Smarty, the new CaTCHER tool.

[turbo torque]

Just ordered mine, does anyone know how this is gonna work with a tapped comp and jammer 3's

 

[JKinney]

Just ordered mine, does anyone know how this is gonna work with a tapped comp and jammer 3's

I can't answer that since my truck is stock. But with 9 different catcher options Im sure something is gona work :--) I did try 1/2 power today, I dont think its quarter power, Put the pedal to the floor no power and no boost on the guage. What a great feature for training the young ones Oo.

 

[turbo torque]

Guess I find out in a couple days when SMARTY gets here



Will let ya know.

 

[MCummings]

Read through this post.



It will answer your questions.



You need a SW that has no timing, because your COMP adds enough timing.



Merrick

 

[Double J]

There should be no problem running SW#9 (CaTCHER w/timing) so long as the Comp is turned off, correct?

 

[Bob Wagner]

yes and less timing is only needed with a drag comp.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Bob, what is the delivery lead time as of now for new Smarty orders?



And I still need to get together with you on the ECM...

 

[Bob Wagner]

I have the smarty in stock and I am filling order's. I need to get you an ecm and I am working on it .

 

[FFL8N]

Bob... . Thanks for getting the Smarty out so quick. I finally got the Catcher program installed (after around 40-50 tries). The low end feels great but I only drove it around the block after the install. I usually run the Comp on level three with sub level of 2 or 3 and the Catcher program is much stronger down low. I did get quit a bit of surge with the cruize control engaged though. Why do you think it took so long to get the Smarty to connect with my ECM?

 

[HeavyHauler]

Bob... . Thanks for getting the Smarty out so quick. I finally got the Catcher program installed (after around 40-50 tries). The low end feels great but I only drove it around the block after the install. I usually run the Comp on level three with sub level of 2 or 3 and the Catcher program is much stronger down low. I did get quit a bit of surge with the cruize control engaged though. Why do you think it took so long to get the Smarty to connect with my ECM?

I definitely don't like the way that sounds. Mine should be here tomorrow or Friday. I expressed some concerns to Bob about mine communicating with the ECM properly, but we'll see. I've had the dealer attempt to load the 3-cylinder high idle on mine 3 times but it never would take. I hope something isn't wrong with my diagnostic port or something between it and the ECM.



Hopefully I won't have any surge either. That's what I'm trying to get away from! Maybe you're experiencing something different than what I have been though. The Edge EZ has been the source of my shudder/surge.



I'll let you guys know exactly how everything works out when I get mine in.

 

[Marco]

OBD port

Why do you think it took so long to get the Smarty to connect with my ECM?

Having tried EVERY Smarty in my truck, I'd say that it's sure they all work.

There's nothing wrong with Smarty... The OBD cables are all tested and certified...



I have little doubt, that problem is caused by the OBD port in the truck.

A couple pages back... .

I received my smarty yesterday, and had trouble getting the smarty to talk to my ecm via the plug, I called bob and we talked while I was in the truck. The communication finally worked and I downloaded #9 and I just love the responce. This morning I tried to down load #1 and halfway thru, the down load aborted, I tried for 30 minutes and bad communications. I jumped in the wifes grocery getter and purchased some dielectric grease coated the drb connector on my truck, pluged and unluged smarty in a couple times, and it put the stock program into my truck and then I loaded #1 with no problem. I have all the confidence that my connection problems are cured. I could only guess what the cause was, which could have been armor all spray on the plastic in the vicitnity of the plug or anything. Just wanted to get this problem posted in case others have the same experience.

Mumble, let me see if I can come up with something intelligent... .



Marco

 

[JKinney]

I know I posted this once, but will reinstate what marco just quoted. When i got my smarty it took a long time to get it to talk to the ecm. I put in program 9 and ran the truck. The next morning I ran the truck and so wanted to stop on the side of the road and change programs and I decided I had better play at home in the garage. I tried to change programs in the garage and had total failure, meaning the progam in the ecm had been 1/2 changed and basicaly I had no program entered and could not get it to talk. I really thought it was an electrical problem where the cord plugs in. As stated i purchased some dielectic grease and pushed the plug in a couple times and smarty fixed it all. Yesterday i went to a friends house who has a 24V and took him for a ride in my truck. We stopped on the side of the road and reprogramed my ecm three times and had 0 failures. The last program we tried was 1/2 power i ran that program for about 1000 yds which included one small hill and then pulled over and put the fuel saver program back in.

The fuel saver mode is looking very promising as in a mileage increase, I will post when the tank is refilled.

 

[MCummings]

My experiance with programmers on other vehicles is that they are very sensitive to electrical loads.



Sensitive enough that the dome light being on could prevent the programmer from properly communicating.



On the Gasser Chevy's, you have to have the parking brake on (for DRL's, or auto headlights), A/C off, Radio Off, on-star de-fused, and a couple other items.



When I was putting the superchips in my truck, I had to try to program it 2-3 times, and even had to recover the ECM once to get it to program.



I think 75% of the trucks will have no problem, but, the 25% will have a slightly rusted OBDII port, Low Voltage, or high drain accesories running while programming.



If your battery drops below 12v during programming, consider yourself lucky if your ECM gets fully written.





Merrick

 

[4 wheelssmoking]

Hi Marco; I have watched this thread and others about the catcher, and wonder if you would comment about different OEM software versions. Do they have a bearing on HP/TQ when over writen by your or others software. I ask this because of another downloader that I used and had mixed results with. Here is a quote from me on another thread.

[I had one of the early bullydog power pups and it was very agressive on the extreme setting. With the EZ on 4 and pup on extreme I put down 447/930 #ad
on David Dunbars Dynojet after installing the HX40, no other power adders were used.

3 months later I sent the pup back to have an update flashed into it, got it back and noticed a substantial loss of bottom end power and some on top as well. I returned the pup to Bullydog and they re flashed again and said all was OK. I installed again and found the same loss of power as before.

Soon there after I was at the Mopar madness Diesel day at Commerce raceway. I met Don Becker of Bullydog and explained my dissapointment with the pup, He said he would look into the problem and call me back. (I dynoed at the races and got 375hp If I remember correctly).

Don called me soon after and explained That the software updates are based on Dodges latest software release. Due to changes by Dodge the Power Pup software became less agressive. The explination I was given for Bullydog not being able to fix the problem is that the ecm will not allow an earlier firm ware version than what is installed at the present time. I was also told that E. P. A. would not allow it because of emission laws.

I personaly believe what they told me, but it still Sucks!#ad
After more conversations with Don we came to an agreement that satisfied me. I am still missing the bottom end power and response that the early pup had, I even tried the Triple Dog but with similar results. ]

I wonder if a blank ECM could be programed with early firmware?

I have talked with Bob and have pre ordered a smarty for my 03 ,and am looking forward to trying it out. I hope it works better than the pup
Thanks RAY
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[WCounts]

Howdy Ray

I remember when your truck made good power. And the last time on the rollers I believe at the shop day it was not putting down what it should. I have not down loaded any program in my truck because I didn't think they offered enough over the tst and va3. 1. The Smarty offers what the others don't. It will turn back the torque management and add some timing. This will give us the drivability the 12Vs have. I'm in line for one too. I hope!

This Smarty is what my truck has been waiting for.

 

[4 wheelssmoking]

Hi Billy, I hope you are right. Maybe this is what the 03-04 engines need to consistantly power up to the 04. 5 and up engineswith similar mods.

 

[FFL8N]

I went out and changed the program today and it communicated on the first try. Don't know why it took so long yesterday.

 

[Marco]

Sorry guys I've been swamped today... .



MCummings,

yes, the other downloaders are VERY voltage sensitive. Don't ask how I know... . Sensitive to the point that if one sets the parking brake during an download they have problems.



Well, Smarty does not have that problem. :-laf

Also Smarty does not download, Smarty does updates! Just joking... .



When I tested this first production batch in my truck, I started @ 8 AM and finished about at 9 Pm. The ignition was on continuosly, I did at an update and then went back to stock with EACH single Smarty had the radio turned on...



When finished, I tried to start the engine, no go. The batteries were drained to the point that the starter could not turn over the engine. I had to charge them to fire the engine. Yet, the Smarty(s) did their thing.

Well, to come to an more technical point, Smarty can do an update correctly with voltages down to 8 Volt but I would still recomend to have fully charged batteries before using Smarty.



One more time, Homework, Homework, Homework and when you think it's all said and done, do the Homework one more time... if you have ears, listen!



4 wheelssmoking



I would rather not talk about the competition. I hope you understand...



The only thing I can tell you is that I've seen at least 9 different software revisions since I've started to play with the Cummins VP ECM.

I can do a CaTCHER out of every one of those softwares ( and have done ). You would not notice the difference performance wise from one to the other

software revision. Homework.....



FF1607

Most likely there has been some oxidation in the OBD plug pins. Plugging in and out the cable a few times might have removed it.



I'm starting to think to apply a little dielectric grease in the OBD plugs of the cables. Maybe that helps?

 

[Murle]

I can see it now... Marco will include a tube of KY jelly with every Smarty... LMAO

 

[Marco]

lookin for a Canadian dealer for TST yesterday,ended up on the phone with a guy named Mark at PDR. We got talking about stacking different boxes,and when I said I had a Smarty on the way he told me it did the same thing as an Edge EZ and they had the dyno tests to prove it. Having never tried the EZ I cant argue, but this seems to contradict everything I have read. Anyone had the opportunity to compare?

I thought we had been through this already enough times.

Let me give it one more try...



The CaTCHER thus Smarty adds about the Same Hp the non wire tapping boxes do. The TOP power is more or less the same.



What's "somewhat" different with the CaTCHER is what happens BEFORE the top hp. From idle to top Hp there's a difference like night and day! Nothing else delivers the throttle response the CaTCHER does. Just try to understand what the CaTCHER users say. .



And you know that I hate hype.....



If what you're after is the highest top Hp increase, then Smarty is not your toy, nor is it the VA or EZ. A wire tapping fuel box is. Two different concepts...



Marco