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bully-dog-tuner
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IS Your Used Truck Tuned? NO! How Can You Be Sure?

By • On • In Down and Dirty Diesel Diagnosis, Uncategorized

 

Joe decides one day to trade in his 2005 Dodge Ram Cummins for a sweet new ride.   Joe enjoyed the power and performance gains his tuner gave him for many years.  The hardware Joe had put away to tune his truck was lost in his last divorce.

Lets take a ride to the imaginary used car lot for a bit.  John the salesman takes the truck in on trade.  The dash has no warning lights and the truck runs very well, should have no problem selling it.

Now you are you, and you find a truck that fits your needs perfectly.  It has a fair price and you buy the truck.

Some time after, an engine light appears and generates codes that no one can seem to decipher.  Any knowledgeable shop would probably see the weird malfunction and recommend a replacement PCM.  This will fix the problem when the new PCM has been programmed with stock software.  No one will know why it’s fixed, just that it is.

You pick the truck up and feel the truck isn’t right, its now under powered and gets poor fuel mileage.  An automatic response to a new symptom occurring after an official repair is to blame the shop for doing something wrong.  A return trip will prove nothing out of the ordinary exists and are sent back on your way.

This mysterious dragon syndrome occurs often, and the correct response is to tune over the corrupt tune file, or re-flash the PCM to stock and then tune over the stock file.

 

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Classic Missouri Dept Of Conservation Truck to Get Late Model Mods

By • On • In Colorful and Creative
Darrell miller and Dave blum admiring the truck.

One of the admired qualities about working at a Diesel shop is the prospect of creating interesting projects in the off time.  A couple months ago a young lady had a really bad-off Toyota Rav4.  This being her only vehicle, it was very important to have it running at peak efficiency.  In passing conversation she mentioned her families barn truck, and how it needed a lot of work.  An idea popped into existance at that moment.  Why not overhaul the Toyota in trade for the classic truck.  If the RAV’s repairs were added up the cost vastly surpassed the value of the truck, but that wasnt the point.  She got what she needed, and we got a new project, keeping the gears turning on the left side of our brains.

 

 

Featured in Parts and People Magazine
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STL Diesel Featured in Parts and People Magazine

By • On • In News

Owners Jeff White, Don Harbaugh, and Darrell Miller were interviewed by Dustin Holland a reporter from Parts and People Magazine near the middle of July 2016. The article he authored about the birth, growth and development of STL Diesel exposes our inate ability to passionatly perform repairs and market our brand in a grass roots type of way. Dustin Holland, the author of the article did a great job describing the achievements, goals and ambitions of our entire team.  His inspiration for this article was the vast amount of STL Diesel T-shirts, Hoodies, Hats and Decals that he and others have spotted all over the ST Louis area and beyond.  When talking about this topic he asked a very interesting and frequently asked question.  “Is STL Diesel a company or a club?  The answer is Yes to both questions.

Featured in Parts and People Magazine

Featured in Parts and People Magazine –

 

 

Poorly produced bio fuel settles the organic material to the bottom of the fuel tank
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Alternative Fuel Fails

By • On • In Diesel Fails

In the not too distant past diesel owners raced to perfect the perfect bio fuels.  Understanding what is, and what is not good for a diesel fuel system can’t be identified until a failure occurs.  Like this one, individual took soy based vegatable oil and filtered it.  Adding no substantial chemicals, not cut with regular diesel fuel, just filtered soy veggy oil.  There was a moment when the truck seemed to run off of this concoction, but soon after the truck sat for a few weeks, the soy began to gel.  Taking up residence in the fuel tanks, filters and housing was a tar based material settling in a thick black film 1/4 deep.  A brave technician used his natural flavor detection system to identify this substance as SOY!