It can 'handle' ANY extra air as long as the MAF air flow model isn't changed.

Do you know anything about spark-advance or air-fuel ?

If you are performance orientated, extending the exhaust, you must now about load and the coefficient of flow.

 

A custom tuned programmer like the Xcal3 from a reputable tuner!!

Exactly, any time you alter the MAF sensor's housing you must tune for it!!!

 

geez you again? dont hijack another thread like you did with that one. respect everyone else on here. OK?

 

Let's cool it everyone. No need to get our feathers ruffled over this. You've all made your points and it's up to the readers to decide whose advice they want to follow. Let's just let it lie that way, OK?

- Jack

 

This reader agrees with Jack...

 

i have a few questions then. 1-arent air intakes pretty much the best thing for a vehicle? more air=good right? (except the 5.4L being too lean a few years) 2-i dont know about tuners so my question is..if i were to buy a tuner with its preset tunes, would it work on my truck with my intake? or would i HAVE to buy custom tunes to account for it? basically asking if a preset tune like performance 87 will work with or without an intake the same. if i were to buy a tuner and load a performance 87 tune, would it work the same as if i had no intake? 3-will my intake squeeze out more power from the tune? thanks

 

I don't understand why people waste money on 87 octane fuel, since your getting a tune might as well get a 91 or 93 octane performance tune, you can get better mileage and power out of the higher octane (when tuned appropriatly)


since you do not have a 3 valve motor you can squeeze by with an intake as long as you reset the ECM when it's installed

 

Tuners you buy with canned tunes such as the Edge, Xcal3, and even the Gryphon are tuned for a stock intake. Not the Edge, but the other two have the option of getting custom tunes.

If you add a CAI with a canned tune, you should get a small HP increase, depending on which engine you have, maybe 6 to 8 HP. Now if you have a custom tune that is set up to handle a CAI, that HP usually doubles to 13 to 16 HP increase. That is not taking into consideration, as you mentioned, there is the risk of running lean, especially with the 5.4 in 2004 and 2005. There have been a few of other years, but not many.

The CAI HP gains are just not worth the price for a lot of us, especially when you can do the Gotts self mod for about $15 and get close to the same results. The CAI does rally improve the underhood appearnce though and some want it just for that, plus it sounds impressive since it has no silencer.

 

Regarding the first part, no. More air is not always better, in order to make horsepower you need to have a good air-fuel mixture if you get to much air and little gasoline your engine is running lean and running lean can cause to engine damage that is why the tuner is recomended when adding a CAI because the factory computer can compensate until a certain point. With the tuner you have a more wide range to adjust your air-fuel ratio.

Regarding the original post if you are between a CAI and a tuner go with the tuner. You can also buy the tuner and do the Gotts intake

 

ok, so why is the gotts mod ok but not CAI? both have the chance of leaning out the mixture since it is adding more air.
also i have an 08 with the 4.2L V6 and it is my 2nd 4.2L and i have had the SAME intake on both. it is made for an 04 f150 heritage. i found out K&N doesnt make an intake for 06+ on the V6 so i kept mine and put it on my 08 when i traded my 04 in. so far, i have heard that SCT is the best tuner for the 4.2L. any opinions?

 

nope. because you'll just find something else to argue about... I'm done

 

umm, im just trying to get some info here, if you dont want to help someone then fine. but i dont know what your problem is.. i wasnt argueing, just dont understand why a gotts mod is ok but intake i have to reset the ECM. they are almost the same exact thing, except the gotts uses the restrictive stock intake tube still. i know people ususally replace that tube with a smoother one. and they use a K&N or a like filter for better airflow going in. SERIOUSLY I ASK, what is the difference in between the two in the air fuel mixture and all that. i know gotts is enclosed and my intake is not. heck, i pretty much have the gotts mod just done with an intake on it already. i have a tube running from behind my front bumper's opening between the top and bottom pieces to collect air from outside the engine bay and have it running to the filter. puttin it on did help in performance slightly over just the intake.

 

Gott's mod does not change the intake, it just removes a restrictive piece of plastic where the stock intake connects to the fender. The amount of additional air is still within the range of the stock tuning.

 

If you notice, I don't think anyone has said that the Gott's mod on a 2004-2005 5.4 is safe. I know I would not make that change on mine until I had custom tunes. We have also said that any intake is MOST likely safe on any other engine or year, but there have been an occasional code thrown on others. What has been said is that you get minimal results, so why take the chance? I highly doubt that any intake will harm your 4.2, you just won't get but about half it's potential, without a custom tune. I don't see why this is so hard to understand.

Additionaly, don't knock the stock tube so hard. Bill at PHP did a dyno comparison on a 2008 or 2009 5.4, I don't remember which, but he tested one of the CAIs and got 16 hp with a custom tune. Just for grins, he tested the stock intake after removing the restrictive snorkle(essentially the Gott's mod) and got 13 hp. If 3 hp is worth $300 to $400, then you should go for it. It won't change how I use my truck at all, so I won't.

 

Bluejay, by any chance you know if the dyno run without the snorkel was done using the factory paper filter? Because if the dyno was done with the factory filter, using a K&N drop in would help a little.