Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) caTCHER ecm (Marco's aka MAD)

[jtisdale]

When I bid on ebay stuff, I get right in and bid. I place my bid to within 25% of what I'll pay. I have been screwed quite a few times waiting till the last minute. But, I have never paid more than I wanted to for an item. If someone else pays too much, thats there problem, not mine.

 

[Rman]

Re: eBay bidding SOAPBOX Editorial

Originally posted by John - K5AWO

Yes,



What I have feared is exactly what is happening... .



FOLKS... ... when bidding on eBay, and especially on these ECMs now that Marco has created a new market for them.



Please wait until the last 2-3 minutes to enter your bids.

Those who wait, will get a winning bid at the lowest possible value.



If you bid early on in the game, AND set a MAX bid higher than the one currently listed... . You will have started a bidding war that will cause the newbie to auctions to get really sucked into paying a LOT more for an item than they wanted to... all for the sake of "winning".



If we sort of agree on a gentleman's agreement on what these things should be worth; and I have heard folks buying them consistently for UNDER $100. 00 Oo.



Well, then we can all obtain them without paying an exorbitant price. They are only going to show up as supply dictates anyway.



I may be only talking to hear my fingers rattle the keys, but effective auctions, at a good price, are won in the last minute, not in the early stages where you have notified the world of your interest.



My advice is to cool it... Don't tip your hand before the last couple of minutes. Make a decision on your price, watch the clock, and submit it.



Tonight, I watched dkhorse's name pop up consistently thru the bidding. Apparently he had made a bid with a high max price early in the bidding process. It was at $202. 50 until 30 seconds before end time and it went to 242. 50, like bang. Someone made him pay more than what I am willing to pay.



I only bid ONCE, and one time only. That is in the last minute. I make a sane decision as to the value of an item and then I submit that bid.



Okay, I will now get down off my soapbox. I relinguish the podium to the next speaker of the house.

I have to comment on this John, take no offense please. I've been around auctions my entire life and have a great feel for what they are and why they exist.



Now how auctions are supposed to work is this. Now this is ebay auctions mind you. A person makes ONE bid, a bid of what they are willing to pay. You do this at ANY time. A week in advance, an hour in advance it makes no difference because you are willing to pay that amount. If it goes for less, great you got a deal, if not then you lose simple as that. Whatever dollar value you stick in that bid box is what you better expect to pay. Now this sniping tactic in the last minute of the auction is silly. It's nonsense and why people do it is beyond me.



If the "buyer" puts what he is willing to pay that's what he is willing to pay. Now if you're a cheapskate and don't put in there what you REALLY are willing to pay and have to keep on rebidding then well that's the problem.



It's all about fair market value and where the suckers are. My father in law makes a living as an auctioneer and there's always a sucker somewhere.



With Marco's new software demand will increase for these items, and in turn so will the price, I'm sure you're aware of this. Don't think of it as paying too much, market conditions have changed and prices will rise, that's capitalism. I know you understand this, but don't act like people are getting ripped off... It's a fair auction, money is transacting, people want things and are willing to pay for them. Just because the price gets rung up doesn't mean it isn't fair, it means people want it.



Don't mean to bust anyone's bubble here just my thoughts. I'm a ringer at auctions and kind of know a little of the nuiances that most attending do not. It's unfortunate for them, but it's how money is made, I work for the company not for the buyer.

 

[Marco]

mine took 8 weeks FYI

Well, that was because it's been a first batch.



Basically it takes 3 days from the States to me, I've always done my best to send the ECM's back the same day they arrive, 2 days from me to the States ( Time difference).

That means that if one ships a box to me on Monday. UPS does it's thing like they almost always did. It's almost certain that the box is back to you by Friday of the same week you shipped it...



Yes I know that's still a week without the truck... .

Doug is buying as many ECM's as possible... that will enable us to do the deal on a core basis.

BTW. none here willing to sell their spare ECM to Doug?



What are the plans regarding upgrades?



IF I'll ever find that d#§ rev limiter... I'll be glad to upgrade for FREE... You pay for the shipping, I'll do the rest.

Read my lips... ...



For other software upgrades, well it took a lot of time to get the CaTCHER worked out. Difficult to say but I think it's impossible to do better. I've squenched out everything possible from the VP... Only the major fuelling boxes can do more due to the fact that they add a second injection event after the main ( ECM ) one.



Combine one of those with the CaTCHER.....

How about a 'discount' if you supply your own 'core' up front & return one (the original one in truck) after receiving the upgraded version. Maybe limit it to the first *X* customers, to help prime the system

In that case, what about a free CaTCHER?

How long is it going to take for a 3G ECM?

I did not want to let the cat outta the bag... .



I have CaTCHER files for the Common Rail R E A D Y.

The problem is another one.

Let me explain...

With the VP ECM's I take the memory chip and replace it with a new one. ( New software in it... )



The Common Rail ECM's don't have a memory chip. Their data is stored directly into the CPU. The only way to gain access to that memory is via OBD... Like the DRBIII does.



I'm working on it.

No, at this point I don't have an idea on how much longer it'll take. It's more than six month that we're working on it.



Marco

 

[darkhorse]

Rman, I have next to no experience with auctions so I appreciate your input.

 

[willyslover]

Marco. . just a note to say thanks for all the HARD WORK. .



I'll be one of the boxes you do as soon as I find a spare ECM here, sure wish I didn't let the one go to Nowel so he could get the Red Rocket registered [good ol california wouldn't let him register til he had the CARB 98. 5 reflash and he had a Chapple ecm on it so I gave him mine off the wrecked rig]

 

[KatDiesel]

Originally posted by Marco

Doug is buying as many ECM's as possible... that will enable us to do the deal on a core basis.

BTW. none here willing to sell their spare ECM to Doug?



How about a 'discount' if you supply your own 'core' up front & return one (the original one in truck) after receiving the upgraded version. Maybe limit it to the first *X* customers, to help prime the system



In that case, what about a free CaTCHER?



Marco

I'm all ears if something like this becomes available. I have 1 spare ECM right now and always looking for more. Please email me at KatDiesel if you want to discuss it further!

 

[darkhorse]

Marco,

I'd like to second that "Thank you". I'll be contacting Doug as soon as my spare ECM arrives .

 

[tcourse]

Count me in

In that case, what about a free CaTCHER?



Count me in if this deal is available.



TC

 

[Marco]

In that case, what about a free CaTCHER?

Guy's,



Re-reading what I've said here does not make much sense to myself. Please be patient with me my English still isn't as good as I'd like it to be.



Let me try one more time and clear the mud...



What I want to say is rather simple in reality.

I see it this way. You buy a spare ECM to get your hands on a CaTCHER. Once you got the CaTCHER in your truck, what do you do with the other ECM you have for spare now????



Doug and I need ECM's ...



So here is what I thought... .

Once you've got the ECM with the CaTCHER in it, send us back your spare ECM, full refund... ( except the shipping. . )



Hey, I have not talked with Doug about it yet... let's hope I can make him believe that it's a good deal for all of us...



Marco

Edit for typo... typing school.....

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Marco said: "Once you've got the ECM with the CaTCHER in it, send us back your spare ECM, full refund... ( except the shipping. . )"



With a deal like that - I almost wish I had an ISB. (That'll never happen... )



Matt

 

[Rman]

Originally posted by HoleshotHolset

With a deal like that - I almost wish I had an ISB. (That'll never happen... )

OUCH! geez Matt don't hold back tell us how you really feel!

 

[Rman]

Originally posted by Marco

Guy's,



Re-reading what I've said here does not make much sense to myself. Please be patient with me my English still isn't as good as I'd like it to be.



Let me try one more time and clear the mud...



What I want to say is rather simple in reality.

I see it this way. You buy a spare ECM to get your hands on a CaTCHER. Once you got the CaTCHER in your truck, what do you do with the other ECM you have for spare now????



Doug and I need ECM's ...



So here is what I thought... .

Once you've got the ECM with the CaTCHER in it, send us back your spare ECM, full refund... ( except the shipping. . )



Hey, I have not talked with Doug about it yet... let's hope I can make him believe that it's a good deal for all of us...



Marco

Edit for typo... typing school.....

Now I'm confused... are you doing this for free? Less the shipping costs and stuff obviously? Just curious... Good job by the way, you've broken another barrier in the diesel world IMO.

 

[KatDiesel]

Originally posted by Marco

Guy's,



Re-reading what I've said here does not make much sense to myself. Please be patient with me my English still isn't as good as I'd like it to be.



Let me try one more time and clear the mud...



What I want to say is rather simple in reality.

I see it this way. You buy a spare ECM to get your hands on a CaTCHER. Once you got the CaTCHER in your truck, what do you do with the other ECM you have for spare now????



Doug and I need ECM's ...



So here is what I thought... .

Once you've got the ECM with the CaTCHER in it, send us back your spare ECM, full refund... ( except the shipping. . )



Hey, I have not talked with Doug about it yet... let's hope I can make him believe that it's a good deal for all of us...



Marco

Edit for typo... typing school.....

Clear as mud for me. Please contact me if after talking to Doug y'all decide to proceed with some sort of program like this. Even if its a discounted price vs full refund I am still interested.

 

[John - K5AWO]

ECM Core Program

I'm sure that as good as Marco's heart is, that he still needs renumeration for the countless hours he has spent trying to correct the poor programming habits of the EPA requirements.



I'm still on the prowl for an ECM myself, and as noted, if we all try to simualtaneously acquire one from the used parts world, the prices are going to skyrocket. I. E. , the current eBay prices when they were $55 each.



Here is my take on Marco's post:



A few of us manage to snag some ECMs at fair prices.



Please try to keep that under a $100 bucks. Marco is willing to refund that purchase price and use it as his rotating stock.



Then when we "order" up a software upgrade, we prepay the "core charge" plus the upgrade fee.



Marco/Doug/Bob send us a preprogrammed ECM. We then return to them our "core" for Marco to reprogram for the next guy and they refund us the "core charge".



This way we won't have to find a 1000 or more used ECMs.



Is this clear as mud??



Just my take on it... .

 

[darkhorse]

John,



Sorry if I ran the price up to much. I'm not an experienced E-Bayer & I really didn't know who the other bidders were. When I checked yesterday, there were still 2 more listed on E-Bay. One was a little over $150, the last one was even less & had the plug & wiring harness still intact.



R.

 

[John - K5AWO]

dkhorse..... no problems perceived or received. Just enjoy your booty and get it into the "core" pool



If you donate it, you just might get a nice surprise from my read of Marco's postings.



John

 

[JoshPeters]

Originally posted by HoleshotHolset





With a deal like that - I almost wish I had an ISB. (That'll never happen... )



Matt

Same here.....

No offense!



Josh

 

[Marco]

I've talked with the "voice of reason" aka Doug.

Voice of the reason... Doug??? Nahhhhh



After a few considerations I had to agree that completly free isn't possible. Unless proofed otherwise he earns his bread with ADT.

He has to cover shipping costs, credit card processing and the like.



Sooooo ( please roll the drums here )... ... ... ...



Do I have your attention?Oo.



350 refund, if you return us your spare ECM.



Well I think, that's not a bad offer!



Oh, yeah limited to the first 10, TDR members ONLY!



Thanks guys.



Marco

 

[jtisdale]

Hey Darkhorse, can I drive your truck when you get your ecm in?

Thanks, Jim

 

[tractorface]

How do I get one?

OK, I want one too. How about more details. The Smokin Diesel website has some great teasers but how about a more in depth description of what to expect and how to get one assuming I have no spare ECM. BTW, my injection pump is acting up (hard start) I plan on replacing it with a Hot Rod pump soon. I run a Raptor and have no plans to EVER use a "tap wire" box. I assume the HR pump and the Mad ECM will be compatible!??!



All this is gonna spell doom for my Transmission





I love this truck, no matter how much this website makes me spend on it!!!



I just tell the wife it broke and I need new parts, She thinks the CTD is a POS, but she loves driving it!