I need some advice regarding my 97 Cobra.

I bought the car not too long ago and just got around to smogging it. It failed (CA). From talking to some gearheads at work they think that my car is running lean (from a dynotune ?). I do not have my check engine light on though. I passed the CO reading and the HC reading but failed miseably on the NO reading. I ran it for 1hr on the highway at 80 before taking it to the smog check place.

The previous owner gave me all the paperwork from all the work he ever had done down to oil changes!

One of the papers shows that the car has a "Powertrain Dynamics EEC V Dynochip," and was run on a dynojet. Max Air/Fuel = 17.5. Producing 279.6 WHP at 6500 RPM. Does the Powertrain Dynamics chip piggy pack on the ECU? Do I need to remove it to pass smog? And if I do remove it, do I lose my the programmed tune? Someone else suggested getting a whole seperate ECU to use for smog. Would it work if I got one from a totalled 97 Cobra like mine? Worried about the antitheft programming.

I know this is a lot but I am in need of wisdom on this one.

The Mods: Powertrain Dynamics EEC V Dynochip, Bassani X-Pipe (Catted), 180 deg T-Stat, whole bunch of KB and Steeda suspension upgrades

 

gosh i wish i could tell yah... i think its either your cats are bad or your tune is making you fail, if that chip is a flip chip, you should get a "reflash" tune on it so you can set it back to stock for emission reasons.

 

Would putting a stock ECU help with this (from another 97 Cobra)

 

theoretically it would just reset your car to the factory tune in a sense and yeah you could try that since thats like the whole "reflash" thing i mentioned

 

Holy christ, 17.5? That is insanely lean. How is that thing not detonating at that high? You need to retune that and richen it up. If I remember correctly, normal A/F for a N/A is in the mid 14's.

What you can do is get a Handheld programmer- it can store several tunes on it, and you can reflash the computer for specific tunes based on this. You could have a normal N/A tune, a Smog Tune, and a Nitrous tune just for the hell of it.

 

yeah 17.5 is high i guess i skimmed over that part...

the goal of your A/F Ratio Tuned should be like 12.8 and w/o it is like 13-14

 

I had assumed onlt the 99 and up mustangs could be tunned using the handheld scanners. Know of any good ones for the 96-98 V-8 stangs?

 

you can use the same ones that they use on the 99+

like SCT / Diablo etc...

just you cant change tire sizes / fix speedo w/ new gears on our cars w/ the handheld since some parts on our car is mechanical.

 

My dumb *** did not read the dynograph correctly....tune actually set to 12.8 A/F. [sm=oopssign.gif]

So now I am looking for a local shop for a tune...I know of JBA in San Diego. Are there any other good ones?

 

Yea, as others mentoined, just get your car retuned to a stock-like A/F ratio so you'll pass smog.

If you wanted to swap in a new PCM from another Cobra, you will need to program 2 new keys to that PCM you swapped in or the PATS(Passive Anti-Theft System) will not allow you to operate the car.