So I'm pretty new here but it seems this place is where I can learn almost anything about my car. Of the research I have done so far it seems the easiest way to increase power is with a tune. I'm also going for a lower price too and I've been looking at GDE (Green Diesel Engineering). It seems like a perfect idea but I am worried about the life of my engine. It's the Mercedes OM642 3.0l turbodiesel reaching 190,000 miles. If I were to add any tune for example, would the life of my engine be decreased drastically? Or is there a better tune for the car? I'm open to all ideas but I'm trying to stay on a decent budget. Any thoughts?
Adding a tune to an old crd engine
TrojahnMan
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So I'm pretty new here but it seems this place is where I can learn almost anything about my car. Of the research I have done so far it seems the easiest way to increase power is with a tune. I'm also going for a lower price too and I've been looking at GDE (Green Diesel Engineering). It seems like a perfect idea but I am worried about the life of my engine. It's the Mercedes OM642 3.0l turbodiesel reaching 190,000 miles. If I were to add any tune for example, would the life of my engine be decreased drastically? Or is there a better tune for the car? I'm open to all ideas but I'm trying to stay on a decent budget. Any thoughts?
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How many Kms/miles did you have on your car when you got the tune? Any decrease in engine life so far?
There’s a guy in Italy named Marco Giacomelli (aka Yeti) who does tunes for many Jeeps for significantly less than GDE or Malone. He is a major contributor to the lostjeeps forum, where a lot of really technical tuning people hang out.
You can find him on Facebook. There are a couple people in Australia who have his tunes and are very happy with them. Marco doesn’t sell the programmers - you need to buy one, then read your ECU to a file and send it to him. He does the tune and sends the file back to you. Besides one of the devices, you should have a battery charger or bench power supply connected when using the programmer to insure your voltage doesn’t drop, potentially causing issues.
I’ll post a thread once I’m set up and running with some feedback.
You can find him on Facebook. There are a couple people in Australia who have his tunes and are very happy with them. Marco doesn’t sell the programmers - you need to buy one, then read your ECU to a file and send it to him. He does the tune and sends the file back to you. Besides one of the devices, you should have a battery charger or bench power supply connected when using the programmer to insure your voltage doesn’t drop, potentially causing issues.
I’ll post a thread once I’m set up and running with some feedback.
So my Kess v2 clone programmer arrived yesterday and I got the tune back from Marco and written to the ECU this morning. Feels like a different car. Kinda like when Sonic the Hedgehog gets 100 rings and goes Super-Sonic. No more throttle lag and substantially more power. I am really impressed. Total cost was $350 AUD and I have a nice ECU interface and software to keep. Solid.
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I've been running a GDE Hot Tune since 2014 and have put about 150-160 thousand kms on it (255,000 km total). Hasn't caused any issues for me so far it has done long trips, heavy towing, and lots of 4x4ing.
As long as the engine is healthy to start with, i doubt there should be any issues, but you can always talk to Keith at GDE about it (if that is the way you decide to go). He has been helpful whenever i have emailed him.
As long as the engine is healthy to start with, i doubt there should be any issues, but you can always talk to Keith at GDE about it (if that is the way you decide to go). He has been helpful whenever i have emailed him.
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I just added GDE Eco Tune to my 08CRD. I have 420,000kms, and no issues. I am on 5100’s@2 1/2” lift, and 255/75-17 BFG Ko’s. Getting average 8.7L100km highway, and 9.7 city.
I just added a Malone 1.5 Tune with all deletes at 148k miles. Currently they are on sale for less than $500 USD, turn around on the tune was same day, I had also purchased their programmer which could also be used to store up to 5 total tunes, stock + 4 custom tunes. A side benefit is that yhe tuning bix also doubles as an ODB2 code scanner, service reset tool for most subsystems, so it can be leveraged thatcway as well as for the reflashing.
Since I have only a couple hundred miles I cannot comment on reliability impact. That said, high on my reasons list for getting the tune was to diasable the subsystems most notorious for wreaking havoc on these engines, DPF, EGR, and swirl valves. Taking those out of the picture should increase overall reliability, the extra power and mileage is icing on the cake.
Since I have only a couple hundred miles I cannot comment on reliability impact. That said, high on my reasons list for getting the tune was to diasable the subsystems most notorious for wreaking havoc on these engines, DPF, EGR, and swirl valves. Taking those out of the picture should increase overall reliability, the extra power and mileage is icing on the cake.
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Hey, how are you liking the tune? Is your MPG up? How's the Jeep feel, better on turbo lag? I'm looking at doing the exact same thing on my '07 with about 130k on it. Did you upgrade your downpipe? What's your exhaust set up?
I'll reply here as I noticed you also had another thread with some questions, we'll keep the info concise in one place.
I've got 5k miles on it since the tune, happy and never looked back. I have gotten 2-3mpgs more across the range city/hwy, turbo lag is non existent past the first 15 feet on a WOT launch. This thing is quick, very quick, quicker than many sport cars for an 1/8 mile drag. Beyond that, you are limited as the rpm range is so low, still quick but you start losing the torque advantage. Passing power on the highway is also much improved.
As to the down pipe CB Engineer doesn't seem to be operational anymore. so you will either need to hollow out the existing DPF or have a custom pipe made to replace the DPF. Most exhaust shops wont touch that anymore, because of the stiff penalties and crackdowns over the past few years regarding emissions exhaust parts. If you "know" someone, the fab work is easy, otherwise remove the DPF and punch out the honeycomb insert and reinstall. You get the same effect.
The swirl valves, are a variable intake flap system, activated by an electric motor that sits just under the turbo intake pipe. This is a know oil leak point, and that oil drips onto the swirl motor, eventually getting in it and frying it. If you get that tuned out, the motor no longer works, the intake valve default to fully open and you dont get any check engine lights/codes. Performance wise, my swirl flaps were working flawlessly before the tune, after the tune cant say that I noticed them not working at all. They are really just for fine tuning performance on a stock engine, not of any impact on a tuned engine though. Also you have to get the EGR tuned out, if you tune out the DPF, the EGR also has to go, both are inter related. The swirl valves can be left on if you wish, but there is no sense to it unless you like to deal with problems. just tune out all 3 EGR, DPF and swirl and eliminate 80% of the gripes with this engine.
My $1.02 (used to be 2 cents, but, ya know, inflation)
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Awesome thank you so much for the replies, that's incredibly helpful! I'm very excited to do mine. Did either of you do the turbo downpipe upgrade? It mentioned on the tune page that its required, but I can't seem to find any info on what the upgrade would be. I plan to hollow out the DPF.
If you want a down pipe you could try a doing a search of UK Jeep breakers. Our CRD did not have dpf. They may fed ex it to you. Is it an option for a Jeep parts supplier in America to source UK spec Jeep parts? I presume jeep UK will have the replacement pipe in stock in Italy.
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I hope it's okay to ask a somewhat related question here in this thread. I checked out Green Diesel Engineering's website and all I could find for Jeep tuning was WK2 related. Does anyone know if they're still providing tunes for WK's? TIA!
Tom
Tom
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41 Posts
BUMP...Still looking for info. I have a WK 2007 Grand Cherokee CRD and it does NOT have DPF. Is Green Diesel Engineering still an option for WK's or no? If not, are there any other alternatives available for the WK platform? Does Marco Giacomelli (aka Yeti) write tunes for WK's vs WK2's?
Tom
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The EPA threatened to sue GDE out of business, so they no longer sell to US customers. I emailed and they told me I'd have to have a Canadian registration for them to send me a tune.
I guess the EPA either hasn't gotten to Malone yet or there's some international/diplomatic reason that Malone is still doing business in the US.
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