What's killing my TIPM

[Tinman]

Just ordered my fourth TIPM. One of the previous was actually not bad but dealer replace under warranty. I used to use a britebox and I figured that was the culprit. Now I have the Controlfreak that runs the head lights off their won circuit directly from the battery. As of now, I have only 2 potential causes I can think of: 1), is the Painless accessory fuse box. All my accessories run off this and it is powered directly from the battery. This gets turned on by the horn circuit in the TIPM, 2): Gauge lights, I have 8 gauges that themselves get power from the above mentioned painless fused circuit. But the back lighting is from the factory light switch and dimmer circuit. I think this is the problem. Also, the dimmer recently started to flicker on the most dimmed setting (where I run it at night). Now TIPM is doing it's death throws. So is it the gauge back lights, a bad dimmer/rheostat (perhaps cause by the extra back-lights) or something else? Any thoughts? BTW I also have a TIPM saver for trailer lights so that's not it. At several hundred dollars a pop, this is getting expensive.

 

[sag2]

I'm not clear what the failure mode is. Has the failure been the same each time or different?

 

[Prairie Dog]

What circuit is failing in the TIPM?
If you have something connected to the failing circuit then that is likely the cause. But if you don't then there's something else going on.

 

[Motorhead]

I agree with Prairie Dog. My '07, 5.9 has SEVERAL added circuits BEFORE the TIPM and no issues. They are: 130 watt fog/driving lights, Viair 480 air compressor, Pacbrake PRXB, Aux back-up lights, FillRite 20gpm fuel transfer pump, and a 30 amp line to my TIPM saver.

 

[Tinman]

I'm not sure what circuit it is. Everything is working. I get the intermittent gauge /dash light "seizure" where gauges, lights, and chime go crazy for a few seconds while driving. On past tipms I would also get odd stuff like high beams flashing by themselves and blinker oddities. With my latest tipm (it has been on truck for a couple years now), I got at least 2, what I think is a reset for no reason. I would turn on ignition and the gauges would got to max and then reset, like when the batteries are disconnected. After I posted my original post, my A/C puked. I hope it's just the clutch but I fear the compressor might be seized. Anyway, I don't feel like messing with it, so I'm gonna take it to the dealer. I'll ask them to see if there are any codes in tipm and let you know.

 

[Motorhead]

The heck of it all is that it could be something as simple as an intermittent ground....somewhere, that is connected to the TIPM or something the TIPM controls.
Progress......What a WONDERFUL Thing!!! Let us know if the dealer finds anything. Good Luck.

 

[Hammer]

One thing that leads to early TIPM failures is constant flashing of the ECM with the various tuners.
Another thing that causes failures early is when an owner flashes his tunes into his truck and he does not pull the fuse for the fuel pump and it cycles during flashing.
Make sure you check ALL your grounds and ensure they are clean and free from corrosion and that your connections at the TIPM are free from corrosion.
If your an owner who runs EFI Live or any tuner that needs flashed in you may just have to expect this to be a part of your B.O.M.Bing costs.
I flash both of My trucks alot and have had both of Mine replaced a few times,I just keep a spare here and go on about business.

 

[Motorhead]

Hammer, Is the fuel pump fuse clearly marked? I use a Smarty jr and DO hear the FP cycling during an install. Smarty, to my knowledge, has never indicated that the FP fuse needed to be pulled.

 

[seafish]

Hammer, Is the fuel pump fuse clearly marked? I use a Smarty jr and DO hear the FP cycling during an install. Smarty, to my knowledge, has never indicated that the FP fuse needed to be pulled.

Me either, I actually thought somehow that it was PART of the programming, but if not, it does seem like a good idea to pull the fuse as long as that does not affect anything while updating.

 

[Motorhead]

Me either, I actually thought somehow that it was PART of the programming, but if not, it does seem like a good idea to pull the fuse as long as that does not affect anything while updating.

My thoughts exactly seafish. Without any DATA, I assumed that the Smarty was calibrating itself when the FP cycled during uploading.

 

[seafish]

My thoughts exactly seafish. Without any DATA, I assumed that the Smarty was calibrating itself when the FP cycled during uploading.

Exactly, so n ow I am wondering if that is so or not.

Gonna pm the Smarty rep to find out and post back here what I find out.

 

[seafish]

FYI---Just pm'd BrianatSmarty this message--


Brian, could you please comment and clarify what you know about this "issue" or "non-issue" in post#7 forward of the is thread--


https://www.turbodieselregister.com/threads/251764-What-s-killing-my-TIPM

Please note, no one is attacking Smarty, just want to now if the repeated cycling of the LP are part of the programming or just a side effect. Also want to know if repeated reprogramming of the ECM might affect TIPM or ECM lifespan.

TIA for your informed and thoughtful comments!!

Regards,

Clark

 

[BrianAtSmarty]

Good morning Clark! Gentlemen!

Our products will not touch the TIPM in anyway. This is the first time we have heard of such a claim that flashing compromises TIPMs.


The lift pump cycling is just a fact of life when programing the ECM. Removing the fuse will take care of the Lift Pump consuming voltage. These ECM's need to see 12.6 volts at the ECM to be reliable in taking a flash.

Indeed, reprogramming will reduce the lifetime of an ECM. But, let's say that in the market average, a Flash memory can be written about 100K times. Starting an engine and stopping it reduces the ECM lifetime too. Nowadays every single ECM will save the truck history data into its memory.

Lets do some ciphering! We have 365 days in a calendar year. Lets say that on average, we start our Cummins engine 4 times in a day! Would we program our ECM every day? Not the average Cummins Turbo Diesel enthusiast!




So our Flashed ECM will last = 100,000 Flashes. Doing the math, with flashing the ECM once a day, and starting and shutting down the Cummins 4 times per day, one would believe with that theory one's ECM could last 54 years.

This is theory, reality will depends on flash quality, weather conditions, how many times you start the engine, etc. Also an ECM has a shelf life so actual time in service needs to be factored in and environmental conditions may cause that to vary.

Thank you Gentlemen!

 

[Tinman]

This is interesting, I didn't figure the cycling fuel pump would hurt anything but pulling the fuse is easy enough. I have flashed my truck over 200 times since getting efilive. I've got it tuned like I want it now except for comparing 2 different timing and pressure curves to get optimum mileage and tuning out a little bit of off boost smoke. So I hope to be able to stop tuning after a few more flashes. Thankfully, the price of a reman TIPM isn't as bad as a new one used to be.

 

[Tinman]

Update: I got a new compressor for the A/C (clutch was bad). NO TIPM codes. Tech said the TIPM was probably creating voltage spikes while it was trying to engage a dieing compressor clutch. That was what I was seeing in my "gauge seizure". So far no TIPM symptoms since the compressor was replaced, so I think the tech was right. I guess in this case the TIPM did it's job correctly.

 

[PWong]

Toasted A/C clutch is one but not the only one TIPM killer.
You can use a separate relay as a TIPM saver to power the clutch. (with a 10A fuse)
Use the power wire to clutch to trigger that relay.

Any extra load added to the stock circuits would be a TIPM killer.