I agree with you. The truck is not going to drop RPMs because of MDS, if it did that then the truck would slow down. What he is seeing is the truck shifting into 5th and the toque convertor is locking up.

Bill

 

Right, I've never noticed when the mds kicks in (or out)... can't feel it or hear it.

 

I've noticed a small increase in RPM when it's kicking in. I have felt a small surge when it kicks back into 8 cyl mode when I start climbing a hill.

 

If you feather the throttle on a slight incline cruising at 60MPH you can feel it kick in and out. The RPMS will surge just slightly when bumping back into 8 cylinders not not more than 250 or so. If you do it right, you can get it to bounce back and forth. It almost seems like it has engine problems. Give it a little more gas and it stays in 8 cylinders until you back down on the gas.

 

not sure on 09 but my 08 jeep GC is displayed with the mpg in the cluster your owners manual should tell you

 

There was talk of an indicator, but I don't have one. The MDS was to be seamless, but I sometimes will feel a hit like an a/c compressor kicking in or something. It is a pretty good hit depending on throttle position. I can only assume that this is the MDS, but it does startle you a bit when it happens. I am not sure why you get a big hit sometimes and seamless at other times.

 

To answer your question about the indicator light on the dash, you will only have this indicator if you have a truck built in the late November or early December time frame. I believe the St. Louis Assy Plant launched the change in November and Warren Assy Plant in December. Chrysler made a slight hardware and software change to add the indicator. The manual was updated with the change. This is why you have a small separate book on MDS with your owners manual that explains the indicator light (if your truck is so equipped). Its cheaper to print a small add on book than to throw out all the owners manuals that are outdated.

 

It would be nice if they came up with a retrofit kit that could be installed at the dealer. I would sure be willing to pay for the update.

 

My truck has 1/09 on the sticker on the door and, as far as I know, it does not have a MDS indicator. It is a TRX4 though, don't know if that makes a difference.

 

Never mind......it says 10/08.......my bad