Its more like in the Athens area in town and two lane rural roads Dodge Truck 14/15 mpg and Vette 23/24 mpg.Hiway at 70 mph Dodge truck 20/21.Vette 28/29 not apples to apples of course.Vette is 23/24 Athens intown and rural two lane.

 

Does anyone know if the dealer can disable the mds, or can it only be done with a tuner/programmer?

 

Dealer`s will NOT disable it, its against the law to do so in most states that i know of by the dealerships
You yourself can disable it if you want to, so here is some choices you have:

MDS vs Cost to disable
Drop the (-/+) shift/gear selector into 5th, or use "tow/haul mode" (deactivates MDS) P-R-I-C-E-L-E-S-S...!
Change your Motor Oil to, 5w30 - 10w30 - 10w40 (kills MDS, now becomes a warranty issue, not recommended)
Buy a Tuner for $400 (not only kills MDS, it also kills your warranty if they find it in your engine pooter, some leave ghost prints when removed)

Be advised, that you will still feel the same laggyness in 5th due to the torque converter locking up. (these trucks use a dual lock up converter) MDS is alot less painful than people realize (other than that annoying 4cyl sounding engine thru the exhaust) Try using the "5th" gear method before doing anything else. If you buy the tuner, you wont really notice a difference in how the truck performs by deleting the MDS all together, because you will still have torque converter lock up, which is what most people feel and hear, and think its the MDS thats doing it. If you`re just looking to get rid of the MDS because the exhaust sounds like CHIT while in MDS mode, just drop into 5th gear, it will stay running on 8 cylinders.

So the cost of deactivating MDS mode by using 5th gear, without costing you anything, or voiding your warranty...???? PRICELESS...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

My .02, since I did a recent dealer trip and felt this whole MDS thing again on the stock tune.

MDS is painful, IMO - it plain old sucks. I have mine disabled with the SC tuner. On trips to dealer when flashed back to stock, knocking in 5th gear also works great. Have been averaging 1.5 MPG difference on highway driving with it disabled. Well worth it to me. The truck just plain old performs 100% better without MDS mode. MDS mode is like buying a vehicle with a 6 speed manual trans and driving 20 mph in 6th gear. Definately a bad programming design on it's implementation. You guys that can't tell when it kicks in, I would certainly like to drive your truck to see because it is so obvious on my truck.

I have noticed no issues at all with TC lockup. It is actually quite smooth and drive train not clunky at all as my 06 F150 FX4 is in lockup.

As far as the fuel saver / eco light goes, I have a 12/08 build. The original PCM program had MDS and the fuel saver light in sync. I got a reflash update from dealer in about 6/09 for "MDS and drivability improvements". MDS still sucked but now the fuel saver light comes on regardless of MDS, and still comes on even with MDS disabled. There definitely was a change introduced in later 09 PCM updates that disassociated MDS and this little light that a lot of folks made such a big deal about not having.

Being an F150 guy for so many years and this has been my first Ram, I still think this Ram is the best truck i have owned. The midrange performance of the HEMI just trumps my 5.4L F150. It is a daily driver and I do not tow with it. But if I did not have the SC tuner and an option to disable this MDS, I would dump it and get another new Ford now that they have a decent engine lineup with 2011. Dodge needs to dump this MDS design.

 

The only reason I would want to disable the mds is because of the shutter vibration issues some of us are having. Which is what this thread is about. Not mpg, exhaust tone, or corvettes. Let's keep on topic here. Since this is a "known issue" and there is currently no fix for it from the manufacturer it seems that having the dealer temporarily disable the mds for better drivabiliy might be a considerable option. Until the manufacturer comes up with a better solution.

 

I have the same thing on my '10. It happens especially noticeable while tooling around the neighborhood or the Walmart parking lot. I'll try the - mode, it sounds like a way to get around a HEMI RAM mystery. I'm glad the exhaust mod thing is dead, obviously the changes simply magnify the 4 cylinder effect.

Thanks for the great discussion!

 

Whatcha doin' in Walmart's parking lot? donuts? figure 8's - your post put an image in my brain and smile on my face.

Seriously, and this is just me after giving up on logic after reading the thread. This is what I would do.
1. Change the motor oil for the MDS
2. put the computer on the "relearn" mode for the transmission controls

if that doesn't do it - complete tranny flush/fluid change

 

For me its not the exhuast sound, its the vibration (engine/cab) thats most annoying. Like being in a gear too low in a manula shift vehicle. If ONLY it was just a sound thing I would be happy.

 

Agreed. If you were part of the Dodge Engineer Chat you could tell its a known issue and As Per Design. They never thought people whould hate it this much but there is not easy way to fix it.

 

So havving started this thread I have an update on my pursuit to get a Buy Back. I knew Dodge dodnt do buy backs anymore so I knew my chances were slim. They dont do buy backs because it costs them WAY too much money. Easier for them to give long warranties but never be able address issue by cliaming its "as per design."

Anyway, in all my calls and effort there will be no buy back as per Chrysler policy. ALL service reps, tech nicians and managers said off the record that MDS is horrible. On the record, thye all say not ideal but necessary mor mileage and as per design.

Of note however, they did conceed to make 3 of my car payments as a "gesture of goodwill" for all the problems I have had with this truck (at only 6K miles). Our best bet is collective effort. Everyone who hates it needs to call Chrysler supprt and formally file claim AND contact each of your area service reps and give them hell alos. Only in this way will they know at a top level we arent just going to not voice our opionion. Even my service manager said :they will just give you the run around locally until you go away." Area service reps have to be bothered and formal complaints made to Chrysler Direct. Otherwise, the local delaers are told to take the heat and keep reporting "as per design, nothing we can do." Much like health insurance agents are told to try and not pay claims. Its just how it goes. HOWEVER, we can speak up and make record. Maybe they will find a program fix.

One thing is for sure, they wont do aything if custoemrs dont make noise and, at least, voice their opinion.