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Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) caTCHER ecm (Marco's aka MAD)
- Thread starter Bob Wagner
- Start Date
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Bob Wagner
TDR MEMBER
cb, you need to chill out and slooooooooow down, some of these codes make no sense.
When I installed the catcher there was no problem
you have my number
When I installed the catcher there was no problem
you have my number
Bob Wagner
TDR MEMBER
JWBoothe said:I'm ready to order a Catcher from Bob.
I dont even know where the ECM is located. How is the ECM swap done?
Marco - do you have an interactive user guide on DVD for the catcher yet???
The ecm is located on the engine block behind the fuel filter.
There is an optioned for doing an ecm swap so your truck is dont down for any time.
I still like to advise for the how can afford it to keep there oem ecm for back up use, just incase there is a need in the future for it.
All that I can do is give you options
My ecm has been installed since last june with zero problems, but I do keep my stock ecm under the back seat just in case I ever need it.
Thanks
I kept my stock ECM for the dreaded annual Idaho emissions testing. Takes about 10 minutes to change it, might just see if it passes with the Catcher, if it does, less work for me!!
Tom
2001. 5 2500 4X4 5-Spd LB QC Black. Catcher ECM, DD Stage-1's, AFE, Bully Dog 4" pipe, ATS Exhaust Manifold, JAKE Brake w/shifter switch, Geno's Banjo's, 3 Autometer's on the A-Pillar, Gear Vendor's O/D, Firestone Air Bags, Redline Oil throughout.
Tom
2001. 5 2500 4X4 5-Spd LB QC Black. Catcher ECM, DD Stage-1's, AFE, Bully Dog 4" pipe, ATS Exhaust Manifold, JAKE Brake w/shifter switch, Geno's Banjo's, 3 Autometer's on the A-Pillar, Gear Vendor's O/D, Firestone Air Bags, Redline Oil throughout.
Bob Wagner
TDR MEMBER
David, enjoy and please give me a report back 
Thank you
glad the package arrived
Thank you glad the package arrived
Bob Wagner
TDR MEMBER
Ed, I sent you an email
Sorry this is long, but I was NOT going to make a "this thing is great" post about this like everyone else does. This was as unbiased and open as I could make it cause I really didn't want to spend the $$$ if it wasn't worth it. Bob, you've got an ECM coming back Monday.
Backround: I’m at 5000’ elevation and trying to run +500 RWHP through an 89% DTT transmission. Nothing I have done over the last 2. 5 years has given me exactly what I want. I want instant throttle/power response. Something like you feel in a Chevy 8. 1 gasser when you stomp on it (even though it doesn’t have the top end I do, the bottom end is MUCH more impressive). I want my turbo to be lit at all times and also flow big air to feed my sticks. I want to go from a no-boost, stopped position to full boost, full power in a count of one-one-thousand, instead of the 4. 5 seconds it currently takes. Awful hard to race someone from a stoplight when you aren’t spooled by the time you hit the next one. I have tried literally thousands of dollars worth of stuff to try and attain this…all of it has been mediocre to say the least…I am not happy or content with my pickup’s low end performance at this point in time. To you guys down at sea-level to 1500’ elevation, I am envious, and most of you probably have no idea what a royal PITA it is to try and run a high-performance diesel every day up here at altitude. Frustrating doesn’t describe it.
So, after waiting for nearly a year to make sure Marco’s ECM’s weren’t an “item of the week” on the TDR (like a lot of stuff), I decided I needed to try one. Everybody claimed that it is the best thing ever for the bottom end. I held my skeptical glasses up and tried to read through the “I paid mucho-$$$, it HAS to be the best thing ever” garbage and decided to give it a whirl.
So, my CaTCHER came in on Wednesday and I promptly installed it. I went out and drove it and thought “this is pretty nice…the throttle response is better and boost comes on faster…not bad. ” I only put about 15 miles on it Wednesday. First impressions: more smoke. I also just recently (two weeks ago) installed a new set of Mach 4’s from Don M. Those things are amazing! Less smoke than my old M3’s and more power…I don’t know how he does it, but he’s doing something right. Anyway, w/ my new sticks, and prior to the CaTCHER I could run on 3x5 w/ hardly any smoke…a slight puff upon taking off, but then not much. Not w/ the new ECM though! It fuels HARD and FAST down low and pours some smoke out. Ok, no problem, turn the box off. Still more smoke than before w/ the box off (expected), BUT, not as much as w/ the old M3’s and comp on 2x4, so I can live with it. It had good gitty-up, but it still wasn’t instant like I want. I still wasn’t thoroughly impressed w/ the CaTCHER... it did alright, but wasn’t lighting that turbo like I want. So, after putting about 50 miles on it Thursday and another 10 on Friday, I wrote Marco and asked him “what’s up with this thing”? It’s not the “blow my socks off” deal that everyone claimed it was. Now, granted, I got the “special” version for overfueled trucks that have lots of fuel and timing already on the top end, which I do w/ the M4’s and Drag Comp pouring the fuel in. However, I still expected a little more out of it. Marco wrote back that I needed to “learn to drive w/ the CaTCHER” that it’s “not the same as the stock ECM” and I was actually dumping too much fuel at once causing my turbo to not come on as fast. “BS!” I thought to myself, but to prove him wrong I had to go switch back to my stock ECM…so I did. I put the stocker in and went for a 10 mile drive running it hard, then easy, then hard again, noting how it responded at different RPMs and different usage of the throttle. I then drove home and promptly reinstalled the CaTCHER and went and made the EXACT same drive. Here’s what I noted then:
With the Comp off, the CaTCHER spools the turbo faster, BUT, you have to be light on the throttle. You can’t just stomp on it or slowly roll through it…you kinda have to ease to about ¼ or 1/3 throttle and leave it there…when you do the turbo almost instantly comes to 15 psi, where w/ the stocker it comes to about 6-8…good improvement. Max EGTs with M4’s and CaTCHER only are 1275*F at the top end of 4th. This should be roughly 400 RWHP, so not a bad deal at all. With the stock ECM they were lower.
At highway speeds of 55 mph in 3rd gear w/ about 1-2 psi already on the gage, if I roll into the throttle w/ the CaTCHER I basically can’t back out of it quick enough to keep boost below 25 psi. With stock ECM this wasn’t the case. At same speed in 4th gear however, there is still considerable lag, but it is much improved response. However, at 55 mph I don’t normally run in 4th (usually shift to 4th at 60-65 mph to keep from lugging/barking my turbo).
Turn the Comp on to 3x5. Stock ECM takes a while to spool and goes to about 35 psi and climbs from there to about 40. With the CaTCHER it spools faster and is INSTANTLY at 40 psi when it does finally light and then goes up to about 42-44 psi. Also, MUCH MORE smoke down low w/ the CaTCHER, but when I’m going WOT I don’t worry about that anyway.
With Comp on 5x5 the boost comes on quicker and goes to about 43 psi. Stock ECM was running about 46…don’t know why the lower boost on max power, but the power is still there. It doesn’t feel like any additional power with the ECM (expected), but it gets there quicker.
I guess in the end, after my drive, I proved Marco right. You do have to learn to drive w/ the new ECM.
So, in the end, the CaTCHER will stay on my engine. The mannerisms are improved over stock. Is it the end all I wanted? No, far from it. Does it do what it’s advertised to? Yes, and it seems to do it well. Is it worth the price tag on it? Well, that’s for you to decide. Market dictates what its worth, and apparently they are worth it to some. I’m keeping mine, but will continue to look for something more to help me attain my goal. Maybe what I’m wanting is unattainable in a turboed engine at this altitude. I realize there will always be some lag, but until you’ve experienced what I live with, you won’t even come close to understanding.
Josh
Backround: I’m at 5000’ elevation and trying to run +500 RWHP through an 89% DTT transmission. Nothing I have done over the last 2. 5 years has given me exactly what I want. I want instant throttle/power response. Something like you feel in a Chevy 8. 1 gasser when you stomp on it (even though it doesn’t have the top end I do, the bottom end is MUCH more impressive). I want my turbo to be lit at all times and also flow big air to feed my sticks. I want to go from a no-boost, stopped position to full boost, full power in a count of one-one-thousand, instead of the 4. 5 seconds it currently takes. Awful hard to race someone from a stoplight when you aren’t spooled by the time you hit the next one. I have tried literally thousands of dollars worth of stuff to try and attain this…all of it has been mediocre to say the least…I am not happy or content with my pickup’s low end performance at this point in time. To you guys down at sea-level to 1500’ elevation, I am envious, and most of you probably have no idea what a royal PITA it is to try and run a high-performance diesel every day up here at altitude. Frustrating doesn’t describe it.
So, after waiting for nearly a year to make sure Marco’s ECM’s weren’t an “item of the week” on the TDR (like a lot of stuff), I decided I needed to try one. Everybody claimed that it is the best thing ever for the bottom end. I held my skeptical glasses up and tried to read through the “I paid mucho-$$$, it HAS to be the best thing ever” garbage and decided to give it a whirl.
So, my CaTCHER came in on Wednesday and I promptly installed it. I went out and drove it and thought “this is pretty nice…the throttle response is better and boost comes on faster…not bad. ” I only put about 15 miles on it Wednesday. First impressions: more smoke. I also just recently (two weeks ago) installed a new set of Mach 4’s from Don M. Those things are amazing! Less smoke than my old M3’s and more power…I don’t know how he does it, but he’s doing something right. Anyway, w/ my new sticks, and prior to the CaTCHER I could run on 3x5 w/ hardly any smoke…a slight puff upon taking off, but then not much. Not w/ the new ECM though! It fuels HARD and FAST down low and pours some smoke out. Ok, no problem, turn the box off. Still more smoke than before w/ the box off (expected), BUT, not as much as w/ the old M3’s and comp on 2x4, so I can live with it. It had good gitty-up, but it still wasn’t instant like I want. I still wasn’t thoroughly impressed w/ the CaTCHER... it did alright, but wasn’t lighting that turbo like I want. So, after putting about 50 miles on it Thursday and another 10 on Friday, I wrote Marco and asked him “what’s up with this thing”? It’s not the “blow my socks off” deal that everyone claimed it was. Now, granted, I got the “special” version for overfueled trucks that have lots of fuel and timing already on the top end, which I do w/ the M4’s and Drag Comp pouring the fuel in. However, I still expected a little more out of it. Marco wrote back that I needed to “learn to drive w/ the CaTCHER” that it’s “not the same as the stock ECM” and I was actually dumping too much fuel at once causing my turbo to not come on as fast. “BS!” I thought to myself, but to prove him wrong I had to go switch back to my stock ECM…so I did. I put the stocker in and went for a 10 mile drive running it hard, then easy, then hard again, noting how it responded at different RPMs and different usage of the throttle. I then drove home and promptly reinstalled the CaTCHER and went and made the EXACT same drive. Here’s what I noted then:
With the Comp off, the CaTCHER spools the turbo faster, BUT, you have to be light on the throttle. You can’t just stomp on it or slowly roll through it…you kinda have to ease to about ¼ or 1/3 throttle and leave it there…when you do the turbo almost instantly comes to 15 psi, where w/ the stocker it comes to about 6-8…good improvement. Max EGTs with M4’s and CaTCHER only are 1275*F at the top end of 4th. This should be roughly 400 RWHP, so not a bad deal at all. With the stock ECM they were lower.
At highway speeds of 55 mph in 3rd gear w/ about 1-2 psi already on the gage, if I roll into the throttle w/ the CaTCHER I basically can’t back out of it quick enough to keep boost below 25 psi. With stock ECM this wasn’t the case. At same speed in 4th gear however, there is still considerable lag, but it is much improved response. However, at 55 mph I don’t normally run in 4th (usually shift to 4th at 60-65 mph to keep from lugging/barking my turbo).
Turn the Comp on to 3x5. Stock ECM takes a while to spool and goes to about 35 psi and climbs from there to about 40. With the CaTCHER it spools faster and is INSTANTLY at 40 psi when it does finally light and then goes up to about 42-44 psi. Also, MUCH MORE smoke down low w/ the CaTCHER, but when I’m going WOT I don’t worry about that anyway.
With Comp on 5x5 the boost comes on quicker and goes to about 43 psi. Stock ECM was running about 46…don’t know why the lower boost on max power, but the power is still there. It doesn’t feel like any additional power with the ECM (expected), but it gets there quicker.
I guess in the end, after my drive, I proved Marco right. You do have to learn to drive w/ the new ECM.
So, in the end, the CaTCHER will stay on my engine. The mannerisms are improved over stock. Is it the end all I wanted? No, far from it. Does it do what it’s advertised to? Yes, and it seems to do it well. Is it worth the price tag on it? Well, that’s for you to decide. Market dictates what its worth, and apparently they are worth it to some. I’m keeping mine, but will continue to look for something more to help me attain my goal. Maybe what I’m wanting is unattainable in a turboed engine at this altitude. I realize there will always be some lag, but until you’ve experienced what I live with, you won’t even come close to understanding.
Josh
Heads Up!
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Gary - K7GLD said:
DON'T bid on it!! That is NOT an ECM, it is a PCM, Powertrain control module, an ECM has only one connector, also if there was any mention of "Cummins" or "diesel" I missed it.
Jared
Bob Wagner
TDR MEMBER
Thank you Jared
AH! Sorry for the miscue - thought I had stumbled on a real bargain...
CaTCHer is in
WOW,what a difference,this sucker pulls hard/fast. Went for a sixty mile run last night to test it out,Lots more power down low/mid range. I pulled a 9% grade for about 3/4 of a mile,started from a stop and at the top i was in fifth,going 80mpg and still had more to go. I can't comment on spoolup because new B1B-2 went in as well,but not alot of lag,40lbs of boost real fast. YES i like it so far,YES i'll keep it,Yes it is what I am looking for in reguards to my power needs,etc. Thanks to BOB/DOUG/MARCO for a job well done,2 thumbs ups Oo. And to the skeptics out there,my brother in law was a passenger,he has driven my truck before being CATCHERIZED and i think it scares him now,all he could say is this thing hauls. This is one mans opinion, so take it for what it worth . PS i think my comp box is/will be for sale,i never used the 4/5 setting anyway.
WOW,what a difference,this sucker pulls hard/fast. Went for a sixty mile run last night to test it out,Lots more power down low/mid range. I pulled a 9% grade for about 3/4 of a mile,started from a stop and at the top i was in fifth,going 80mpg and still had more to go. I can't comment on spoolup because new B1B-2 went in as well,but not alot of lag,40lbs of boost real fast. YES i like it so far,YES i'll keep it,Yes it is what I am looking for in reguards to my power needs,etc. Thanks to BOB/DOUG/MARCO for a job well done,2 thumbs ups Oo. And to the skeptics out there,my brother in law was a passenger,he has driven my truck before being CATCHERIZED and i think it scares him now,all he could say is this thing hauls. This is one mans opinion, so take it for what it worth
. PS i think my comp box is/will be for sale,i never used the 4/5 setting anyway.
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Yep, now the wife is scared to drive the truck, which is fine by me!! I couldn't be happier with it!!
Tom
2001. 5 2500 4X4 5-Spd LB QC Black. Catcher ECM, DD Stage-1's, AFE, Bully Dog 4" pipe, ATS Exhaust Manifold, Silencer Ring MIA, JAKE Brake w/shifter switch, Geno's Banjo's, 3 Autometer's on the A-Pillar, Gear Vendor's O/D, Firestone Air Bags, Redline Oil throughout.
Tom
2001. 5 2500 4X4 5-Spd LB QC Black. Catcher ECM, DD Stage-1's, AFE, Bully Dog 4" pipe, ATS Exhaust Manifold, Silencer Ring MIA, JAKE Brake w/shifter switch, Geno's Banjo's, 3 Autometer's on the A-Pillar, Gear Vendor's O/D, Firestone Air Bags, Redline Oil throughout.
Installed it and all i can say is WOW. The response is amazing.
I have 2 issues though.
At start up the truck idles like usual, but after driver it and then stopping the idle stays at 1000 RPM's, and will not drop.
The second issue is my fuel pump does not go on for the first 5 seconds as it would usually before starting it up. Once the engine is running the pump works fine.
I talked to Bob and hopefully there will be a solution for this.
so far i am happy with the purchase, and once the bugs i have are worked out i am sure i will be 100% happy.
I have 2 issues though.
At start up the truck idles like usual, but after driver it and then stopping the idle stays at 1000 RPM's, and will not drop.
The second issue is my fuel pump does not go on for the first 5 seconds as it would usually before starting it up. Once the engine is running the pump works fine.
I talked to Bob and hopefully there will be a solution for this.
so far i am happy with the purchase, and once the bugs i have are worked out i am sure i will be 100% happy.
Sounds like it might be switching to cold idle. Any chance that's what's going on? I know nothing about this, but wish my 99 had provision to increase the idle while warming up. I don't know yet if I just gotta have this PCM flash or not. I need totally dependable, I drive the truck C2C all day everyday. I don't really use the power I already have for fear of burning something up. Trucks sitting at ATS Arvada, CO checking the transmission over. Last fluid change found metal on the magnetic plug and abnormal amount of clutch material in the pan. Fluid wasn't burnt, I change it every 2 weeks or 10k miles.
Cheers,
Steve J
Cheers,
Steve J
Cheers,
Steve J
Cheers,
Steve J
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Issue 128 – Digital Version
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