I had a post a while back about my brothers truck & the new Smarty software. He daily drives the truck on sw1 & it is because he is all about the MPG's or as I call it "he is cheap". Well, maybe very smart considering the fuel prices. His truck is a 98.5 5 speed CTD. The only mods are RV275, Smarty, 4" straight pipe. I loaded the new Smarty software into his truck when it was released thinking changes were made to the software for driveability. His ecm always threw a code 0253 when temperatures would get below 30*, then one day his ecm threw like 8 codes & the truck shut off. I replaced the ecm with the one from my 99 to get him on the road & all was well since september. Yesterday he was driving to my house & his cel illuminated, sure enough 0253 code came back. It was 17* last weekend, yesterday it was in the 30's. What is going on here? It seems like the ecm is going out again, as it is doing the same thing all over again. Any opinions?

 

J, isn't the 0253 a code dealing with the vp44? Could he be losing a pump or the computer on the vp44, but it only shows signs of problems now when it is cold? Sounds like a tough problem. I have noticed with the latest Smarty versions on my truck I am getting a non active code dealing with pump calibration, but havn't seen any other issues.

 

That is what I thought when this happened last winter. I was gonna get a vp44 put on his truck & the ecm went crazy. Any time temps were below 30* it would set the code 0253 & 0602. This one is doing the same thing after 4 months of working well. He had the same 2 codes, but I figured 0602 was from Smarty as my truck would get that code when I ran it. There is no difference in the truck that could lead me to think it is vp44, just a code that showed up one time & erased with ease. Exactly how it happened last year, except it did it every time you start the truck with temps below 30*.

 

Maybe there is too much timing for his truck. They reccomend to not tow on level one because of the advanced timing. Have him run it on two or three for a while.

 

Yeah, that is what I told him to do. He is now running on sw5.