I'm looking to add a CAI soon and have Xcal. I run the 87 tow tune. Do I need to have the Xcal re programmed for the intake? Will the engine run lean with the intake. Thanks.


P.S. I also plan on adding an exhaust in the future.

 

Nobody knows? Have to check w/ K&N on Monday. Guessing all is good.

 

By all means have the X-calibrator reprogrammed for the CIA, especially since your vehicle is an '04....

 

Thanks for the reply Marc.
Just got off the phone with K&N(7:30pm!)I actually e-mailed them only 5 minutes earlier and the customer service person who I spoke with said the tech was already answering my e-mail!! They said good to go!
Guess what brand CAI I'll be going with?

 

Ordered the K&N intake from a local speed shop yesterday. Only $277 w/ tax. Thanks for all the replies.

 

I *strongly* recommend that you have the A/F ratios tested on that vehicle with any intake kit on it - even in bone-stock trim, some of the 2004 & up F-150's run *very* lean from the factory, not doing what they are supposed to, and that can be very dangerous.

DO NOT ever take any manufacturer's word that your truck will be safe without doing A/F ratio testing, as you may very well find that it's not - in fact, there are only 2 intake kits we have seen that even have the potential for not needing retuning, and even then, on some trucks they still need the A/F's corrected.

Nobody has dyno'd or datalogged or tuned as many F-150's as we have - not K&N (who has a policy that only requires testing on 3 vehicles before shipping new products, by the way - that is nowhere near enough with the 2004 & up F-150, or any 3-valve Ford engine vehicle, for that matter), not anyone - other than maybe Ford Motor Company themselves. And I can tell you first hand that this is one thing you do NOT want to take for granted.

Once you get your intake kit installed, get to a chassis dyno and have the A/F's tested - you are just as likely to be surprised to see that it is *not* running the 12.0:1 A/F's that Ford commands in every single 2004 & up F-150 as you are likely to see that it does - it's just as likely to be hitting 14-15:1, as we see that in many cases - even in bone-stock factory showroom trim. In fact, Marc Carpenter's truck, the gentleman who responded to you above, was one of them - his truck ran 14.2:1 in STOCK trim.

Just FYI so you know, & good luck!

 

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Thanks for the tip. I'll keep it in mind.
If it dangerously lean, wouldn't a CEL pop-up? (I would think at some point it would.) Why do I hear about the AF1 throwing CEL's? Are they also causing lean run or is that another problem with them?

Thanks for the reply!

 

If you have seen reports here of CEL's with AF1's, then you also had to have seen at least some of the *numerous* posts here including the highly detailed thread here in just the past 10 days where a number of owners posted how they had to be back and re-do their installations properly, and that took care of the CEL.

Notice how not one single time in any posts you saw where anyone said they got a CEL with the AF1 were there any actual A/F ratios or even fuel trims quoted. No, you cannot depend on a CEL to "protect" you - as we have said hundreds of times here, the 2004 & up F-150 (and some 01-03's) is set up to report lean or rich codes before the engine actually goes lean or rich - the code reporting threshold is tighter than the actual adaptive limits of the PCM. And the systems don't always work very well - their consistency is lacking. We have seen new F-150's run as lean as 19:1 never throw a CEL, and we have also seen many times where they reported a lean condition code when the engine wasn't running lean - as I said above, not once have you seen any actual A/F ratios quoted in the posts you mention, people just say they got a light on their dash - a few will scan for a code and report they got a lean code - and that's it, no actual data, ever. The reality is that without testing the A/F's you can't possibly know if you have a lean or rich condition in O/L.

For example, a number of these vehicles are running 14:1 - 15:1 A/F's bone stock despite commanding 12.0:1 in the O/L fuel tables, and not a single one of them doing that in stock trim has ever thrown a lean code CEL in our experience - while others running well within what the factory commands have thrown CEL's with AF1's installed that should never have thrown a code. We know that only because we actually *test*. That is the simple reality, and while most of these vehicles are OK stock, we do in fact see enough of them running way too lean right off the showroom floor that we feel the A/F's should be tested any time you install any intake kit at this time on any 3V modular engines. It took us a good deal of time to dyno enough vehicles in bone-stock trim (most of the vehicles we dyno are not stock) before we could accumulate enough statistical data to identify and be concerned about that trend - and it takes dynoing hundreds of vehicles in bone-stock trim to come to that conclusion, which is why we didn't start saying that we feel all 2004 & up F-150's should have the A/F's tested with ANY intake kit installed until just a couple of months ago.

I realize you won't see what we see, as we are professional tuners and thus see & know far more about how these systems are designed and how they actually work in the real world than most "average" vehicle owners in general - just like I wouldn't have a *clue* how to do root canal work, or how to be an architect, and probably couldn't do whatever you do for a living! So just FYI, I would suggest forget thinking that a CEL is going to "protect" you and/or always properly warn you, or not come on when it shouldn't, etc,, as it just cannot be counted on to do that.

I really don't care what intake kit you get, it's your vehicle - as long as you are happy with what you got, that is all that matters. Notice that not once did I attack your K&N intake kit as you went after the AF1 -

One important fact you'll want to know about check engine or service engine soon lights is that they are to be lit only when the emissions are at least 50% above allowable limits for a certain number of drive cycles - and that too, does not work with real consistency. Some conditions never throw a CEL that should, and we see numerous CEL's that should not be thrown that are - Just for one rather dramatic example, we have seen cases where the owner did something dumb like remove their catalytic converters to pollute the air for everyone else just to get another 3-5 HP, and the PCM never threw a code at all - and that is a serious emissions issue.

We happen to give a damn about the owners of these vehicles - I couldn't care less than you bought a K&N intake kit instead of an AF1, it's not my vehicle, and people can buy K&N kits from us as well - I was simply trying to help you, just as we help many other people.

Good luck!

 

Mike, first I want to thank you for all the valuable information. I guess I will have to find a dyno to check that out.I never thought that an idiot light would "protect" me though.

I am in no way trying to attack you or AF1. Sorry if it came out that way. I simply trying to find out more about the CEL's and AF1 came to mind(probably because I've read posts on it and this is one of only two intakes you call "safe". BTW, by stating that the amount of F150's K&N tests are "nowhere near enough" is what I would call an attack.

I started this post to simply find out if I need to re-tune if I added an intake. I'm still not sure I have an answer to my question. I'm guessing that after dynoing if I find I'm running leanthen have to re-tune? or is there another adjustment? Also, what kind of damage can occur if the engine is running lean?

Thanks and again, I'm not trying to "attack" anyone.( I bought my Xcal from you in fact. )

Jim