Smarty, the new CaTCHER tool.

[DieselMinded]

Thanks for your attention Marco

There were never any internal mods "required" for the MAD ECM

Marco said that the big break threw here was that they found away to program the ECM to Catcher Caliber with out changing its internals ...



AS with every Bomb Comes Set Backs of some sort or another ,,, IMO Catcher = No Cruise Control , Speratic Shifting ,Apps reset once a week, Floating Valves ECT ... . This was my personal Expirence and You guys did an Awesome job in making things right at the end ..... These were all issues floating around that nobody really talked about a hole lot and most of them all got blamed on the COMP so people switched to TST and were OK . .



So Honestly Whats the set backs of this Smarty Deal ???



And will you do Core Charge's on the Edge Comp's ?



DM

 

[Double J]

I'm not sure if this has been answered or not but, will the SMARTY cure what a BD RAD would as far as limiting boost during staging and the defueling during 2nd & 3rd gear shifts? Trying to kill two birds with one stone here... . why limit myself to a RAD if I can get a Smarty for a couple hundred $$$ more and give more flexiblity in the tuning department



Also, I have the cold weather flash done to my truck... would this be lost when the "Smarties" stock program is loaded?

 

[TORQUE THIS]

DM, how would the catcher cause shifting issues?? Isn't that controlled thru the PCM???

I have had no problems with the catcher. It did magnify a problem I was having and made it easier to figure out... Injector pop-offs out and my OD and Lock-Up relays needed to be replaced...

 

[obert]

Ive been watching this and kinda interested. just as a baseline, if one used this tool on an oterwise stock engine, what kind of HP/TQ gains might one get? As well, Im curious about the performance --compared to stock-- at the fuel saver setting.

 

[DieselMinded]

Yes the PCM is what controls shifting I know that for sure thats where my diaode is ... . How ever with the catcher on ther it shifted real fast ... like i would be in 4th going up my driveway ... also it would try to kick into OD but not make it ,,,,then try again,,, once They hooked me up with a "stock" ECm all that went away . .



Got Me ??? Buyt I know of atleast 1 other guy in the same boat... On both cases Team Mad went above and beyond



DM

 

[nps]

It looks just like a super chips programmer and it reprograms the ECM ... if this new program is the bee's knee's why hasnt a hugh company like super chips done it already . . Can super chips go alot futher than they do ???? MAYBE ??? ... . But why exactly are they holding back ?

In addition to the difficulties in reverse-engineering the ECM, IIRC there was a time when Cummins was coming down pretty hard on US companies for infringement of IP regarding the ECM and its program.



Marco is outside of the grasp of the mighty Cummins legal dept, thus able to do more than a domestic company might choose to risk.

 

[SnoKing]

In addition to the difficulties in reverse-engineering the ECM, IIRC there was a time when Cummins was coming down pretty hard on US companies for infringement of IP regarding the ECM and its program.



Marco is outside of the grasp of the mighty Cummins legal dept, thus able to do more than a domestic company might choose to risk.

DieselMinded



I think I said something similar in a PM to you. SNOKING

 

[AGrubbs]

Which "stock" flash

Maybe I missed this in reading thru this long thread, but I noticed Scrappy 's post about wondering which STOCK flash this programmer will come with?



My truck has the original software in it that came stock when I bought it in '03, and I don't know that I want any 'DC flash updates' added.



Sooo. . I guess what I am asking is, does the Smarty somehow upload the current version of "stock" from the truck, and use that to return to stock?

Or does it have a "stock" version of each ECU firmware onboard when we purchase it?



Also, if it by some reason the dealer did get ahold of it and re-flash it to something else, either over top of the "OLD" stock program or one of the performance ones, would Smarty be able to put it back, or would it protest?

Since the VIN should not change, Smarty should know what truck its on, so that should not be a problem, correct?



Arnie G.

 

[Scrappy]

Maybe I missed this in reading thru this long thread, but I noticed Scrappy 's post about wondering which STOCK flash this programmer will come with?



My truck has the original software in it that came stock when I bought it in '03, and I don't know that I want any 'DC flash updates' added.



Sooo. . I guess what I am asking is, does the Smarty somehow upload the current version of "stock" from the truck, and use that to return to stock?

Or does it have a "stock" version of each ECU firmware onboard when we purchase it?



Also, if it by some reason the dealer did get ahold of it and re-flash it to something else, either over top of the "OLD" stock program or one of the performance ones, would Smarty be able to put it back, or would it protest?

Since the VIN should not change, Smarty should know what truck its on, so that should not be a problem, correct?



Arnie G.

From what I gather the Smarty has its own "stock" program inside it. It does not down load the stock program from the truck. it just writes over the stock program with its new program and when you put the truck back to the stock program, you get the one that is internal to the Smarty so if your truck has been flashed recently that flash is gone unless Marco incorporates it into the Smarty via download from the internet.

 

[JR2]

The smarty looks at the software revision number of the software in your truck and when you go back to stock it uses that same revision to reprogram your truck. At least that is what Marco posted a bunch of pages back.



As for new reflashes... . I guess that is what the USB port on it is for.

 

[Boondocker]

My thoughts on why I expect the Smarty to be superior to any of the other downloaders on the market.



Superchips and Hypertech have been in the performance business for quite a while but are new to the diesel performance market. They cater to as wide a market as possible, and for that they need to be a bit conservative. Bully Dog on the other hand is dedicated to diesel performance. They too cater to the entire diesel light truck market, so they have to budget their commitment to the ISB in its various Dodge configurations.



Marco, however is a dedicated Dodge diesel truck enthusiast who caters, as far as I know, only to the TDR market, and has a lot of experience with the 24v 2nd Gen model. So I have to ask myself, as a Dodge CTD enthusiast, 2nd Gen, 24v owner, who's product do I want to invest in? Obvious no?



I got it right on my first round of upgrades.

I got it right on my second round of upgrades.

By golly, I think I'm going to get it right on my third round too!



I feel all Smarty in my pants



Neil

 

[SRadke]

Maybe a little too much info with that last line there Neil

 

[AHire]

I'm not sure if this has been answered or not but, will the SMARTY cure what a BD RAD would as far as limiting boost during staging and the defueling during 2nd & 3rd gear shifts? Trying to kill two birds with one stone here... . why limit myself to a RAD if I can get a Smarty for a couple hundred $$$ more and give more flexiblity in the tuning department



Also, I have the cold weather flash done to my truck... would this be lost when the "Smarties" stock program is loaded?

I was wandering the same thing

 

[Hohn]

No, Smarty's stock software has the cold weather feature installed and enabled.



The downside is that if you DON'T want it, you'll have it (though i can't see why that's a problem)

 

[Hohn]

Ive been watching this and kinda interested. just as a baseline, if one used this tool on an oterwise stock engine, what kind of HP/TQ gains might one get? As well, Im curious about the performance --compared to stock-- at the fuel saver setting.

Marco generally eschews hp claims, but on the dyno is has delivered 65-70hp and 180lb-ft+.



I have a ECM in my truck that has the fuel saver program in it, and it's QUITE A BIT more powerful than stock.



It's not the tire-fryer that the full up Catcher is, but it's plenty responsive.



Don't confuse "fuel saver" with "lame dog". It's far from lame. It's a "fuel saver", not a "clutch saver".



If you want lower performance, then you need to use the "half power" SW version.



jh

 

[Jeepmullet]

Hohn, seriously... how too good to be true are the mileage gains???? (I thought you posted something like that already, cant find it though)

 

[Bob Wagner]

The BETA tester results will be available as information is gathered.



No smoke and mirror's just the facts but it will take time to log the miles and back the claims.



Thank you

 

[Bob Wagner]

Marco and Stefano's are busy behind the scene's tweaking and perfecting the smarty.



Marco will be back on board soon

 

[JStieger]

I understand this unit has some of the capabilities of a OBD-II scan tool. I've never been around such a tool and I'm wondering what advantages it has over the Smarty. Could I purchase a Smarty and use it for 20% of that the scan tool did? 40%, 70%?



Also, I understand the need for diffrent software between VP and common rail trucks but how difficult would it be to allow it be used as a scan tool (code reader) on both models?



-Scott

Just to piggyback on Scott's questions, will this Smarty have some capabilities of a DRB3 scan tool for 3rd gens in addition to code reading, such as:



-injector kill functions for diagnosing injector and fuel problems

-rail pressure commanded versus actual

-APPS diagnosis tools

-scope to monitor crank and cam sensors

-etc.



If it did, then I wouldn't have to visit the dealer twits...

 

[Murle]

That is the way I understand it also, Hohn. You have 10 different SW with the Smarty. Plus if Marco comes up with more SW you can down load it into the Smarty with your PC if you computer has a USB port.



Here they are again...



The ten different power levels in the beat units are layed out this way:

SW# 0 : Half power .

SW# 1 : Fuel Saver

SW# 2 : Only Fuel and Boost

SW# 3 : Like # 2 + timing

SW# 4 : “Soft” CaTCHER

SW# 5 : Like # 4 + Timing

SW# 6 : Mild CaTCHER

SW# 7 : Like # 6 + Timing

SW# 8 : CaTCHER no timing

SW # 9 : CaTCHER with Timing

"Soft" & "Mild" CaTCHER have less aggressive throttle response. Dunno if the finished product will be that way. I will define the power levels with the beta testers.