[Lloken]

I have the Egde Juice module with Attitude installed on my 2003 Duramax (LB7 engine). It works as advertised. If anyone out there is familiar with the Shirwin Grade ( I believe its called) it is a long brutal grade leaving Bishop California toward Mammoth Mountain. With my travel trailor (6000 pounds dry) fully loaded and truck bed loaded to the gills, I pulled the grade in over drive averaging over 65 mph. A couple of times the Allison 5 speed transmission dropped out of passing gear to 4th gear for a minute or too. Oh on another note, I consider myself pretty handy with tools. But dispite the advertisements it takes longer than 10 minutes to install the module. It took 20 minutes to install the temperature probe and about 15 minutes to install the module itself.

The exhaust gas temperature (EGT) did hit the suggested 1350 degree temperature set limit. But I have the Juice module setup to immediately start de-feuling to bring down the temperature. This however worked marginally. The trick was to step on the accelerator to drop out of passing gear (or manually shift) to 4th gear and the temperature immediately drops several hundred degrees.

Another example of the difference the module makes is when I pulled out of June Lake Loop to go back toward Bishop there is a what I estimate to be about an immediate 8 percent grade where you must merge into traffic where every other rig is racing to make the grade. In level 2 (do not use any setting above 2 while towing) I was immediately up to 65 mph but blowing a lot of black smoke. That scared me a bit but from what I understand that shouldn't be a big deal.

I do have a major concern however. I found that even with the Edge Juice module set at factory settings (turned off) according to the EGT probe, I would hit the maximum temperature of 1350 degrees when climbing steep grades. Before getting the temperature probe installed I never saw or knew the temperature of the EGT. My question is: what temperatures should I be really concerned with and do I have an issue because I'm hitting the maximum temperatures without the module? By the way, I only turn on the module when I need the power or leave it in economy mode.

Is there anyone else out there that has the module installed and has anyone had warranty issues with GM? Edge Juice user manual suggests you remove the module when you go to the dealer for service. I think I'll remove the module and use it only when towing my trailer.

Lloken.

 

[Bigdog9663]

Yes i have the Edge Juice w/attitude, on your first issue...yes it does take longer to install the EGT probe, my understanding is that it takes less then 10 minutes to remove/install the module itself not the attitude or EGT probe. On your 2nd issue i have a 2002 Chevy LB7 and i pull a 29 ft 5th wheel travel trailer and normally pull a small fishing boat behind that,my truck also does the same thing when climbing with the module on, if you are aware of the "3 Sisters" just outside of Evanston, Wyoming my truck does the same thing.

Obviously with the aftermarket products the truck isn't set at stock settings anymore and when you dump more fuel into the truck, your telling it to work harder, with this...your exhaust temp is going to climb higher. EDGE has the alert level set at 1350 now like i say i don't know the hills you are climbing, but my understanding is you are okay to hit that level the level i would be most concerned is, if you get over 1400 and run it for longer then 2 minutes (that is my guess) at that level you start melting parts down. My suggestion would be to put a cold air intake on the truck allowing the truck to "breath" better,and put some bigger exhaust on at least 4" all the way back thus allowing your truck to "exhale" easier,and you will see a big drop in the numbers from your EGT's. However depending on how long it takes to climb the hill, and how many hills right in a row you are climbing i would consider taking it easy on the truck and not making it work so hard, cause there is always the chance of hurting the engine or blowing something out when you have added weight to the truck, all you can do is monitor it.

As with any truck and transmission refrence the gearing, the allison transmission is by far one of the most advanced on the market and has proven itself for pulling, however its not full proof so if you have you the pedal mashed to the floor, you are sending the signal not to shift and to keep going you are telling the truck "yes you can, yes you can yes you can", and with the EDGE module making the computer work different the computer is telling the transmission different things as well. However if you let off the truck will quit working so hard and of course shift different as adjusted,now with this you will loose your momentum and prob drop lots of speed, but you will see a drop in your EGT tempature so if you have any doubt at all, i would back off on dumping the fuel in.

As with the black smoke, it is un-burned fuel, what that means is your not getting enough air/fuel mixture and the fuel isn't burning all the way, now for a duramax that dosen't smoke (like a cummins does) i think it is way awesome when you get a lil smoke from them. The only way it could hurt your truck is if you apply too much power right away,but if you are in level 2 then you should be fine because you arn't getting that much more power that it will hurt the truck.

As for the EDGE module again, i think its one of the better on the market, i live real close to there home offices and deal with them on a regualar basis. I have friends that work for them, and yes...i could be bias, but i do belive there digital read outs are by far more accurate then a regular gauge is. With any aftermarket product you have to do more then you originally think, such as dumping more fuel to the engine you will need more air and bigger exhaust to help the truck maintain its coolness and everything to work properly, if you have any questions you can email me and i will try to explain, i still consider myself "new" at this stuff, but i learn everyday.

Also i have been to my local GM dealers, and everyone in my region sells the EDGE products, if you refer to your manuals for your Module, you are covered under the Federal Magnusson-Moss Act. The act states that "if something breaks on your car and you take it in for warranty repair, the dealer must honor your warranty unless they can prove that whatever modifications you have added to your car actually caused the problem. Please keep in mind that towing in anything higher then level two and hard driving in levels four and five are not recommended". EDGE does recommend that you remove the module so that it dosen't interfere with with the diagnostic equipment. So with that being said, you are taking it upon your own...but most of the dealers in my area are pretty good to work with on the aftermarket equipment, and most of them run the module and the attitude so they fight for ya when GM questions things, so it just really depends on your GM dealer i would think.

Hope this helps you
Bigdog9663

 

[Lloken]

Thanks for your reply

I'll take your advice and back off the throttle. You make good sense. I will get the exhaust done soon. Would you please explain what the cold air intake. I was thinking about mounting an electric fan on the radiater but I get the feeling it's not the same thing

What kind of issues have you had with warranties?

Lloyd I'll never buy gas again Smith

 

[Bigdog9663]

More info

Yeah... you will see the numbers drop significantly with the bigger exhaust..On the Cold air intake go to this link http://www.mrtruck.net/afegm.htm, K&N also makes one.... however i am looking at buying the AFE which is similar to the K&N.

Is what i have done, is cause i work in public saftey (don't make lots of $$$$) is i have just bought the filter, and stuck the filter on the stock tube. And when i get a little more money i will buy the rest of the tubes. Now with the exhaust and intake..this is going to cool your EGT's quite a bit, also in my opinion it will help your engine run more smoothly. Just something to remember the cooler the air, the more efficent your engine will run. Thats why in the late fall in the cold air helps out a lot and you should improve some on your gas mileage.

On the electric fan i am not sure if that will help or not i haven't had any expierence with them. The only thing i can think the fan may do is help get more air and maybe cool the antifreeze down a bit.

Anything else i can help with let me know

 

[ob_1jr]

Yes, get the AFE cold air intake if you are going to get one. The filter is much better especially if you buy the proguard 7. The AFE doesn't seem to have the MAF sensor fails that the K&N does. I had a K&N drop in filter and you could see daylight through it. The AFE one I can't (I have the proguard 7). Of course you can save yourself money, make swiss cheese out of the stock airbox and put a AFE proguard 7 drop-in filter. The only noticeable difference that I have noticed is just louder turbo whistle.

 

[Lloken]

Thank you

Really appreciate your help on this.

Thanks very much.


Lloken