Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) 24-Valve Love

[jgillott]

You are going to love the Smarty. Very quality piece of equipment. The only thing that I will tell you is that the power is delivered with a much different feel than the Edge. The Smarty programs will give you a lot of improvement in throttle response and power off idle. It's will not feel like the Edge where it needs to get the rpms up a little before you feel the extra fueling.

 

[jgillott]

Oh, and careful with it in the ice/bad weather. It will take a little getting used to the throttle.

 

[JR]

I run Catcher #5 on a day to day basis. Its a good boost in power, and the egt's are manageable while towing. #7 and #9 are fun to play with, 7 is actually ok to tow for the most part but Ive been loaded heavy and had to drive with the egt gauge a few times on larger grades. I feel more comfortable with #5, and thats where I leave it. Then you can play with the timing, torque and the duration, it makes a little difference but not much. They havent spent nearly the time fine tuning the smarty for the 2nd gens as they have with the CR engines. Its a great tuner though, you wont be disapointed.
If you dont have the high idle software yet, the smarty will enable it.
Oh another thing. There is an economy tune for fuel mileage, Ive hand calculated my mileage and actually do better running #5 than running the mileage tune.

 

[ChrisOlson]

Great Thanks I hope that the High Idle software is already installed. I am excited yet apprenhisive as I am a creature of habit and do not like change.



Thanks Again I hope I will LOVE my truck More

 

[JR]

If you dont have it now the Smarty will update your ecm with the high idle when you download a tune. I can also turn you on to a guy that makes a high idle mod. You can force your truck into high idle or 3 cylinder idle any time regardless of temperature. Its a great investment, makes warm up time much quicker in cold weather. It uses all factory receptacles, so its plug and play no cutting and splicing of wires.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Putting a Blue Chip VP44 on there is definitely showing your '99 some love Chris Good to see you chime in here, was nice to see you at the Feb BOMB party a couple years ago. I'm sure your 99 could tell some stories if it could talk traveling all those miles over so many highways. My '96 has been to Maine, Florida, Texas and CA but haven't ventured outside the lower 48. I took my first '01 to Hay River NWT in 2002. I do enjoy road trips when I get the time to take them.

 

[ChrisOlson]

Vaughn

yes it was great going to the FEB BOMB a few years ago. I met some great people there including yourself and again the 99 (BARNEY) has been very very good. SO now including the Blue Chip, the Smarty my mechanic found the U joint on the passenger side cracked I told him to replace both. Barney is getting MUCH love. On a good note the Mechanic has asked my advice about other customers dodge issues and was impressed with all the doodads and how well i take care of my truck.



Chris

 

[ChrisOlson]

Putting a Blue Chip VP44 on there is definitely showing your '99 some love Chris Good to see you chime in here, was nice to see you at the Feb BOMB party a couple years ago. I'm sure your 99 could tell some stories if it could talk traveling all those miles over so many highways. My '96 has been to Maine, Florida, Texas and CA but haven't ventured outside the lower 48. I took my first '01 to Hay River NWT in 2002. I do enjoy road trips when I get the time to take them.

Vaughn
Yes I dropped off for a while been busy moving I moved from Juneau to Wasilla to be closer to the Grand Kids. No fun since I last saw you at the bombing party. I am about to take the 99 for some fun Going to load up the fiver and the harley and head for FLA for 3 months I am more confident with the truck now as I drive it on a daily basis after the new Blue Chip install.

Diesel 4 life. Could you tell me more about the High idle how do i make it work. the Smarty is supposed to have all the recent up grades??

and finally the UPDATE

Got the truck back. New Blue Chip VP44. With the Blue Chip BEST UPGRADED Blue Chip Rebuilt VP44 Injection Pump $2475. 00 i purchased the Cover with the Tap connetion for the pump wire as i was going to reinstall the edge COmp. The Shop talked me into the Smarty and out of reinstalling the edge Comp. as I was looking for long term relaibility. I have all gauges big air in and Big down tube and big exhaust out. Stock injectors and built transmission. as I said before i dont like change. anyway been driving the truck on smarty level 7. Hard to compare to a edge Comp on 5X5 That really made a difference. Since I will be pulling my 5ver soon to FLA I am going to leave it at this level and see what happens I am very happy with the diesel shop. they took good care of my truck protected the seats and at this point i am very satisfied. The owner knew I was going to be going on this road trip so he did a thorough inspection and found a U joint on the Right front axel cracked. I had him replace both. As far as the Smarty ??? we will see how i feel after i play with it some more and tow with it. ROKS Diesel Performance in Wasilla AK did my work I am A very Difficult customer in general and they did great by me.

Thanks for reading.

Chris

 

[JR]

Hey Chris, the smarty updated your ecm with the necessary TSB's if your truck wasnt already updated. You mentioned your running around on Catcher #7, when you downloaded that (or any other Catcher tune) is when the Smarty would have updated your ecm. This is how the high idle works: 6 cylinder high idle will be enabled approximately 1 - 2 minutes after you start your truck if the IAT (Intake Air Temp sensor) reads 32 degrees or colder. If the IAT registers 15 degrees or colder the 3 cylinder high idle will be enabled. This is where the truck ramps up like it normally would in 6 cylinder high idle and then the ecm cuts fuel to 3 cylinders. This forces the 3 live cylinders to drag the 3 dead ones, which generates heat quickly. The first time you hear it you may be alarmed, it does not sound normal at all. But dont worry, this is a software from Dodge not Smarty it wont hurt a thing. The one thing Ive found is that it actually has to be colder outside than the temps I posted above (32 and 15 degrees) for the high idle to be enabled. This is because those temps are being taken from the intake where the temperature is warmer than ambient air. So in other words if its 30 degrees out and your truck does not kick into high idle, it simply means the intake temps are warmer (grid heater functions, turbo, etc). Ambient air temp has to be closer to the low to mid 20s from my experiences. Also, if you plug your truck in at night, the elevated coolant temps will negate the high idle regardless of how cold it is. Like I was saying in my post from a few days ago, Ive got control of my high idle functions through a toggle switch so I can enable high idle or 3 cylinder idle at my discretion regardless of temperature. If someday you decide your interested in one let me know and I can give you the contact information of the guy that makes them.

Glad you got your truck back on the road, let us all know what you think of the Smarty when you have some miles under your belt with it

JR

 

[ChrisOlson]

Thanks Diesel 4 life

Chris

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Hey Vaughn, tried to respond to your PM, but your mailbox is full...

ANYWAY, looking forward to a possible meeting!

 

[ChrisOlson]

Quick update



Drove through the wildes of canada to haines AK 2 days driving with the smarty set on 7 There are some serious hills I was pulling a small boat trailer and the truck was stuffed with gear I was not all inmpessed with accleration up a hill but otherwise I was very happy with the performance of the smarty... I will be picking up my toyhauler tommorrow and I will up date Later.



Chris

 

[Bob4x4]

There is no add on box that can add more than about 60-65 HP without tapping the pump. 65hp is not huge once you have played with a common rail

 

[Bob Wagner]

Still going strong 12plus years . Completely satisfied!

 

[FTwardoch]

My '01 bought in 2004 with 31k on the odometer, ow has 162k. Pulls my 30', 8000 lb travel trailer well with my mods up over Mt Hood. Mach 1 injectors, Smarty on 8, Drag Comp on 3, runs nice. Still has stock HY-9 so that is something I'm considering changing out for more air. Just dropped a few thousand $$$ at Rips on head gasket, front case oil leak, ball joints (3rd time), rear brakes, assorted maintenance items along with twin Optima red tops. Ouch but it's paid for and does it all, drives like a sports car, has killer stereo, sunroof and everything I want it has.

 

[JR]

What size tires are you running? They look well balanced with the truck. How come you run your Smarty on 8? Do you get added timing out of your Drag Comp?

 

[FTwardoch]

What size tires are you running? They look well balanced with the truck. How come you run your Smarty on 8? Do you get added timing out of your Drag Comp?

Thanks. Tires are BFG Mud Terrains 315/75R16.



Run Smarty on 8 because the Comp takes care of the timing, correct.

 

[MPalachuk]

Well I bought my 99 in January of 2004 it was a one owner truck with 100,800 miles, It has 201,700 miles. When I bought the truck the dealer had to put a lift pump and filter in. I installed a Detroit locker in the rear and leveling spacers in the front soon after buying it. Also ran a Edge ez box for many years, Then it died at about 160,000 and I put a Smarty on it and gauges . About 163,000 I messed up pulling our 30ft trailer up the pass and melted the trans, Made it home by the skin of my teeth and then had the trans updated. At about 165,000 I lost my first vp44, Put a new one in and a fast pump system.
Truck has been great, The old 99 needs some love ball joints and u-joints are still the factory stock ones and I am looking at having it painted. I am thinking about a 3rd gen, 2006 Mega cab for some room for the family. Just don't know if it is worth it, The room would be cool but sounds like more problems with ball joints and u-joints, Also fuel system.

 

[AClayton]

I am sinking more and more money in mine and I feel it is worth it. If you take time to read all the hassles our brothers are going through in the 4th gen forums, you will quickly see that updating the older trucks seems to be the right thing to do. I would hate to spend $60 or more on a truck and have that many problems!

I have installed new springs and control arms, painted my rig, added new shocks all the way around, beefed up the front steering, added a new air-bag upgrade and I am currently in the process of upgrading a Dana 80 w/disc brakes to go in. About $8k spent already on a 13 yr old truck but only a fraction of what a new truck will run. These pre-emission trucks are getting top dollar in the used truck ads and I think it will only get better.

 

[benhall]

I've got 175k on my 02 that I bought new. This truck has seen some extremes from starting out in Iowa to SW Oklahoma, the Florida panhandle, eastern North Dakota and now back to Iowa for a few years while I'm in Turkey. Bombing has been limited to a BHAF, Smarty (on level 3), RV275s, exhaust and a DSS. I have been lucky with only needing to replace one VP @ 50k miles, 3 LP's, front brakes @ 135k miles, flywheel and clutch were replaced/upgraded when the rear main seal was replaced, one ball joint and both unit bearings once. While I'm here in Turkey, the truck is going to get a new coat of black paint and some other visual upgrades. I plan on keeping this truck for a long time.