I just heard most delete.
...and when they do, the problems start.
I've owned mine for going on 8 years now (bought new in Dec. 2013); I speak from experience. I'm also a service advisor at a CDJR dealer; I speak from THAT experience, as well.
It's your (wife's) Jeep, do as you wish....but if it were me, I'd leave it the hell alone. That's what I've done with mine, and aside from an EGR cooler replacement under warranty (pinhole leak, putting coolant into the exhaust, triggering frequent regen's), I have had
zero issues in 80k miles. Customers who have left theirs alone...zero problems. Customers who monkey with them....have problems.
As noted before, I also own a Cummins, and have for about a dozen years. Got it used, stock, its a 2001, no emissions, 24v with a 6 speed stick. The Cummins is known to respond well to modifications (and in the Ram, the ISB is
massively de-tuned to begin with), and mine has some changes - Edge Comp box; Banks 4" turbo-back exhaust including downpipe and elbow, with a muffler; open element air filter; boost fooler on the MAP; boost valve (different orifice size on the nipple that goes from the elbow, to the wastegate reference line); mechanical fuel pump to replace the electric lift pump; boost gauge; EGT gauge; fuel pressure gauge. It is very happy, very torquey, and very efficient (20 mpg commuting, 17mpg pulling the car trailer). The Cummins...is not the Eco. And, the Eco is not the Cummins. Just because they drink the same fuel, doesn't mean the same changes have the same effect on both.
The software on the Cummins is...quite a bit more forgiving. And again, the ISB in the Ram is SO de-tuned...it is almost
begging for more. Most diesel motorhomes today? Run an ISB. With nearly double the HP and torque of what the put in the Ram. Why? So the ISB doesn't pretzel the frame of the Ram. Seriously. The Cummins ISL and ISX? Still the same basic architecture as the ISB...but even MORE power and torque. There's a TON of headroom in the Cummins platform, compared to the Ram pickup level. And, that's why it's such a successful package - it's barely breathing hard when you push it, in a Ram.
The Eco software is much less forgiving, and the r&d to create the package, to meet requirements (both in the EU and the US) was extensive. They created a super-tight package....and it
works. Banks has created the 630T crate motor from the VM Motori basic design...but about all it shares is the six bolt main girdle design...and the displacement. And, it comes with its OWN software. The hardware...must match the software. They have a Derringer programmer for the Eco, and some other bolt-on goodies, but mine's been so solid, so reliable, so capable...I just don't see the point.
This, from a guy who's run 38psi through multiple 2.2 turbos back in the day (they weren't headgaskets, they were 10 second fuses); who had a 400hp smallblock B body
station wagon that ran low 13s on street tires, pump gas, and a full interior and body; who currently owns a factory-turbocharged '90 Voyager minivan running 18psi boost (compared to 7psi stock), with a custom intercooler; and who has multiple hopped-up sportbikes to play with. I'm not "anti-modification" by any means, but the Ecodiesel just....
works. And, it gets grumpy when you mess with it.
