ccdguy

Hi guys,

UPS just showed up and brought the new AFE Stage 1 CAI for my 05 V6 Mustang. The install took me about 1.5 hours, but that is only because I wanted to follow the directions to the letter, and take my time making sure that everything was as it should be. After the install, I took the Stang out for a ride. Got onto a one lane road for a few miles, and I've notice the increase in throttle and power / TQ increase right off the bat. The car is much smoother now, with more noticable power in the 3-5K RPM range. But here is something that bothered me. After a few miles, I got onto a highway, wanting to see how the car felt under heavy accelaration. So I merged onto the highway, and opened it WIDE open. Two things happen.... First, when the RPM got up to just over 5K, I could hear a bit of what I thought was pinging. Not really mechanical in nature, but something different non the less from the engine. Something that I had not heard before. But what really got me concerned, was that at throtle wide open, my car with less than 20K miles on the odomiter, sent out a huge cloud of gray smoke from the tail pipe...
I mean, the car has not done this before the CAI... Anyway, I drove it for about 20 miles normally, got of the highway, and then back on. I did a few more full power accelarations, and saw light smoke for the second time. After a few more, no smoke came out, and the car was perfoming very nicely. Now here is my question..... Has anyone else seen this problem right after the AFE CAI install ?? (no tune after install - by the way)
Looks like after the car got warmer, the problem went away. I will see what happens tomorrow morning going to work, when the car is cold.
I know that the AFE CAI claims that no tuning is necessary, but...... Since I'm putting in a lot more air, and the fuel (I think) stayed the same, then the car is running lean. How about the cloud of gray smoke the first couple of times? Can the on-board computer adjust itself seeing more air in the F/A mixture? Is it smart enough to adjust the timing, and fuel ration by itself as I continue to "break in" the new CAI on my car? What do you guys think? Any comments would be highly appreciated.... Thanks in advance...

Martin

PS. I'll see what happens tomorrow morning when the car is cold. If this continues, do I need to plop down another 400 smackers to get a tuner? My wife would kill me if I buy anything else for the car this year. [&o]

jthorn9

Well, the new Sn-197 V6, and V8 stangs respond better to mods than the older Sn-95 models do, however, it makes no sense for a CAI to cause the problems that you are having. A CAI will not cause a huge surge in air flow intake. Now I can see how the GTs and especially the Sn-197 Cobras may need tuning, but for the sixer it doesn't make sense. A buddy of mine had an 05 V6 before he traded it in on an GT, and he put a CAI on the car with no problems. If I were you, I'd take the CAI back off and see if it keeps having the problem. I do know, through this same buddy, that the Sn-197 models do have a few bugs that still need to be worked out, this may be one of them.

Other things to check would be to make sure that there are no vacume leaks with the CAI, make sure that the MAF sensor is still clean and that something didn't get on it, check all your plugs and wires out, it's easy to partially knock one off and not even know, unplug the batttery, wait about a minute, then put the connetors back on, this will reset the ECU and may eliminate the problem. But as stated, if all this doesn't work, take the CAI back off, and make sure that it isn't something more severe.

ccdguy

Thanks for the tips JT ! I will recheck all the connections tonight after I get out of the "salt mines" (work).... One thing that worries me, is that when I switched the MAF from the old tube to the new one, I placed the provided gasket and the spacers. But when I was tightening up the screws on the MAF with the gasket and spacers in place, one of the two screws was overtighten and pulled up the threaded part that one of the screws goes into, causing it to seal not as tight or as clean as the other one on the MAF. There are no gaps around the gasket, but it is definitely a little higher and not as tight as the other side. Maybe this causes some air enter the system during hard accelarations, causing the MAF to go a little nuts. I will recheck everything tonight. Thanks for your input. I really appreciate it.

raz54

The smoke is probably just some oil from the new filter. Some times they have a little too much and it gets sucked into the engine which is OK except if it covers the MAF sensor. You may want to pull the MAF out and clean the sensor to be sure. Use either brake cleaner, carb cleaner or electronics cleaner.

ccdguy

Hey Raz,

Thanks! What a great idea. I thought of this just before I've read your reply. To be honest, the first time I nailed the pedal to the metal, it really smoked blue/gray big time. Second time after a few miles, much less... Now NADA... nothing. And as I remember, last night when I opened up the box containing the filter, it was pretty greasy. That would explain the extra oil getting into the manifold and blowing out at high RPM. Your comment might be right on the money. I will recheck all of the connections one more time, and take out the MAF and check it out. (clean if necessary). First time using an oiled filter rather that the stock paper ones, so there might be a learning curve for me. Thanks for the input. Otherwise, the car kicks butt with this AFE CAI. It is much crisper now, and screams over 4K. Thanks a bunch !

Martin

raz54

Glad to help. Just be careful cleaning the MAF wires and don't touch them with your fingers (more oil). Use a Q tip and gently wipe.

jthorn9

Forgot about the oil, but it shouldn't of been that badly over oiled, but anything is possible.

raz54

I've had it happen almost every time I install a new K & N filter and the first time I cleaned and re-oiled one.

jthorn9

Damn, you're supposed to stop when you form a puddle of oil on the ground, lol.No, serriously, I never had that problem on my 5.0, or my 3.8. 5.0 has a BBK, 3.8 had a K&N.