Free/Inexpensive Performance Mods

[okfoz]

In the old days, not even too long ago there were several things that you could do for free to improve the performance of an engine. I am specifically talking about the old TPI engines from the 1980's

Most of the mods were things like rerouting the water jacket from the throttle body, disassembling the Plenum and machining, and cleaning up the flash that was not ground down from the manufacturing process, to match up the pieces and parts in order to give it better air flow. (this actually helped a lot)

Is there anything with the 5.3 that can be done for free (or on the cheap) to get a little better fuel economy and or power?

thanks

John

 

[NathanJax]

nope. All that went away with fuel injection. Now to free up HP without doing "mods" you have to do a tune

 

[okfoz]

Nathan,
Thanks for the reply, honestly I suspected as much. Keep in mind TPI was Tuned port Fuel Injection. IT is crude by today's standards, but you could do some things to help it breathe better, mostly it was poor manufacturing techniques in the day... The pieces and parts seem so much better today than they were back then.

Thanks

John

 

[ezdaar]

yeaa, you can still gasket match, port and shape intake runners.
You can port throttle body.
Can remove the hot water heater from TB.
Theres a handful of "free" mods that can be done to the TB..

 

[Snacky]

This is more maintenance than mod but I've experienced first hand what a dirty MAFS can do, its horrible. Mine in my old Tacoma was caked, I probably (definitely) over oiled my filter. It actually ran crappy for a few months before the check engine light came on cause it was running lean. Anyone with an "older" vehicle and especially those who have an oiled filter should pop it out and give it a squirt.

 

[okfoz]

Clean it with electronics cleaner?

John

 

[Snacky]

Clean it with electronics cleaner?

John

I don't think there is any harm in using electronic cleaner but I am not the authority. I use CRC's MAFS cleaner since it is specifically designed for that purpose. 10 years ago when I did my Tacoma I used CRC's QD electronic cleaner with no ill effects. I'm not sure if they were making the MAFS cleaner then. The electronic cleaner was recommended to me by some guys on a Tacoma forum.

Here we are full circle. That was the first time I used a forum for a vehicle issue, I discovered it by accident. My truck and I had gone through months of misery trying to figure this thing out. Like I mentioned before it was running pretty crappy for months before the check engine light came on, once it got real bad. I knew absolutely nothing about cars except for where to put the gas in. My boss told me about auto parts stores and their code readers so I went to one. The dude hooked up the thingy to the thingy and said you need a new O2 sensor. I didn't know any better so I bought one and put it in. Still had the issue. That idiot thought the sensor was malfunctioning, no it was just doing it's job. I took it to a friend of a friend who is a mechanic and he did a bunch of diagnostics on it for the cost of a 12 pack and he couldn't figure it out. Finally I decided to do my own research on the web. I came across a Tacoma forum, I didn't even know they existed. I registered and created a post describing the whole thing. Within minutes a guy replied asking me if I had an oiled filter. After I replied yes, he told me about the MAFS and recommended the electronics cleaner.

Sorry for the long story. I just think it's pretty awesome that after all that the solution was a few minutes and a forum and a five dollar can of cleaner.

http://crcindustries.com/ei/product_detail.aspx?id=05110

---------- Post added at 11:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:37 AM ----------

Clean it with electronics cleaner?

John

I don't think there is any harm in using electronic cleaner but I am not the authority. I use CRC's MAFS cleaner since it is specifically designed for that purpose. 10 years ago when I did my Tacoma I used CRC's QD electronic cleaner with no ill effects. I'm not sure if they were making the MAFS cleaner then. The electronic cleaner was recommended to me by some guys on a Tacoma forum. They are very easy to get to on our trucks. Just handle it with care and follow the directions on the can.

http://crcindustries.com/ei/product_detail.aspx?id=05110

Stop reading now if you like, the rest is just me blabbing on... That was the first time I used a forum for a vehicle issue, I discovered it by accident. My truck and I had gone through months of misery trying to figure this thing out. Like I mentioned before it was running pretty crappy for months before the check engine light came on, once it got real bad. I knew absolutely nothing about cars except for where to put the gas in. My boss told me about auto parts stores and their code readers so I went to one. The dude hooked up the thingy to the thingy and said you need a new O2 sensor. I didn't know any better so I bought one and put it in. Still had the issue. That idiot thought the sensor was malfunctioning, no it was just doing it's job. I took it to a friend of a friend who is a mechanic and he did a bunch of diagnostics on it for the cost of a 12 pack and he couldn't figure it out. I tried replacing the fuel filter, running system cleaner, etc., nothing helped. Finally I decided to do my own research on the web. I came across a Tacoma forum, I didn't even know they existed. I registered and created a post describing the whole thing. Within minutes a guy replied asking me if I had an oiled filter. After I replied yes, he told me about the MAFS and recommended the electronics cleaner.

Sorry for the long story. I just think it's pretty awesome that after wasting 300+ dollars, hours and days, and my truck running lean for months; the solution was a few minutes on a forum and a five dollar can of cleaner. To this day I'm still a little too eager to tell people to check their MAFS, but I can't help it. I haven't seen any that were anywhere close to being as bad as my Tacoma was.

 

[okfoz]

It is honestly amazing how sometimes the simplest of things just throw a car into a tizzy... I never considered the oiled Air filter as being a problem with the MAF, I really appreciate you filling me in with this story because I have a problem with another car with the idle fluctuating like crazy, it was only doing it when it got hot, now it seems to be doing it all the time (as of last night). It has an old style MAF and I have the K&N (oiled filter)... I am actually excited to try to see if this fixes my problem.

Thank you very much, I actually read your entire reply...

John

 

[Snacky]

It is honestly amazing how sometimes the simplest of things just throw a car into a tizzy... I never considered the oiled Air filter as being a problem with the MAF, I really appreciate you filling me in with this story because I have a problem with another car with the idle fluctuating like crazy, it was only doing it when it got hot, now it seems to be doing it all the time (as of last night). It has an old style MAF and I have the K&N (oiled filter)... I am actually excited to try to see if this fixes my problem.

Thank you very much, I actually read your entire reply...

John

This is just my opinion from my experience but oiled filters are the devil.. Too much oil and oil gets through, not enough oil and microscopic crap gets through because the filter is more porous for high flow. For me it was a no-brainer selecting the dry filter when I got my Airaid Junior kit for the Hoe.

I can't remember if any of my symptoms from the dirty MAFS were during idle. It was when I was accelerating or cruising that I could physically feel the engine stop working for fractions of a second at a time, often in groups. She was literally just starving for fuel. My sensor, which is supposed to be about the width of a human hair, was more the size of a spaghetti noodle, that's how caked it was.

I'm not sure how temperature plays into it. I imagine if this doesn't fix your problem it will still help something to some degree. Some other guys might have some ideas for you. I'd also suggest checking/cleaning the throttle body . I think that usually a dirty throttlebody valve just creates a low idle and delayed engine response to the pedal so that may not fix ya either but it wouldn't hurt to clean it anyway. I'm curious how you make out with it

 

[ccapehartusarmyINF.(ret)]

there is a few inexpensive ways to squeeze a few HP out of your vehicle like maybe 2 or 3
detailing your engine
running a premium synthentic motor oil (theyve done testing with royal purple and actually had gains of 2 HP
always keeping your tires inflated to the proper pressure when you tires arent properly inflated it increases rolling resistance wich can affect fuel eco
making sure your alignment is good if you have excessive toe out or toe in that will also increase rolling resistance
strictly following the manufacturers maintenence schedule, this will dramatically increase the life of your engine and you mite keep some of that HP an engine normally loses over time and use

 

[okfoz]

This is just my opinion from my experience but oiled filters are the devil.. Too much oil and oil gets through, not enough oil and microscopic crap gets through because the filter is more porous for high flow. For me it was a no-brainer selecting the dry filter when I got my Airaid Junior kit for the Hoe.

I can't remember if any of my symptoms from the dirty MAFS were during idle. It was when I was accelerating or cruising that I could physically feel the engine stop working for fractions of a second at a time, often in groups. She was literally just starving for fuel. My sensor, which is supposed to be about the width of a human hair, was more the size of a spaghetti noodle, that's how caked it was.

I'm not sure how temperature plays into it. I imagine if this doesn't fix your problem it will still help something to some degree. Some other guys might have some ideas for you. I'd also suggest checking/cleaning the throttle body . I think that usually a dirty throttlebody valve just creates a low idle and delayed engine response to the pedal so that may not fix ya either but it wouldn't hurt to clean it anyway. I'm curious how you make out with it

MAF sensors are made on a simple premise.

Any wire has some resistance, this resistance is measurable, and as you heat the wire, the resistance changes in proportion to the temperature of the wire. As you blow air across the wire, it cools the wire, the faster the air moves across the wire the more it is cooled. There is an air temp sensor elsewhere, whether it is in the plenum or the cold air intake does not matter. So the ECM or PCM takes the data from the temp sensor in the manifold or intake, and then measures the resistance of the heated element in the MAF to calculate the Mass of the Airflow, with conjunction of the O2 sensor the ECM or PCM calculates the amount of fuel to add to the engine.

This is where "Closed Loop" comes into play. Open loop, does not take the O2 sensor or in some cases the MAF into account, it is all controlled by the program Base Line