New revised MPG/High idle switch design

[diesel4life]

YEY!!!!! I have been WAY TOO busy trying to address a number of issues to have a chance to look at who was building these fooler boxes now... and I couldn't be more happy that I came across this posting tonight!!! Ok seriously I have to fix a few more things before I will be ready to install one... like fixing the mess my husband created by driving the truck when I explicitly told him NOT TO!!! SO FRUSTRATING, I hope that none of your wives do that... although honestly I am tired of the dynamic created by society that says if a couple owns a truck than it must belong to the husband. Please excuse my ranting, I am dealing with a mechanically inept spouse who thinks that taking the vehicles into grease monkey will be a better option than actually observing your vehicles performance and associated noises... honestly I think that if the mechanic told him he needed to change his headlight fluid he would be like, OH... Can you do that now? But you also have to understand I am not a man hater at all... I am just a little grumpy because I broke my leg in 8 places (tib and fib), had surgery 8 weeks ago and still am not allowed to put weight on it, and yet I am the one under the truck for the past week trying to lower the fuel tank by myself (so I can finally get that pesky Air Dog and draw straw installed) not to mention fixing the busted brake line that my husband caused which would have been easy to replace however when I asked for his assistance in bleeding the brakes he sheered off not one but both rear bleeder valves... which he then proceeded to try and quickly fix with an easy out that he broke off as well... three trips to the part store later and a lecture on the way about "this is why we need to just take it to a shop..." I am a little more than FURIOUS! to help paint the picture, I will break the taboo and share that I am roughly 5'8" and just weighed in at 125lbs.. I have lost some muscle with this damn broken leg and being in a cast/ now walking boot for 9 weeks.. so rolling around under a truck is a little tricky right now with only one leg that I can use to manuver and use for leverage with trying to break thing loose and tighten them back up... BUT, when I saw this new switch it made me smile!!! I will definitely be ordering one after I get the rest of the parts I already have installed... Which will hopefully be sometime in the next week... (as long as I don't have any help from my husband I should be fine)... My only lesson that I have learned is this... We honestly need a really simplified operation manual for these trucks and all the nifty aftermarket parts we install in them... I would love to ban my husband from driving the truck entirely however that has caused a giant riff in our household... so I have been trying to come up with a solution... for instance creating a very short and maybe slightly over dramatic write up about why it is important to be an observant operator of the vehicle... example... fuel pressure is important, if the pressure drops and the truck continues to be driven you can cause THOUSANDS of dollars of damage.... This has gotten off topic now and has turned into a manifesto... not my intention at all... but here is the point that I would like to make... THIS SWITCH with engraved labeling and LED light are great for people like me who unfortunately have other people who occasionally drive our trucks even when asked not to... For people like us a VERY simple half or quarter page tutorial and explanation that includes consequences of not following the directions would be very helpful... the best parts in the world are only as good as the user... unfortunately... THANK YOU ALL for taking the time to design and implement this for all of us that live in the blustery cold winter areas... Sarah

Sarah, you sound like a good woman I can understand your frustrations (although from a slightly different perspective) My wife is probably the smartest person I know she runs circles around me in that department. But when it comes to basic principles, well sometimes she struggles to say the least! Hang in there and don't be shy to keep asking questions! BTW, how is the headlight harness coming along? JR

[Yankneck696]

Sarah, I hope your leg gets better so that you can use your beloved truck again. The install will be pretty simple. The indicator light will indicate MG/6 Cyl/3 Cyl are engaged by the switch. Michael (Mopar1973man the originator of the whole concept) will do a video/written install/operation for the unit. I do have to say that I now understand more as to the R&D issues that companies have. It has been long, frustrating & tiring dealing with unscrupulous vendors switching wire out for Chinese aluminum copper clad wire & the like. Every part is made right here in the USA. It's very difficult to do that these days. I have also had to overcome numerous pitfalls by not doing my due dilligence.My next products (There WILL be other products for our trucks from me) will be better planned out & fully structured before announcement. I jumoed the gun a bit. In all reality, after all of the R&D/phone time, I will make about $10 per hour on this batch of 100. I am truly hoping that it takes off & I can raise the profit point from sheer numbers.Oh, Sarah, if you make up the artwork, I can send you my engraver's info for a dash plaque of instructions for your hubby...Got to watch more Shark Tank...Thank you all for your support,Ed Grafton

[SNKEBIT]

. I do have to say that I now understand more as to the R&D issues that companies have. It has been long, frustrating & tiring dealing with unscrupulous vendors switching wire out for Chinese aluminum copper clad wire & the like. Every part is made right here in the USA. It's very difficult to do that these days. I have also had to overcome numerous pitfalls by not doing my due dilligence. Ed Grafton

Been there, done that!! Trying to build a set of headers for Vipers cheaply ended up same way. Really hard to make anything in this country cost effectively. too freekin expensive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bill Hedges]

ok ladies and gentlemen,this is why i think the MPG/High idle thingy may be something i should install.i only drive about 5 miles to work each dayand by the time i reach my destination ,my temp gauge is almost at normal operating temperaturewould enabling the 3 cylinder idle get me up to normal temp so that the engine is toasty when i start my drive be benificial?or am i (as usual) wrong in my thinking?thank you for your input.

[Mopar1973Man]

ok ladies and gentlemen, this is why i think the MPG/High idle thingy may be something i should install. i only drive about 5 miles to work each day and by the time i reach my destination , my temp gauge is almost at normal operating temperature would enabling the 3 cylinder idle get me up to normal temp so that the engine is toasty when i start my drive be benificial? or am i (as usual) wrong in my thinking? thank you for your input.

Becareful. The high idle is great for getting it warm be remember it does consume big quantity of fuel while running so weigh that into your thoughts. I've measured upwards of 6-8 GPH while running high idle 3 cylinder and exhaust brake. The 6-8 GPH is well above normal flows. Just for sake of reference at 55 MPH consuming 2.5 GPH is 22 MPG. (55 MPH / 2.5 GPH = 22 MPG). So yes it will warm up the truck for you but at a cost of more fuel used per day. No, you don't have to wait for the high idle to finish like I do is warm up to 100*F and cancel and leave.

[BluePine]

JR, I maybe kicking myself later but I decided to try and go the HID route on the headlights before I do the sport conversion... Honestly I am not a huge fan of the HID's when they are blinding me however, I found a really good deal on them through Amazon so I thought I would give it a try... I also decided to try a set of the spyder aftermarket halo projector assemblies... they were on clearance for $100 including shipping and they had the best reviews that I could find.. (although none of them had really good reviews)... I haven't received the HID kit yet because I wasn't home when the UPS man tried to drop it off (ugh I hate that)... But after I get them installed I will definately do a write up and let everyone know how it works out. Honestly I just think that I ended up reading entirely too much and decided until I get some of our other mysterious electrical issues sorted out that I would try to keep it simple and affordable... Thank you for the contact info for Craig, he had emailed me the specs for the wiring harness but I haven't been able to get it to open/ download properly... although it has been late at night that I have been trying to do it, so it may very well be my brain not functioning correctly.

[diesel4life]

Anything has got to be an improvement over the factory lighting! Good luck and let us know how you like the HIDs!JR

[mopartechnician]

Hids are amazing. I had them in my 02 and i am putting them in my 01 when they go on sale black friday

[jones154]

I have hids in my 01 I love them however the people I meet flashing there lights at me don't

[Mopar1973Man]

Remember HID's usage as a after-market lighting can be illegal in some areas for that exact problem.

I love them however the people I meet flashing there lights at me don't

[jones154]

Not to turn this into an hid thread but a one thing to think of before buying hids is the 2nd gen only have one bulb which is nice when replacing bulbs however makes hids kind of risky if you live in an area where it snows or have a lot of fog I would maybe recommend not getting. If u live in such a place. hids turn a little snow storm into a complete white out same with dense fog I have had several times were I just turn my clearance lights on with piaa fog lights just to be able to see. The would be perfect if you could get them only for highs and just have good lighting on lows. A lot safer on oncoming drivers too.

[Bronze_Bandit]

I'm a new member to this site and this is my first post here...Is it possible to buy one of these with the switches mounted in a box instead of in a cubby or gauge pod? I'd like a simple box that I can mount under the dash or where ever...it's getting cold here in Winnipeg, I need this unit asap!

[Yankneck696]

I am doing some of the gauge faces that will be just like a switchplate, I think, as the question has come up several times.Ed

[PMC Inline]

I pre ordered mine a couple weeks ago from DAP. Has anybody heard any word when we might get to see one? I can't wait!

[comanche79p]

Any idea how long it takes to install and what Dodge charges to re-flash?Thanks

[Bronze_Bandit]

Before I order one of these, I am going to attempt to make my own using a 50K potentiometer and a switch that I can use to toggle between actual intake air temp coming from the sensor and whatever I want to dial the temp into on the pot...I will be able to set it at a specific resistance for each of the following: 3 cyl high idle, 6 cyl high idle or mpg+ and I can monitor what temp the ECU sees through my edge CS. I will also add another switch/ resistor for the coolant temp sensor. Any thoughts on this?

[jones154]

Any idea how long it takes to install and what Dodge charges to re-flash?Thanks

Mine took about a 45 seconds and they didn't charge me a thing but had other dealers say anywhere from 35 to 70 bucks

[Yankneck696]

I am still waiting on the artwork to be finished. Emailed to the engraver & then I should have plates the next couple days. I have all of the harnesses & switches ready to go.I screwes up when I scanned what I wanted & it cot through 3 sets of conversions & computers. It turned out 12.3% too large. As for using a potentiometer, 100Kohm will be your only bet. Pretty difficult to get the resolution on the resistance you will need with that, as they only turn 280* & you have to fit 100K ohm in there. That should be 2.8Kohm per degree.Ed

[Ironforger]

I am still waiting on the artwork to be finished. Emailed to the engraver & then I should have plates the next couple days. I have all of the harnesses & switches ready to go. Ed

I'm ready to buy. Looking forward the seeing pictures of the actual finished product, both cubby hole and guage pod. Appreciate the hard work you guys put into this device.

[Bronze_Bandit]

I am still waiting on the artwork to be finished. Emailed to the engraver & then I should have plates the next couple days. I have all of the harnesses & switches ready to go. I screwes up when I scanned what I wanted & it cot through 3 sets of conversions & computers. It turned out 12.3% too large. As for using a potentiometer, 100Kohm will be your only bet. Pretty difficult to get the resolution on the resistance you will need with that, as they only turn 280* & you have to fit 100K ohm in there. That should be 2.8Kohm per degree. Ed

You are right, I will have to get a 100K potentiometer, unless I can find one in between 50K and 100K. The 50K won't add enough resistance to fool the ecm into thinking it's cold enough to kick in 3 cyl. I ordered the connectors from Caspers today, going to get a 100K pot for $4 from a local electronics supply store tomorrow. If the pot doesn't work how I want it to I will use dpdt switches with resistors to simulate the temps required for high idle and mpg.