Pulsar 6.4 PCM piggyback !

[PWJouster]

worked great for over a week.
better MPG, and definitely added power....but yesterday!


HOLD UP!

some funky stuff happened just now.

pulled up onto a curb and parked level on some grass next to the road.
inflated FRONT tires from 40PSI warm to 48PSI....cold they were at 38PSI. (wanted to test out some higher pressures for handling and fuel economy)

Pulled off the curb, and the shifter was limiting the gears in 2nd, so AS i was accelerating(Moderately) I hit the + until it was set at 6th.

about 3500RPM in 2nd, with the gear select now on 6th, going over 25MPH....THE TRUCK LOCKED THE FRONT TIRES AND BROUGHT ME TO A STANDSTILL! IN THE MIDDLE OF ACTIVE DIXIE HIGHWAY!

released the gas pedal, and truck reverted to a higher gear and i carried on. now wet. and now flooring it so traffic didnt pile up on me.


Cant say why this happened. Maybe because after filling the tires, it was only 25 seconds or so until i was back in the truck slowly dropping one tire off the curb at a time.
Maybe the diameter and revolutions of the tires are measured constantly. New tire height messed with the ABS or PULSAR. It always takes a few minutes for TPMS to update.
Maybe the Pulsar couldnt translate the new data fast enough to the PCM, and the Pulsar corrupted some data.
Maybe the ABS or traction control thought something was out of line, with tire pressures changing drastically(like always)

i have filled my tires like this many times, and i have floored it in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd lockout to redline, and other then power being pulled, it never applied brakes UNTIL THE TRUCK WAS STOPPED completely.

in the moment, it felt like nothing was going to get the truck rolling again.
it felt like a very strong emergency stop, not ABS taking its time.

I heard alot of Gear/Transmission noises. Its driving fine now, and no other issues persist.
Not Fun

[PWJouster]

Truck has been running OK. No other issues.

It had to have been a ABS Traction TCM fault, not associated with the PCM piggyback.


The piggyback does really give you a more than seat of pants increase in horsepower.
When the air is dense, cool, and dry, is when that extra oxygen being pulled in gets leveraged.
Serious Mid Range power increases that are still felt in the low end and top end.

Serious for a $500 piggyback that can be removed in just a few seconds and doesn't require 3rd party tuning.

[AlaskaTRX]

Has anyone performed some independent Dyno testing with the Pulsar installed?

[PWJouster]

not that i know of.

[ramv]

how is this treating you? considering one for my 2016

[Will]

I have one on the 1500 and it's been great, no issues. Really wakes up the truck.

[PWJouster]

how is this treating you? considering one for my 2016

well lets say this, when it works, it works.

Not on the truck now. I had another stall issue plague me once more. This time the truck was pinging and detonating and failing to produce power like prior, and as the truck was stalling, i luckily pulled/rolled into a few McDonalds parking spots sideways.

well, i removed the pulsar unit and reconnected the battery, but the brake pedal was stuck and could not be depressed. Well, no brake, and you cant start the truck.
Diablo walked me through it, and i had to sit there for 30 minutes with the battery Disconnected foot on the brake to drain all the power from the ECM.

It worked but i wasnt happy.
I now know that it was never bad gas that was in my tank, and all my issues stemmed from the pulsar. I believe i had an early unit that needs to be reflashed or scrapped. Diablo asked for me to send it back, but i havent had the time.

I would try a new one, and recommend it, but i would not buy a used one, and, if it doesnt work with your truck for whatever reason, it wont work.

Im still waiting for them to release new PCMs for 18s. Im not sure the piggyback is the best way to get it done.

[Oilbrnr]

Sounds like they are 'field testing' their code using consumers.

About 50% of the reviews on their own site show the same thing.

Not good.

[pdavey]

Sounds like they are 'field testing' their code using consumers.

About 50% of the reviews on their own site show the same thing.

Not good.

Agreed. It is only good to be a guinea pig when you are being compensated for it and you know its happening.

Given the amount of technology on the new trucks and the need to secure them as they are always connected it is going to be increasingly more difficult to do aftermarket enhancements without knowing someone who can program.

As much as we would like to bitch and complain it is Ram or Chrysler trying to screw the aftermarket folks, I can assure you it isn’t.

If you give away the security details then anyone can hack you. All connected cars are at risk of being hacked by third parties even remotely if there isn’t some type of security module.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[PWJouster]

yea but my 2016 BMW x5 50i had BMS piggyback tuners and it was just fine...only pulled timing when it got too hot under hood.
my take is the hardware and chipset are not up to the task.