EcoDiesel Must Do / Must Have

[iStubz]

Hey guys,
New member here with a 2020 ED.
I’ve been reading through the forums a bit, but I’m falling short on info regarding mods/fixes for the ecodiesels, where as there’s a ton for the full size Diesel engines.

By now I’m sure a lot of us are getting into the mileage where there is no warranty, or would rather void it to fix issues instead of multiple dealership trips, so I’m here to ask the questions;

What can / should you do to make an ecodiesel more reliable? Better MPG? Catch can? EGR delete? Tuners? Specific oil / filter? Exhaust? What brands? Towing specific modifications? And anything else you may find useful!

And also, what should you avoid?

Problems to look out for, and how to avoid them?

Hopefully we get some good responses to help current and future ecodiesel owners get the most out of their truck!

- I will update and organize this first post with findings and results from your guys’ responses!

Thank you!

 

[djevox]

Mpg
Main thing that will help is to drive less aggressively. Outside of that, low rolling resistance tires help when compared to all-terrains or mud terrains (but is not enough of a savings if compared to any stock tires). A GDE tune supposedly adds ~7% mpg, but the cost and difficulty of getting the tune done makes the value questionable.

Add-ons
GDE tune supposedly helps with soot buildup by using the low pressure side of the EGR for most conditions. In my opinion, that is the greatest value to getting the tune (if the difference is true long-term).

Banks Derringer is another option, but it does nothing with the EGR and doesn’t help with mpg. It does match GDE’s added power estimates and has a safety monitoring system that is more strangent than the stock safeties. Not having to send my PCM in for a tune and the safeties is why I choose banks for now.

Banks supposedly has an intake coming out in June that is supposed to flow better and works well with the tune. I doubt the value is worth the money, but I might try it out anyway.

This third generation engine came out at a bad time for removing emissions equipment. The EPA has started going after companies that defeat emissions equipment, and that had a direct effect on the production of emissions deletion stuff for our engine. It’s sad, but I don’t think we are going to have many options in that category. If I remember correctly, the only decent option is a company in Canada.

Must-haves/maintenance
For me, it’s fairly simple. I do my own maintenance, so I make sure to have two oil changes worth of oil and filters at all times. I do use aftermarket filters and I trust them, but they always seem to be unavailable now. I also keep 10 gallons of blueDEF platinum and rotate them out as I use them. I do that because of backorders/unavailability that seems to come and go. I use hot shots EDT with every fill up and hotshots FR3 with every oil change. Every 6000 miles, I use hotshots diesel extreme.

 

[Rocsolid]

Following

 

[Whitenight]

Djevox, what's the filter brand you use? I got a Doc's diesel one to try out, they look identical to the mopar filters, but are 35.99 instead of 47.99. I have 420 miles on her bow, going to do first change at 1k.

Do you remember the company that's doing the deletes in Canada? I'm only 8 hours from the border so I could just do a fishing trip when the powertrain is up and have it done haha

 

[djevox]

Djevox, what's the filter brand you use? I got a Doc's diesel one to try out, they look identical to the mopar filters, but are 35.99 instead of 47.99. I have 420 miles on her bow, going to do first change at 1k.

Do you remember the company that's doing the deletes in Canada? I'm only 8 hours from the border so I could just do a fishing trip when the powertrain is up and have it done haha

I got some eco guard when they popped up, but they’ve been out of stock for the last two months with every retailer I’ve contacted. I tried to get a wholesale account with them, but they told me I had to carry a certain amount of stock of various filters and I didn’t want to do that when I only want one filter.

 

[Whitenight]

I got some eco guard when they popped up, but they’ve been out of stock for the last two months with every retailer I’ve contacted. I tried to get a wholesale account with them, but they told me I had to carry a certain amount of stock of various filters and I didn’t want to do that when I only want one filter.

I wish some engineering company would come out with a billet filter housing piece for this year, so we could use the filters from the previous years. It's absurd they can't make an oil filter that doesn't need to come with that plastic housing every oil change

 

[djevox]

I wish some engineering company would come out with a billet filter housing piece for this year, so we could use the filters from the previous years. It's absurd they can't make an oil filter that doesn't need to come with that plastic housing every oil change

That would be awesome.