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to tune or not to tune

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Old 12-29-2006, 09:32 PM
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I am getting LT headers but some people say to get it tuned do to it being to rich but a lot of people including the performance shop said it is not necessary it will run a little rich but not enough to worry about. what you guys opinions thanks.
Old 12-29-2006, 10:26 PM
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You really dont have to worry about not tuning, but you are leaving horsepower on thhe table. I gained 15 horses and 11 lb ft from tuning alone with the headers and a cat back.
Old 12-29-2006, 10:30 PM
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a good dyno tune will always help, even with a bone stock car. But if you're planning on doing more mods soon, It's probably not worth it. If the headers will be your last mod for a year or two, then maybe the 10rwhp is worth it. A tune should also slightly improve mpg if you're running rich.

And it's definitely nothing to worry about, it's not gonna hurt your engine.
Old 12-30-2006, 09:14 AM
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Originally Posted by mpe488
a good dyno tune will always help, even with a bone stock car. But if you're planning on doing more mods soon, It's probably not worth it. If the headers will be your last mod for a year or two, then maybe the 10rwhp is worth it. A tune should also slightly improve mpg if you're running rich.

And it's definitely nothing to worry about, it's not gonna hurt your engine.
I agree.
Old 12-30-2006, 10:35 AM
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If you change even the air filter, you have thown your ture off. The engine's ecm has all the air flow calcs for the stock car, when you change something that changes the amount of air the engine gets/flows then it will need a tune. Some modes are worse than others, if you did LT's alone you would be ok but you will need a tune to get the full power out of your performance parts.
Old 12-30-2006, 12:10 PM
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If you want to put on your headers now you can and get a tune later it wont hurt anything but like said above it will pickup more power with a proper tune. Mines been like this for months . I have headers, duals,lid ,ls6 intake, 4.11s . My speedometers off, checkengine lights on ,abs inop light is on . It all in what you can handle for the time being. Going to GFORCE for a tune is my next mod . Someone near me with a stock ws6 was amazed and said mine idles as good as theirs so my computer gets an A+ in the learning dept. I still can get 20 mpg avg takin it easy .On the flipside I can burn a full tank in a few hours of WOT .
Old 12-30-2006, 12:14 PM
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Originally Posted by pipes_ta
I am getting LT headers but some people say to get it tuned do to it being to rich but a lot of people including the performance shop said it is not necessary it will run a little rich but not enough to worry about. what you guys opinions thanks.
No tune neded, it will not run rich. The O2 sensors will take care of any fueling corrections that are needed. It will not run rich, thats a myth that i believe comes from the smell that people get when they install headers with no cats, the think the smell means they are running rich.
Old 12-30-2006, 12:49 PM
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nope, it does run rich. The wideband proves it, the reason is when you put LT's on, you change airflow (flows more air) which would make the mixture lean, so the computer see's this lean mixture b/c of the extra air now, and trys to compensate by adding more fuel, but the ecm over compensates and gives it too much fuel cuzing the rich codition. Which means you need a tune to get the most out of it + fuel economy. Some cars will be worse than others.
Old 12-30-2006, 12:52 PM
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The ecm corrects for it with fuel trims and it will work but your fuel trims can only correct for a 25% error, If all you had was LT's you would most likely be ok, but if you want it to be right, and get the most out of them + MPG, get a tune.
Old 12-30-2006, 04:27 PM
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I say tune! might as well get the most out of your headers with a nice tune...
Old 12-30-2006, 05:59 PM
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Originally Posted by speedyss
The ecm corrects for it with fuel trims and it will work but your fuel trims can only correct for a 25% error, If all you had was LT's you would most likely be ok, but if you want it to be right, and get the most out of them + MPG, get a tune.
If your trims hit 25% with just headers than you have an intake leak. And the PCM does not over compensate. Where did you get that from?

Untuned i had full inatke setup with full exhaust and before I tuned my wideband reported 14.7 during closed loop all the time.
Old 12-30-2006, 10:07 PM
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I have always heard that LT's will cause the car to run rich...due to more air flow...
Old 12-30-2006, 11:18 PM
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Originally Posted by KissMyWhiteSS
I have always heard that LT's will cause the car to run rich...due to more air flow...
and where is the logic in that? That doesnt even make sense.
Old 01-02-2007, 12:30 AM
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I am gonna have to jump in just for the sake of argument, but, bear with me cause it is 1:30am, lol. I dont see how, as long as the system is closed tight (intake/exhaust), you could run rich?? ALL the air coming in is "metered", so, air metered in = adjustable air going out, no surprises. If it was a SD system, then yes because the guestimated air coming in is just that guessed, per the MAP sensor. With a MAF sensor, air is directly and proportionatly measured and thus calculated real time.

I hear it happens, so, I may be missing something, but, I am going to bed.
Old 01-02-2007, 12:48 AM
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Put a cam in if you are really looking for a reason to tune thing.




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