dreaded carbon build up

[HankED]

i bought a 2015 ED about two weeks ago and have put 1,500 miles on it since. I'm impatiently waiting for my GDE tuned ECU to show up in the mail tomorrow and I'll be swapping it with my OEM ECU before the delivery truck gets out of my driveway. I figured that while I'm under the hood, I'd inspect my EGR tube and manifold. my truck has 84K miles on it so I'm expecting the worst (to see carbon caked all over the place). Other than cleaning off my EGR tube, what, if anything, can I do about the carbon built up everywhere else?
I know my tune wont allow it to get any worse so i'm wondering, IF there's nothing else I can do (without tearing everything down), does checking do anything for me other than add stress? after all, ignorance is bliss.
I'm changing oil today, so maybe an oil inspection will tell me all I need to know.
Any and all advice is welcome. Thanks!

 

[MSP548]

I would definitely get your oil analysis done. Do you know when it was last changed? I assume you do not and so the OA may be of little value.

Good luck with your new ride.

 

[HankED]

the carfax report i got from the dealership says it was last changed on the 2nd of this month. 1500 miles ago.

 

[cds13ca]

i bought a 2015 ED about two weeks ago and have put 1,500 miles on it since. I'm impatiently waiting for my GDE tuned ECU to show up in the mail tomorrow and I'll be swapping it with my OEM ECU before the delivery truck gets out of my driveway. I figured that while I'm under the hood, I'd inspect my EGR tube and manifold. my truck has 84K miles on it so I'm expecting the worst (to see carbon caked all over the place). Other than cleaning off my EGR tube, what, if anything, can I do about the carbon built up everywhere else?
I know my tune wont allow it to get any worse so i'm wondering, IF there's nothing else I can do (without tearing everything down), does checking do anything for me other than add stress? after all, ignorance is bliss.
I'm changing oil today, so maybe an oil inspection will tell me all I need to know.
Any and all advice is welcome. Thanks!

When you take the diffuser tube out, also pull out the MAP sensor and clean the carbon off that, if that gets really fouled, it'll start throwing intake throttle codes.

Watch this video, he shows you where the map sensor is around 3:10, it's a 6-point star key to remove it. Once you take the bolt out, there's an oring so you may have to wiggle it a little to get it out. Careful what you use on it, some guys say non-clorinated brake cleaner, some say MAF sensor cleaner, I just used a little compressed air to blow gently some of the crap out. Didn't come perfect, but at least it's not caked on carbon...

 

[MSP548]

the carfax report i got from the dealership says it was last changed on the 2nd of this month. 1500 miles ago.

1500 miles is not enough time on the oil to garner any useful information.

 

[HankED]

1500 miles is not enough time on the oil to garner any useful information.

Interesting. I would think it'd be the opposite. Being that the oil should still be relatively clean, wouldn't I learn something if it was dirtier than it should be with only 1500 miles? I'm not familiar with oil analysis so I could be thinking about this incorrectly.

 

[cds13ca]

Another easy thing you can do is check your DEF injector, they get caked up with crystalized DEF almost every 3-4 months. I got in the habit of checking it every oil change, and by then, it's almost fully plugged up with crystalized def.

If you have a hand-held steamer (the ones you use for clothes), that works best and melts the crystalizes like butter and frees up the injector so you're not throwing codes. Job takes 3-5 min to do, remove one bolt with the allan key, pull the injector, hit it with some steam, and put it back in. Easy Peasie..

 

[MSP548]

Interesting. I would think it'd be the opposite. Being that the oil should still be relatively clean, wouldn't I learn something if it was dirtier than it should be with only 1500 miles? I'm not familiar with oil analysis so I could be thinking about this incorrectly.

You are looking for wear metals in your analysis. For those numbers to mean anything, you have to have some more miles on the sample. There is an oil analysis thread on this forum that i bet you would find interesting.

 

[HankED]

When you take the diffuser tube out, also pull out the MAP sensor and clean the carbon off that, if that gets really fouled, it'll start throwing intake throttle codes.

Watch this video, he shows you where the map sensor is around 3:10, it's a 6-point star key to remove it. Once you take the bolt out, there's an oring so you may have to wiggle it a little to get it out. Careful what you use on it, some guys say non-clorinated brake cleaner, some say MAF sensor cleaner, I just used a little compressed air to blow gently some of the crap out. Didn't come perfect, but at least it's not caked on carbon...

And this is why we tune...

 

[cds13ca]

exactly!

 

[bob1340]

New to this Ecodiesel stuff. GDE can't sell to CA. Apparently those in CA that do have it say it passes the smog test.
How about the Banks tuner deal? It will be CARB complient soon. Does it help with the issues of the EGR crud?

 

[cds13ca]

you'd have to find out if banks shuts off the egr. you also have SKT which is available in CA.

 

[cds13ca]

New to this Ecodiesel stuff. GDE can't sell to CA. Apparently those in CA that do have it say it passes the smog test.
How about the Banks tuner deal? It will be CARB complient soon. Does it help with the issues of the EGR crud?

if you really want gde, and you have a friend with an address in another state, you can probably have it delivered there...

regardless of what you decide, you also have to look at the emission test in CA, and will you pass with a tune? What do they look at? Can they detect the tune? If you won't pass, good luck with renewal...

do your research first to see which tune has what you want, and certainly ask questions, talk to others before making the decision... there are a few tuners out there, but they each offer different things, depends what you're after. these forums are great for getting reviews and seeing what others have gone through before taking the plunge...

 

[bob1340]

if you really want gde, and you have a friend with an address in another state, you can probably have it delivered there...

regardless of what you decide, you also have to look at the emission test in CA, and will you pass with a tune? What do they look at? Can they detect the tune? If you won't pass, good luck with renewal...

do your research first to see which tune has what you want, and certainly ask questions, talk to others before making the decision... there are a few tuners out there, but they each offer different things, depends what you're after. these forums are great for getting reviews and seeing what others have gone through before taking the plunge...

From what I understand the Cal Emissions will pass with the GDE. But our Kalif'ing CARB is on them like stink on poo. GDE is now looking at VIN #'s and seeing if it's a CA vehicle. Like BANKS GDE should pony up and get the CARB sticker for their products.
The BANKS derringer tuner is CARB compliant but I don't know if it solves any of these issues caused by the build up of carbon.

 

[bob1340]

I sent a message to BANKS It reads:

Two questions:
1. I have a California stock 2018 RAM 1500 with the 3.0 ecodiesel. I like the power and mileage improvements with this product. I especially like that it is CARB compliant. But will it help with the inherent EGR carbon build up issues so many of these engines have had? That wouldn't stop my purchase but I was just wondering. 2. Should I need to take the truck into the dealer for warranty work will they void the warranty due to this being in place? And can I just unplug it to take it to the dealer?

 

[Old man]

Ram is covering manifold under emissions recall for soot build up making swirl valve inoperable. Manifold on order ,gde tune next