As I posted yesterday my GT has been running sluggish and has a hesitation, so I take it into Mustang Specialties last night to have them take a look at it. After test driving it they put my car on the dyno and the results weren't so great. My best run was 283 hp 294 torque, the tech claims I should be getting 305 -315 hp. The biggest problem was the air-fuel mixture. Started out at 14.2 but dropped dramatically to 12.3 at about 2000 rpms. After the drop the line wasn't constant it looked like someone drew a line with shakey hands. They tried to refine my tune to correct the situation but had no luck. I was told they would need the car for a full day to analyze the problem and find out what's was causing this to happen. They recommeded to go back to stock and maybe replace my CAI with a steeda and a Diablo predador tuner. Right now I have a JLT with an SCT tuner. The tech was great, he said if we tried that, he would install it then put my car back on the dyno and if it didn't correct the problem he would take it back off and not charge me. Not sure if I really want to go this route yet because if it did work I have to fork out $790.00 I'm thinking about just putting my car back to stock and taking it into Ford and let them figure this out.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? I dread the thought of taking my car into the dealership.

 

Rich , I've had dealings in the past with Mustang Specialties on my 90 mustang and I wasn't happy with the work they did. I initially was going to have Steeda rebuild my engine , but I went with them because they were considerably cheaper and I regretted it afterwards. I still think Steeda is overpriced on a lot of things they do , but they do good work and will stand behind it. Another place I'm going to try next week is D'Agostino Racing , I having them put in the GT500 fuel pumps. I heard good things about them here on the forum and they definitely have good prices. You might want to check them out , or as I said try Steeda ...

 

Thanks for the info Steve, A few guys I know took their cars up to MS and had no problems so that's why I went and they've done some work for me recently and I was pleased with them. Scott at D'Agostino Racing retuned my car back in September and did a fantastic job. He no longer works there and and that's why I never went back to them. I found out last night that he now works for MS.

 

I can almost garuntee the dyno run was sampled while the car was in closed loop (part throttle) which is where you would run 14.64 air fuels (roughly) and it would fluctuate around 14.2-15.2 or so depending on how exact the tune's trims are.

From that point, it should run around 12.8. Also depending on whether or not the air fuel graph was shown with "smoothing" off or on and how expanded it was will tell how solid the graph will be. Alot of tuners "smush" their air fuel graphs until it looks like a straight line.

So it sounds like you're running a little rich, but Doug is a good tuner. He can probably get you straightened out if you can give him a datalog of MAF Voltage and Air Fuel Ratio.

I don't think the guy who ran the dyno was steering you right.

We sample at WOT and that's why most of our runs are 2200+ roughly. Because that way you're only printing open loop (12.8 Air Fuel Ideal in This Situation) and the customer doesn't get scared about seeing it drop from 14.64 down. You want that at part throttle.

Post up a copy of the graph if possible. I really bet the air fuels are expanded with smoothing low or off and it just looks like a choppy line. It's probably like 12.3-12.6 which isn't that rich at all.

CR
Tillman Speed
610-497-5776

 

All you have is a CAI and tune? If so, that number looks pretty close to what it should be, IMO.

Heck, I should be at 305-315rwhp with my mods in place.

Have you tried re-flashing your tune? One guy here has similiar issues and re-downloading his tune fixed it. It's worth a try and it's free.

 

Yeah, I think the HP numbers are right on target for having a CAI and a tune. There is no way you should be making over 300HP at the wheels with just that mod.

 

The guy is blowin smoke up your old dirt road.

 

Not normally but it is possible. Stock rating is 255-275rwhp. If you had one of the freaks to start with, over 25rwhp is definently possible with a good intake and great tune.

 

Nah...I agree with Tony.. No way you should hit those numbers on a CAI and tune. Your tuner is puffing on something.

 

+1 to the above.

 

i dont know if he's steering you wrong on purpose...think of it this way..I would say that JLT II and SCT is one of the more popular combos with, i dont know, thousands?? in use..no one else is selling them to change to a different combo, actually you seldom hear anything bad about either that isnt directly related to the tune.. buy an email tune from bama or bren or ??, save yourself startin over.. just my 2 cents..gd luck

 

Rich , I assume that Scott wasn't there when the dyno pulls were done ? He worked on my car at Diablo when I first got it and he really knows his stuff. I had heard he was D'Agostino and that is why I went there , only to find out he was no longer there. I'd really like to have him work on my car again , but I just Leary of MS. They stripped a bolt on one of my valve covers and never told me , till after I found it and asked them. Then the owner Tim didn't want to do anything about it , he said it wasn't leaking so it really wasn't a problem. When they did a dyno pull on my car they left the O2 sensors unplugged and didn't know it. I had narrow band A/F gauges and after I picked up the car they didn't work , so I took it back and they discovered the sensors unplugged. Good customer service would have been to do the dyno pulls again , but they didn't even offer. It got to the point where I felt I had to really check my car over every time I got it back from them and there were other times I found bolts loose and such. So like I said , I don't think I want the actually working on the car , but I might consider letting Scott tune it there ...

 

Thanks eveyone for your comments, I thought the tech's expectations was high on the hp and I'm glad I'm within normal range. I think everyone misunderstood about the steeda CAI. All the tech did was make a suggestion because that's the brand they are familiar with and he also said that if I went that route and it didn't solve my problem with the a/f that he would just take it off and not charge me. He also said I could have it dyno tuned but told me it wouldn't be worth the money since I don't have a lot of performance modes installed. He only charged me $100.00 for 3 dyno runs that included him working almost 2 hours trying to adjust my tune. I thought that was pretty reasonable and I don't think he was trying to hose me.

I don't have the charts of my dyno run but I will call him as ask him to e-mail them me so I have it in my records

 

No Scott wasn't there when they did the tune but the tech (John) did call him before I left to see if he remembered doing my tune. Scott said he could dyno tune my car but that would cost me about $400.00 and John told me don't even bother because it would be a waste of money since I haven't really done any major performance mods. Sorry you had the problem with them but like I said the experiences of the people that I talked to and the work they did for me in the past were positive. They installed a hurst shifter and a few other minor jobs for me. I'm planning on putting my car back to stock this weekend and see what happens.

 

Good luck , and I hope you get your problem solved ...

 

Dang - Scott Beer isn't tuning at D'agostino anymore?

Thought he still was

Yeah I have heard 50/50 regarding MS

and Steeda actually

D'agostino I have not heard anything negative about and was considering going by there actually

and YEAH - I echo the others - he said you should be getting that much with with a CAI and tune??.......

......um, that seems kinda sketchy