[Diesel_Dave]

I've decided to finally "come clean" and admit that I've deleted much of the emissions equiptment on my truck. This was all done early last year:
~Removed diesel particulate filter (DPF)
~Removed diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC)
~Removed NOx adsorber (aka lean NOx trap)
~Removed EGR system
~Removed intake throttle plate
~Reprogrammed ECM with Smarty Jr Fuel Economy tune with most advanced timing

Here's the background on what happened. Diesel emissions regulations in the US were significantly reduced in 2007, resulting in significant changes to the Dodge diesel trucks in 2007. Halfway through 2007 Dodge switched from the old 5.9L Cummins engines to the new 6.7L engines witch met the new emissions standards. My truck has the 6.7L. Unlike the 5.9L, the 6.7L came equiped with EGR, DPF, DOC, NOx adsorber, and intake throttle. Early on it became evident that the newer trucks had a lot of issues with all the emissions equiptment.

I bought my truck early last year and got a great deal on it. A big reason for this was because the powertrain warranty had just run out at 70,000 mi. 3 months after buying the truck, I started having probelms with the DPF pluging up. I took it into the shop and they tried to do a stationary regeneration to try to clean eveything out. That test failed, so I was faced with taking it to the Dodge dealer to have the DPF system replaced. This is typically a $3,000-4,000 price ticket, so I wasn't too happy about that. I knew I could buy the programmer and delete kit parts for under $1,000 and get a vehicle that would be more reliable and more fuel efficient. Technically, it is illegal to modify or remove the emissions equiptment, however, I live in Indiana which does not have any vehicle inspections of any kind. Also, almost all my driving is in small towns and semi-rural areas, so I rationalized the increased NOx and particulate emissions to myself that way. That with the fact that getting rid of the emissions equiptment yeilds a hefty improvement in fuel consumption which reduces CO2 emissions. Also, having the aftertreatment in place requires that you keep your rpms up and drive it "hard" to keep things from plugging up. Deleting allowed me to drive in a more economical way--keeping rpms low and driving "soft".

As far as the mileage effects you can see it from my fuel log. My first 4 entries was before everything happened (averaging 18.7 mpg). The next 2 entries were while I was in the process of doing things (averaging 21.8 mpg). The next 3 readings, with everything finished averaged 25.3 mpg. So, all told, I gained about 35% over where I started. The rest of my mods have brought me from there to where I am today.

So that's the story. I'm sure some of our more "environmentally friendly" members may not like me for this, but I decided it was time to lay everything out there, rather than hiding behind "undiscolsed powertrain mods" on my vehicle profile.