i have a 97 ram 2500 auto with the 5.9 gas. well i have the plenum gasket to fix and then im looking for a chip programer or downloader for it. whats out there for these trucks? any info on what to go with? im looking to keep what little low end this gas burner has but get as much HP and TQ out of a programer i can. far as i know this truck looks all stock with 200,000 miles and still runs good and gets up and moves for the miles but lets push it a bit farther it is a dodge she will take it right? lol


also is there a way to get rid of the cat with out throwing off the computer?

thanks in advance

 

really know one knows any thing about them?

 

Get an SCT Tuner. PM Hemifever. He does custom tunes for dodge trucks at a great price. I wouldn't go with anything else. Hands down best thing you can do for your truck.

 

tell me what you know about it.

 

I have always ran the superchips in my trucks and had good luck. The SCT from what i understand is a great tuner and as you put mods on your engine you can get the tuner upgraded to match your mods where the superchips is always the same.

 

take the cat out , you may have a cel come on you may not. If a cel comes on guys around here are either installing spark plug non-foulers to stop the cel or another trick is to remove the o2 sensor leaving it plugged in and put a plug in the exhaust hole. tie the o2 sensor to your frame and youe should be good.

 

there is a wealth of information about SCT's here in the forum... The search engine here will net you reading material for days... topics like this are likely to draw ire from the senior natives here, as they are asked constantly, while solutions are only a search away.. just sayin'....

I purchased the SCT from HemiFever, and received it the following day.. He is a mighty two hour drive from me, and if I had realized this I would have driven up to him and picked it up... why asks you? Because is it that dang good...

I purchased the base w/ three tunes. It removed the 'death flash' which was basically Dodge's insanely ridiculous response to 'pinging' issues, and somewhat related to the plenum failure, by retarding the timing.. By itself, this makes it worth it AFTER you replace/repair your plenum gasket and pan. For performance gains, the 180* stat is called for, and you can improve your fuel curve to produce more ponies through simple tuning.

The BIGGEST gain imHo is the removal of the 'torque management' feature on the PCM.. this again was another hair-brained notion by Dodge to limit the available use of high RPM's in lower gears, which would reduce wear/stress on the inherently weaker 46RE tranny.. It basically would shift much sooner than it 'could', reducing the torque being delivered to the tranny and drivetrain.. Uhem, our power plants 'curve' at a decently high RPM, and when the tranny shifts before that sweet spot is reached- well, you lose a good amount of power to the terra.. Removal of this feature, by itself, makes the $275 for the tuner worth it..

If you wanted to improve tuning (and/or remove the death flash) the SCT is as good as any tuner to do so, and at the price and service offered by Hemifever, it's worth it for engine performance by itself.. For removal of the torque management feature, it is worth spending $275... with the SCT, your getting both... it is by fat the best $275 mod you can do... It may be the best mod under $500 you can do..

 

i think for the most part i would just chip it and clean out the CAT and leve it like that. the big high dollor mods are for my diesel the wife drives this one most the time and we use this one when the diesel is loaded or we have 2 trailers rolling at the time.

i had searched chips and programmers alot but what i find is mostly 1500 rams and not really any 2500s. andd i thought it may be best that i just ask since i have a 2500 witch may make a diffrence??? also i went to superchips site and there site didnt have any thing for a 97 2500 so anether thing why i just asked. also in my searchs i read some where the 2500s had a 47RE tranny. is that right? normally i stay away from all auto trannys but the wife wanted an auto so she got it. speacking of this tranny the guy i got it from said he had never had to put a tranny in it and the first owner never did ether. first owner kept all paper work on repairs and no tranny job. in a way it sounds bad because it should go any time but on the other hand it says some thing big if this is a 47RE and has lived 200,000 miles with i know the last 80,000 miles pulling a 30ft stock trailer.

being part of many diesel forums we just let every one ask because every one is diffrent and they may not find the ezacted anser for there situation. really im on about 30 diffrent forums and moderate a few of them.

thanks for all the helpfull info so far keep it coming.

 

I got an SCT for my 2500. Works amazing. Hemifever will give you tunes for your specific truck and engine size. Tunes that work. Not just generic tunes that can actually mess up your truck. He'll either give you three tunes for your specific truck and engine size if you pay $100 more he'll completely customize the tunes for you and if you want new tunes in the future, you're covered. I just got the regular tunes for $265. With that I got three tunes for my '01 2500 5.9 V8. One was for 87 octaine, one was for 91 octaine, and one for 93. I've had great results with the 87 octaine so far. I'm waiting until I need to refuel to try the 91. If in the future I decide I want a custom tune, I just pay $100 and then I'll get unlimited custom tunes. Don't know anything about superchips, but the SCT was the best $265 I've spent on my truck thus far.

 

I don't think the 47 was married to any 5.9L Magnums, but I may be wrong. It is a stronger tranny than the 46 to be sure, (first designation 4 representing the speed, four speed- and 6/7/8 representing the relative strength in numeric value, the higher the number the more torque handling capacity...) I think there are a lot of guys who place parts and pieces intended for the 7 or 8 in a 6, thus increasing clutch surface, ect.. but I'm pretty sure a true 7 or 8 won't bolt up.. don't take this as absolute by any measure as I'm not an expert on anything in this world, especially transmissions or Dodge..

As far as the tuner, if we're talking 5.9L Magnum V8, it should push.. When (if) you contact hemifever, he can supply you with a lot more info.. If, for some reason, the tuning is different and provides more low end torque, or mid range HP on a 2500 tune than a 1500 tune I'm sure it would be discussed here (and elsewhere) right commonly.. I'm not certain how much different the PCM is on a 3/4 ton than a 1/2 ton.. I'm willing to bet it isn't that much..

The torque management feature on the PCM is there to disallow the tranny to be abused- if, in fact, the tranny behind a 5.9L V8 on a 2500 is a 47RE, then it should be able to handle more torque, and the management feature would be set differently...

of course, this is ALL supposition..

Again though, the question being about tuners- the SCT does what any of the others can do for you, AND it can erase/limit the torque management feature- the superchips provides a good tune from what I've read, and with it you can adjust for speedometer/tire size, but no torque management.. In my humble opinion, the torque management feature being removed provides just as much if not more real world 'gain' as the engine tune.. I'm thinking this is the reason us Magnum owners swear by it, and kinda hold it in a higher regard than the others.

If I'm wrong about the 47/48RE's NOT bolting up, please someone correct me.. If they will, hell- instead of rebuilding my 46 I'm going after a 48!!!