2010 Tahoe and P0175 RICH Codes

Hey Guys,

I've been struggling with this issue for the past month or so, since I've made the drive from Ohio to North Carolina, when I randomly got a check engine light pop up mid trip.

A bit of background...

I've got a Volant CAI and Gibson cat back on it, and they've been on the truck for at least 8k miles without this issue!

Now, I'm getting bank 1 and 2 running rich codes, and I can't quite figure out the issue!! I initially looked on the internet and found that it could be the o-ring on the maf sensor for the intake, which I didn't replace with the volant one (initially, but then again I never had a problem, so in retrospect I can no longer point at that). Replaced the o-ring with Volant's, and it didn't fix it. CEL came right back. Volant shipped me an ENTIRE NEW CAI unit, completely replaced it, and I was driving around this afternoon and BAM! It popped right back on....


I went to Autozone to verify it was the same code, and sure enough, it was.

I don't know what to do. I'm going to take it into the dealership, but I'm very time limited and need a car. Also, will they ***** about my intake and exhaust and possibly void my warranty or should I be cool? I had it at the dealership that I bought it at in January a couple of weeks ago and they didn't say anything. But that was before this CEL came on. Also, since I bought it in OHIO can I take to any GM dealership here in North Carolina????

It comes on after the car is warm and has been running for a while. Usually if I drive somewhere, turn off the car and then get back into it sometime relatively soon, it pops on!

PLEASE PLEASE give me any and all suggestions as to the problem cause because I can't quite figure out the issue. I've been using the same 87 and 89 exxon gasoline now for a while. I've never used E-85.

My dilemma is this, in a nutshell: I would automatically point to the intake (like I did) or the exhaust, but seeing as they were on the car for over 8k miles without an issue, I can't comprehend any possible reason for this CEL at this stage in the game. It's a brand new truck with only 12k miles on it!!!


I look forward to hearing from you guys... TIA. BTW, I do have to give props to Volant for being so awesome with the whole situation because they (no hassel) shipped me an entirely new unit without any delay.


Ryan

Its the intake, and the dealership will ***** about it.
I know that with these aftermarket intakes, the o-ring type screws holding the rubber seal sleeves on start coming loose after a certain amount of miles, which then may cause too much air to get in the engine. This would lead to the rich issue.
I would say go bac and make sure everything is tight, then you may want to clean the TB incase any dirt slipped through and masked it. Then make sure the MAF is working properply and get the code cleared, then you should be good to go.

Modded said:

Its the intake, and the dealership will ***** about it.
I know that with these aftermarket intakes, the o-ring type screws holding the rubber seal sleeves on start coming loose after a certain amount of miles, which then may cause too much air to get in the engine. This would lead to the rich issue.
I would say go bac and make sure everything is tight, then you may want to clean the TB incase any dirt slipped through and masked it. Then make sure the MAF is working properply and get the code cleared, then you should be good to go.

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Yeah, that's what I was thinking but let me reiterate that I just reinstalled the BRAND NEW Volant CAI and it happened again after I got a car wash and started the car back up. I used all new parts, went over everything meticulously again and again. I bought MAF cleaner a while back and tried that, didn't help. I'm currently leaving the negative battery cable disconnected overnight because the tech guy from Volant said that just "clearing it" via OBD doesn't erase it from the computer... ? BS? I don't know.

I'm doing everything I can. I checked the TB and everything looked fine. The car runs fine, it doesn't have a rough idle or any adverse conditions I can notice. It runs better now with the new intake (i can notice a difference) but I mean HOW CAN it be the damn intake after all this???

if it's running rich that means there is too little air in the air/fuel mixture. Put on the stock intake and take it in

Oh, then I do not know what to say.
You could just ditch the Volant if needed. All it does is give you very slight extra throttle response/HP. The main benefit of it is sound.

stevek said:

if it's running rich that means there is too little air in the air/fuel mixture. Put on the stock intake and take it in

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I would love to just put the stock intake on, but unfortunately I can't because my stock intake is in cleveland........

That would be the best solution, but I am unable to do that.

rlschmidt14 said:

I would love to just put the stock intake on, but unfortunately I can't because my stock intake is in cleveland........

That would be the best solution, but I am unable to do that.

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Well whatever you do, DEFINITELY don't take it in with the Volant on. Just wait until you put the stock intake on and see if the light stays off

stevek said:

Well whatever you do, DEFINITELY don't take it in with the Volant on. Just wait until you put the stock intake on and see if the light stays off

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I thought that they can't void my warranty just because of the intake?? What's the issue with bringing it to the dealership?

Knowing GM, they'll say you damaged the MAF installing the CAI... and they won't work on it because it's not on the OEM intake.

Well I appreciate your timely responses and input, but seeing as I have two options here... to fix it myself or take it to the dealership, I'm going to try everything I can before resorting to the dealership.

Please, any and all other ideas are greatly appreciated.

rlschmidt14 said:

Well I appreciate your timely responses and input, but seeing as I have two options here... to fix it myself or take it to the dealership, I'm going to try everything I can before resorting to the dealership.

Please, any and all other ideas are greatly appreciated.

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There have been many many many reports of people on here getting the CEL with the Volant... there is no reason whatsoever that a CAI should be restricting flow to the engine causing it to run rich.

Take out a spark plug and let me know if it's black or covered in junk

---------- Post added at 09:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:04 AM ----------

But other than that, I'm saying it's the MAF thinking it's getting more oxygen than it really is, causing the engine to inject more fuel than needed... which is causing it to run rich. If you've driven it like this for that road trip, your plugs most likely aren't looking so hot.

Get your stock intake shipped to you, install, and see if that corrects the problem. If it still gives the same CEL, take it in.

At this point, it seems like you did all the easy stuff and now you are at the point where you need to test the stock setup. Let us know how the spark plugs look and you might want to check the O2 sensors also. O2s that I have seen seem a little fragile and be carefully while handling. Not sure how to clean those without damaging though. If the truck is truly running rich, the mpgs should have dropped also.

Yeah, seriously, there isn't much you can do to fix it minus have the O2 sensor checked... you'll have to put the stock intake on, put it back together, and play stupid when you get to the dealer. You never put on another intake either

Guys,


I'm getting my stock intake shipped down to me this week, and I'm hopefully going to have time to install it soon thereafter. Should I reset the computer and erase the CEL and wait to see if it comes back with the stock intake? Or should I leave the CEL and take it to the dealership with the stock intake and make them check everything out to make sure it's okay?

Thanks.

How many miles were travelled with the CEL? If not that many, just replace and reset to test.

Zed 71 said:

How many miles were travelled with the CEL? If not that many, just replace and reset to test.

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Probably around 1000 miles now. I've cleared, reset etc many times and it keeps coming back. Like someone said earlier, it doesn't make sense why it's throwing a rich code with an intake... I would think it would throw a lean code. What do I know, though?

rlschmidt14 said:

Probably around 1000 miles now. I've cleared, reset etc many times and it keeps coming back. Like someone said earlier, it doesn't make sense why it's throwing a rich code with an intake... I would think it would throw a lean code. What do I know, though?

Click to expand...

Your MAF is sensing that more oxygen is getting through than actually is (most likely was damaged) so the engine is adding more fuel to the mixture to try to richen it. Unfortunately, your MAF is wrong and not as much air is getting to the motor so it has excess gas, hence you are running rich.

stevek said:

Your MAF is sensing that more oxygen is getting through than actually is (most likely was damaged) so the engine is adding more fuel to the mixture to try to richen it. Unfortunately, your MAF is wrong and not as much air is getting to the motor so it has excess gas, hence you are running rich.

Click to expand...

How much do MAF sensors usually run? I looks like a standard AC delco part, so could I just go to the store and buy one? I'm sick of this CEL on my dash, it makes me sick having to drive around with it still on.

update

I figured I'd give an update for anybody that may run into this issue in the future...

I ended up getting a BRAND NEW CAI from Volant, put it on, and the code came right back. So, I managed to get my stock intake shipped to me, installed it, and the code hasn't come back.

I'm considering reinstalling the newer intake soon just to see if it comes back... out of curiosity. I'll be sure to update everybody as well.


FWIW, the reason why I want to try and reinstall is because when I was installing the stock intake, I had the batter disconnected but I noticed that some memory things were erased that particular time, when prior attempts never rendered that much of a difference.

I'm thinking it might of really cleared the code and it just so happens that I have the stock intake on.

Maybe that's just me being optimistic?

Still no code with the stock intake back on?