04CTD, Not trying to hi-jack this, but you made the comment below.
"I would not assume the program it returns it to is stock, I lost ~2mpg after the free download expired."

I also have experienced this after doing the trial download and has bothered me since wishing I hadnt done it. But I was trying to decide on a downloader or a box. I guess I should of been more wary.

So my question to any of the experts out there is can I get back those 2mpg by doing a re-flash or do I go with a box and hope for the best ?

Thanks
Brett

 

So you were able to get through to my man? Thats good, I had worked with him on the Beta Test and he knows what he's talking about. He told me they don't let him out of his cage to work with customers much, I think he's in the developement side of the business. Hope everything gets through with your PCM just fine. I've been very lucky with bullydog and if you get to the right person there you can have a world of good experience.

 

Hmmm... this is getting pretty interesting.

First of all, the dealer should have put the scope on the ECM as soon as it didn't talk to the scan tool. As per shop manual procedure as I outlined above. That would have told everyone right then that they were dealing with a software problem, not an electrical problem. The shop cost for that procedure would have been about 30 minutes.

Secondly, if the Bullydog software can upgrade the ECM, that means the ECM's boot loader is still operational, which means that the dealer could have fixed this in the first place. If they weren't motivated to sell you a $1500 ECM.

Then we have Bullydog... I guess they sprang into action on this once they visited the website. Look at the view count on this topic. Talk about bad press. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, but apparently not until it squeaks enough. The pen is mighty, especially when it writes on the Internet.

However, SHAME on Bullydog for creating this mess in the first place and then sweeping it under the rug with the first calls to tech support. That tells me all I need to know about Bullydog products.

I am really interested to hear what the dealer is going to charge you for all this and what their justification for that will be. I suspect a competent dealer could have fixed this problem in an hour.

 

Super...talked to BD about 5 times today...don't discredit thier tech....the problem was, I was not forceful enough to break thru thier first line of defense (I bought it used, so I did not thump on them). Once I got in touch with the right guy, it was all handled smoothly.

FWIW, the guy I talked to said he was going to have a "Pep Talk" with their first line of defense, and clue them in about when to boot a call upstairs.

Secondly, BD explained the process to me, and YES! the dealer is an idiot. BD even offered to talk to my dealer tech, if all else fails. BD tech agreed that the TSB that SuperDuty provided pretty much told how to use the DRB to do it. (the one that they DID NOT READ..i had to call the dealership and read parts of it back to THEM..still did not believe me)

Yes, if the Dealer had READ and UNDERSTOOD the TSB's and information I passed from this Post and and the 14 PM's I received from our helpful members, it could have all been avoided.

 

Guys, I'm glad we have everyone and this site to get our problems resolved. ks

 

This stuff isn't rocket science. The TSBs and the shop manual and a bit of reading and reading between the lines and you can pretty much figure out how things work on these trucks.

I'm glad it is looking like it will work out for you.

I'm sorry I get riled up. I just cannot tolerate BS especially costly BS, when there is no reason for it.

 

Who did you talk to at Bully Dog? PM me.

 

Well, I talked to my dealer/service manager again today...again he says the ECM can NOT be fixed.... (part of that problem is because they left the 04.5 ECM plugged in last few days, and even with key out, it left dash lights on, and killed battery ..DUH...they spent most of the day trying to charge both batteries, surely they have more than one battery charger? surely?)

So I gave the Bullydog Tech the number for my dealership....
and I guess he heard enough Happy Horse Stuff from the Service Manager...

Bullydog offered to build me a new ECM (using my VIN and my configuratoin - just like new) FULLY loaded with OEM software, just a "plug and play" ECM so the dealer CAN'T screw it up.

and just to be funny, they gave me a NEW downloader,
and to p*ss the dealer off, loaded the ECM with the Bullydog,
and Fedex'ed it all out tonite, hopefully in time to get there tomorrow.

and if the dealership can R&R this one without farkling it up anymore, I will be LAYING A CLOUD OF SMOKE tomorrow nite, on the way home!!!

BD really pulled out all the stops on this one, I've been really impressed with them once they knew what was going on.

With that kind of support, i see no reason to be afraid of a Bullydog.
I read a few posts on other threads about how great their tech support was.
I'd have to agree now.

(...visions of burning tires and blowing soot, wonder what level they set my new ECM too? extreme!?! )

 

Wow, been following this from the beginning. Bully Dog really came through. Good to hear, glad it all worked out for ya. I may buy Bully Dog in future after reading this.

 

My God.

Now your going to have tell 500 people you know about how great of a company BD is.
I can't imagine them doing much more for a customer. I guess having one of their people read the 85 posts on here helped!

Great news dude, ashame it took this long to resolve, but what more could a guy ask for at this point?

 

BD Tech has called me ~5 times since this began.

Dealer has called me: ZERO.

so Dealer has the new part, but is stalling, having the mechanic do it last thing this evening, which really sucks, because i would like to hear "it's running" before I head down there. he's gonna do it so late, I won't have time to get there and pay for it today, and service will be closed tomorrow.

dealerships are hard to deal with. Maybe Andy has the right idea after all

direct quote from BD's e-mail, reflects the intelligence of the dealer:
"I called the dealer this morning, and I told them what they need to do"

it's like herding cats.

 

Too bad someone from BD couldn't get on a plane and come do the install, it would probably have been worth it for you to have bought the ticket given all the grief you have been through. Good luck!

 

Now that's funny right there......

 

O4, That's great news!!! Let us know when you get home safely and how the truck romped of course. BDog is obviously a company worthy of dealing with. ks

 

Ok, got the truck home. it HAULS with the BD installed, have to see if i have big smoke tomorrow.

found out WHY the dealer could NOT fix it, with me calling them, Faxing them the TSB's from SuperDuty, and with Bullydog calling them.

They threw my faxes in the trash. I faxed them to my daughter, the receptionist (it's at my old Navy base - daughter stayed when I retired out) and when she gave them to the Service Manager, he just glanced at them, and threw them at the trash.

When I called him on the phone, he said "I saw GENERIC on the TSB and stopped right there" and I did not know what he meant....now I do, he quit reading, and put it in the trash!

if the Dealer DID order the $1500 new ECM, they would NOT be able to program it, because they had not read the TSB.

I think that is why Bullydog came up with the idea of sending a new ECM and taking the idiot factor out, and just giving them a part to R&R, which is what most dealerships are, just parts replacers.

here's the kicker - i got charged for 10 hours labor, and being a customer, from out of state, how could i tell, just by riding in my truck, how LONG the tech sat in my truck & worked on it?

big bonus points to the first person to figure that one out.

so here's the damage so far:
--paid $750 to dealer tonite.
--Owe Bullydog for services rendered, and shipping.
BD reacted so fast, they have no idea what to charge me, they are gonna figure that out after looking at the original ECM.

I am going to ship my original ECM back to them, with the original Downloader, they are going to eyeball that, and then send it back for me to install, and send them back thier test unit.

then, this will be over.

opinions?