Hi folks! I'm a new CTD owner, and new to this site. I bought a 2004 HO QC 4x4 SLT. This being my 1st diesel, I have a question. I keep reading about egt's and such. If I pull my 30' TT (7,000lbs)and leave the truck bone stock ( has plenty of power as it is ) should I worry about these things? Can"t swing guages right now. I think I understand cooldown, but if I get in the mountains can I harm my truck with high egt's, or are there preventive measures built in, when stock? Thanks for any help! This site has become addictive!

 

Most of the problems people are encountering is because we can't leave well enough alone. I'm sure the 600s will pull just fine but most of us here, and you too if you stay around long enough, feel the need to start modifying the trucks and that's where the problems start. Your truck is built to pull and you should be able to easily tag that trailer around without any problems. Now, add a fueling box and tow that trailer over the mountains and you better have an EGT guage so you don't start melting stuff....

Hook up and go.......................

My name is Mike and I'm a BOMBaholic.

 

Stock, you should have no problems with egt's pulling anything you want. Stock, it shouldnt generate enough heat to hurt anything. And you would also stay cooler if you had a better air filter/exhaust, but as long as you dont have a box, you should be able to pull anything up any hill without worrying about EGT's. Just let it eat up those hills . BUT, like you said, just let it cool down a couple of minutes after a long hard pull to let it cool down, and keep your turbo happy.

Eric

 

I'm not the diesel expert, but I'll give you what I know. There aren't "built-in" preventative measures to keep you from exceeding safe EGTs' other than the fact that manufacturers are going to set operating parameters of the truck for the "average driver" and allow for buffering (for lack of better words).

By now you've probably read, or know, that your EGT should be at or below 300 degrees for shutdown. I've read and heard plenty of testimonies of CTD owners who state that usually by the time they have gotten down the freeway off-ramp and gotten to a parking spot, that their EGTs have been at or below 300 degrees. And at the other end, I think it's about 1350 degrees that you don't want to sustain when operating. My '95 was stock when I put my EGT gauge in. When I installed it I found that I probably wasn't waiting quite long enough before shut-downs. The way I drive, the only time I've reached the "yellow zone" for EGTs is when I'm playing too hard with the throttle.... even when I'm towing my 9,000 lb 31 ft TT.

Many of the DTR members are also TDR members so they may be familiar with what I'm going to relay about what I read in the TDR magazine. TDR has a regular writer by the name of Joe Donnelly. He did an assessment of the new CTD not too long ago. He noted that even in stock form, the new CTDs were capable of easily reaching max EGTs...... hopefully you know, I'm paraphrasing. I believe he said the culprit was the smaller turbo housing.

Now, I'm thinking....... if you had owned/driven a CTD before and were familiar with driving conditions verses EGTs, then you might be experienced enough to drive in a manner that would keep you out of trouble. Generally, 7,000 lbs is nothing to these trucks, but I think if you are towing your 30 footer in and around the mountains you risk reaching or sustaining max EGTs; especially if you are innocently thinking you should keep up with traffic as you are climbing those mountains. Your foot will control your EGTs.

You're under warranty so if you kept the truck stock, didn't install gauges, melted the engine or fried the tranny (assuming it's an auto) you wouldn't have to hassle with "proving" your mods caused the failure.... and so, who cares? Chrysler pays for it. But do you want to chance going through that? Do you want to interrupt a vacation because your engine or tranny is gone because you couldn't monitor them? $100.00 or so for gauges is great insurance.

There's lots more knowledge out there, but I hope this helps. Welcome to the CTD world.

 

Would the warranty police really void a policy just because you installed gauges? There shouldn't be anything against somebody wanting to know what their temps and pressures are...and in the long run the warranty police should be praising the use of gauges because they can help a guy diagnose a problem before it starts getting expensive (EGT's melting the turbo, torque converter disintegrating, fuel pump dying, etc)...thereby costing less for the warranty work. WOW! What a concept!

 

No, I'm not talking about the gauges affecting the warranty. I was just addressing any desire to B.O.M.B. the truck. I'm merely suggesting that by leaving his truck stock, if he burns anything up because he couldn't monitor it, the warranty is going to cover the damage.

 

I agree with 46mech (We missed ya at the Claremont rally Joe,,,,,,, hope all is going well in your new home!)
I can say that I installed gauges as my first mod on my 99 and was able to see that I could get over 1250* egt when pulling the 5er in the Smokies, even though it was slam stock (factory airbox and full muff). Not to mention that my trans temp was really getting way up there. This was on my first trip towing a camper this size in the mountains. After talking with some long time CTD owners, they gave me some tips on how to change my driving style and watch my gauges. The return trip home proved that by varying my driving style (right foot), by watching the gauges, I could keep my temps much lower than I did originally. I would at least go with an EGT gauge and Trans Temp (if you have an Auto) just for the peace of mind. Just my $.02

 

Thanks for the advice. I plan on putting guages in it when I get the money. We have a little traveling we won't to do thru the Ozark Mountains and did'nt won't to screw up my engine! Got the little ole 555 with auto, and 3:73 gears. Love this truck so far. Traded in a 360 V8 getting 14 mpg. With 3,500 miles so far, already getting 19 mpg @ 55-65 mph.

 

If you plan to keep the truck for a long time (after it is out of warranty) then you need to put at least the EGT gauge on it, and a tranny temp if it is a automatic.
The damage done by high EGT and high Tranny temp may be slight for each occurrence, but will lead to failures in the future. If you have an automatic, I would be more concerned about Transmission Temp. than EGT on a stock engine.
My truck is still stock except for muffler and air box, but I do have gauges.
I plan on keeping this truck for at least a half million miles.

 

EGT and Tranny at least.

Stock and not towing anything other than my butt,
I've seen 1250 on the pyro and 250 on the tranny temp.
Both really close to meltdown temps.

I was gaugeless for a year and drove exactly the same way blindly.

Now I know better and can manage both temps.


phox

 

Pulled with the old 89 and the 95 for years with no problems but they were bone stock. Just hung the foot on the floor and left her eat.
Tried that with the 99 with no egt and well, the rest is history, or should I say, OUCH...............

 

I've put nerf bars (Im only 5"3, had to crawl in) and the mud flaps. I have a list of goodies, winch mount, spray in liner, tool box, etc. But it sounds like I may need to move guages to the top of my list. Is the pillar mount the best?

 

Dennis,
I missed being there at Claremont. I was watching the posts for the event.

Mopardan,
Exactly what Dennis said is what I was trying to get at. Your driving style can keep you out of trouble, but you'll be at risk. Definitely, move the gauges to the top of your accessories list. I'm sure everyone is going to say the same thing, you make a determination on what gauge is the "best' by getting input about quality and performance of the gauge; however, pillar mounted, dash mounted, or otherwise is going to be about what you like best. I like the pillar mount method because the gauges are right there at eye level so I don't have to take my eyes off the road to monitor the gauges. It wasn't easy to feed those wires down between the pillar and the dash.

Joe

 

Mopardan

I am one of the few on this forum that believe gauges are not required on a STOCK truck as long as you don't lug the engine when pulling. As you can see by my signature I pull a 7000lb 5er. About 5000 miles out of the 30000 that is on the truck.

OK guys, my flame suit is on, go for it

 

As a CTD tech in the snowbird zone I've had a few rv'er stop in with drivability issues that with them having gauges led to quick repairs. If you put them in when the truck is new you are going to get used to seeing what is normal and what is not. I've repaired many a slipped intercooler boot when the customer noticed he just wasn't getting the boost he used to. Even done a couple of lift pumps when the operator noted the pressure had been dropping way down while pulling grades etc...