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ASET 427 Engine Replace Concerns


Unselor

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Long story so I'll give you the cliff notes version. 2007, CHN613, AC427, purchased new to pull an end dump. The engine got destroyed with ~107,000 miles on it. I bought a used 427 engine out of an '05, shipped it in and installed it. The turbo was non-functional on the replacement engine so I put the original turbo on. Other than some of the coolant system components and the turbo, all engine parts are from the replacement engine including the unit pumps, wiring harness, sensors, etc. I installed the original EECU on the replacement engine also. All this took place in December, 2010. The dirt hauling business hit rock bottom around here about that time so the truck got used very little afterwards.

Fast forward to February 2012. We decided to go in a different direction with the truck so we bought a flatbed and over the road it now goes. It runs good, no EECU codes and seems to do just fine. It started the new adventure with around 120,000 miles (roughly). It now has just over 200,000 on it and recently we had to replace the EGR cooler (go figure). Since we had a perfectly good one on the tore up engine, it only cost me some coolant, a reservoir cap and one busted knuckle. I figured it'd be best if I did a little research on cause and effect of this phenomenon so I check the internet and find some really good info. Needless to say, a lot of it was on this forum. I'm kinda thinking along the lines of computer controlled EGR system, data tables, program logic, EGR delete, etc............ I figure someone has to be doing this, right. So I find the guy who's doing it and give him a call. He's like, "send me your EECU and I can reprogram it in one hour." Well, the truck needs to be down three days for that to happen.

Now comes my genius idea. I've got the EECU from the replacement engine. I could send him this one, let him do his thing and I still have the original with the factory programming. I discuss this with the guy and he's all for it except he still needs the original. He would create a duplicate program in the replacement EECU that matched the original, then install the mods. This would insure all parameters are correct. Well, this means the truck is still down for three days. So I hang up with the guy and think about it for a while.

Now comes my second genius idea. Take the truck to the Mack dealer and let him program the replacement EECU. Better yet, ask him if the programming in the two are the same. So I get them on the phone and explain all this and what I want to do. I'm informed that they need to install the factory program and calibration off each unit pump and the turbo when they replace an EECU. So now I'm thinking, I installed my original EECU onto an engine with different unit pumps. Should this info have been put into the EECU when the engine was replaced. So now I'm wondering how I should address my dilemma.

Here's the dilemma:

  • Original EECU programmed to vehicle and current turbo but not to current unit pumps.
  • Replacement EECU is probably programmed to current unit pumps but not to turbo and vehicle.

I haven't tried the replacement EECU in the vehicle to see if it would even run with it. I don't know that I really want to try it. Or if I should try it. So what do y'all think. I guess the obvious question is do I even need to be concerned with this? How different is the calibration between the unit pumps? Is there any gains to be had if I were to spend the money and have at least one of these EECU's programmed to fit everything? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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Unit pump calibration will only smooth out engine sometimes it is for fuel milage mostly so you should be fine not having them programed the turbo calibration most of the time should not have that big a differance ,I have sevral test ecu,s that I use from time to time to help diagnosis and have never had a code for turbo out of calibration. Now on the other hand if you want to get the most out of your engine , both need to be programed .

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Unit pump calibration will only smooth out engine sometimes it is for fuel milage mostly so you should be fine not having them programed the turbo calibration most of the time should not have that big a differance ,I have sevral test ecu,s that I use from time to time to help diagnosis and have never had a code for turbo out of calibration. Now on the other hand if you want to get the most out of your engine , both need to be programed .

Thanks for the reply. So, if I understand correctly, I could see some improvement in fuel mileage if I get one of the EECU's programmed to the vehicle, unit pumps and turbo. The engine idles and runs fine now so I wouldn't expect to see any improvements there. On the other hand, if the unit pump calibration is close enough, there won't be any significant mileage gains seen with a reprogramming of the EECU.

With that said, does anybody know if the programming in the '05 EECU is in any way different than the programming in the '07 EECU other than unit pump calibration and turbo? I'm told the EECU won't match the rest of the truck electronic modules but that shouldn't be a concern (or should it). The reason I'm asking is, if the '05 EECU is programmed with the current unit pump calibrations, which it should be since it came with the replacement engine, would the '05 EECU do better than the '07 one? Would it do any harm to install the '05 one and see if fuel mileage improves?

This guy says he can tune my EECU to give me better fuel mileage, more power and better throttle response. If I decide to give it a try, I'll definitely monitor turbo temp and see what happens there. (He recommends this also) He can also command EGR to never open (if I ever go off-road or move out of the country). This effectively makes the EGR valve inoperable and no gases can enter the system. I think he turns off some of the things that makes the codes set too because he's telling me there is no codes set and no light. But he has to start with the factory programming and apparently I don't currently have an accurate factory program in either EECU. What would you guys do?

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2007 the engines had a DPF so the calibration/progamming will be different than 2005.

Actually mine doesn't have a DPF. It looks like they used a 2006 engine in this chassis from the factory. I don't understand it but the truck is a 2007 model or that's what the VIN indicates and what's on the title. I may be wrong, however. It wouldn't be the first time.

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January 1, 2007 was when all trucks manufactured after that date must be equipped with a DPF. With that said, engine manufacturers were able to sell non-DPF engines in 2007 if they were "built" in 2006. The definition of "built" means the crank in the block and a serial number for the engine. There were a lot of "2006" engines in 2007 MY trucks. Now that I think about it, when Mack and many other OEs went to DPF the trucks were labeled as 2008 models. Sounds confusing but that is our government and EPA at work.

So your truck is a 2007 with a 2006 engine in it. Perhaps the ECU programming would be the same as 2005. However the engine OEs are always "tweeking" the programming.

Ken

PRR Country and Charter member of the "Mack Pack"

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