FREE GUIDES
Guides from the CTS shop floor
What we end up explaining over and over on WhatsApp, written down once. No sign-up, nothing to buy.
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Which Detroit ECM are you looking at?
DDEC III, IV, V, VI or DD13/15/16: how to tell the generation before you pick a tool. Count the computers, read the label and cross-check the year.
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Your truck shuts off by itself at idle
Nine times out of ten it isn't a fault: it's a parameter called Idle Shutdown. The five steps to switch it off in Diagnostic Link on a DDEC IV — and why raising the minutes is often the smarter call.
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What happens when your ECM is programmed wrong
The eleven things a bad programming job leaves behind — from a no-start to an odometer that counts wrong for good — why it happens, and the six things to demand from the shop before anyone touches your ECM.
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Before you raise HP and torque on a truck
A 27-point checklist for ECM programmers: the engine, the drivetrain, the manufacturer's rating and what to check after the flash. Detroit, Cummins, PACCAR, Volvo and Mack.
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Download Spec Manager free
Freightliner's own tool, and how to use it to get the revolutions per mile for a tire size — the number that goes into the ECM so the speedometer and the odometer read right. Direct link to the manufacturer's site.
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Free work order for diesel shops
One printable page: VIN, engine serial number, complaint-cause-correction, parts, hours and the customer's signature. PDF, no sign-up.
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Something you'd like us to explain?
These guides come out of the questions we actually get asked. If yours isn't here, send it over — if it comes up often enough it ends up on this page.