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

[amillstream]

Clutch and traction challenger is right. I'm thinking with my dd2's and comp with the catcher, that the ofe might start slipping on me soon. Its fine for now but getting on it hard a couple of times, I thought I felt it starting to slip in 6th gear on 5x5. I don't think I'm exceeding the hp limits of the ofe yet but I think when we finally get some dyno numbers, the torque curves and peak torque will be considerably higher and come up faster with the catcher. I think this thing is doing more than an ez but I am limiting myself on hp because I'm still on the stock charger.

 

[24V-DSL]

My CaTCHER experience

~300 miles. I'm basically at sea level. Don't tow or off-road. Most observations with comp on level 2, sub 3. In over 101K on my truck it had never been on cruise control... don't like it... . but I did a 3 mile test, and it worked.



Agree with all the raves. The responsiveness of the truck has to be experienced to believe. Made the throttle adjustment pretty quickly. I actually love it as I now have to DRIVE my truck, and pay much more attention to what I'm doing. Smoke is easily controllable, but at least twice as worse than before if I get sloppy. Like the challenge of trying to not smoke by rolling on the throttle from start or anywhere else with no or little boost. Did I say responsive?



I don't need dyno numbers. If you like performance, and if Marco offered a money-back guarantee if you didn't like the performance, bet there wouldn't be any returns. I can think of at least one TDR contributing writer who wouldn't be a strong candidate for this



I'm keeping my stock ECM. This thing could be squirrely on wet or icey pavement. Might be a little too touchey for off-roaders? Lot's of winter rain in Oregon..... just have to see, but remember Marco told us to be careful.



I'm gonna be real careful about letting anyone else drive my truck. If you can't walk and chew gum at the same time... . sorry. Not trying to imply that this thing is dangerous, but IMO, this is a "drivers" bomb.



Edit: THANK YOU, MARCO !!

 

[Bob Wagner]

you guys with touchy go pedals must have heavy feet If anyone is interested I should have 10 ecm within the next 7-10 days

 

[pgleavitt]

Are they stock or have they had the Marco touch. Whats the price on a 2000 manual trans. model?

 

[Whiskey]

you guys with touchy go pedals must have heavy feet If anyone is interested I should have 10 ecm within the next 7-10 days

Bob, Where can we get prices on these...



whiskey

 

[Bob Wagner]

The way that I have been doing business is to pass along the ecm to the buyer at my cost as long as I get paid my fee for the reflash.



No price increase at all, and yes I am an authorized reseller through Doug at ADT.



I am offering the ecm's at cost as a service to make the transaction that much easier.



Fair shake/square deal - money back if not satisfied



Thanks

 

[DWeiler]

I might be interested bob ,PM with a price,I'm gonna have to find a way to slip this past the little woman thought

 

[darkhorse]

I'll second that!

this is a "drivers" bomb.



Edit: THANK YOU, MARCO !![/QUOTE]

 

[KatDiesel]

Sure is a long three weeks... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

 

[GIT-R-DONE]

Sure is . . :-laf

 

[Murle]

Ditto!!!!!!!!!

 

[PRyker]

Couple of things guys...



1. Was unable to attend the MDTDR dyno day so have no dyno results. Probably would not have mattered anyways since transmission feels mushy now.



2. I have noticed that with the MAD ECM my transmission seems to hunt more when shifting. There will be times when it will shift into third and then back to second almost immediately while accelerating smoothly. It is very annoying. I saw a post about placing a resistor somewhere to eliminate this but I did not have it before the MAD ECM. It started as soon as I attached this. I also read where DOdge recommends a re-flash for people having this problem telling me it is in the software somewhere. Do you think Marco's software may have this bug as well??



3. transmission is so erradic now. Sometimes it works great and holds the power and sometimes it is soooo mushy. Today it was crisp and seem to function b etter than other days. I am looking for a transmission shop so I hope she holds for another few weeks.



Thats all I have



Thanks



Phil

 

[JyRO]

Howdy Fellers -



I have read 44 pages of this stuff. What a great bunch of work from Marco, and a heck of a thread. I would like to add a non-technical note. I don't think you guys will see much of a hp/tq increase (kind of like Marco has stated) at a dyno, with a CaTCHER vs stock type condition.



BUT! One additional thing to understand about hp/tq curves. In the case of our trucks (at least for me), the thing that's important is the amount of AREA UNDER THE CURVE. This seems to be what Marco's CaTCHER is all about. It doesn't add much height or vertical gain in the curves as it seems to add area under the curve, closer to the low rpm area. And it doesn't just shift the curves ... that implies it would work better down low, sacrificing the top end, for example. It simply adds area under the curve, specifically in the low rpm range.



Now, to the sensitivity. Personally I'm a little questionable about this. Not that my wife drives my truck much, but if she was to need to drive it, I wouldn't want her blowing the clutch off trying to jack-rabbit away from a traffic light (we all know they never do that, do they) and not be savy with the technique required with the CaTCHER, burning rubber off the tires (that's my job), running into the back of someone because she's not used to the quick acceleration. Sure she'd get used to it, but she's not mechanically inclined and may take her *too much* time to get used to it. By the time she does get used to it, what has the truck had to withstand?



I'm not putting this CaTCHER ECM down in the least. But I've just got through reading a few posts saying that they're getting as much performance out of the CaTCHER alone at 1/4 throttle, as they used to get with 3/4 throttle before the CaTCHER with their EZ (or substitute your box here). The statements went somewhat like that. My point is converse to that statement. I'm getting as much performance as the CaTCHER only, with my EZ, even though its taking 3/4 throttle to do it. In my perception, I have no experience with this ECM whatsoever, (so my conjecture may all be wrong), wouldn't I have an easier time with throttle modulation with my "more stock-like" set-up, than with a CaTCHER? So what do I care where my throttle pedal is ... I want as much power as I want. This is hard to explain.



I don't want to have to worry about a novice class driver jumping in my truck and doing damage to it drivetrain wise or any other way due to 'hyper-sensitivity. ' I guess that's it, ----> what I'm trying to get at. I hate to label it this way, because I'm ignorant on the actual driveability of the CaTCHER, but from what I'm reading, it seems the CaTCHER may be, 'hyper-sensitive. '



I'm not bothering to put a flame suit on, because I'm not flaming. Just asking questions, trying to get a feel for this thing. Marco, I have nothing but respect and admiration for your hard work, skills, and intelligence. Thank you very much for giving us TDR members such an exciting product consider, buy, and use.



- JyRO

 

[darkhorse]

JyRO, I have about 1,000 miles on my MAD CaTCHER, now. Honestly I wouldn't call it "hyper sesitive" I'd call it extremly resopsive. If your wife has no trouble handling your truck now, I'm sure a short orientation spin with a MAD ECM & she'll be looking for excuses to run out on errands.

 

[Bob Wagner]

Maybe it depends on ato vs. stick The pedal is not that touchy at all to be worried about.



I just took my truck in today to have a set of tires installed.



I watched as the installer drive my truck into the stall to do the swap.



Things noted.



get into truck. lower windows. turn the key then engage into drive



procede into bay without any trouble



The key may be transmission related the more I drive the more I and that is without any other fueling box.



I know that other were (are) concerned with touchy pedal but I bet after time its a non issue.



I am willing to purchase (at their cost)any ecm's that are not up to their standards or expectations. ( 30 -45 day limit) for those who sell their trucks



Cheers

 

[RCone]

Richard, no offense but I tend to disagree and if your are honest with yourself I believe that, you will see my point that I am about toi make. The previous repsonse was long winded-ed, but i can see his point. This mod is for those who are looking to squeeze the last bit performance out of their truck..... I heretofore, have been rather kind in suggesting that the throttle is more responsive, when in actuallity it is a lot more touchy. My buddy, 24-VDSL ( Joe) was right one. Actually you have to learn to drive your truck different. No offense to the ladies, cause I know you could learn, but the curve is a whole lot different now. Different strokes for different folks. Nuff said for now, comprende?

 

[John - K5AWO]

I'm anxious to get a hold of one and try it on my bone stock truck. From what I have pieced together out of all the reads, it is just going to make the truck drive more like a sports car that wants to go.



As mentioned previously, I had a Mercury Capri XR2 Turbo. A sporty little "bottle rocket" that was just simply fun to drive. It wouldn't win the Grande Prix, or out run a Ford Mustang, or an Impala SS. It was just fun to drive..... if that is what I get from Marco's ECM, then I will be pleased as punch.



-John



Still waiting on my ECM to show up at the front step! Not anxious about it either. Yeah, sure, I never fib.

 

[darkhorse]

Throttle response: very responsive or too touchy? I guess that's a subjective call. I've driven with mine over 1,000 miles now & I love it. I don't find it a problem even over wash outs but then even with the stock ECM I'd idle over the deep ruts to avoid bumping the go pedal. I'm only running mach 1. 5's, perhaps with 2. 4's I'd find the throttle getting too touchy.

 

[JyRO]

Well, I'm glad you guys took my reply in the way it was meant. I sometimes come off as, 'trying to stir the pot. ' Which I'm not trying to do. I give my wife all the credit in the world, she's an excellent driver. She's excellent as far as, she's not aggressive behind the wheel, she manages to avoid tickets, avoid being pulled over all-together (and drives as fast or faster than I do), and so on like that. BUT! Her daily driver is a 2000 4Runner. Its fairly small, and easy to handle, as some of you may know. Her faults are, she cannot conceive of what the rear tires/back end of the car is doing, and stuff happens like the 4Runner's LH outside mirror winds up 0. 040" from the garage door opening when she enters/exits. That's worry-some. Plus, I think she aims for every pot-hole the road has to offer - lucky we don't live in MI any longer, where the pot-holes are more prominent than smooth surface (at least in D-Troit area).



Also, when driving my truck, she has a tendency to leave it in 6th gear down to about 5 or 10 mph. And you guys know what the truck is doing at that point. She's used to her 4Runner (5 speed) that has no torque, and leaving it in 5th down to 10 mph just sounds (and feels) like its idling in 'N'.



Yes, she would like the power. But if she/I wants more power off the line (enough to blow smoke), she can put the pedal 3/4 travel or to the floor to get the same response as the CaTCHER at 1/4 throttle. It just 'sounds' easier the way mine is set up now. (Notice I said 'sounds' ... because I don't really *know*).



I'll tell ya what. With my 275's and EZ, if fill every nudge of the throttle push. Its very crisp, responsive, and most of all ... its very linear with its responsiveness. Want a little, push a little - want a lot, push a lot. Its that easy ... no trying to modulate the throttle to keep from burning rubber or making smoke.



I'm not saying I won't buy a CaTCHER ... because I am seriously considering it. But I too (like Gary) want to see how things pan out before 'I pays my money and takes my chances. '



RCone - Yes I'm long-winded ... but what a great subject to be long winded about.



- JyRO

 

[PRyker]

I have close to a bone stock truch with the MAD ECM and I have to say that the throttle is not touchy at all. My wife drives my truck and she said it seemed faster now but other than that was no problem to drive. In a stock truck with an auto the throttle simply is NOT sensative at all. The truck is simply more responsive.



As I said in a previous post I am sure that the more highly modified you are the more sensative it becomes but I feel that the way my truck performs now is the way it should of out of the factory. No issues with throttle sensativity at all.



My $0. 02 cents.



Phil