Anyone here use or know anything about those resisitors that people are trying to sell on ebay saying that you will gain more power from your engine. This sounds like a crock a **** to me. and also does anyone know if the throttle body spacer actually works and gets you more power.

 

Im pretty sure what the resistors do is tell your computer that the air coming in is colder and therefore more dense, which makes it add more fuel and creates a "little" bit more power.. but why would you want to run your truck rich? It already eats enough gas, as is.. and it probably wont even add noticible power. As for throttle body spacers, no their useless. Dont you think if they were useful in creating extra MPG or HP, they'd come from the factory with them? You'd be better to save you money and spend it on gas =P.

 

The resistor trick on EBay is a quick way to ruin your engine. It removes your AIR TEMP sensor there for as the air temps do change your engine can NOT adjust the for the correct timing or A/F ratio... the resistor they are selling will give a consistent temp reading and it will NEVER change from that reading... EXAPMPLE:

If the resistor reads 50 degrees... then your PCM will ALWAYS think the intake air temps are 50 degrees. So if its 90 degrees out then your PCM will think its 50 degrees. With a 40 degree difference it will add way too much fuel as warmer temps do not require as much fuel... it will also advance the timing WAY too much.

If its 30 degrees out and your PCM thinks its 50 degrees then it will NOT add enough fuel to the denser out side air... and this is where you will have even worse performance. You will have too much timing advance and less fuel for an A/F mixture that requires the OPPOSITE.

Ask him what resistance value he is using... I’m sure he will not tell you..... Then ask him what temp is it rated at... If he tells you that we can figure out in more detail what this mod will do and what out side temp it will perform best. But it is NOT the best way to do this mod and I have spoken to people who have had engine issues with it.

If you’re going to do this mod do it right... You need to solder a resistor in line with your AIR TEMP sensor... this way you still use your sensor and your PCM can still adjust to the out side air temps... a resistor will just trick the computer into thinking the temp is XX degrees cooler. The POWER WIRE is a plug and Play mod and will tell your PCM that the AIR TEMPs are 20 degrees cooler than actual... AT ALL Times... if the outside air temps change the PCM will be able to adjust but it will think the air temps are ALWAYS 20 degrees cooler. This is a much safer mod and it does NOT take away your PCMs ability to adjust to the ever changing air temps.

Again you can do it yourself by adding a resistor in-line, do some research and you will find PLENTY on how to do this mod. It does work and can be worth 8-10 HP.


SPEED SAFE, AIR RAM

 

If it only cost 0.10 and was effective the manufacturer would be doing it already

The resistor thingy, TB spacer, vortex generator, etc are just a way to take money out of your motor at the least and cause component failure at worst (at your expense). It is best to stay away from these.

 

No this is not true. The factory sets the A/F ratio to 14.75:1 which is NOT a performance making Ratio... best power is made at 12.9:1 - 13.2:1 and its a BIG difference from the stock setting... so thinking that the factory is wanting to give you all the power is not what happens.

The timing is also locked in, having no distributor to manually advance like we did on our older V-8s the only way to advance the timing is through tricking the computer to do it for us. The PCM determines the A/F ratio’s by using the air density, coolant temp & air temperature readings to decide how much timing advance/fuel then refers to a table where it will use a predetermined table.

By adding a resistor in line with the air temp sensor the power wire is telling the computer that the air temps are 20 degrees cooler than actual we force it to use a different table. This table will advance the timing and add approximately 2% more fuel at WOT. At part throttle you will NOT use more fuel because the 02 sensors are keeping the air fuel ratios at a solid 14.75:1… but under full throttle you will get the added 2% more fuel and the timing advance that makes an average of 8-10HP depending on the resistor used. Notice I’m not saying 15-20 HP…

It’s a simple mod that you can most certainly do on your own for less than 5 bucks… but if you do it on your own you will need to CUT your factory harness and this will void your warranty should you have any issues with your PCM. This is why the PLUG & PLAY PW is so good… you can remove it and return to stock in less than 30 seconds before you take it in for service… so wires to cut means no trace of your mod.

The resistor jumping the plug is NOT a good mod and has been know to cause issues. I have a good friend who tried that exact same mod on his 2003 4.7L 4x4. He said it ran good for about a day and then started to idle funny and die on him for no reason at all… he removed it that JUMPER resistor and it ran like it did prior to the mod.

The best thing to do is a search on the forums. You will find a ton of information on these mod’s as well as what resistors to use… you can not just use ANY resistor and need to use the right one for the desired effect… The right one can make HP difference,

SPEED SAFE, AIR RAM

 

Air Ram,

Question for you. What voltage is being used at the sensor? Is it using the full 12 VDC, milivolt signal, or a miliAmp signal. Is not the sensor just a thermistor of some sort? I guess knowing the voltage at the sensor (or amprage) and the scale at which it works will help to determine the amount of resistance needed to make a correct modification. Do I got this correctly? If not could use please give a bit more detail. If you feel that it is not appropriate to post that kind of information publicly, you could PM me with this. Curious minds want to know.

Mike

 

Air Ram,

If the engine is kept at a constant 14.75/1 A/F stoichemetric theoretical optimum ratio, why then do forum members state that thier A/F ratio dips down to around 13 when they hammer the throttle? Also, since you are from the performance crowd, have you messed with altering the signal to the computer by adding a resistor? I'm not trying to be a smart a$$, just trying to learn.

I was under the impression that the computer takes the IAT, TPS, O2, etc. and determines the amount of fuel/timing to give optimum running for the given conditions. Sure we can add a few horses here and there with timing, fuel curve tweaks, but the OEM setting is a general setting that can be applied from below sea level to cruising around Mile High Stadium parking lot.