2007 Mega Cab 5.9 4WD, Automatic, 22K Miles, Smarty Junior, total weight truck and toy hauler 21,080.
I downloaded and installed POD for Smarty Junior, software revision #Smarty POD# V5.09B D:RJ14A. It worked great, 40 PSI boost, great power, very little smoke and EGT never exceeded 1225 degrees. After 100 miles of driving from 1400’ elevation to around 7000’ elevation I noticed that we were putting out a ton of black smoke when I rolled into the throttle at low RPM and it cleared somewhat as the turbo spooled up and RPM increased. The other change noted was the boost never went above 28 PSI.
I reprogrammed back to the towing level 2 and we still had lots of black smoke, less power, but still about 150 degrees lower EGT than stock. When we got home (1400’ elevation) I reprogrammed back to stock, all the smoke went away, but so did a lot of the power.
We noticed on our next trip using stock programming the power level was down, the fuel economy went down to 7.9 MPG at 72 MPH and the cruise control kept dropping out, sometimes turning the cruise light out, sometimes not. We could be on cruise for up to 90 minutes before it dropped, but after it dropped the first time, it usually only stayed on for a minute or 2 before it dropped again. When climbing hills, the truck would stay in cruise (set at 72 MPH) and shift down and still stay in cruise even if the road speed dropped to 50 MPH. It would up shift and resume 72 MPH after we crested the hill without any intervention. The EGT would never exceed 1100 degrees. I never experienced the cruise dropping out even when we were pulling harder and heavier before this trip.
There have been no codes displayed. I spoke with Bob Wagner and he said he didn’t know what could have caused the sudden increase in smoke, loss of 10 PSI of boost, drop in power and fuel economy. He agreed putting the question up on the forum might be the best way to unravel the mystery. Sorry for such a long post, but I figured better more information than less.
I don’t know whether I’m looking for a component failure or a software issue. Any suggestions as to what the trouble might be or who would be able to diagnose the problem would be greatly appreciated. My name is Joe Leonard and our phone number is 530 554-4528 or you can email me at
info@MoparTruckParts.com
Excessive Smoke with Smarty Jr
Linear Mode
