Tune after S&B intake and Shorty Headers?

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GhostGregg

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I recently installed the S&B CAI and someone told me that I would run lean without a tune. I am new to performance tuning and do not have a local shop with a tuner that I can find to program the ECU. I am also (next Tuesday) installing some JBA Shorty Headers on my truck.

After the headers are installed, should I tune the truck? I have zero experience with tuning but I would like to make both upgrades count a much as possible since I spent good money on them.

Any advise or help would be most appreciated.


Anyone ever lend out their tuner before? (With deposit obviously)
 

daveray9

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I have both of those, with a ported TB... I run a custom tune from Jay Greene but before I ran it I didnt think it ran lean at all, for what its worth. Besides performing a little better in the higher rpm range, I didnt notice any difference in the shorties (jba), but the stupid tick from snapped bolts was gone. Also, from what I could tell the intakes provide no real change other than sound.. except maybe vararam.

Also, lending a tuner out isnt really an option for the diablo ones... only way to remove the in use license is to remove your tune. Or you could pay for an xtra license on the i3s, but at that point you could buy a refurb one off ebay for roughly the same cost.



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GhostGregg

GhostGregg

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Ohhhh ok, thanks for the info! I wouldnt think the truck would run lean because the amount of air the truck is getting doesnt change, its just the ease in which the air is given right. with less restriction
 

MADDOG

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I say tune it and here's why. Oh, and I recommend a Diablosport tuner because they are easy to use, you can use them to load custom tunes on and they have group of user customizable settings as well.

That lower restriction actually allows for faster air flow. You are getting a bit more air, or shall we say molecules, as the air has a better flow through the system and those little molecules are getting compressed by a small increase in pressure. So...more air is coming in. But it's not a large increase in air.

So there is a change, in and out of the system,and air will be flowing faster and with a bit larger volume of O2 molecules.

But here's something to consider that you may not be aware of...your truck is already running lean because it was tuned that way. The change in airflow can increase that lean condition at higher RPMs. So at Wide Open Throttle your engine runs even leaner and you are on the verge of knock retard, which pulls timing to avoid detonation. So you really aren't getting an optimized fuel burn or performance when you want it.

Tuning your vehicle is done with a programmer and a set of tunes loaded on that programmer. It gets plugged into the ODB II port below the dash and you follow the instructions to load a tune. The tunes you get with the programmer from the manufacturer are called "canned tunes" and you can get custom tunes from various tuners out there.

Honestly, the canned tunes aren't that special. A custom tune, from either Jay Greene or Sean Powell (Hemifever), will really wake up your truck and help get that lean condition under control, optimizing air flow, timing, spark and fuel delivery.

So custom tunes aren't hard to do. You can get it done on a dyno by a trained technician. That is the most expensive method. You can also get them by email and that's the cheaper option. You'll load a tune, log the truck's performance with the programmer plugged in, extract those logs to your home computer and send them to the tuner by email. They will tweak on the tune and email you a new tune file. You'll load it on your programmer, plug that programmer into your truck and download the new tune. You may end up doing this two or three times.

The custom tune I got from Hemifever for my 6.4L CC 4X4 was a real eye opener and the truck ran so much better than stock. I had a S&B cold air intake and a Magnaflow muffler installed, with a resonator delete. There's a little in-cab video I took after I installed the last custom tune he sent me posted below.

Moe's Performance usually has a package deal available, a Diablosport programmer with custom tunes by Hemifever. I'd get in touch with Matt @ Moe's and see what he has going on for deals.

Good luck!

 

Riccochet

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You're not going to run lean. Doesn't matter what bolt on's, outside of forced induction, you add. In stock form the PCM simply won't allow more air than the fuel system is capable of injecting. This goes for all modern vehicles that are throttle by wire.

The stock air box flows more than the stock tuning is capable of using.

Headers will, somewhat, increase scavenging freeing up some power.
 
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