GDE Tune from Murchison, keen on feedback.
 

Hi all,

I'm looking at the long term with my WH, and feel it's best to delete the swirl motor and EGR now, before it all stuffs up again, so I'm thinking Green Diesel from Murchison.

I'd like to hear some feedback from owners of the WH who have done the tune, and what they can tell me about the Jeep's performance/driveability with the tune.

The one thing I hate about my OEM tune is the way the drive by wire throttle is connected to the brake pedal - if you happen to be under throttle and wish to simultaneously use the left foot for braking, the ECU shuts off the damn throttle and the engine comes back to idle. Bloody annoying and damn dangerous in my book!

Another thing I can't stand is the way the ECU rolls the throttle on softly from a stop - something that's sure to be less stressful on the drivetrain, but makes it difficult to do a traffic light jump if you haven't prepared correctly by spooling up the turbo.

Hopefully the GDE guys have removed these from the program, but can someone here tell me if they have? Would love to hear some feedback.

Cheers,

Robert

robert, I've had the tune for approximately 4 years. I decided back then that I wanted to keep the WH for many years and and envisaged I would be putting at least 300000 k on it. It is a very capable tow vehicle, comfortable and it's offroad capabilities underestimated. I was aware of the swirl motor issue and my understanding is the EGR is not good for a diesel engine in the long term.

I wasn't happy with the turbo lag either, however I did eliminate this to some degree by putting a straight thru muffler and a high flow K & N filter. I added a Provent to reduce the sump gases/oil going though the engine and potentially gumming things up internally (nissans aand tojos are renown for this)

I also wanted a bit more power for towing my caravan, boat etc as the vehicle was purchased with this in mind.

I don't have any regrets in getting the tune, the power/acceleration of the vehicle when one opens the throttle is exhilarating, the vehicle pulls my 2.5 tonne van with ease and going up hills, does it easy.

Fuel consumption varies and depends a lot on the terrain, head winds, the load in the vehicle and what's in the roof rack which generally includes a kayak. That said it doesn't struggle at any time.I think I can safely say it's using on average 14l/100k

It's an enjoyable beast to drive and I probably use the throttle a bit too much. One thing I did do was add Murchison's 3"ss exhaust system, about 18 months ago,the difference was noticed according to the Scan Gauge the torque increased from 580's to 600 +, in hindsight I regret I didn't do that when I had the tune done.

The tune allows the checking of fault codes, you can take the tune back to the original tune if you want to and take it back again.

You mention the drive by wire being connected to the brake pedal, I don't believe the tune will eliminate that. I believe what you are referring to is drive by wire lag as opposed to turbo lag. Drive by wire lag relates to a delay when one pushes the throttle pedal and I understand that most modern vehicle suffer from this.

However this can be eliminated, iDrive, Plug and Go and RevHigh have throttle controllers that will eliminate this issue,

RevHigh make one specifically for Jeep: http://www.revhigh.com.au/jeep-throttle-controller

Anyway, I hope this helps and I've answered your question.

Thanks for the great write up. Everything I wanted to know and more!

I don't think I'll be adding the throttle controller, I might just have to deal with the issue. It does say that the GDE tune will give crisper throttle response, so maybe that will suffice.

Cheers,

Robert

Yes, when the throttle responds it is certainly crisper and harder acceleration you will find that this occurs throughout the rev range. If say you're sitting on 80k and you plant the throttle you'll be over 100k + before you know it.....it's caught me out a few times enjoying the ride -:)

I found after I fitted the 3" ss exhaust there was a noticeable increase in acceleration, in the mid-range.

The 3" system starts from the block, the section that looks like it's a dpf is removed and replaced with a high flow diesel cat further down the pipe, so the exhaust is really opened up. My 2007 didn't have a DPF,

Some 3" systems start with a 2 or 2 1/2 inch dump pipe, but Stu's system starts at 3" ...from what I understand diesel engines do not need back pressure or very little... regardless Stu's system works and I'm glad I decided to put it on.

I'm glad you got something out of my response/experience with the GDE tune. I'm sure there's others out there who might come in with their experiences with the GDE for you.

Sounds a bit like the 3" turbo back system I put on my RS Liberty in the day - the lack of back pressure helped the turbo spool up faster and get on boost quicker.

How's the noise from the 3" system? I would not be wanting to disrupt the serenity of the WH cabin.

I had a good chat to Stuart Murchison today and he filled me in a bit more on the GDE tune. Clearly a busy man but took time to clear up some things I wanted to know. It does remove the throttle shut down when the brake is applied, which is a big deal for me. And other than that, he pretty much vindicated everything you said.

Still, would love to hear from other members with the tune. Anyone?

Cheers,

Robert

Glad you had a talk to Stuart, he's good to deal with and very obliging.

That's good to know it removes the throttle shut down...I've never really used the left foot on the brake method...sound like you were a bit of a rally driver my mate used to do that when he was rally driving -:)

I don't find the 3" system noisy to me it has a nice sweet sound...Stu did say to me that I might find it drones a bit when I was discussing the pros and cons before I put it on...but I don't find it drones definitely not an annoying sound.

None of my passengers have ever said anything apart from sounds great or geez this thing goes or what have you done to it or what's this thing putting out.

I've had a couple of Jeep technicians at the dealership I go to say that's a top WH, sounds good, one of the best we've worked on... the last time I took it there to get some work done one of the techs asked me if I wanted to sell it as he wanted to buy it so I guess that says something.

I asked my wife what she thought her answer is, "I find it quiet has a nice hum". So that's has to say something..a woman's perspective -:)

Hope this helps.

I run their Hot Tune. They make an ECO tune and a HOT Tune.

Both tunes have better HP and mileage than stock.

I have been running the tune for many years, and love it. I originally got it when the swirl motor went out but the performance difference was like night and day!

I have used it on long trips towing for like 12 to 16 hours with just fuel stops.

Out of all the modifications I have done, if I had to go with just one it would be the GDE tune. It almost completely got rid of that turbo lag.

I have driven over 160,000 km with the tune.