Mopar cold air intake sluggish

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I installed a Mopar cold air intake and it seems very sluggish on the bottom end. When I floor it the truck is sluggish, as I lift my foot off the gas slowly it starts to accelerate faster. What would cause this? My only mods are a Magnaflo exhaust swept side, I went from 3'' single in and single out to 3'' in a dual 2.5 out and a Mopar cold air intake. This is for a 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 Hemi. TIA,
 
Is it too restrictive? Did the filtering media change in size or material from stock?
 
Were there (asked kindly) any vaccum hoses that you might have overlooked connecting when you put the CAI on, such as maybe a "PCV line" ?
 
if you did everything right you'll need a while for the truck to re-learn.

Chrysler is not MAF, but uses a speed/density system.

Give it a few days and try and find the correct fuse that will reset the adaptives.
 
I don't know about your specific application other than it is a speed density system as stated above. You have changed the airflow. Without compensation it will be lean. Some systems such as my 08 mustang (which is MAF by the way) don't have enough range to compensate and require a software re flash to compensate for the increased airflow. I'd check the Dodge truck forums to see what those guys are doing.
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
if you did everything right you'll need a while for the truck to re-learn.

Chrysler is not MAF, but uses a speed/density system.

Give it a few days and try and find the correct fuse that will reset the adaptives.


I would agree but, would ask how long ago did you do the installation/mods ? If it's longer than the "Re-learn" phase, for example, a couple of weeks or months, then maybe you lost some bottom end torque in the process of making a bit more higher end power...Power you may never feel in the seat of the pants.

An engineer from BMW said it best(I don't remember his name). He said...
"Ahhh! you Merikans buy hors powa but, it's tauk yu wealey like"
 
Is this a drive by wire? Assuming it's not, I can only figure it's really pulling timing (or overfueling?) at WOT which is why you get more pep at part throttle. This should work out.
 
This install was done three months ago along with the new magnaflo muffler. The Mopar cai is actually larger than the stock unit. There is no hot wire this is a speed density type system. I thought it could have been the new exhaust not having any back preassure. Also another forum member said I would need a larger throttle body, do you agree?
 
Larger exhaust pipes usually reduce low/mid power.
But this is NOT because they have less restriction. They have MORE!
The larger volume of gas must be pushed through, with less velocity.
I would go over what you may have possibly touched to see if anything was disturbed or disconnected.
 
If it was done "along" with your Magnaflow, I think it's your exhaust to blame. I had an intake and Magnaflow on my previous Ford 4.6 3V. I noticed (what felt like) a loss of low-end torque when I performed the exhaust mod.
 
Originally Posted By: kkreit01
If it was done "along" with your Magnaflow, I think it's your exhaust to blame. I had an intake and Magnaflow on my previous Ford 4.6 3V. I noticed (what felt like) a loss of low-end torque when I performed the exhaust mod.
What exhaust did install from the original? I went from stock 3'' in/out single exit to 3'' in/dual out 2.5.
 
I would speculate that you need a tune. I had a cai and a custom dyno tune put on my 06 Mustang GT and it made a dramatic difference in the car. I asked that it be tuned for torque and there are no flat spots anywhere. I know a cai on a later Mustang gives minimal benefit without a tune to optimize it.
 
You won't like this, but I would suggest you put the stock intake back on and see how it drives.

I ordered an intake for my S2000 (a decent one, mind you, not just some cheap [censored] filter on a tube), drove with it for a week, then put the stock airbox back in. Car drove better and felt more responsive.

See if it feels better with the stock airbox.
 
chysler does one thing really well, making a factory intake system that produces good torque, once you change that you typically lose a fair amount of torque making it feel less powerful.
 
Same can be said with the tuned exhaust on the Hemi equipped vehicles. We've had several people come in change the exhaust on their Ram for "more power & noise" only to lose both. Chrysler spent a small fortune tuning for that engine, to sound that way and pull that way.
 
I was reading an article in either Car&Driver, MotorTrend or Road&Track, I don't remember. But, they tested IIRC, a stock Mustang(maybe even a COBRA). They tested/dyno'd the engine stock. Then thay added a CAI and dyno'd again. Then a free flowing exhaust and dyno'd again. Then both the CAI and free flowing exhaust together. Only while running both items together did this Mustang loose power below stock power but, one or the other by themselves(either the CAI of exhaust) had improved the power, each adding different amounts of power at different RPM's.

What a shock for those who spend all of this money on these aftermarket performance products to only loose power.

I don't remember which brands of CAI or Exhaust systems that were added to this engine. And I could be wrong about the car even being a Mustang beacuse it was awhile ago but, I think thats right.
 
I've had aftermarket CAI bog down in the 1500rpm range off the line in a MAF-based subaru. After going through several iterations, I found that keeping stock intake but gutting the intake muffler, and even using alumized insulation wrap, still using the factory opening, which was usually CA from the grill/bumper, yielded best of both worlds. Snappier response, growl at deep throttle, but no bogging. In my case, the subaru never could relearn the CAI.

One theory is that the factory intake usually has resonators in them-- I assume they are to kill noise, but they may also be there to kill "noise" near the map or maf. without those resonators there may be some confusion for the sensors.

I am more prone, in your case, to agree that the more open exhaust has dropped your back pressure some and you are feeling the resultant loss of torque.

Mike
 
Lack of back pressure doesn't cause loss of torque. Too big a pipe, causing the exhaust to flow too slowly at low RPM does. Pipe size and header/y-pipe length needs to be matched to the desired powerband.

Turbo-ed engines are an exception, they hate backpressure, so run the biggest pipes you can.
 
Would a single 3" in/out to a 3" in/dual 2.5 out be cosidered too big of a pipe? And would you do a chambered or straight thru design muffler? Thanks in advance
 
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