Emissions legal CAI question

Flusher

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He has a 4.0 L eng with 225 crank hp....(V6).
225 hp x 1.5 = 337.5 CFM @ redline.
That's dick for air requirements.

When's the last time you heard someone say, "Take power out of it!"?
 

Flusher

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My advise is to get reflashed at the dealer and run the Air Raid with insert. Get through smog then worry about looking for a tune. Not having a stock tune can be a pain down the road.

Please forgive my ignorance, I don't understand why "Not having a stock tune can be a pain down the road."

If the car runs good and passes emissions, why would I need a stock AND an aftermarket tune? Why would there be any reason to switch tunes? No other changes will be made to this engine/trans. I wouldn't have even changed the CAI if I wasn't trying to be emissions complient.
 

06 T-RED S/C GT

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He has a 4.0 L eng with 225 crank hp....(V6).
225 hp x 1.5 = 337.5 CFM @ redline.
That's dick for air requirements.

Which is exactly the reason I suggested to the OP that by just adding a larger diameter CAI won't do much of anything to increase airflow with a stock 4.0L V6 eng. Perhaps he might see a small improvement with a tune re-flash, but not by very much. IMHO, the OP would be wasting both his time and money and would be much better off just re-flashing back to stock and using the Airaid intake he currently has that's designed to function properly with the stock tune in place.
 
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Flusher

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I totally agree and recommend you follow the advice provided by "01yellerCobra's post below, as your going to have to re-flash back to stock first before uploading an aftermarket tune anyhow. Then I would try out the stock tune with your Airaid 453-177 CAI and see if you like it, if not? then look into getting a tune for your Airaid CAI. Just so your aware, it's the tune that provides most of the improvements in throttle response, torque and HP by re-mapping the spark, fuel and timing parameters and not so much from an aftermarket CAI by itself as the stock motor's intake manifold and heads are only capable of allowing the maximum amount of airflow for which they were designed for by the factory. By just adding a large diameter pipe doesn't increase the amount of airflow going into the stock intake manifold nor thru the stock heads intake/exhaust ports, but rather just as a larger volume, but in reality, it accomplishes nothing more other than trying to force more air into the same size opening and is therefore considered as overkill. Once you do upgrades such as adding larger heads, throttle body, cams, LT headers or upgrade to either supercharged or turbo? which all require more airflow, this is when adding a larger diameter CAI will provide the most benefit along with tuning. At any rate, you will definitely notice an improvement in throttle response, torque and HP by just getting an aftermarket tune and there is no need to swap out your Airaid CAI towards another that has a larger pipe diameter. In the meantime, just have your Ford dealer re-flash your car back to stock and run it with your Airaid CAI.

I'm just unhappy about losing any performance from the already weak little motor.

Thank you again
 

Flusher

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It's about $100-140 to have it flashed at the dealership.
 

06 T-RED S/C GT

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Please forgive my ignorance, I don't understand why "Not having a stock tune can be a pain down the road."

If the car runs good and passes emissions, why would I need a stock AND an aftermarket tune? Why would there be any reason to switch tunes? No other changes will be made to this engine/trans. I wouldn't have even changed the CAI if I wasn't trying to be emissions complient.
Because a stock engine cant take in more air than what it's designed for, that's why! If your car was running so well and passes emissions as you previously stated, then how is it that for the first 10 sec you were experiencing a rough idle and saw the engine light come on and then after installing the JLT intake you were getting CEL's? The reason, your car doesn't have the proper tuning for that CAI. As for not having a stock tune being a pain in the ass down the road? that simply means that before you can upload an aftermaket tune from a handheld programmer, the handheld device is required to store the vehicle's factory tune in it's internal memory before it can upload any of it's aftermarket tunes. Also if anything should happen to go wrong such as a software or firmware malfunction? you are also screwed which is exactly another reason the handheld manufacturers strongly recommend making certain that your vehicle is returned back to the stock tune before re-flashing to another tune.
 
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06 T-RED S/C GT

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I'm just unhappy about losing any performance from the already weak little motor.

Thank you again

With a stock 4.0L V6 motor, your much better off sticking with your Airaid intake along with the stock tune. As the Airaid CAI isn't nearly as air restrictive as the stock airbox. As I mentioned before in a previous post, just try it out with the stock tune and if for any reason your unhappy with the performance? then look into getting a handheld programmer that includes preloaded aftermarket tunes for your Airaid CAI

It's about $100-140 to have it flashed at the dealership.

It's much cheaper than spending over $500-$700 for a preloaded handheld tuning device plus another $300-$400 for a CAI, if necessary?
 

Flusher

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Because a stock engine cant take in more air than what it's designed for, that's why! If your car was running so well and passes emissions as you previously stated, then how is it that for the first 10 sec you were experiencing a rough idle and saw the engine light come on and then after installing the JLT intake you were getting CEL's? The reason, your car doesn't have the proper tuning for that CAI. As for not having a stock tune being a pain in the ass down the road? that simply means that before you can upload an aftermaket tune from a handheld programmer, the handheld device is required to store the vehicle's factory tune in it's internal memory before it can upload any of it's aftermarket tunes. Also if anything should happen to go wrong such as a software or firmware malfunction? you are also screwed which is exactly the reason the handheld manufacturer strongly recommends making certain that your vehicle has the stock tune uploaded in the device before re-flashing to another tune.

Not trying to be argumentative, but the car has run fine for the last four years and passed two OBD2 emissions tests with the JLT. The JLT appears to have been on the car long before I bought it.

I wouldn't have messed with it if I didn't need EO sticker.
 

Flusher

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With a stock 4.0L V6 motor, your much better off sticking with your Airaid intake along with the stock tune. As the Airaid CAI isn't nearly as air restrictive as the stock airbox. As I mentioned before in a previous post, just try it out with the stock tune and if for any reason your unhappy with the performance? then look into getting a handheld programmer that includes preloaded aftermarket tunes for your Airaid CAI



It's much cheaper than spending over $500-$700 for a preloaded handheld tuning device plus another $300-$400 for a CAI, if necessary?

Agreed
 

06 T-RED S/C GT

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Not trying to be argumentative, but the car has run fine for the last four years and passed two OBD2 emissions tests with the JLT. The JLT appears to have been on the car long before I bought it.

I wouldn't have messed with it if I didn't need EO sticker.

Then I don't quite understand the reason you were getting CEL's with the JLT intake? If your car is required to have an EO sticker? then you must have a CAI which is CARB certified for which your Airaid 453-177 intake most certainly is.

I also don't quite understand why the handheld programmer wasn't included with your car when you purchased it from the previous owner who re-flashed it with the JLT tune or why they just didn't return it back to the stock tune along with reinstalling the stock airbox in the first place?
 
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Flusher

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I installed the Airaid last Sunday. When i test fired it, it ran really rough and I got the wrench light. Obviously the car wasn't happy with the Airaid. I shut it off after just a few seconds.

I then reinstalled the JLT. When I fired it with the JLT reinstalled, it was idling smoothly. Both the wrench light and CEL were on. After a few seconds, the wrench light went off, but the CEL remained on.

I got the car from my neighbor, a car wholesaler. He got the car at an auction. The car had been wrecked on the driver side front and the front suspension was clunking badly. He wasn't in any hurry to fix it. He knew i liked the 05-09, so he always parked it in front of my shop.

At the time, I was driving a Volvo that was just killing my soul a little more each time I drove it. When I was at my end with the Volvo, it had to go away and we made a deal for the Mustang.

I got it for $2400, as is, and have been slowly wrenching on it here and there. I always intended it to be just a beater transportation car for work. The mileage i drive kills cars. The first year I had it, I put over 50K on it. When the engine/trans dies, i will find another. Nothing I have done can't be rolled over to another 05-09.

Honestly, I don't know anything about what tune is on it, i have only read that the JLT requires a tune. The service manager said, "it does not have a tune."

Thanks again
 

01yellerCobra

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Service managers generally aren't as smart as they'd like to think they are. Your car has a tune on it in order to run the larger CAI. The reason I mentioned the stock tune is because I've been there. My 04 didn't have the stock tune. Thankfully I do my own tuning and was able to get it worked out.
 

06 T-RED S/C GT

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I installed the Airaid last Sunday. When i test fired it, it ran really rough and I got the wrench light. Obviously the car wasn't happy with the Airaid. I shut it off after just a few seconds.

I then reinstalled the JLT. When I fired it with the JLT reinstalled, it was idling smoothly. Both the wrench light and CEL were on. After a few seconds, the wrench light went off, but the CEL remained on.

I got the car from my neighbor, a car wholesaler. He got the car at an auction. The car had been wrecked on the driver side front and the front suspension was clunking badly. He wasn't in any hurry to fix it. He knew i liked the 05-09, so he always parked it in front of my shop.

At the time, I was driving a Volvo that was just killing my soul a little more each time I drove it. When I was at my end with the Volvo, it had to go away and we made a deal for the Mustang.

I got it for $2400, as is, and have been slowly wrenching on it here and there. I always intended it to be just a beater transportation car for work. The mileage i drive kills cars. The first year I had it, I put over 50K on it. When the engine/trans dies, i will find another. Nothing I have done can't be rolled over to another 05-09.

Honestly, I don't know anything about what tune is on it, i have only read that the JLT requires a tune. The service manager said, "it does not have a tune."

Thanks again

The reason your car ran rough with the Airaid intake is because your ran it with the tune you were running on the JLT intake. The Airaid intake you have is designed to run with the stock tune, as this has been explained to you on multiple occasions. Therefore I don't know what part your still not understanding? The reason your CEL is staying on with the JLT intake is more than likely due from one or more of the parameters in the tune for the JLT not being calibrated properly. As for your service manager? He is dead wrong who obviously isn't aware of the fact that once you put on a larger diameter MAF tubing over stock, the car requires a tune re-flash, otherwise the car will not function properly. Once you have the Ford dealer return the car back to the stock tune, you'll be able to run the Airaid intake with no problems whatsoever. However, if the service manager isn't willing to acknowledge that your running a tune that's designed for a larger diameter intake? Then take your car to another Ford dealer who will properly diagnose your car and confirm that you are indeed not running the stock tune!

Does the AirAid have a removable insert?

The built-in MAF housing is the same diameter as stock for the V6 cars. Therefore the Airaid intakes for the V6 cars do not require a removable insert!

It does not have.

The Airaid intakes for the V6 cars do not require a removable insert.
 
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FIEEUG

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If you want a faster car and more touchy throttle why didn’t you buy a 5.0 v8 instead of 4.0 v6? Or has Commiefornia outlawed that too?
 

06 T-RED S/C GT

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If you want a faster car and more touchy throttle why didn’t you buy a 5.0 v8 instead of 4.0 v6? Or has Commiefornia outlawed that too?

Or he could've also bought a 4.6L 3v V8 for less than 13k in excellent condition as well.

There's still plenty of V8's out here.

That can be had at very affordable prices ;)
 

Flusher

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If you want a faster car and more touchy throttle why didn’t you buy a 5.0 v8 instead of 4.0 v6? Or has Commiefornia outlawed that too?

There's still plenty of V8's out here.

Or he could've also bought a 4.6L 3v V8 for less than 13k in excellent condition as well.

That can be had at very affordable prices ;)

Sorry for the delayed reply. Thank you all for the replies.

These are good questions, my reasoning for buying the V6 is:

I currently drive about 140 miles, to/from work, per day. That is if i do not go anywhere else. I have to buy gas every other day, three times a week at ~$50 a tank. That works out to about $650/mo.

In 2015 when I bought the car, my wife didn't have a driver's license. I was responsible for her transportation needs to/from work. This was at the same time that i ventured into a CNC machining business, which required a considerable amount of time to launch.

My daily travels were from Colton => Highland => Santa Ana => Highland => Colton => Santa Ana and finally back to Colton. That's a minimum daily mileage of 228 miles five days a week plus another 90 miles two days a week. That's 1320 miles per week minimum. How much more would I have spent on gas, insurance, and registration if I was driving a V8?

When my wife finally got her license, she decided that she would like a Mustang also. At first, we considered buying a new Mustang for me and she would drive my '05. Of course I wanted the V8! Because of my commute mileage, we shifted focus to the 4 cylinder EcoBoost.

As much as I would like a new car to commute in, I needed to be realistic. Driving a new car to death was not a viable. After the '05 left my wife stranded once, it was clear that the new car should be hers.

We decided that new car payments combined with my startup business expenses would be an unnecessary hardship. She found a reasonably priced previously owned V6 auto, at a local lot that specializes in Mustangs. Of course someone started the paperwork on that car just minutes before we got there. Every other car besides, what is now her V6 manual, was a V8. I didn't feel that she needed a V8 for her first car, so a second V6 it was. She loves that car, it is reliable, and it makes her really happy, that's what is really important.

My car wholesaler neighbor gets '05-'09 V8s in frequently. He always makes it a point to park them right in front of my unit, telling me that I should upgrade. Some day, the right Boss 302 will enter my life. But for now, I will drive this motherfraker until it dies.

I really should have bought some suckbox hybrid POS, but I just can't bring myself to go that route. Why the V6? Because... Business decisions.
 

Flusher

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The reason your car ran rough with the Airaid intake is because your ran it with the tune you were running on the JLT intake. The Airaid intake you have is designed to run with the stock tune, as this has been explained to you on multiple occasions. Therefore I don't know what part your still not understanding? The reason your CEL is staying on with the JLT intake is more than likely due from one or more of the parameters in the tune for the JLT not being calibrated properly. As for your service manager? He is dead wrong who obviously isn't aware of the fact that once you put on a larger diameter MAF tubing over stock, the car requires a tune re-flash, otherwise the car will not function properly. Once you have the Ford dealer return the car back to the stock tune, you'll be able to run the Airaid intake with no problems whatsoever. However, if the service manager isn't willing to acknowledge that your running a tune that's designed for a larger diameter intake? Then take your car to another Ford dealer who will properly diagnose your car and confirm that you are indeed not running the stock tune!



The built-in MAF housing is the same diameter as stock for the V6 cars. Therefore the Airaid intakes for the V6 cars do not require a removable insert!

The Airaid intakes for the V6 cars do not require a removable insert.


I really appreciate the replies. It's not I'm not understanding, I'm just not happy about my options.

It is what it is, I have other priorities.

Thanks again
 

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