Smarty and Edge surging

[RussJ]

Does anyone know what may be causing my surging problem? It only occurs under steady throttle or cruise control with my smarty set higher than level 1 and my edge set on anything but 0. No problems before adding the smarty, running just the edge, and no problems running the smarty alone, only while using both. It is'nt a violent surge, the tach and speedo don't move much if at all, but I can clearly feel it. Other postings seem to point towards the edge. Any ideas?

 

[DieselFiend]

when I'm at steady throttle with the edge I notice a slight surge. I'm assuming its from the added power and your go peddle is a little more sensitive to inputs.

 

[RussJ]

I switched the contacts inside the box to not defuel for clutch slippage wondering if that would have any effect, it did not. I went for a run on the interstate at 70 with the cruise on and edge levels one through three. The surging was very noticeable. I only mention this because it implies that my foot was no where the skinny pedal. I'm just about of ideas, so are ther any other thoughts, or should I just try calling edge? Thanks.

 

[Lightman]

Its the smarty mine does it with the tst or by its self

 

[JBlock]

DO you have the latest flash upgrade for your smarty. I run mine on Number but i do not have a fueling box stacked.

 

[DLeno]

no experience with this combo but have you tried reducing the low-boost fueling on the Edge?

 

[CStraface]

RussJ



If you do try contacting Edge, make sure you don't tell them you have a smarty stacked with your Edge, all they will try to do is blame the other manuf. Personal experiance with this. CSraf.

 

[RussJ]

Thanks for the ideas guys. I've got a couple more things to try (turning smarty off, double checking the MAP sensor connection and low boost fueling) before I call edge. I don't really want to turn down the fueling because I love the smoke, but I guess if that's what it takes, then whatever. Also, I had wondered about mentioning the smarty to edge, guess I'll just keep that little piece of info. to myself. Thanks again.

 

[JasonWalsh]

i had the same problem with my edge set on 1. i went over everything on the truck. i called edge and they sent me a new box. put that in and did not make a differance. now in the summer time it does not surge at all. when mine did surge on level one you could feal it on level 2 it was not so bad. i only got it to surge maybe one time on stock. edge sayed they have no clue what was going on with it. they said my old box was fine. i have to wait till this winter to see if it will do it again.

 

[KAltizer]

Check this months TDR mag. There is mention of the FCA having cause this issue also, not sure but I have the same as you. I have Edge and Attitude but only see this surge in winter time, what I read said to add 2-cycle oil said to test it with that. But seems to point to the FCA, I asked my dealer about it he said what the hell is the FCA so I guess the mechanics call it something else... ???

 

[SierraRam]

Yep my guess is the FCA, my 03 started surging, took me a while to pin it down. Once the FCA was replaced it ran smooth. If you have a rail pressure gauge you can watch your rail pressure hunt which will cause the surge.

 

[KAltizer]

Anyone know what the mechanic would call the FCA??? He's asking me what the hell is it, he doesn't know.

 

[Turbo Kidd]

My 2003 is doing the same thing... . I have / had a Smarty Jr. and I have used it for 70,000 miles and never had issues. However, the surging started about 3,500 miles ago. It does it with the Smarty JR on all three levels and at stock too. I now have a Bully Dog on my truck and it also surges with it as well. I changed my FCA, and had my injecters checked by a very knowledgable mechanic and all seems O. K. I am wondering if my MAP sensor is bad? At cruising speeds of 65-75 MPH,and at 10 PSI of boost my truck will surge (Turbo will spool up and down 5-10 PSI for no reason).



Any ideas or suggestions would be most appreciated!



Thanks!

 

[DLeno]

If you're seeing boost numbers all over the place that don't match actual turbocharger behavior, then you might suspect the MAP sensor, although I wouldn't expect that to be a very common failure mode. on the other hand, if the turbo is actually spooling up and down, and is really producing those boost numbers, then this has to come from fueling instabilities. The TPS and FCA have been notable culprits in the past, but this is a tricky area because of all the interdependancies. If the TPS gives the ECM a low or unstable signal, you can get surging. similarlly, the ECM might command a certain rail pressure, and if that is not satisfied, it will try to compensate. Thus, if you have a leaky injector or a slow FCA, you might see unstable rail pressure which would produce the result you are seeing.



One can get into a chicken-egg thing here pretty quickly, because what you observe with any given measurement might be a symptom or it might be a cause. that said, you might consider putting an analog rail pressure gauge on your truck. unless your brain can interpret numbers changing on the fly, you need the sweep of an old fasioned needle to tell you what your rail pressure is doing.



As for your injectors, if you had them on a real test stand (Dynomite Diesel Performance, for example, has one), and if their fuel return and other behaviors were tested at operating pressure, then I'd say you have good evidence that injectors are not the problem, especially if the test data was interpreted by someone who has driven your truck and interpreted the test results as well. Short of that, you really can't rule out injectors.



To give you a feel for how finicky the high pressure fuel system is, I've been told that people have fixed surging problems simply by installing an FCA from a Duramax CP3, instead of the stock FCA supplied for the dodge CP3! I've also been told that injectors testing good even on the expensive test stand don't always perform good in the truck...



that should cloud the issue enough for you