Chris Backlund scoured the Internet for months looking for someone to reprogram his engine’s electronic control module. The Fort Collins, Colo., resident hauls asphalt and road base in varied terrain and says he wanted his 1995 Peterbilt 379 to have more uphill push from its 3406E Caterpillar.
He eventually found a local shop, Elite Diesel Services. The shop connected a laptop to the engine, flashed the electronic control module and inserted a file with new data.
“It’s been a night and day difference with fuel economy and power,” Backlund says.
He hasn’t tracked the exact fuel mileage benefits, but says he did gain nearly 150 horsepower – currently at 580, up from the stock 435.
Fuel costs can be cut and power squeezed from stock ECM programming, says Pittsburgh Power owner Bruce Mallinson, whose company specializes in diesel engine performance and does the type of work Backlund had done.
“If you can do just a mile or a mile and a half [a gallon] better, you’re going to put about $20,000 extra in your pocket each year,” he says. Pitt Power engineers are constantly researching modern engines and ECMs to determine what can be improved, he says.
