I Tuned My L5P Duramax With A Pulsar!

Welcome back, guys, to another episode on the channel. Today, man, we are finally tuning the L5P Duramax. Now, if you’re watching this video for reference, this is going to be applicable to a 2017 to 2022 L5P Duramax. I’m going to be installing the Pulsar, a product made by Edge. It’s a tuner for an L5P, and it’s a long time coming, guys. I can’t believe I’ve waited this long, but today is the final day.

Make sure you stay with me, guys. Also, at the end of the video, we are going to be doing a first reaction road test with it. Maybe take her on a little rip—we’ll see what kind of trouble we can get into. But like I told you guys, we have to keep this thing emissions compliant. As much fun as I like having with these trucks, I love the noise, the sound, the turbo—you know what I mean? Man, it is addicting. I love it, but I need to get back down to reality. This is my daily driver.

The cool thing about this programmer is the fact that it’s going to increase my horsepower by, I believe, 130 horsepower and it’ll jump up to about 1,100 foot-pounds of torque. So you’re looking at a truck with just a simple plug-in tuner that will put you well over 500 horsepower and a thousand foot-pounds of torque. I think that’s pretty impressive. But you can be rest assured this will not be my only video on the Pulsar. This is just my first reaction.
I do want to take this thing on a very long test drive. I want to put some miles on this truck and get some real-world experience before I start making assumptions on my very first reaction. I don’t think it’s a fair assessment by just going off of my first test drive, you know what I mean? We really got to drive this thing. But without further ado, I hope you guys enjoy the video. Thank you guys so much for stopping by. Make sure you subscribe. Let’s get this started.

You can tell I’ve done some motor work to this truck already. Of course, I installed the awesome HSP intake, probably one of the best intakes on the market for these L5Ps, as well as the hot side. We also did a cold side pipe, and let’s not forget I also installed the high-flow PPE manifolds as well as up-pipes. I also did an L5P downpipe from PPE, which by the way, I sell on my website. If you guys are interested, definitely check those out. I’ll leave that link in the description.

Here’s the thing: this truck—I’m not trying to make a race truck. I actually pull trailers with this. I haul all of my diesel trucks either to shows, events, Ryan’s Diesel Service, maybe even make a few trips down to Indiana or Illinois. So I’m always running this truck. In today’s video, I’m going to show you guys, of course, how to install the Pulsar. Now, there’s a lot of stuff on the market. I’ve been doing a lot of research, and I’ve narrowed it down to this one right here. I’m hoping that it will surprise me.
But let’s be honest here: why in the world did I wait this long? Well, there’s a big reason for that. I wanted to test out the parts that I installed on this truck. After driving so many miles, I think I put about—I probably put about 4,000 miles on this L5P Duramax, and I wanted to do that with the performance parts that I already installed just to see if there are any improvements in gains. For example, turbo boost, drive pressure, EGTs, miles per gallon, and just overall drivability.

I wanted to get my own real-world experience before I make a decision on whether or not these parts are actually worth it. So the Edge is about $450 to $500. The Pulsar, you’re looking at anywhere between $850 to $900 on this unit, and the mount for the L5P is about 50 bucks. This is probably my biggest bang for my buck because if I was to go after the modified ECUs that are on the market, I mean, you’re looking anywhere in excess of about $2,500. This is already mapped and ready to go, and this is exactly what I’m trying to go after.

This is what it’s going to look like when you unbox it. This is going to be plugged right directly into your ECU. I’m going to show you guys how to pull that out of your truck here in a second. The other thing that I’m going to do is show you guys what parameters I monitor on my Edge monitor. I know a lot of guys ask me that question, so I’ll go through that process as well. These are really simple—simply plug and play. There’s your OBD2 cable that connects right underneath your dash. I’ll show you how I mount that.
There’s not a lot of information other than what Edge posts on YouTube. I was checking all that out, but my good friend JW Montoya—make sure you check him out—that guy did a tremendous job making a video on the V3 Pulsar and what he actually thinks about it. This guy’s actually got a 2020 AT4 GMC Duramax. This thing is so sweet. But let me give him a call and see what he thinks about the Pulsar. Hey buddy. Hey, what’s up?

Hey, question. Sure. So I just got the Pulsar V3 tuner for my L5P. I was watching YouTube the other day, just kind of getting some more information, and it seems like you’re the only one that really documented the process and sort of like how you feel. But what is your take? I mean, from start to finish, was it worth it? When you have a deleted truck, any canned tune, you’re not really impressed. I will say with the Pulsar, I was actually impressed at the amount of power and the difference it made driving the truck.

Okay, and I know you talked about sensitivity in the pedal. Is that a real thing? Oh, it’s legit. Okay, so with the Pulsar, you know, with the Banks, they have the Pedal Monster and the Derringer, and they sell it separately. With the Pulsar, they actually have the throttle booster built into the Pulsar itself. If you go to the settings, you can actually adjust throttle sensitivity per tune, like per power level. If you like it on your highest tune but you don’t like how sensitive that pedal is, you can always change it to like moderate or sport or whatever the options are. You have like four or five different options.
Okay, it’s pretty legit. It’s kind of cool to talk to somebody that has experience. I did it on my dad’s truck. I did it on probably like two other trucks, and every time I’m pretty impressed with how it drives. Awesome, man. Well, okay, I appreciate your input, man. That’s really good. Yes, sir.

Okay, so first things first, we’re gonna go ahead and install the Edge GTS3 monitor. First, I’m gonna go ahead and remove this access panel. It’s held on by these little body clips right here, as you can see, and they clip right into these little spots. You’re gonna have to pop those up. Use a body trim panel tool. Here’s the steering wheel. Just go ahead and go underneath the dash, and there’s your OBD2 port, which you’re going to be plugging into harness to, which is supplied in the kit, as you guys can see.

What we’re going to do is simply run this stuff underneath the dash and then fish it right through here. We’re gonna go ahead through this dash panel. Now, up here on the top, you’re gonna go ahead and remove this little plastic cover that goes right there. Once you do that, you’re gonna go ahead and remove this 10-millimeter bolt out of there. Go ahead and get that in place. Then, you’re gonna go ahead and put your mount inside like that. You’re gonna have a long bolt and a flat washer. Go ahead and take your monitor.
As you can tell, right on the back, just locate the two little holes that slide these two fittings right into them. That’s what’s gonna secure that in place. Then after that, I’m gonna go ahead and plug in my cable to the back of the monitor. Tighten everything up, especially right here, as well as the back. So the excess is right here. I tucked it in back there, as well as right here. After that, reinstall your access panel, and you’re good to go.

In order to change your parameters, all you gotta do is just double-click on the one that you want to change. For example, I want to monitor my EGT, so just hit save, and there you go—you have your EGT. This is what I like to monitor: engine speed, boost right here, transmission fluid temperature, run time—that’s always a big thing for me, especially when I’m on a long trip. It gives me a good idea of how long I’ve been driving since I turned the truck off.

Engine coolant temp, DPF status, intake air temperature, exhaust gas temperature—which is always important, especially when you’re pulling a trailer. As you can tell, there’s way more parameters you can monitor on this right here versus the first one. You can read and erase trouble codes. This is a huge plus if you have a DPF because you can actually manually regen your diesel. That’s kind of neat. Just wanted to show you how useful these Edge monitors are. But now that we have that done, let’s go ahead and install the Pulsar.
Okay, so first, we’re gonna go ahead and locate our ECM, which is this guy right here. We’re gonna disconnect these connectors right here to the ECM before we remove it. So, as you can see, you have these little locking tabs. Basically, push down with your thumb and, at the same time, just pull up. That’s how you do that. When you’re done, just go ahead and slide this all back in place and lock that in. First, I’m going to go ahead and remove this one. Just pull back, push down, pull back—just like that.

So that’s your first one, blue connector. Once you’ve removed the blue connector and the center one, we’re going to go ahead and locate that 10-millimeter bolt. There’s only one. After that, as you can see, we have free movement in order to remove the rest of the ECM so we can get that third connector unclipped back here. Once you’ve slid this out, you’re gonna have this last connector to disconnect. Again, you’re gonna wanna push down on that, pull back, and of course, push that tab down while you’re pulling back.

Alright, so now that we have the computer out of the truck, we’re going to go ahead and plug in our Pulsar. You have a smaller connection and a larger connection. Just make sure once you plug this thing in that it’s oriented exactly where it needs to be placed because you don’t want to bend any pins or connectors. So we’re going to put this on right now. Next, we’re going to go ahead and install our brackets so this thing doesn’t move away from the actual computer.
Flip it upside down, go ahead and take a smaller bracket, and then in the kit included, you’re gonna have four little screws. So you’re gonna go ahead and just secure this in with screws. Now that I’m done screwing this down, we’re going to go ahead and take this bracket, the bigger one, line it up, and then go ahead and just screw it in just like the bottom one. If you’re watching this video for reference, the bigger bracket is going to be facing towards the top where you see the word Pulsar. Once we’re done with that, we’re going to go ahead and put it back in the truck.

Alright, so next, we’re going to go ahead and reinstall it. The bigger connector right here, we’re going to go ahead and plug that in right now. Go ahead and pull back on this hose and start fishing it all the way down so you get right below the power steering pump. Once you get to that point, you’re gonna have enough access to clip in the middle connector. Once you clip that middle connector in, then you’re gonna work its way up and then go ahead and sit it back in its mount.

We’ll go ahead and put the two 10-millimeter bolts on the top, and then after that, of course, we’re going to plug in the blue connector, and then we should be good to go here. Okay, so we’re done with the install. One thing I didn’t mention was these little clips right here that need to be inserted inside that bracket that we installed. But that’s where the nut bolt washer and lock washer are going to be installed as well as this side.
Overall, guys, not too bad. Not gonna lie though, that was kind of a pain trying to get it in there correctly without, you know, pinching anything like these big wiring connectors and such. But really, not a bad job. It’s not too crazy. Anyone can do this. What I do love about the Pulsar is the fact that it’s hidden. You can’t even really see it. There’s really not much of a real modification that needs to be done inside that engine bay. Simply right here, it’s not a huge deal.

Now, if you do have a 2017, it will be a little different because you’re going to have your TCM connector right here, so you will have to remove that and get that out of the way when you actually install this product. But I fought with it for about 20 minutes trying to make sure everything was lined up correctly. Let’s go ahead and get inside the truck and get the settings correct, and then after that, let’s hit the road.

With the key in the on position, this is how you actually know what tune you’re in or how to change it on the fly while you’re driving. So let’s just say I’m driving. You’re gonna have that plus and minus sign on your steering column. As you guys can see, we’re at zero miles per hour. If I was to hit that plus button, it’ll jump up to ten. What that means is that I’m in tune one. If I was to hit it again, it would go up to 20 miles per hour, indicating that I’d be in tune two, and so on and so forth.

I’m in tune three, tune four, and tune five. Now that we have the vehicle running, hit the cruise control button, and then go ahead and either hit the up or down button depending on where you want the high idle to be at. Right now, I’m hitting up. This is always a good thing to have, especially during those cold winter months. You can set it where you want, and the engine will warm up a lot quicker. If you want to exit out of that mode, just hit the cruise control button and it’ll turn right off.

Again, this is how it goes. There’s no tune right now. Push up, now I’m on tune one, tune two, tune three, tune four, and tune five. That’s pretty much it, guys. It’s really simple, and yes, you could drive the truck with it on cruise control. Okay guys, so I’m on the road right now. I have not got on it yet. Actually, my wife’s holding the camera. As you can tell, guys, I’m all set up. I have the Edge TTS3 monitor installed. I love this mount. The thing is super solid. It’s not going anywhere—no more suction cup.

So, we like to party. Let’s—we’re going to go up to tune five. Alright, so now we’re in tune five. We’re doing about 40 miles per hour. Let’s just go ahead and flat-foot it. Wow, I felt like I was on a roller coaster. Dude, this isn’t the race truck, man, but it feels like it, man. This thing would beat the LBZ. Wow, let’s do that again. Alright, hold on. Oh yeah, dude, I hit 70 like that—like it was effortless. Yeah, that’s pretty fast, man. That’s pretty fast.
You think so? Yeah. Not as fast as your truck though. I don’t know. Really? I mean, this truck is stock—like up-pipes, downpipe, and HSP stuff. That’s about it. There’s really not much to it. Alright, here we go. We’re on a private road. Don’t worry about it, everybody—we’re in Mexico.When it gets going, when the turbo spools, and then I get up on boost, it does lag a little bit in between shifts that I’m noticing. Yeah, I heard that.

So I don’t know exactly what that’s all about. It may be a trans-safe deal, but regardless, this thing will throw you in your seat, man. This truck is fast. I mean, I can literally bury the speedometer. Guess this is stock. I know, I’m telling you, that’s crazy. Like I said, it’s just bolt-on parts. There’s up-pipes, a manifold, and a downpipe. That’s it. Oh, and the HSP stuff. So that’s pretty impressive, man. I bet you if I stuck a Ryan’s Diesel Service turbo in this thing, this truck would pull like a freight train.

See, the good thing about my truck versus an L5P, like a 2020, is that this has a six-speed Allison trans instead of a ten-speed Allison, which are very problematic. I think I have the best of both worlds. I have the GMC Denali, and I still have the old-school Allison six-speed. So this is a good combination other than the fact that the 2020 trucks—they just look better. You know, they have a bigger body to them. There’s just more room inside there. But I’m happy with this truck. I really am.

Alright, you want to drive? You don’t want me to drive? Why? Because you’re driving, I might crash. Seriously? Alright, just hop right over that seat, huh? Yep, buckle up. You want me to get on it? Yeah, you might as well. Oh dear. The EGTs are getting lower now. Yeah, DPF just turned off, so that means that it’s cooling down finally. But yeah, it was doing a regen while I was trying to test the truck, of course.

Well, dang, now I really want to drive the thing. This is addicting, guys. I need to stop. Alright, we’re doing tow mode again. She moves. Here’s the thing, guys: when we were doing the test, I guess I wasn’t paying attention, but the truck was actually doing a regen while we were driving. EGTs were super high. Now, it’s not actually performing the regen mode, so that’s why it was shifting funny. So now, actually, you got the real reaction here.

Okay, well, it was shifting pretty good. I mean, it was going pretty fast. The first time it was. I mean, we floored it a couple of times, and it didn’t do that weird shifting stuff. Yeah, it was right when the DPF turned on. I hate this stupid thing, man. I just wish I could see it gone completely. Bye-bye. Yeah, I don’t know about these times. Yeah, how much diesel fuel just burned doing this? I burnt a lot of diesel fuel. Diesel is like $4.79 here. Yeah, it hasn’t really gone