Diesel Tuner's Blog

The 3.0L Duramax is a wildly capable inline 6-cylinder diesel engine designed for full-size half-ton pickup trucks and SUVs. Due to its amazing power-to-weight ratio and towing performance, GM has chosen to offer this engine in everything from Chevy Silverado 1500 to the Chevy Suburban and even the Cadillac Escalade. Clearly, GM is confident in its new design. 

The new 3.0L Duramax shares very little in common with its predecessor the 4-cylinder 2.8L Duramax. It's been completely redesigned from the ground up and features many improvements such as a forged crankshaft, forged steel connecting rods, and a much stronger block design. The result is an engine that can produce 277 hp and 460 ft-lbs. of torque. Which is comparable torque to that of the more expensive 6.2L gas engine that is offered in most of the same vehicles that the 3.0L is offered in. 

What happened to Pre-Tuned ECMs?

When EFILive first came out there was no AutoCal.  Flashing had to be done in person with a V2 or in the very early years a V1 cable.  This left remote tuners a set of challenges.  How do you provide custom tuning remotely?  Of course, the answer was Pre-Tuned DSP5 ECMs.  The lynch pin of making the Pre-Tuned ECM program work was a steady supply of good core ECMs.  This meant the only downtime truck owners had was the time it takes to swap ECMs.  

There are a few critical downsides to Pre-Tuned ECMs though.  The first being a long term availability for good cores.  As years pass and more trucks are tuned and older ECMs are crashed and lost, cores disappear.  The OEM's do not provide an affordable replacement option and after a while, the cost of cores out weigh the benefits of Pre-Tuned DSP5 ECMs.  Another drawback is the ability, or lack there of, to verify the quality of each core module.  Many will take a flash with the bench harness and still show problems when installed.  

• Easy to install
• Minimal downtime
• Relies on Core ECM program
• Unable to test reliability of Cores

SPADE stands for Standalone Programming And Diagnostic Equipment.  It is also known as an AutoCal.  The hardware is manufactured and provided by EFILive and custom DuramaxTuner.com or Calibrated Power tunes are loaded onto them.  The SPADE is a very easy to use hand held tool that allows you to flash custom built EFILive tunes and data log, and read/clear most codes.