brandon_01_ta

i have long tube headers, a custom Y pipe and a muffler and no cats... i don't have o2 sims but for some reason my SES light doesn't come on.... what's up with that??
the exhaust smell from my car is horrible, it smells like pure gas sometimes so i assume it's probably running rich... so why am i not throwing any codes? and is this hurting me on power? it runs smooth and pretty strong, but not quiet as strong as i think it should.... somebody help me out!

Arc00TA

iTrader: (17)

Unplug your front O2's and see if the car runs better. It will force it to run open loop. I did this with mine and what a huge improvement, I just tuned the O2's out completely after that.

turbowhistle86

iTrader: (7)

wait....Arc00TA you're not running any O2 sensors at all? That can't be helping your car at all.

Brandon, it took my car almost 40 miles for the SES light to come on...trust me, its coming....and the smell is nasty.

RacerScott

iTrader: (6)

you really need to take it and get it tuned, make sure your a/f ratio is good and he can tune out the rear o2's. Your probably losing out on some hp too

Fb0dy0nly

iTrader: (10)

hmm interesting,do you have o2s in the front and back plugged in or just the front? mine seemed to be on the second the car was fired but I also took out all the emissions crap. When I melted an o2 sensor wire, the car ran like ****, how are you running no front o2s???

99FormulaM6

iTrader: (21)

how long ago did you take the cats/o2s off?

1997compT/A

iTrader: (6)

Usually codes won't show up until after something like 3 key cycles. Your car is probably running fine. It is obviously going to smell stronger with the cats not on. That's why they're there! They clean out your exhaust so the car will pass emissions tests and not destroy the ozone.

The rear O2's are only supposed to be for checking the emissions after the cat. I have been told before that they affect fuel trim but I don't believe that's the case. All they'll do in a tune is get rid of them so you're light is off.

A tune really isn't necessary after LT's. It can help here and there but nothing too drastic. Just enjoy the sound and extra few ponies

brandon_01_ta

ok here's the deal.... i got the car a little over a year ago...when i bought it, it had the same exhaust setup as i got now except it had a big *** resonator on and no cats... about a week after i got the car home the ses light came on and then would go off in a couple days... it randomly would just come on and then randomly go off... so i removed the resonator and welded in a universal hi flow cat in it's place cause i live in va and wanted to be legal... after that, the light still would come on for a day or two sometimes, but not often... i completely removed my cat about 5 months ago and since then the ses has not come on any... it runs smooth but it feels like the car should have more power.... and btw at one time when my ses light was on i took it to advance auto and had them hook it up to the machine and he said one of my front o2 sensors was bad... but the light ended up going off by itself after about a week and hasn't come back on since....
i have only front 02 sensors on my car, no rears.... so what's the deal here? am i losing alot of hp? and this may be a dumb question, but where do i take it to get a tune?

tripps

iTrader: (7)

You can take it to any performance shop and it is usually around 400-500 dollars for a dynotune, unless you get a good deal somewhere else. My SES light hasn't come on either, and i did the same thing as you. !EGR !AIR !cats and rear o2's, and its been like 16 key cycles and 200 miles since i did that and no SES light. and i know the light hasn't burned out in the dash because it comes on with all the others when I start my car.

Running rich will make you lose a little bit of power, thats what a tune does. It leans out your a/f ratio to get the best power curve and peak hp.

turbowhistle86

iTrader: (7)

for $349 you can get an out of the box tune with a Predator handheld tuner, and have the ability to turn off front/rear 02's, adjust fan perameters, etc...won't get you as much as a $500 dyno tune, but it will be damn close, and you can change it whenever you want.

brandon_01_ta

yeah i will probably have to go with the Predator because there isn't any performance shops with a dyno anywhere near where i live... it sucks
i have a hypertech programmer but that thing doesn't do ****.. only reason i bought it was to recalibrate my speedo cause of my 4.10 gears..
so the Predator will fix the running rich problem? i'll check on ebay and see what kind of deals they have on there.

99FormulaM6

iTrader: (21)

where in Va are you?

brandon_01_ta

Wise.... it's in southwest Va
i'm about 30 mins from the Kentucky border and 45 mins from the Tennessee border