Who is Return Fuel style and has the GMK or CC cool air Intake?

[eurocrisp]

Id like to see a show of hands... Im still having my lean problems and I want to know of anyone else with the GMK who's had it a while and is NOT having lean problems. Return style only need respond, tho any input is appreciated

[DarkSide]

i do...and i dont have lean problems

[ice992]

I'm running a CC CAI but I didnt start running lean until my o2 sensors [censored] the bed... i was running great after the CAI... next "upgrade", new o2 sensors, booooo

[Instigator]

ive got those and my car runs fine (even with 110,000 miles :))

[dank13]

I have the CC extension and i am running lean. i beleive it is an egr issue though and i have a new one to put on. But i will be swapping to an SVT UIM/LIM/TB next week! hopefully the new parts will help work out my issues. Then again my lean issues may have something to do with the headers. Let me know if you figure something out.

[DarkSide]

yea..i have 116k on mine and i put the cc on b4 i hit 100k. check all them crappy sensors (imrc dpfe o2 sensors etc etc)
in which i had to replace all mine to pass inspection but thats another story lol.

[eurocrisp]

Ive bought 3 new O2 sensors, a new DPFE sensor, replaced the LIM and UIM and IACV and EGR gaskets as well as all new injector O-Rings ONLY to NOT fix the lean probl. Untill recently it was swapping back and forth between front/rear banks, which made me swap the O2 sensors, and finally made me buy a 3rd one... now im convinced all 3 of my O2s are fine (so i have one for sale). I replaced the DPFE yesterday and the cell came back this morning but i havent checked it yet... if i still get EGR flow excessive then ill know something's up with that but if its only lean then im back to square one.

too bad i gave away my stock airbox or id put it back on right [censored]ing now

BTW the vacuum lines on top of the UIM have been removed, the brake booster vacuum line is whats boogered up but it's epoxy'd on there as properly as possible and my brakes feel fine so i cant be sure if its leaking... Ive checked the crank case vent lines, the network of vacuum lines behind the motor, whatever that oily line is that attaches to the breakable brass tube directly under the TB, everything. everything cept the intake. Im betting i could get a chip to tune it all and be fine but thats buko buxx i dont want to spend. I really do not think there's an air leak.

Is the stock MAF really not forgiving? does it max out after a slight change in volume? cuz that would DEFINITELY cause a lean condition.

[sphynx000]

how do you know if the car is running lean?

[eurocrisp]

I see The big ol' fat check engine light after 60 miles of resetting it,

Then i go to autozone and plug in the OBD scanner and check it. Every time I go there theres usually someone outside smoking, they know me so well and recognize my car that when any of them see me coming they run inside and grab me the scanner so i can do it myself.

[mercurycougar]

I do, and I have been running lean. For the most part under normal driving conditions I am lean. This is also concerning me. Maybe because it is a 3 inch intake we are just taking to much air in?

[eurocrisp]

yea exactly, normal driving conditions. I reset my CEL a few weekends ago and took a cruise up to boston, and at a constant easy 67mph it popped back on 3/4 of the way up.

le' sigh... Tomorrow afternoon ill reset it again and convert back to shortram, see what happens...

[mercurycougar]

that is what i was thinking of doing, let me know what turns out

[eurocrisp]

well, i have mixed feelings about reporting that after converting back to shortram and putting 2x as many miles as it took for a CEL to pop on last time, i've encountered no problems. Im sad that i cant use the CAI without i guess a proflo or 19# injectors, or both, but in the same breath im relieved that i sorted out the CEL that's been staring me in the face for months.

but on a lighter note, the miles i put on it consisted of driving to pay for my '92 nissan 240sx coupe! whee!!

[DemonSVT]

Try clocking the MAF in a different orientation.

The stock MAF is very finicky about the flow of air across it.

[Blackcoog]

Mine runs perfect with it on. You have an air leak somewhere.

[eurocrisp]

Originally posted by: Blackcoog
You have an air leak somewhere.

No, i really didnt, trust me. Im not an idiot. i promise. I cant remember how many times i checked everything. And yes i torqued the UIM/LIM down properly when i replaced their gaskets.

Ford had the audacity to tell me that I [censored]ed up the install of my SVT UIM and that ended up being the wrong diagnosis.

Demon, Thanks for that tip, ill try that one of these days. It kind of makes sense, if those bends affects what surface areas of the rest of the intake the air follows then that's definitely a good idea.

[GrandMasterKhan]

try turning your MAF 90 degrees to the right. So that the top of the sensor faces the firewall. Fine tune your adjustmnt angle as needed.

Also be sure to clean your MAF with Electrical Parts cleaner.

[Blackcoog]

And yes i torqued the UIM/LIM down properly when i replaced their gaskets.

When did you do that? Was that before or after the CAI intake and when did the CEL turn on?

[eurocrisp]

1 year ago i replaced the upper

then this summer I put on the CAI, then the CEL came on.

Then I replaced the upper gaskets, cel came back on. (a couple months ago)

THEN i replaced the LOWERS and uppers again, CEL comes back on again. (2 weeks later)

Swap front/rear O2 sensors. lean condition moves from back to front
Buy new O2 sensor to replace front
lean condition moves to rear bank, which is where the diagnosed to be good O2 sensor is (follow me so far?)

rule out O2's

replace DPFE cuz of flow excessive

cel comes back lean condition

remove CAI

problem solved.

What bugs me about the whole thing is that it never reported a lean condition for BOTH banks at the same time, but instead floated the condition from front to back intermittently

[GrandMasterKhan]

do you have a photo of your cai installation?

[eurocrisp]

yeah, somewhere... :biggrin:

im ready for bed so ill look tomorrow but if you remember im the one who's install kept wanting to angle downward. It didnt leak but i never could quite get it to fit right, either... even after getting the smaller battery to make more room.

[GrandMasterKhan]

There are countless numbers of people whom have the GMK CAI and do not report lean issues. On both totally stock and highly modified 2.5 and 3.0 cougars and contours. Do you have a vaccume Cap installed on the Nip of your intake?

There are many issues which could cause a lean condition which you may have overlooked. For example. Check the Vaccume lines for cracks. Also check the lower vaccume line under the TB. Ensure you have Clamps installed and they are tight. Also that same metal tube is easily cracked when the UIM is removed, even a tiny hairline crack can allow air to pass through and your car to lean out.

The MAF is also fairly sensitive. Like I said before ensure it is properly cleaned. Its orientation is also important and you may or may not need to turn it 90 degrees clockwise. Thread about your MAF possibly being bad (http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=5&threadid=108336&FTVAR_MSGDBTABLE=) Have you looked into replacing your MAF? From the problems you are stating its very likely the MAF is not right.


What other performance modifications do you have? Aftermarket exhaust? Headers? Ypipe? Any exhaust leaks?

I also noticed that you recently overheated you car, you may want to check out those o2 sensors to be sure they are still good. I know another member who had something similar happen and he roasted the o2 sensors pretty good when that happend.

[eurocrisp]

svt tb, uim/lim, ungutted precats, brullen y pipe with hi-flow cat, 2.5" exhaust with a slight leak somewhere, one of the clamps isnt tight enough.

[GrandMasterKhan]

have you cleaned your MAF or looked into testing another one?

[eurocrisp]

I cleaned my MAF but with a spritz of brakleen. Id like to swap MAF's with someone for a few days but that'd be inconvenient.

However i may be looking into it anyway, because on my way home tonight the light came back on. I couldnt get to autozone to read it and for some reason i thought diagnostics mode would display the code number but i was wrong. At this point i dont know what the CEL is for but my bet is lean... however i put about 200 miles on it before it came back and previously it took about 55 miles.

[GrandMasterKhan]

if your problem was solved it wouldnt come back at all. 200 miles or 50 miles. either way it came back.

Sucks your having so much problems. Did you nearly overheat the car after you installed the new o2 sensors?

[eurocrisp]

yes. I had replaced them about 6k miles previously. Then the car overheated, and reported a lean condition bank 2, so i bought a new one to replace bank 2's. Then it said bank 1 lean, so i replaced that one and then it said bank 2 was lean again. Im driving the car today so I'll get it scanned this evening.

[eurocrisp]

okay so the new CEL check yielded both banks one and two lean. this is the first time ever theyve both reported at the same time. Im still on the shortram. Either my MAF is bad or the ECU needs a new program... too bad i didnt invest in a chip previously.

It may very well be the maf. When the GMK was installed for the first time, the filter soon fell off due to a stripped hose clamp and stayed that way for i dont even know how long. 2 days probably. I looked in at the filaments, theyre pretty far in there, i couldnt really see but from what i could tell they were undamaged.

[GrandMasterKhan]

that sucks your filter fell off.. good thing you didnt run it over!

If you need some new hose clamps hit me up... i have a ton laying around.

Once you get that MAF squared away you should definilty invest in a dyno tune and a good quality chip from Arizona Dyno Chip...that way you can make some extra power and really benefit from a poperly tuned chip and a/f ratio