I'll start from the beginning to give everyone some background,

Bought the car, had no idle issues at all. The car did not have the idle reflash done when I bought it, I don't even think the reflash was out when I bought the car.

So, first mod was the AMS intake with the heat shield. I bought the intake without the bungs (an extra 50 bucks for the bungs) for the crankcase breather port and the boost source port. Multiple canversations with AMS assured me I didn't need either of these ports.

Noticed the idle started acting funny once the intake was installed. Idle would fluctuate between 1000 rpm to 500 rpm but the car would never stall. Also, it would do it randomly, as it idle fine for a minute then bounce a bit for 20 seconds, idle good 30 seconds, then bounce a bit for 20 seconds, etc. No codes were thrown, I just thought since the car was untuned at this point the idle would be funny. I disconnected the battery, reset everything, but no change. I put the stock intake back on and the idle goes back to normal.

Time goes on and the idle reflash comes out. I make an appointment with Don Herring for the reflash. I failed to put the stock intake back on the car before I brought it in. I believe the service guys name I spoke to was Sam. He took my car in the back, 20 minutes later he told me that I didn't need the reflash. I asked if the car already had it and he said no. I didn't push the issue because eventually I was going to get a custom tune from ED anyway, so I figured I would just deal with the idle issue until then. Remember, at this point in time, I was driving my car one day a week because I was in Houston.

I bought the AEM Digital Wideband when I ordered my TBE from AMS. O2/Downpipe, test pipe, single racing exhaust. I installed the test pipe, exhaust and AEM Wideband about a week before Richard installed the O2/downpipe and tuned the car. During that week, I notice the AFR at idle fluctuating between 12.5 and 17+. Most of the time it would steady out between 14 and 15.5, but every mintue or so the AFR would jump all over the place for about 5 seconds at a time. I figured once Richard got done with the car, the idle would be stabilized between 14.5 - 14.9.

Scheduled the O2/Downpipe install with Richard on a Sunday. Started the install around 1 pm. Finished around 5 pm. Time for the tune. Richard did his thing and the car responded very will. He ruined my gas mileage, because now I drive the car a little harder than normal. By now the time is proabably 8 pm, we are both tired, the cowboys are playing, Jessica is hurrying me to get home cause its getting late and she made dinner (I live 45 minutes from the shop), I'm excited cause of the new tune, so I totally forgot about the idle issue and to have Richard look at it.

Days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months and I have yet to go back to ED for a follow up. My idle issue still remains and acts the same as when I first installed the AMS intake. I called AMS yesterday and explained the story and they don't think by not having the bungs is causing the idle issues. I have talked with multiple NTEC personnel and some say its normal, some say its not, some say you want to idle as lean as you can without throwing a code, etc. I have checked all the vacum hoses in the engine bay and found no leaks.

So the magic question is, whats going on with my idle? Could it be an exhaust leak (remember, the idle was acting up way before I or richard touched the exhaust)? Could the Wideband be needing a new sensor (but the car sounds like the idle is jacked up)? Do not having the bungs on the AMS intake make that much difference to throw my idle off (I will probably tap the intake for both the ports if needed)? Is this something Richard could fix with additional tuning? Or is my car just jacked up, and I'm gonna have to deal with it.

I have dealt with this for over a year now, and sitting is Sean's X at the NTEC Holiday Party, watching his AFRs hoovering arounf the 14.7 mark, where they should be, has motivated me to address this problem.

What do you guys think? Anything I could check/do before taking it to ED?

 

I think you need to log the fuel trims and see what they're doing. It's possible that you just need to adjust the injector latency.

Or there's something else going on (helpful I know).

 

I don't know how to log anything. I know absolutely nothing about tuning. Except if its a Nitro Powered RC car, I can tune the hell out of those.

 

tactrix cable + laptop.

Too bad you live in east BFE.

Edit: err... I live in north bfe, you live in what, south central BFE?

 

looking from where it started like what you said, the intake...have you re-tightened the hose clamps for your intake? and make sure the maf is screwed in properly...if still the same problem, checked on the maf it has an o-ring maybe it has a slight cut or something...

and yes logging will help see it...

 

I live in the dirty south central BFE. I might have to steal you Sean from Amy one weekend or something to do some data logging.

 

I would try is to tap the intake for the missing hoses. Its pretty simple to do, and isnt going to hurt anything, so in my opinion it can only help or do nothing, either way you are only out a little bit of time and maybe $20.

The other thing is we saw on george's X that the heat shield can make a big difference, his idle would degrade when the cooling fans were on and blowing hot air directly at the filter.
Try getting the car nice and warm, then parking it in your drive way, pop the hood and get a piece of card board or something and divert the hot air away from the filter when the car is idling, and see if it makes a difference. On George's X you could hear a difference just by putting your hand between the fan and filter.

I donno if either will work, but some ideas to try.

 

I already have the heat shield for the intake from AMS. But I will try to tap the intke for the other two hoses. But my main worry is that the aluminum piping is thin, so there will not be enough for the threads of the brass nipples to grab, unless I use a bolt/nut on the underside. But heaven forbid if that nut/bolt ever comes loose and gets sucked into the turbo.

 

The shield might not be big enough? I'd try a big piece of cardboard like Denver suggested and see it that evens it out a bit.

You have a 3 port so that one line doesn't get run back. Trent's is fine with the pcv vented, so I don't think that's it.

 

Say what now?

 

Lol, I had rich specifically tune it to idle crazy (lope) wth the new cams! And it sounds awesome

 

Seriously tho, I would consider "taping" ur intake like Denny said. Or just stop by EvoD and have them fix it for u. That's gotta be what's wrong with your idle, the way you describe it.

O lol...and I live 1hr and 45min from the shop

 

The bungs shouldn't really make that much of a difference, at least from what I have seen so far. The main issues I have seen from a fluctuating idle is injector latencies and LTFT affecting the idle. ow is the AFR when it is cold?

Oh, and you're welcome for the bad gas mileage. I have the exact same problem now.

 

Just saw this thread JJ, it's not the lack of the bungs in the AMS intake. I have that intake without the bungs and have had that on the car for over 35,000 miles like that without any problems. Also I don't have the heat shield FWIW. Now I'll preface that with saying I never had the rough idle issues that some had with the AMS without having the heat shield. Both mine and Shawns cars idle like they should around 14.7 +/- about a half point. I'm betting it's a little boost leak somewhere and it's not affecting you at WOT because the air is moving by to fast to leak at said location but at idle its able to seap out. Check the connections at the turbo to the intake and make sure thats tight and also check the top of your intercooler at the UICP and see if that fitting has a tear or is loose.