We Install an Edge L5P Duramax EvoHT2 to Unlock Our Trucks Full Potential

Going back to late 2016, GM had announced the all new L5P Duramax Diesel for the upcoming 2017 model year. That 6.6L Duramax had been completely overhauled form the current 2011-2016 LML generation with major changes both internally and externally. An all new fuel system design, new injectors, different turbocharger, different emissions equipment, it was literally all-new from the oil pan up. Along with those changes came an all new Engine Control Module (ECM) that GM considered impenetrable, so there would be no way for the aftermarket to access, reprogram, flash or make any kind of change to it. This was done for a number of reasons, but meant that the aftermarket would never be able to support performance tuning for the application, creating some major heartburn across our industry.

The all-new EvoHT2 for 2017-2019 L5P Duramax offers the first and only remote ECM unlocking process currently available on the market. The new process allows you to unlock the full potential of the truck with their new Locksmith tool that will unlock the ECM to accept the pre-loaded tuning within the EvoHT2.

Before the release of the EvoHT2, flash tuning the L5P would require ECM removal so it could be shipped off to custom tuning companies to be physically opened up, modified, re-sealed and shipped back to you. But the latest Edge process allows the ECM to unlock electronically saving you the truck down time and hassle of shipping it off.

But of course, like anything, where there is a will, there is a way, and the aftermarket went right to work trying to crack that new ECM. It took some substantial effort and even some years before any real progress was made but over time some options for performance gains were popping up here and there. At first the aftermarket was developing ways to add gains without changing the ECM. Rail pressure and boost fooling boxes, and more basic throttle pedal adjustment devices came first. After a while, someone finally figured out how to open up the ECM, make some physical electronic component changes on the main ECM board and then reseal so it could then accept aftermarket flashing. For the past two or so years, this has been the only way to add performance tuning to your L5P Duramax diesel. Unfortunately, that process has some negative downfalls. First off, vehicle downtime. This process requires you to remove your ECM, ship it off for modification, then get it shipped back to reinstall. Secondly, this means a GM scanner or dealer tool can no longer talk to the ECM, so that factory warranty or future dealer support goes out the window. Lastly, cost. These ECM modifications and the supporting flash tuning has been north of $2500 or more, making it a rather expensive decision to make on top of finding the time to be without a truck to drive for a week or more. There are some aftermarket tuning shops that have smoothed out this process by offering unlocked ECM’s up front in exchange for your stock unit, but the big cost is still there.

The first step to the tuning process with this device requires the ECM unlock using the included EMC harness and Locksmith tool. This requires the ECM fuse under the hood to be removed and replaced with the included fuse tap which will send power through the ECM when needed to perform the unlock.

On the 2012-2019 L5P the factory ECM fuse is this uncommon three pronged fuse, which actually makes it super simple to find and pinpoint with the fuse box. The included fuse tap, while it looks like a fuse, actually won’t be pulling power from the fuse box to send to the device like a traditional fuse tap. It is used to transfer power from the Locksmith to the ECM.

With the Locksmith and ECM unlock harness installed into the truck, the Locksmith OBD-II cable plugs into your truck, and the new EvoHT2 device plugs into the Locksmith. This will allow you to being the ECM unlocking process.

This is where the engineering and development staff at Edge Products comes into the picture. As a leader in performance diesel tuning for over twenty years and with plenty of experience on the L5P platform itself, they knew there had to be a better way. With the success of their Pulsar V3 inline module in the L5P market, which offers impressive power gains and feature control by piggybacking your stock ECM, they set out to not only improve the flash process but entirely reinvent it from scratch. After hundreds of hours, the team at Edge were able to decipher the factory code and ECM read/write process to allow their EvoHT2 and all-new Locksmith device to unlock your ECM through the OBD-II port to then accept flash tuning from the pre-loaded handheld tuner.

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Once the device has been plugged into the truck, you’ll attempt to ‘Tune’ where the handheld will gather VIN and calibration files from your truck, which will then need to be taken back to your PC and updated into the Edge database through their Update Agent software. Edge can then deliver you the proper files to support your specific VIN and ECM.

After downloading Edges Update Agent software from their website, it was as simple as opening the software and plugging the handheld into the PC. The software automatically located the stored files and verified the information, sending us the correct files to go complete our unlock and flash tune the truck.

As the first to market with such a device, there was some skepticism from the industry, as this was a process that had previously been deemed impossible. GM had that ECM locked up tighter than Davies Jones locker, but the Edge device does in-fact work its way around those issues encryption issues. Through proprietary technology developed by Edge Products, the Locksmith device and EvoHT2 work together to electronically unlock the ECM for flashing without ever having to even touch the ECM. This means no ECM cores to deal with. No ECM shipping across the country and back. No messing with fragile ECM connectors and harnesses.

The unlock process will take 20-25 minutes to complete, but once unlocked, the Locksmith device and ECM fuse tap can be removed and will never be needed again. All future tuning and file changes can be done through the EvoHT2 alone. Once removing that Unlock hardware and plugging the device back into the OBD-II port directly, tuning is quick and simple and offers a ton of adjustable features.

One of the most popular adjustable settings is the ability to change the trucks Tire Pressure Monitoring System to accept lower pressure thresholds. So, if you’ve installed bigger aftermarket wheels and tires and would like to lower the pressure at which the light comes on, it’s a simple change with the handheld.

In addition to making the process much simpler, Edge doesn’t change the GM protocol for ECM servicing, so at any time the Edge tuning can be returned to stock settings and the truck can be dropped off at the dealer for service work and GM technicians can flash the latest factory updates into the ECM without issue. The hardware comes with step-by-step instructions for unlocking the ECM and then flashing the pre-loaded tunes into the truck. With four tunes to choose from, you can set your truck up to do exactly what you need whether your towing, daily driving, or trying to embarrass your buddies new Camaro at the stop light.

Edge offers four pre-loaded tunes within the device to fit just about ant driving style and need. Whether your looking for improved economy under cruise and daily driving (+100hp/200tq), Heavy Towing (75hp/150tq), Light Towing (+125hp/250tq) or all out performance (+150hp/350tq). All of these tunes can then be customized by you will all sorts of different variables to fine tune the driving experience.

One of many calibrations changes you can make is the Top Speed Limiter. You can also adjust your idle speed, rev limiter, remember your tow/haul and exhaust brake settings on engine start up, plus a few extras.

As for the tuning itself, Edge prides itself on offering emissions friendly power gains through hundreds of hours of calibration development in their in-house emissions testing cell. All their tunes are created with better economy, power gains, and emissions compliancy in mind. After meeting self-certification standards that meet all of CARB’s top level emissions requirements, Edge releases their tunes to the market with assurance even their 150hp tune will pass testing at the CARB EO facilities. While the device isn’t currently 50-state legal as they wait for CARB officials to review the submission and documentation before signing the EO paperwork, it is 49-state compliant currently. So users can rest easy knowing the files will be safe for an otherwise stock truck, helping to ensure your trucks emissions equipment stays happy as well.

Going back to those of you with aftermarket wheels and tires, the EvoHT2 can even calibrate your speedometer to read correctly with the larger tires. By quickly measuring the height of your tires mounted on the truck, you can input that data into the device and start seeing a more accurate MPH, avoiding those unwanted speeding tickets.

Once you’ve created your own customized tune file, you can then download the file into your unlocked ECM, a process that will take around 4-5 minutes to fully flash. The handheld has on screen prompts to walk you through this, step-by-step. Edge has done a great job making this very user friendly and intuitive.

While the device is preloaded with their tuning files, Edge does give you, the truck owner, some customizable options within the device so you can fine tune those calibrations to best fit your driving style and needs. Users have the ability to adjust throttle pedal sensitivity, calibrate the speedometer for tire size or gear ratio changes, remember your Tow/Haul and Exhaust Brake settings on engine start-up, adjust you engine idle, rev limiter, and speed limiter settings as well. The device can handle an Allison transmission relearn, perform a manual DPF regen, read and clear trouble codes and even adjust your TPMS settings.

Once the flash has completed, the device will prompt you to Open, Close, and lock the driver side door, you’ll then wait around one minute for the vehicles ECM and other modules to fully power down. Once that is complete, the handheld can be unplugged and stashed away. Fire that trucks up and take it for a spin.

While not required, the Edge Insight CTS3 monitor is also a great upgrade for the L5P Duramax owner giving you excellent monitoring capabilities. The Insight allows you to see exactly what’s going on under the hood, watch EGT’s while towing, coolant temp, boost, even monitor your DPF soot accumulation, regen status and miles driven since your last regen cycle. Their vehicle specific a-pillar mount makes for a great fit and finish too.

You wouldn’t think something that arrives in these two small boxes could have so much potential but Edge has really revolutionized the L5P Duramax tuning market with this first to market ECM Unlock tool for the 2017-2019 model trucks. With the 2020-2023 model year support coming very soon.

On their chassis dyno in Ogden, UT one of their test trucks in stock form laid down 378hp/882ft-lbs of torque. With no other modifications to the truck but the ECM unlock and the Extreme tune flashed picked up 147hp/362ft-lbs torque, bring final peak numbers to 525hp/1244tq to the tires! Those are massive gains for a emissions friendly truck and something you most definitely will feel from the seat. Testing shows 1.3-seconds quicker and 8+mph gains in the quarter mile. In the milder tunes, like the Heavy Tow file, owners will love the added low end grunt and performance while dragging a massive trailer over the longest grades. EGT’s are kept in check and under similar driving conditions, distance between DPF regens and Urea consumption doesn’t seem to change much either.

Edge supplied us with this dyno chart from their in-house testing showing the massive gains that are to be had with this new emissions friendly tuning. In a completely stock truck, running nothing but the EvoHT2 Extreme tune, peak gains were up 147hp/362tq! That’s over 500-rear wheel tire shredding horsepower.

This all-new process completely changes everything you once knew about tuning the L5P Duramax and will lead our industry into the future with even more capabilities. At the time of this article being put together Edges support only covered the 2017-2019 model years, but the 2020-2023 support was going to be releasing soon, if not by the time this article hits newsstands. The EvoHT2 is a great tuning option that can do things to the L5P Duramax we once didn’t think possible. The simple and easy to use interface, makes this no brainer if you’re looking to add power or mileage to your GM diesel truck.