'd say the white puff of smoke, either pre flash or post flash, in cold temp's is normal. Incidentally, I've not had the flash yet, but after seeing Ken's results, I'm scheduled for an oil change in two weeks, I'll be having the flash done.



C