BarneyPenny

Hey everyone, I have an 89 fox with a bunch of aftermarket parts. I bought it this way and the owner couldn't remember the specifics of what models or types of parts are in it. As far as I know and from my inspection, it has shorty headers, full catback exhaust, cold air intake, and possibly cylinder heads. As far as tuning goes, I know that this car should make a bit more power than a stock fox, but it feels really bogged down and doesn't quite run as it should, and all signs point towards a tune.

Since the ECU's aren't adjustable, I realize that I can't just take it to a dyno shop, drop it off, and come back an hour and a half later. My question is, how do I go about tuning (basic methodology) and what do I d, what price range am I in for a good, steerable tune?

Thanks

88 orangepeel notch

If this car is new to you, and you feel it's down on power for the mods, I'd start with a good complete tune up first, going thru all vacuum lines, clean MAF, pull codes and address anything that would hurt performance/driveability. Get it running the best you can. Then if you feel it's still lacking or something isn't right, you can go get a base line pull on a dyno. Those are cheap and will tell you trq/hp , but more importantly, you'll get a sheet with the trq/hp curve with AFR #'s.

But I have to say, I think there's just something wrong with your car. The stock computer does a pretty good job of adapting to mods. It relearns itself to mods and adjusts accordingly pretty well. I have a very basic HCI car with all other bolt on mods, and I have a wideband to watch the AFR and the stock ECU keeps those #'s spot on during all driving conditions. I have a older hand held tuner, but never had to use it.

I'd pull codes first to see if any are stored and then post back. We'll get her running good for ya.