Entaille

hey guys, I got a steeda/bama tuner combo back in the Summer months. everything was grand. I run the street tune 100% of the time.

lately (colder temps), I noticed that when the engine is cold, the car hesitates and bucks a little bit when applying light throttle. I typically let the car warm up a minute and go and drive gently, and I let it fully warm up before giving it any serious throttle. this wasn't really that big of a deal, I could live with it, but some one told me it was a tune issue and could be fixed, so I figured.. what the hey! might as well see if that's the case.

bama was happy to oblige and provide new tunes to try out. long story short - took three hours to get the damn sct device to upgrade the firmware properly.. not their fault.. but frustrating.

I loaded the new tunes and gave it a go .. the bucking issue is now even worse than before to a point I can't tolerate, and the car randomly (not consistently) at 1/4th to 1/2th throttle applications will throw up a wrench icon and lose the ability to power itself at all, even at low rpms, so it's not 'limp' mode I think, but protect itself mode? this happened several times. if you turn the car off/back on it behaves normally again, no codes thrown, and you can drive it.

annoyed but .. they provided me new tunes to try and sort of ignored my requests for information on what happened with the the stalling / wrench icon / zero power situation. same problem! it's actually bucking even worse, and the same stalling/wrench situation is occurring.

at this point, I barely trust driving the car, and I reach out to them hoping they can send new tunes before work.. but no response. I limp the car to work, despite a stall on the freeway.. and call in.

they are happy to help once again.. they are asking me to identify which steeda intake I have (billet or aluminum?), I think they have different diameters, and for the life of me I can't figure it out. I provided them my sales receipt and pictures, I figure they will know best. I had to call back so I could go look at my intake to try to identify it.. this time I get someone else on the phone.

they tell me the hesitation / bucking is a bit normal even on the stock tune when the engine isn't warmed up. being tired of dealing with the situation - okay, maybe that's true, and I can live with it. I asked them to send me what they believe to be my original tunes that came preloaded on the device.. car seems to be driving normally again.. just about happy/done with the situation, im rolling at 60mph and give it a little gas to slowly speed up and BAM .. stalls on the freeway yet again.

they advised a vacuum leak could cause this but I've looked at everything and it's as secure as it ever was. everything about the intake and hoses and everything is all fine and dandy, the timing seems a little too coincidental to me, that it never occurred until immediately changing to the new tune they provided.

I am at wits end, I've spent hourssss on this and I don't know what else to do, and waiting for them to get back in the office on Monday just means I have another stressful work morning where I don't trust driving the car, and I'm not entirely convinced they will solve it next go either. does anyone here have any thoughts or ideas?

Entaille

here's one of the only clear pictures I have of the intake, if anyone is savvy on identifying which steeda iteration it is and what metal/material it is .. ?

am item # .. 1 16228 - Steeda Cold Air Intake - Manual (11-12 GT)

http://www.americanmuscle.com/steeda...al-2011gt.html

captain slow

forgive my ignorance, but can't you simply load the stock program and see if your problem goes away?

obxdude018

Was gonna say the same, try loading the stock tune back in and the problem persists then you know it's something with the car and not the tune.

Entaille

the steeda intake is too different from the stock intake, I can't run the stock tune with it on. I could potentially throw the stock intake on and stock tune, but that is going to be a pain in the *** (it's not stored here + the labor of swapping back and fourth etc).

seems like a lot of work for something that started happening immediately after changing the tune, after running perfect for months.

*edit* I guess I shouldn't rule it out, but I am saving that for last! thanks guys.

rbowmar

Remember, coincidence in time does not prove that one thing causes another.

+1 for removing the tune.
Your choices as I see them:

1. Continue changing the changed tune, which hasn't fixed it.
2. Go to a dealer or mechanic, who will most likely pass on working on the car until the tune is removed.
3. Remove the tune, providing the only way to testing to see if the tune is the problem.

BTW did/does the car throw any error codes?

Remember, coincidence in time does not prove that one thing causes another.

I hope this is helpful.

808muscle

Yeah you need to put the stock intake back on and run the stock tune. Sure its a slight hassle but that will tell you if its the tune/cai causing the issue.

Also go over the entire cai pipe and filter you might be surprised about how easy it can get a leak. I had a leak on my cai. Couldnt see the the blocking plate underneath was missing. Never assume anything, go over everything.

Entaille

I am concerned they are not giving me the correct tune, though. when I spoke with him he had no idea which intake my car is on and couldn't seem to figure it out by looking at my order (????). that alone concerns me greatly.

it sounds like there are different steeda intakes with different diameters. I am not knowledgeable enough to claim this, but I think having the incorrect tune of one or the other could create problems?

Entaille

I'll take off each clamp and go over the intake tomorrow. I gave it a thorough look earlier this evening but I'll make sure this way. I'll go back to the stock intake/tune later in this process if needed.

kingGingy5.0

After checking your intake, second are you doing the relearn process after you are putting the new tune on??