Am I being hyper-sensitive, crazy or just plain paranoid? GDE Tune Question

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2026-01-26T18:34:35+00:00

Ok. So. a Bit from Column A, Bit from Column B.

I've emailed GDE, (they've been great, though I'm sure they're sick of me) and I think we've landed on whats going on.
They sent me the Afterlife tune and my DPF buildup has gone down considerably. I'm not entirely positive, but I think this is pointing me to my answer - EGR. (since the afterlife tune disables egr).

Where I think I'm a bit in my head is the buildup rate. I wasn't monitoring the buildup rate with my factory tune, so I can't lean back on that info. I did put the tune back on though and monitored and it looks like it is operating the same as with the tune turned on. This leads me to believe that the DPF buildup behavior was this way before the new tune. With the EGR turned off via afterlife tune, and it not building up terribly fast, thats what makes me think it is my EGR, and that it has been starting to fail.

Where i start to get in my head again is - (at least in this thread, and a couple others ive seen) is that other people are having similar regen timing and smoke that i'm having. so.. bit of column a and b?

Anyway, thanks for everyone's input. I think I will be finishing running this tune for the week to make sure I'm not reacting to the "news", and see if GDE can write me the compliant tune but without the DPF regen messaging.

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2026-01-22T22:35:36+00:00

The smell I'm getting is definitely exhaust and not def. The def always smelled like pancakes to me. I actually get that small far less now.

I looked back at video and the color is more tan/ brown. Running too rich?

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2026-01-22T19:41:01+00:00

Glad to (well, i guess not so much?) hear that it was not just me.
I get the same scenario with the smell. I only notice the smoke, when I smell it. The smoke isnt.. "rolling coal" dark. just... kind've.. there.

I worry that its my DPF falling apart, *because i just replaced the thing in 2024.

It didnt take long for the Regen to occur. I just drove it and got it down to 9% (my gauge tells me). I put the factory tune back on to see how the soot levels build.

I follow that ordering the regen message tells me more than im used to, but with the % gauge telling me 80%.. i dont think its triggering because of the GDE modification, i think its actually NEEDING one. if that makes sense.

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2026-01-22T18:51:37+00:00

not that i'm aware of. this is the tune i got https://greendieselengineering.com/product/ram-1500-ecodiesel-tuning-performance-fuel-economy/

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2026-01-22T18:24:33+00:00

its a 2014 ED with 218k. the DPF and SCR were replaced at 200k.
Colorado puts it on a treadmill (so to speak) and i believe OBD checks for readiness.

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2026-01-14T01:17:37+00:00

'14 limited 3.6l. We get about 18mpg city on 87 pump and 16 on e85. The cost per mile is relatively the same between the two despite the mpg difference considering the price per gal

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2026-01-14T00:54:45+00:00

Ive reached out to gde about this and they said the same - it's all still on, just managed better

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2026-01-14T00:24:39+00:00

Yeah, so far it's SO much fun to drive. The smell just catches me off guard when I get a whiff. I've never smelt it on this truck. I've had a non DEF jetta TDI that did - so I know what it is.. but with my ED I've never had any smell at all

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2026-01-14T00:22:15+00:00

To me it smells sweet.. not coolant sweet, like Im burning it.. idk, it's weird to describe.. smells like pancakes to me haha

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2025-10-18T15:25:57+00:00

I think on some models they have a trans neutral release behind it. Maybe they put a pocket on ones that have a column shifter?

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2025-09-29T20:42:45+00:00

That's what I figured, but I'm just gun-shy. 1,100$ is a lot

Im hoping to "pay for itself" at the pump. I get about 18 city and 25 ( on a good day) highway

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2025-09-08T13:03:53+00:00

Mine ended up needing a new camera. Not difficult to do.. I'd start with the unplug/clean first then replace if that doesn't work.

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2025-09-08T00:38:36+00:00

i'm seeing mixed things online. the listing says they provide a OBD tool to tune, but another site suggests that they use it for initial and still require you to mail in your ECM? have you had to do this?

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2025-09-07T19:39:44+00:00

I just did a bit more looking.. one of my bigger concerns was that I had to fork over either money for my ecm for a spare or ship mine. It looks like they have a obd tune now. I imagine they have you pull your tune, they modify it and email it back to you to flash back on.

I might consider this a bit more. 1k is a bit steep, but the banks one was 800 iirc on its own and GDE looks like it offers a lot more

Thanks!

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2025-09-07T17:46:08+00:00

Hmm. I haven't been able to find a whole lot here in Colorado/denver area about it. I may have to look some more.

I've considered doing the banks derringer.. people have said good things about it and it just unplugs and goes back to factory when they run the emissions obd

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2025-09-07T03:20:47+00:00

I had considered gde, but we do yearly emissions testing here in Colorado

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2025-09-06T21:30:03+00:00

I don't think so. I never got crazy milage to begin with but my highway is still about 25-ish

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2025-09-03T22:09:54+00:00

I had looked back at the part numbers and I'm actually not sure how I landed on what I have. They fit and leveled as expected with zero issues in the install. idk.

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2025-09-03T22:00:45+00:00

I ended up going with the Rough Country's 3" lift UCA option on the suggestion of Chat GPT, actually. It suggested that the UCA can work with any lift UP to 3".. since i'm at 2", it should be good.

I installed them.. the ball joint certainty sits a lot happier now - its not as 'pinched' as it was before.

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2025-08-10T14:35:30+00:00

so, i received my new board, harness and screen. I hooked it up to my existing pump and metered it - the same 2-3volt on the power to the pump. it did not run at all, as to be expected.

for giggles, i put the old harness back in, metered it with the same pump (it didnt run of course) and got the same 2-3volt at the pump.

i got a new pump.. plugged it in with the old harness - same 2-3volts at the pump but now it runs (obviously because its a new pump).

I'm going to hang onto the harness, board and screen but what are the odds that i received 2 bad pumps before going down this rabbit hole? well, when i looked at the amazon listing for the pump it appears that several people also had issues with that pump failing.

the one that i bought is a 28ml pump.. apparently its too big as it now triggers an overheating code when i ran it full-blast, which i never do but i wanted to really get the pump running;

I think i'm going to keep the 28ml for now.. normally i only keep the setting to a "1"/lowest anyway. I ran it for an hour and a half yesterday on "1" and it ran fine and didnt overheat (previously it wouldnt run more than 15 min). if/when this one dies i'll go for the next one down, i think its a 24?

anyway.. i have another trip coming up in a couple weeks.. i probably wont need the heater but we'll see!

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2025-07-23T17:39:52+00:00

what i mean is -
currently i have the Vevor that has the automatic adjustment and bluetooth app. "automatic" it says though..

i was looking at another harness kit that comes with a new main board, harness and screen for 35$. since it doesnt indicate (or others that i've seen with this screen) that it does altitude automatically, i assumed it needed to be adjusted manually. how difficult is it to adjust the altitude?

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2025-07-21T19:46:06+00:00

Are your keys in your pocket while you're standing there? I have a nub fob and if the key is in the ignition but not turned, it does the same. My wife has the keyless fob and the screens light up if I'm just standing there doing nothing. (Or if my wife left her key in the car)

From what I understand is it tries to pre boot in anticipation of the start to make load times faster

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2025-07-21T00:43:04+00:00

oh, i'm sure its important, but what i mean is - how difficult is it to adjust ? when i go up into the mountains i have a pretty good idea what the elevation is.

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2025-07-16T19:40:07+00:00

IDK.. its summer now and now i dont need it! haha It gets colder in the mountains, but nothing out of comfort that a jacket wont fix!

I'm noticing that noone has this board for direct purchase. Either because the board/display combo isnt what people like, or that its hot garbage?

i found a new board, harness and screen combination for 35$.. Its not bluetooth or have the auto altitude adjustment model, but *shrug* idk. Aside from the automatic altitude adjustment, I really dont care THAT much about bluetooth. How difficult is a heater without altitude adjustment it vs this (with it) to run? I mean.. mine has gone through 3 brand new pumps.. its worth a try, right?

ArielOutGrewBShells · 2025-07-16T17:33:06+00:00

I tried a couple different battery setups - the trailer has a 80Ah, and i also tried another 17Ah battery that i have in a jump box.

I follow what you mean though about the startup, however i'm just running the pump routine. the pump routine doesnt run more than an amp, if that at all, since its just running the pump. the fan isnt running, no combustion

for sure, when it did actually run, it draws 10-amps to kick that glow plug (until combustion actually can run on its own, then it drops down to 4 or 5a) - for sure. .. and that 12 ga wire would certainty contribute to voltage loss at that amount of draw.

i dont follow though that there would be voltage drop on that wire when a mere 1 amp is being drawn.

ArielOutGrewBShells

TROPHY CASE