2006 Charger SRT8 sluggish shifts

[kwaziekeller]

A friend of mine just bought a used '06 Charger SRT8 and is interested in buying a Predator. He has the dreaded "shift lag/sluggishness" that plagued the '06's and Dodge had a TSB to fix it with a TCM reflash. I was wondering if the Predator fixes this problem, or if he need to get the TSB reflash from the dealer first. I know the predator tune worked great on my '07 but I didn't have the problem he is having. Just a quick question, any help would be appreciated.

[mikel]

We do not flash the TCM but the tunes will allow the SRT8 to shift firmer....

[Quick]

A friend of mine just bought a used '06 Charger SRT8 and is interested in buying a Predator. He has the dreaded "shift lag/sluggishness" that plagued the '06's and Dodge had a TSB to fix it with a TCM reflash. I was wondering if the Predator fixes this problem, or if he need to get the TSB reflash from the dealer first. I know the predator tune worked great on my '07 but I didn't have the problem he is having. Just a quick question, any help would be appreciated.

Ummm, you sure it's the same thing?
The problem with the 06 shifts was only at WOT. Only on the 1-2 shift and rarely on the 2-3. Only in automatic mode. The problem was that they used the same algorithm as the 5.7L to predict when to initiate the shift. The 6.1L winds up faster than the 5.7 and would overshoot, hitting the rev limiter before completing the shift. When they fixed this problem they also changed the behavior of the auto-stick mode. Before the fix, auto-stick would hold the gear no matter what and just bounce off the rev limiter if you didn't shift it. After the fix they made it so the trans, even in auto-stick, would upshift at "red line".

To answer your question: Yes, (and a little no).
The predator can raise your rev limiter so you would avoid the problem of hitting it during WOT upshifts at the stock shift points. If you raise your shift points, the predator will also raise the rev limiter to accomodate the raised shift points.

The predator will not be able to change your auto-stick behavoir unless you have the TSB flash.
If the car will hold the gear no matter what in auto-stick mode the predator will not be able to change that.
If you have the TSB flash and the car will automatically upshift in auto-stick then the predator will give you the option of selecting the old behavior of holding the gear.

Your friend should get the TSB update. It's better and the predator will give you all the options so you won't be losing anything if you prefer the "before TSB" shift behavior. Also, you'd need to find a copy of the CROM to support the old calid. There have been a lot of improvements in the CROMs (and tunes) since then. If he sticks with the before TSB calid the CROM he would have to use with the Predator won't include all those improvements.

[kwaziekeller]

Thanks for the fast response guys. My car is an '07 so I wasn't clear on how the predator will interface with the '06 cars that haven't had the TSB update/TCM reflash from Dodge. I'll recommend he gets the TSB from Dodge, and then if he wants to disable the auto-upshift that is included with the TSB then the predator can disable it. I'm pretty sure he'll have to do the DCX calibration update when he first attempts to use the Predator, as I had to with my '07 and I got the Predator as soon as they came out, and that should resolve the calid issue (if I'm not mistaken). I'll help him get everything updated to the latest CROM's etc.

[Quick]

When he gets the updates from the dealer he will have the latest calid. The SRT8s have had very few calid updates (that might be the only one?) so almost any CROM is likely to work with the car after that TSB is applied. The dealer should also apply a couple of other flashes for other modules as well I'd assume they would only charge once for updating everything with the StarScan. The "heartbeat" comes to mind... very subtle, periodic thump from the subwoofer with the car turned completely off -- TSB is to flash the sunroof control module...

Previous owner(s) either didn't want the shift TSB or the car just hasn't been updated with much of anything. He should check into the following issues that he may or may not want to deal with (I don't have the heartbeat one from above):

RAPID RESPONSE TRANSMITTAL/SERVICE ACTION #07-026 (coolant - "cottage cheese in overflow tank")
TSB 02-004-07 (revised alignment specs -- car leads left or right. If it's ok then leave it alone. These are hard to align and most dealers don't get it right)
TSB 05-006-06 (premature rotor grooving -- replace with slotted rotors)
TSB 09-011-06 (whining sound from oil squirters, up to certain engine serial number -- run 15w/50 oil in summer months)
TSB 21-002-05 (transmission fluid leak -- very small, almost every single NAG1 does it -- replace wiring grommet, 15 min repair)
TSB 21-020-06 (SRT8 shift problem -- as above)

[kwaziekeller]

Ok I talked to him after reading the replies earlier. His local dealership is gonna do the TSB reflash (TSB 21-020-06) and then we're gonna install the predator. I'm glad I'm finally selling my extra Predator (I had one and one came with my S/C kit, I didn't try hard to sell it bc I wanted to almost "give" it away to a friend). Also selling him my AFe Stg II intake, he's in for a surprise once we get it installed and the Predator flashed I remember the butt dyno going holy mother of pearl once I got my predator with the same intake on my car

[kwaziekeller]

Okay, I sold him the tuner last night. We had to update the Calid (expected) and the programming went smoothly. We also installed an AFe Stg II intake. He is VERY pleased as the car will now shift quickly and firmly (what he was really after) and easily spins into second. I laughed before we installed it all because he was asking if it was a "noticeable difference" lol. Lets just say the DSP has another satified customer and I made a lil money back on a prior investment.