04whitefx4

My wife's 04 fx4 is gone to be getting some upgrades on it

Summers22

iTrader: (2)

Nice, what kind of COP's are those? I sure hope you are running a tuner with that CAI...

04whitefx4

There summit racing coils.yes I am I got a superchip cortex 1950

Summers22

iTrader: (2)

Please report back on the Summit coils, as you know aftermarket options are pretty much limited to Accel, Grantelli or ebay junk.

04whitefx4

I will they had the same specs as the accel but $40 cheaper

Fseries

Im a newbie. May be a stupid question but why must you run a tuner with the CAI?

Summers22

iTrader: (2)

Because it will run lean and melt your catalytic converters and/or cause engine ping and not enough up pretty.

Especial86

iTrader: (1)

Raw fuel will melt your cats.. A lean condition will melt your pistons and eventually grenade your motor.. Fuel cools the top of the piston..

The lean issues with CAI's have to do with MAF environment.. Bigger diameter CAI MAF housings will slow the air charge that gets metered by the MAF. If the MAF doesn't tell the ECU how much air is ACTUALLY getting into the motor, the ECU won't squirt enough fuel through the injectors.. If there is more air than fuel then your combustion temps will rise causing a melting affect on the piston.. The MAF has to be calibrated to the environment it resides within. If it's not properly calibrated, it won't be able to determine just how much air is actually getting into the motor..

Your 02 sensors can compensate for this to a small degree, but your fuel trims will still be way off.. The front 02's will always try to keep the air fuel mixture stoich, which is 14.7 parts air to 1 part fuel.. Anything higher then 15 parts air to 1 part fuel is heading into lean territory.. Anything under 14 parts air to 1 part fuel is rich territory (safer).. The engine will still run fine lean or rich (for at least a little while), but richer is better because fuel is also a coolant for your cylinders and pistons..
Besides, more fuel = more power, and colder air is denser which means you can cram more of it into the cylinders than warmer air.. More air always needs more fuel..

So yes a tuner is required to keep your engine living long, and safe. Plus it will net you better milage, power, and clean up your shifts....

Fseries

Thanks, I recently purchased an '08 with a 4.6 (not towing anything heavy). Plan on adding a Airaid CAI and Borla catback for just a bit more umph and gas economy. I see I have some homework to do with tuners. 04whitefx4 didnt mean to step on your thread and good luck with your upgrade.

Especial86

iTrader: (1)

Best bet is to get an SCT or an older edge EVO.. Get the SCT tuned by JDM, Troyer, MPT or another custom tuner with all your mods accounted for in the tune... I personally recommend JDM for SCT tuners since they tuned my supercharger nicely and are great to work with..

If you go edge then don't get the CS or CTS programmers since they cannot be custom tuned any more.. Edge can only be tuned by Bill at PHP performance.. Bill has the cleanest tune I've ever seen or driven.. My edge CS was tuned by him before they dropped the new edge product line due to complications with fusion...