Yes, if people could elaborate on this "death flash." I have a 2001 and have had to replace my plenum. Do I have this "death flash?" If so how do I fix it?

EDIT: Answered my own question. There is a whole thread on Death Flash in the FAQ's:
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...ath-flash.html

 

Andrew,
I think yours rolled off the line with the programming.. send HemiFever a PM and get a quote on an SCT tuner... You won't regret it. It's likely the best $300 mod you can do for your truck. I just did it a couple weeks ago.. fwiw, I'll share a little of what I've seen so far after 3 1/2 tanks of gas. (bear in mind I only run 93 octane, which is likely closer to 91- which is just the nature of gas and gas stations)

-tranny shifts smoother and more reliably. It will hold the lower gear if I push it, and will downshift in passing situations quicker. OD holds on until somewhat later until engaging. It isn't a problem as there is much less bog on slight inclines and in that tricky spot between locked 4th and true OD..

-the 93 tune is pretty rich for me.. The engine seems like it's coiled up ready to let loose, but the gas hand moves too fast for my liking. I can turn 35"x12.5" Cepeks easily in this tune..

-the 91 tune has become my daily driver. It gives me a punch that didn't exist before, yet still runs pretty good mileage figures.. I'm hitting 11.5 in the city and upwards of 15.5 on the hwy with this one.

- the 87 tune is on the SCT.. I only know this because I saw it on there.. I am happy enough with the 91 I doubt I ever use the 87.

I had the death flash and a blown plenum gasket. while she was stripped I also did the H&S 1.7's.. and shorty headers.. I'm saying this because there were a few mod's I did all at once.. Once it was all together, with the Hughes plenum plate and fresh wires/plugs/rotor/cap, I noticed a difference.. a pretty substantial difference actually, but also a bog pressing off idle, as well as a drag at highway speeds. There was no pinging, but the engine felt as if I was working it harder than needed for lack of a better explanation..

I flashed it with the SCT..

Night and Day..

All those mod's came together I'm thinking.. But my guess is the removal of the Death Flash and the plenum repair are the best two mods, followed closely by the tranny alterations the SCT made as well.

plenum kit- push, it was a repair after all... all told $200
plugs/wires/rotor/cap- grade c, general maintenance. $100
H&S 1.7's- grade C+ to B-, the biggest difference is sound, but there seems less hesitation and quicker rev's.. $350
180 degree t-stat... running cooler, works in tandem with the tuner and biggest reason I did it... grade C.. $10
Headers- what goes in must come out, efficiently hopefully.. grade B.. $350
SCT- easiest BY FAR mod.. most noticeable difference, and right off the bat.. A+.. $270

$1300 in mods.. they all do their own thing, but the two best were the cheapest!! (other than the tune up kit and the t-stat).. go figure..

If I only had to choose two to do (and not the plenum, that is a repair), it would be the 'stat and the SCT hands down.. I'm not even sure the others were really necessary.

about your death flash.. do you think it's that big a deal now? :-) If you've already fixed the plenum- drop a 180* stat in her, grab the SCT, and never look back. You can thank me (and the rest of the folks here) later. :-)

 

OD actually is a 4th gear and displays on the tach as a large rpm drop.
its also where the 4 in 46RE comes from.
TC lock is not a gear, and results in a 300 rpm drop.

01's came from the factory with retarded timing, and the current dodge flash still contains it, and always will. i suspect all 00's have it too.

01 hypertech does not include the 51 mph OD, mine still shifted to OD at about 42 or so. way too low for OD. (so whatever you do - don't get a hypertech). superchips does include the higher speed OD and its much more drivable. also corrects speedo, whereas SCT does not.

 

I PM's HemiFever for an SCT. I just bought my truck a couple months ago. I went from a 1500 with a 5.2 to a 2500 with a 5.9. The 5.2 had much more kick to it than the 5.9. I know it's a bigger truck but the 5.9 should have more pickup especially on the highway. Since I got the truck I replaced the plenum because it was blown as well as the valve cover gaskets because one of those was broken. Also did new plugs and plug wires. I thought because of the blown plenum (who knows how long it's been blown) I had a clogged cat and that's why i've had reduced power, but now I think it's the death flash. I'll get the SCT and see what it does before I start replacing the cat, which I will eventually replace.

But I do have a question. I got a little confused when I read the info for the SCT. Do I have to leave the SCT plugged in at all times? Or do I load the firmware on to the computer and just plug it in every time I wanna change it?

Also, will the SCT improve my MPG's?

 

yes- the SCT plugs into the diagnostic port and programs your PCM.. you can then toss it in the glove box until you wish to change tunes... as far as MPG's, in theory it will increase your mileage, in practice, however, your foot and your brain are going to argue.. Your foot is going to win the first several bouts..

 

ok so.... now that i know my 01 has the death flash right off the factory line, my next question before which tuner i should get is how do i know my plenum is fixed/broken? is there a certain mileage this tends to happen? mine has 99000 on it. i want to fix the plenum before i move onto a tuner. and will dropping a new plenum eventually do the same thing the factory one did and bust the gasket? thanks guys you are a huge help

 

Check out the FAQ section, it'll contain a lot of information about the plenum gasket failure issue.

If you change out just the gasket, yes, the probability of blowing it again is high.

Hughes and APS are two companies that make aluminum plates to replace the steel plenum plate that goes onto the gasket. They also come with new bolts. Its hotly debated whether its the steel plate or the length of the factory bolts that cause the gasket failures, but with a Hughes or APS kit, you get replacements for both. I don't know about you, but I only really wanted to do the job once, so I got a kit with both and bought a nice Felpro gasket (a bit more HD than the one provided in the kits and the factory unit).

 

one final question. once i have fixed the plenum plate issue and i want to address the death flash, do i need to buy a tuner like the flashpaq? or will a piggyback chip like the venom 400 work also? thanks for all the info guys

 

No, I'm fairly certain my 42RE has 4 actual gears inside it.

 

It's a 3 speed trans, with an overdrive unit bolted on the back. So, technically, yeah, 4 gears.