Smarty, the new CaTCHER tool.

[Regcabguy]

The gauges are a good idea even bone stock. As for the sw#, I don't think that's so important. All the CaTCHER soft wares yield about the same upper end power. It's the aggressiveness of the throttle that varies. Go for #9.

I agree,go with sw#9. It ROCKS!

 

[GMcLeod]

I'm now experiencing the same problem as a couple others mention like below. I had a new injection pump and the retro lift pump done last December under warranty. I get the pause surge feeling while cruising on SW7. When I get on it it goes with no problem. Last night I turned it back to stock and it runs fine. I checked for codes and don't have anything of concern. I've run 5000 trouble free miles up until the past few days. Has there been a fix for it yet? Is it only happening on certain levels? I need help, I can't stand driving in stock mode.

I'm having a smiler problem, when I go into overdrive the boost will fall way off, the largest drop I have seen is 15 lbs drop. It seems like I'm barking the turbo when going into overdrive, and that makes sense with what I see on my gauges. My problem with this is I have had two other chips on this truck with my DTT trans installed and all my other mods with no problems. My first chip was the Banks Big Hoss and it worked really well and I consistently got 19 mpg. I took it off because I wanted the, so called best, and got an Edge Comp. The Edge Comp in my opinion didn't do any better then the Banks except for lots of smoke and my mileage remained the same. Again, I wanted the features of the SMARTY, I removed and sold the Edge chip to buy my SMARTY. I love the features I get with the SMARTY and the low end power. Hands down! the SMARTY beats my other two chips in performance. Now this is where I open up my can of worms! I only get 15 mpg with the SMARTY and the drop in boost (turbo Bark) going into overdrive. I drive my truck every month to Guard Drill four hours one way so I'm able to get a consistent mpg over a period of time over the exact same terrain. It's a hard pill to swallow when you pull up to the pump with 450 miles on the odometer when you use to have 550 to 600 miles on it. I find it hard to believe I have a problem with anything on the truck since it all worked well before, but I wont rule it out. I see a lot of other SMARTY user with great results on fuel and power. I see the power end, with the annoying boost drop, but I don't see the mileage gain and in fact I have seen a mileage drop! Help... :{

 

[SMoules]

Falls on it's face

I have owned a edge comp on my truck for 5 months now. I recently borrowed a smarty for a weekend from a fellow tdr member. I did not like the way my truck would fall on it's face after each shift but as soon as the rpm's picked up it would just shoot my truck forward. I also tried it with my comp on 5x5 and it seemed to take care of the majority of the lag if not all. If I had to choose between one or the other with no other mods I would keep my edge comp. Reason for would be the smooth power delivery from beginning to end of each gear and the other reason would be the adjustible power levels on the fly. P. S. Has Marco answered to this lag question yet?

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

I have owned a edge comp on my truck for 5 months now. I recently borrowed a smarty for a weekend from a fellow tdr member. I did not like the way my truck would fall on it's face after each shift but as soon as the rpm's picked up it would just shoot my truck forward. I also tried it with my comp on 5x5 and it seemed to take care of the majority of the lag if not all. If I had to choose between one or the other with no other mods I would keep my edge comp. Reason for would be the smooth power delivery from beginning to end of each gear and the other reason would be the adjustible power levels on the fly. P. S. Has Marco answered to this lag question yet?

Good post, and good logic - I agree!



If you had your own Smarty, or were able to do more testing, you might find that loading one of the more aggressive Smarty levels, and then using the Comp to fine-tune performance for different situations, will work well - at least it does on my truck...

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Odd event - or normal?

In the process of swapping in a new VP-44 for my truck, I disconnected the batteries. When I was finished installing the new pump, I figured I'd better check to see if my tire size that I had previously entered with the Smarty was still stored in the ECM.



I connected the Smarty, and after the usual startup display, was given the choice of loading new Smarty programming into the ECM, or reading error codes. The choice of ABS function was NOT offered. I had put my ECM back to stock software prior to the pump change.



I tried several times to get the ECM/ABS selection screen - but no go. I finally went ahead and loaded #8 software, then immediately changed back to stock software again. Then, when I finished doing that, and going thru the Smarty startup bit again, there was the ECM/ABS choice provided as it should be!



Is that a normal Smarty situation when the truck battery is disconnected for a while? By the way, my previous tire size of 33 inches diameter HAD changed back to 32 inches, so I went ahead and put it back to the 33 inches I wanted.



Is it normal for the ECM to reset to some other ABS default - or do you have to re-enter any ABS changes every time you change Smarty programming levels?

 

[Marco]

Gary,

what you've seen is normal.



The ABS ( tire height ) feature is VIN locked. You have to update the ECM with a not stock software in order to VIN lock Smarty. Once that's done the ABS feature becomes availabel. No VIN lock, no ABS - tire height adjustment.



When you take the ECM back to stock, Smarty returns the ABS to the tire height that was found in the ABS prior to changing the setting. As long as Smarty remains VIN locked the ABS setting is not changed.



Has nothing to do with the battery disconnect... .



Helps?



Marco

 

[Marco]

The "Surge"

Let's talk about the "surge" a few of you got with the CaTCHER.



It's a lot of time that we talk about that problem in a way or another.

I've been in contact behind the scenes with several guys. We've tried a lot of things; to no avail. :{



All I know today is that in some way it's related to something in the truck.

What? I don't know.



A member here went so far to swap both the ECM and the PCM with a buddies truck. The problem didn't move to the other truck. That means that the ECM & PCM are not responsible for that surge, nor is it the software per se. Sure enough from what I've gathered then higher the software # then more pronounced the problem. In other words, than less torque limiter than worse it becomes. I'm scratching my head...



Kshimizu had used Smarty for a while and then the surge developed all of a sudden after about 5K miles... What gives????



Since it seems impossible to determine the cause, maybe it's possible to work around it with the software?



Any volunteer?



I'd send update(s) for Smarty. All you need to do is to udate your Smarty with the test softwares and see how it works.



Anybody?



Thanks!



Marco

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Gary,

what you've seen is normal.



The ABS ( tire height ) feature is VIN locked. You have to update the ECM with a not stock software in order to VIN lock Smarty. Once that's done the ABS feature becomes availabel. No VIN lock, no ABS - tire height adjustment.



When you take the ECM back to stock, Smarty returns the ABS to the tire height that was found in the ABS prior to changing the setting. As long as Smarty remains VIN locked the ABS setting is not changed.



Has nothing to do with the battery disconnect... .



Helps?



Marco

Thanks Marco - I suspected that might be the case, and that's why I tried doing the S/W upgrade to see if the ABS function reapeared - guess I was correct.



Glad it's not a glitch in my Smarty!

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Could this "surge" issue be APPS related - maybe lack of, or poor calibration that momentarily confuses the ECM/PCM, especially when Smarty S/W is installed?



Be interesting to do the same swap as above, but also swap the APPS. But I'd sure do the APPS calibration drill as the first trial.

 

[BJMarshall]

I just installed a new APPS and no change in surge. Checked calibration and it was dead on.

Marco, you have PM.

 

[Fishin Guide]

I have an old school Catcher. It has done it since day one. This was in the very lasst batch of the Catcher units prior to the Smarty. Had I only known the new unit was coming out, I would have waited a week.



Anyhow, I went over to Bob W's and we tried putting the Smarty on my stock ECM. So, the Catcher was removed and was on the back seat. Same exact performance. Surge still there.



I have changed MAP, IAT, swapped APPS for a day, cam position sensor when the VP died and have pulled, cleaned and sealed all my grounds and other connections. Still there.



I would love to hear of a way to fix it though. Or for that matter, ride in a truck that does NOT have these symptoms to feel what it should feel like. It may give me a better idea of what the issue is.



Dave

 

[JKinney]

I've tried to keep up with this thread and more importantly on the surge problem, to which I have never experienced. Is this only happening with the auto trannies? I have never had any surge problems.

 

[Fishin Guide]

I am not sure. It almost seems like the timning advances at 1800 rpm. Maybe this is part of the factory ECM programming for the autos? It would explain alot. Maybe a power management defuel to save the trans?





I can tell you this, the bigger the injectors, the more dramatic it feels. Add a fueling box and it all but dissapears. I assume the advanced "timing" of the fueling boxes plays a role.



Box off, at 3/4 throttle in OD accerating from 55mph, I can make people think I am sandbagging the pedal and then flooring it. That's how dramatic it is.



Dave

 

[kshimizu]

My truck is a 6 speed manual so it's not just linked to automatics. I couldn't handle the stock mode so I loaded SW5 yesterday. Only felt it pause/surge once today, but maybe it's just less noticeable at the lower level. Like Marco said, I'd run over 5000 miles on SW7 and never had a problem until last week or so. Doesn't make sense why it came on all of a sudden but it did. I drive the same route to work everyday and I felt the pause/surge one day as I was driving home. It's right in the 16-1800 range that I feel it. I'm going to keep running SW5 and see how that works for awhile. My fuel mileage on SW7 is about the same as it was running the DDTTPM (20-21 mpg), only the Smarty is a lot more responsive. When I first got my Smarty I ran one tank on the fuel saver mode and actually got lower MPG than normal. I know it doesn't make a whole lot of sense but these have been my experiences running the Smarty so far.

 

[Marco]

I've tried to keep up with this thread and more importantly on the surge problem, to which I have never experienced. Is this only happening with the auto trannies? I have never had any surge problems.

The only thing I know for sure is that it affects only a few 2001 and up trucks.

None 98. 5-00 have ever reported the surge.

It does affect both the AT and the stick.

 

[FTwardoch]

Let's talk about the "surge" a few of you got with the CaTCHER.



It's a lot of time that we talk about that problem in a way or another.

I've been in contact behind the scenes with several guys. We've tried a lot of things; to no avail. :{



All I know today is that in some way it's related to something in the truck.

What? I don't know.



A member here went so far to swap both the ECM and the PCM with a buddies truck. The problem didn't move to the other truck. That means that the ECM & PCM are not responsible for that surge, nor is it the software per se. Sure enough from what I've gathered then higher the software # then more pronounced the problem. In other words, than less torque limiter than worse it becomes. I'm scratching my head...



Kshimizu had used Smarty for a while and then the surge developed all of a sudden after about 5K miles... What gives????



Since it seems impossible to determine the cause, maybe it's possible to work around it with the software?



Any volunteer?



I'd send update(s) for Smarty. All you need to do is to udate your Smarty with the test softwares and see how it works.



Anybody?



Thanks!



Marco

I'd gladly try test software too Marco.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Since it appears that swapping nearly every related component that MIGHT cause the surge has had no beneficial effect, the reasonable question is, is this effect limited to the CaTCHER/Smarty alone - or do other competing similar enhancement devices also do it for some users?



IF the problem is NOT related to the normal/stock devices in the trucks, it seems logical to assume it is either coming FROM the CaTCHER/Smarty, or is due to it's effect upon the stock devices.



If other generally similar aftermarket downloader/reprogrammers do NOT create the surge, then what differences are there between those units and the Catcher/Smarty that are unique?



Is it possible that the aggressive responsiveness we buy the CaTCHER/Smarty for, is in itself the basic cause of the surge - perhaps due to the inability of random components in some trucks to smoothly accept and merge with the more aggressive programming?

 

[Marco]

or do other competing similar enhancement devices also do it for some users?

None I know of, never heard about such a surge from fuelling boxes.

IF the problem is NOT related to the normal/stock devices in the trucks, it seems logical to assume it is either coming FROM the CaTCHER/Smarty, or is due to it's effect upon the stock devices.

Good point BUT. .

- only few get the surge.

Just as an example, BJMarshall's truck is the same as Bob W's. BJ get's the surge but Bob not.

- It's not truck configuration related.

- It's not electronics hardware related.



Definatlively, the surge is related to the decreased torque limiter. Correct me if I'm wrong, the only device that alters the stock torque limiter is Smarty. No wonder no other boxes show that surge.

If other generally similar aftermarket downloader/reprogrammers do NOT create the surge, then what differences are there between those units and the Catcher/Smarty that are unique?

The torque limiter. ( Among several other things... :-laf )

Is it possible that the aggressive responsiveness we buy the CaTCHER/Smarty for, is in itself the basic cause of the surge - perhaps due to the inability of random components in some trucks to smoothly accept and merge with the more aggressive programming?

Most likely. I've already send an update for Smarty to BJMarshall. Testing will begin within short time. I HOPE it's possible to find a way arround that surge thinghy! I guess we'll see...

 

[nps]

or do other competing similar enhancement devices also do it for some users?

None I know of, never heard about such a surge from fuelling boxes.

Have you forgotten about the infamous Edge Surge? Mine sounds just like what Fishing Guide describes, and it didn't start until I put Jammer 2s on. At first I thought my VP was going, but sent my EZ in for testing anyway. With the EZ off the truck, no surge. I've had the surge with temps as high as 70*, however with the warmer 90*+ weather no surge.



I thought about getting a Smarty to cure the problem, however it sounds like that might not work. My son has a Smarty on his otherwise stock 01. 5 auto, but won't let me run it long enough to test it out thoroughly. :-laf

 

[ROADWARRIOR]

Is the surge only an issue on the odd(timing added) numbered programs?



Dan