udder brudder
Navasota, Tx
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Joined: 07/05/2008
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I have a 01' Chevy one ton. 6.0 engine. Auto trans.
I towed my trailer to the repair shop the other day. The engine started to overheat I turned off the Overdrive and put it in tow-haul mode.
The temp dropped. The rpm's went up about 500 more r's.
Will a comouter program thingy help with the mileage on a gas engine? Will it help to lower the RPM's?
Thanks,
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skipnchar
Topeka Kansas USA
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Joined: 12/17/2003
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Chipping a gas engine can add a fairly small amount of additional power on some engines but mostly at the upper RPM range and USUALLY it means programing for higher octane fuel to see any significant power increase. Usually is NOT a good way to improve economy since with more power you're apt to use it and gas being more expensive to begin with...etc. RPMs are strictly controlled by the transmission NOT the engine. When it shifts to a lower gear the RPMs go higher. Additional power MIGHT make it possible to hold a higher gear when you might otherwise down shift but STILL not a good means of economizing.
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campercajun
Central Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 08/09/2007
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I do have Hypertech programming in my 6.0L CC, but the engine programming doesn't give me a lot of horsepower (about 20), torque (about 25 ft. lbs), or gas mileage (about 1 MPG when towing, about 1.5 to 2 MPG when solo.) I mainly bought the programmer to reprogram the trans for firmer shifts, and to have a way to check and clear trouble codes.
Your truck probably got hot from towing your trailer in Overdrive, especially if there was heavy traffic and the speed and terrain you were traveling over forced the trans to "hunt", that is, shift continually back and forth from OD to Drive. This creates a lot of heat. The use of the Tow-Haul mode, and locking out Overdrive in traffic at speeds below 50 MPH or so, allowed the truck to run cooler. The extra RPM was due to the fact that without Overdrive (4th gear) engaged, your trans could go no higher than Drive (3rd gear, or Direct Drive; i. e., a 1:1 ratio). The extra RPM spun the fan faster, too, which probably also helped to cool the engine off.
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sushidog
Abita Springs, LA
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Joined: 08/02/2007
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I had my Chevy's ECM and TCM reprogrammed by Wester's Garage. They do great tow tunes, and I highly recommend their work. Combined with a header, full exhaust and cold air intake, a tow tune can work wonders. My unladen mileage went up from around 31-32 hwy to 34-37 hwy (depending on speed and conditions) on my little Cobalt SS. It got 22.7 mpg towing my 1,700lb Aliner through the mountains on last year's vacation. Plus it improved my 1/4 mile time by .7 sec. Unfortunately, I must now run premium fuel due to the timing advance, and the resulting increase in dynamic compression.
It's not cheap though, so it will probably take a while to recover the cost of the tune in fuel savings alone, as my engine was very efficient to begin with.
The way I look at it, I will eventually recover most if not all of the expense of this great performance mod by my fuel savings. Of course you will recover your costs much faster with a fuel hungry v8.
I think a tune for your truck will run about $500. They can also recalibrate the speedometer for larger tires/ different differential ratios, change transmission shift points, firmness, etc. They will basically tune your truck any way you like. If you want it tuned for optimal mileage or power using regular or mid-grads gas, just let them know. I chose an optimal power tune using premium fuel (because I use my small engine to tow over my vehicle's rated tow capacity) and still received a nice increase in gas mileage to boot. Just tell them your mods, what you are looking for and your intended use and they will take it from there.
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Keith99RS
Suffield, CT
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Joined: 11/14/2005
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More than likely it was due to towing in OD and not having tow/haul mode engaged. It was probably bouncing between OD and the next lower gear repeatedly. Most people I know tow with OD off, tow mode on. Some here don't but then they also probably don't have a tranny temp gage either. I camped in the White Mountains last week and managed to heat my tranny up a bit on on of the back road climbs without the TT. I thought I had a tranny problem, nut it turned out it was due to the transmission hunting between 4th and 5th even without the TT in tow. Kicked it into 4th and all went normal. Towed up to Newport VT up RT91 and all was fine.
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clarkely
Harleysville, Pa
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Joined: 05/08/2008
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I got a Diablo Sport, they were the only ones that supported my 6 speed on my 08 2500 Suburban.
The truck is not broken in yet....but......
I am getting 2 1/2 mpg better not towing and 1 1/2 better towing...
Plus i could recalibrate for the new tires i put on.
I have only been using the economy setting.....i have been told people are running performance on 87 octane and getting better mileage than the economy setting....haven't tried it yet.
I can also change shift points and pressure.....i will be adjusting my Down shift in tow haul mode....as it is way to aggressive.....
I'd Rather be camping!
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