As my sig shows, garbage AFE noise/vibe intake (does make power though), Hypertech tuner on 87 octane, Magnafow, had the truck in for a service, mech grabbed his diagnostics and went for a drive to scope the air/fuel, his results, no problem. Said the ratio is safe and very linear/stable, guaranteed me no warranty issues with this setup. Just though I'd pass it on, no custom intake tune needed here.

 

Which intake is it? The open stage 2 for the 5.4?

 

Just out of curiosity im somewhat new here and have always just heard people say oh it makes your truck run lean. Has anyone actually hooked up a wideband to their truck and drove around? Most modern ECU's if reset (disconnect battery pump brakes a few times then reconnect)when you make the changes will compensate for the changes and remap for the airflow and make the truck run normal with the A/F ratios.

My experiences come from other cars though and not trucks so personally im not knowledgeable as far as how the Ford ECU works.

 

It's a long story that you can get by reading threads in the Tuning section. The 2004s and early 2005s came from the factory in a near lean condition. ANY additional airflow could be detrimental. This was proved out by dyno at Troyer's. The later trucks are probably ok, but I personally would not run the risk, as a custom tune is needed anyway to maximize the value of a CAI. Yes, you can do as you suggested and the PCM will make some adjustment, but, it is limited as to how much it can adjust, as Bill at PHP has explained. Again, without custom tunes, you get about half of the potential of a CAI plus just might run lean. Do some searches on the various word combos, and you will find soem threads to read.

 

I ordered a gryphon just for the simple fact that i thought well the truck has been out for awhile and surely people have done it. Honestly i based alot of my choice on choosing Bill and the gryphon based on posts made by you. You seem to always answer with a little more knowledge on it then most have done.

I just havent gotten into reading the hardcore tuning threads yet i swore to the wife that this truck would just be driven and wouldnt wind up like every other car we own and im trying to keep my word....... I figured intake, exhaust and programmer stays within the normal realms as long as i dont turbo it she probably will leave me alone lol

 

You won't be disappointed. If I had to start giving up mods, the last would be the custom tunes from Bill. I would really hate to give up my dual exhaust as I love the music, and the tint is great. I love my wheels, but they would all go before the tunes. They make the truck, for me.

 

I have a with and w/o tune dyno. It is posted here in the tuning section.

 

Sure have, it's lean.

Long term fuel trims are ALWAYS changing, clearning the KAM resets the LTFT table and you start all over. I have seen an CAI on a stock F150 with LTFT table in the +18%, ford recommends a +/-10% and most tuners recommend a +/-5%. So if OP cleared the KAM/reflashed his LTFT would be low %, but may still be changing during drive cycles.

hoseclamp, MOST if not all dealer techs don't know anything about PCM tuning, i wouldn't trust any information from them.

 

I can see we are going to go 'round & 'round on this issue. Hopefully this will settle the debate. Maybe it won't... who knows?

This dyno plot was made on a 2004 F150, both before and after installing an AFE CAI kit. The runs were about 50 minutes apart, which was the time it took me to install the CAI. All test conditions were the same and the engine was at full operating temperature (both ECT and EOT) when making both runs. Take it for what it's worth.

(click for larger image)


Unfortunately, the sampling software didn't correctly log the AFR from the meter but fortunately we did make a note of the AFR for each WOT run because as soon as I saw the results, I was on the phone with AFE.

Stock w/o CAI- 14.4 AFR (+/- .1)
Stock w/AFE - 15.6 AFR (+/- .1)

When I contacted AFE about this issue, I was basically told I didn't know what I was doing and I was supposed to have let the PCM "relearn" the fuel curves. Now I didn't necessarily disagree with this so after running about an hour on the dyno at varying speeds, loads, and throttle positions, I did a few more runs with exactly the same results. What's even funnier is that when I put the stock airbox back on, my power curve and AFRs returned to normal... WIHTOUT having to relearn any fuel maps.

I will say that after correcting the fueling and MAF tables to compensate for the airflow offset cause by the CAI, the truck picked up about 8 HP above 3000 RPM. Oddly, it's nearly the same 8 HP we picked up at the same RPM by removing the snorkel from the fender. Go figure. Oh, and the stock airbox didn't DRONE!

Again, take it for what it's worth. In my opinion, the stock airbox on the F150 provides more than enough flow, at least for a naturally aspirated application. Supercharged or other Forced Induction applications will certainly be different and airflow requirements are dramatically changed in these applications.

Hope this helps.

 

Bill, when you refer to the snorkel, is that just the short piece that connect to the hole in the inner fender?

 

I have alway's wondered how could a CAI possibly flow much better than the factory airbox with the snorkel removed. I'm not saying it doesn't but I don't see it being a huge difference though.

 

Yes sir that's what he is talking about.

 

Anyone interested in a slightly used s+b intake lol.

 

 

Jim - He discusses this over on the PHP forum. That piece narrows the intake diameter down to about 2 inches, I think he said. Removing it gives improved airflow at higher RPMs with no lean mixture issues.

There was also a reference to the "Gotts" mod there that's in a thread on this forum. Appears to be something I'm going to have to look into.

- Jack