EFI live Cummins tuning

Clubbs

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2008
Location
Blounts Creek
Probably about time I leave the stock Cummins world and at least get a mild tune. Seems there's plenty of options out there and the way I understand it I buy a scan tool, then work with a tuner and purchase a set of tunes to load, plug in and save the stock tune, then reflash the ECM. I'd like the switch on the fly functionality and would also like a digital display to monitor more parameters. And if I ever decided to go off-road only and delete it I could order another "tune" to handle the emission lights and such.

All that sound like the usual path to take for a daily driver tow rig looking for a better than stock drivability, some trans programming, more mileage and a bit more power?

Who does the NC4x4 crowd use for Cummins EFI live tuning? I've searched in the webs and seems everyone has there favorite, but I don't know those internet scallywags, and would rather trust my NC4x4 friends' recommendations.
 
I use Starlite. They're in Utah, but Dominic is a helluva tuner. I have an AutoCal if you don't want to buy one, but they're handy to have and you can use it as the interface between the truck and your laptop and it gives you full access to EFI Live for scanning and diagnostics.
 
I'd recommend Optimal Welding he's got his head on straight with Cummins engines, I'll be going to him for custom shift on the fly tunes when I finish getting my 6 speed manual to shift right.
 
No experience with EFI live, but my truck has EZ link with tunes CTT. Tunes seem great and I have several options to choose from.

Darkbloodmon said:
I'd recommend Optimal Welding he's got his head on straight with Cummins engines, I'll be going to him for custom shift on the fly tunes when I finish getting my 6 speed manual to shift right.
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When I was first looking for tunes his stuff came up and had mostly positive reviews, but I've seen several complaints recently on FB and CumminsForum about poor tunes and even worse customer service.

Duane
 
CLRracer said:
No experience with EFI live, but my truck has EZ link with tunes CTT. Tunes seem great and I have several options to choose from.



When I was first looking for tunes his stuff came up and had mostly positive reviews, but I've seen several complaints recently on FB and CumminsForum about poor tunes and even worse customer service.

Duane
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Very good to know, thank you. I might be stuck stock a while longer then....
 
Starlite knows their stuff. Dom and Zac have it down pat in the Cummins and Duramax world. I can Facebook message or email and have a tune revision within an hour or two. I had been through two other tuners before them and they haven't missed a beat.

You just have to find a dealer that sells their stuff. Not hard to do though.
 
What year? I know that @Hoodw!nk has a Smarty with the touch screen he would like to sell.
 
It's for my 2018 Ram. The more I read up on this it seems that even emissions intact tuning is coming under the microscope of the government.

Read somewhere that some tuners aren't taking new customers now. But that may be bogus internet chatter.
 
So what do these tunes change? And how do we know the tuners know what they're doing? I guess you can't really damage a diesel by leaning it out too much. Too much advance timing would be bad, but surely they're not that dumb and we'd all hear it if they did.

Is it as simple as keeping an eye on egts? Is it that the factory had to tune for emissions purposes and the tuners and tuning for best performance and efficiency? Why does the stock tune have the "dead pedal" and aftermarket tunes make the truck more responsive? What are they changing to make this difference?
Read a bunch of online stuff (probably half propaganda) and all these aftermarket tuners don't seem to have any credentials other than they've been tuning since common rail diesels became available in pickups. Just seems risky to trust the reliable Cummins to some new set of parameters that I have no way to validate what they change and what it does to the motor... Am I over thinking this into paranoia? Lots of people tune their trucks, but do they run them for 500k miles?
 
Previously i was talking to double r diesel here in NC. He had great reviews on his trans tuning as well. But now all the info has been pulled i think you have to get an account at i gotacummins to do anything.

What exhaust options have you found?

Last truck was a strait 5in turbo back, but this go around i want something quieter.
 
From what I've seen you can still buy delete tunes and several different deleted exhaust configurations, but they are all sold out of Canada. The Google's will turn up solutions, but it's generally just as vague about what the tunes do and maybe a bit more grass roots than the domestic tunes, which makes me more skeptical...
 
CLRracer said:
No experience with EFI live, but my truck has EZ link with tunes CTT. Tunes seem great and I have several options to choose from.



When I was first looking for tunes his stuff came up and had mostly positive reviews, but I've seen several complaints recently on FB and CumminsForum about poor tunes and even worse customer service.

Duane
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I saw the same thing, but went with him anyways. It went smooth and have had no issues. Did mine back in July.
 
Clubbs said:
From what I've seen you can still buy delete tunes and several different deleted exhaust configurations, but they are all sold out of Canada. The Google's will turn up solutions, but it's generally just as vague about what the tunes do and maybe a bit more grass roots than the domestic tunes, which makes me more skeptical...
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The EPA really cracked down on domestic tuners, so everything online went pretty dark. The igottacummins forum went as far as making everyone get a lifetime membership and go through some other verification process or get banned in an attempt to keep tuners and people with deleted trucks "safe."

Duane
 
I've got an 86 with a 12 valve and a fed emissions LB7. I'm real glad of that too!
 
Looks like ez lynk is the latest greatest took for programming... Maybe. Started talking with calibrated power on some of their emissions in tact tunes. CTT seems to have evaporated. Starlite seems legit too.
 
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