[Guest]

About a week after I had my headers installed, my check engine light went off. I took it back to Tuned Performance where they were installed and they plugged in a computer diagnostic thing and the errors were something like:
Error xxxx Bank 1 Lean
Error xxxx Bank 2 Lean

I don't know much about ODB-II or whatever, so i'm not sure if it's the MIL terminators that came with the headers, or if it's really lean. So i decided to get a superchip because it supposedly adds more fuel to the mixture. The chip was $325 installed which included 2 before and 2 after dynos. The dyno was done at a Dynolab Inc. Here are the results:

Sizz's Dyno

The dyno was done in 4th gear, about 65 degrees outside with a small fan blowing towards the front of the car.

The red graph is the worst run without the chip: 147.1HP & 145.6 ft/lbs torque
Blue is best run with superchip: 152.9HP & 145.6 ft/lbs torque
EDIT: The best run without the chip was about .8 more HP and the worst run with superchip was .4 less hp.

I was pretty disappointed because I have done quite a few mods which seems to only result in 12 HP over stock! Here's a list of performance mods:

KKM
Pro-Flow MAF
SCA CAI
MSDS Headers
Borla Split-rear Cat-back Exhaust

Anyways, I'm hoping that the lean error is true. After the dynos, tuned performance called superchips inc. and asked what's up. They said that the cougar originally runs rich, and that it's possible that their program leaned out the car more. They weren't sure but after the speed shop sends in all of the specs, they will look into it and see if a custom chip is needed. I'm going to the focus/probe dyno this sunday and will also get my air/fuel ratio(whats the correct term for this?) tested. If it turns out my car is lean, I'll pay the extra $125 for a custom burnt chip and re-dyno. If it isn't lean, I'm going to give up my quest for more horsepower. BTW, can't afford a supercharger, and don't like the idea of nitrous, so don't offer those ideas to me

As far as the butt-dyno goes, I noticed a great improvement with the headers. I can't tell the difference with the superchip. Good thing superchips inc. has a 30-day money-back guarantee. I'll keep you guys update.

-Sizz

 

[ssix]

If you are only getting 152 h.p. with the headers than something is BAD wrong. You should be in the 170 h.p. range with headers intake and exhaust.

 

[OSUStallion]

For real..... you need to look into that. Headers add a lot of horse power and you have all kinds of other stuff..... something is wrong.

 

[Guest]

geeeeez 152 with the headers, heck my current setup WITHOUT HEADERS nets me 154hp and 151tq.... boy u gots problems.... reset the comptuer or something.

 

[IntenseImage]

Maybe a dumb question but is urs MTX or ATX

[email protected]

 

[FastCougar]

I too only dynoed 144-146hp ... pathetic ... and I don't have the headers. However, I noticed the my dyno graph curves don't cross over at 5252 RPMs, which they MUST to be a true reading. Why must they cross at 5252? Because hp is derived from torque, with the following formula:

HP = TQ * RPM / 5252

Therefore, your HP and TQ curves on a Dyno Plot will ALWAYS cross at 5252 or there abouts ... mine crossed at 4600 RPMs. Needless to say, my Dyno Plots are inaccurate of exactly how much HP I am really making.

 

[Draxas]

that is a good point Trevor...something is wrong with Sizz' numbers i took my car to the dyno the other day and got 163HP and 152TQ...i dont know if they adjusted the numbers for the altitude to make them SAE or not...i should give them a call to see if they did that....they didnt use a fan to blow on the engine which usually helps a little, plus, we didnt do three runs back to back to back in relatively quick succession....for some reason, our cars put down more power with each subsequent dyno as long as they are done quickly after each other...i think my tech let the car cool down too much in between ~5 minutes or so....the gap should only be about 30-60seconds....

Nikolas

 

[FuzzyRag]

His car is a '99 MTX if your wondering...

 

[Guest]

Can anyone enlighten me on how our cars detect lean/rich conditions? I've been trying to reach MSDS, but i keep getting an answering machine. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the MIL terminators. Brandon is right, my car is MTX. Anyways, I'm taking my car to Team Ford sometime later this week. They charge $65 for a dyno with fuel/air measurements included.

 

[FuzzyRag]

Brian dude...thats almost scary...I hope you find out what is up w/ your car main, and let us know!

 

[FastCougar]

Rich/Lean conditions are detected with the first O2 in the exhaust stream (upstream). The 2nd O2 (downstream) value is compared to the 1st O2 value to determine if the Catalytic Converter (pre-cat) is being efficient. Possible problem could be that your upstream O2's have been fouled somehow (intake cleaning?). Good Luck!

 

[mransr]

Trevor, this is just a wild [email protected]@ guess but maybe if someone is using a chassis dyno the numbers may cross at the "wrong" rpm if the car isn't in a 1:1 gear...I'm thinking if the car is dynoed with say, a 1:1.25 where the rpm and torque numbers cross would be differnet than does that make any sence?....

 

[exigent]

Hrmmm... This is kinda dumb but perhaps your o2 sensors are either damaged OR... And i dont see how this is posible... they pluged the wrong one in to the wires for the other.... get what I mean? Either way somthing is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY wrong. A chip will not fix a code like that Lean condition code.... The lean condition is detected on the upsteam o2 sensor closest to the engine. It SHOULD be TOTTALLY unaffected by the headers... OH MY GOd..... Did they put the MIL eliminators on those!???!! They go on the downstream ones! Jesus if they put it on the upstream ones there is your problem!!!! Damn thats it ill bet money!

 

[mransr]

another nutty theory....when ever I put headers on a carberated (sp?) car the first thing I had to do was increase the jet size 'cause it leaned out the mixture.....so maybe the computer hasn't adjusted to the new headers and isn't adding more fuel to go with the increased airflow....