Hey guys I just installed some parts on my car and its feeling a bit sluggish. I was wondering how long it takes for the ECU to kick in gear and how I would reset it. I installed the J-Pipe all the way through to the catback.

 

if you installed the j-pipe and a catback exhaust you most likely lost low end torque... im slowly realizing that all the performance parts are only racer friendly... and for normal driving there is a big compromise.

 

so far im seeing that the ppl who changed to pre cat deletes have lost low torque but not from a j pipe or catbacl

 

^ the stock j-pipe's what...2.25? going from 2.25 to 2.50, you still lose some bottle-necking. you'll lose low end torque. that and the weather around here's starting to warm up...we all experience it

 

have you done the ecu reset and idle relearn procedures?
the ecu takes a few weeks-up to 500 miles to totally learn all changes and complete a new mapping program for itself

check the Garage section for help on reset
(Im gen2 we are different method)

 

J pipe gave me low end torque, can't speak for the CB just yet as I don't have it yet.

 

Jpipe, CAI, and Pulley should give you low-end torque. Catback, Pre-Cats, 3rd-Cats should give you high-end torque. Right?

 

You dont lose torque from anything maybe some low-end torque till 2k rpm but right after that u will have more torque then u ever had.

 

I have atlp j-pipe, atlp hi-flo cat, and xlr8 exhaust so there shouldn't be any bottlenecking at all. I haven't performed an ecu reset so this may be it. I just didn't know the timeframe it takes to have it relearn everything. I remember for my intake it did take a few for my car to start giving that extra umph.

 

got to do the ECU engine control unit reset when you change the amount or speed of air going thru the system, so it can adjust the ignition timing and fuel programs

Some exhaust mods require an O2 spacer- a `spark plug anti fouler` from any parts store- $3 It moves the 02 sensor slightly back from the flowstream and gives it a shroud at the tip--fixes a CEL..strange but true

 

you need to hit me up for our friday night safe running. your raw will DROP once you hit it. getting it up to those higher rpms, you'll definitely feel the bump for your mods.

just unhook the neg terminal to your battery and let the system reboot...it's quicker than letting the car relearn everything...it's equivalent in effectiveness.

 

Ehh.. isn't the ECU in our car constantly "learning?"

ie; it's always monitoring air intake, fuel ratio, timing, emissions?

The jpipe and catback should not have required touching the O2 sensors, correct?

The CAI addition will allow the car to pull in cooler air [denser] which yields better efficiency/performance, but it's not like the car suddenly has a ton of air and it does not know what to do. CAI or not, the car will be sucking up the same amount of air; the advantage of the CAI is that it's further away from the heat source. Likewise, the system does not say 'omg... you got new exhaust.. i need to think about this'. It's not monitoring your j-pipe or your mufflers.

Making things larger - such as the j-pipe and exhaust cause you to loose a little bit of back pressure which can affect low range performance. There are people who say back pressure doesn't matter and will have no affect on performance, then there are people who say don't go larger than a certain diameter unless you're running a turbo or s/c..

I can tell you that the TL is a bit bi-polar, that is, sometimes it seems like it's running like complete shit for no reason at all, i'll floor it and get a mediocre response at best, other times the thing is pulling hard to redline and runs like a champ.

 

a cai or removal of the intake resonator box and a hi flow filter do indeed offer the engine way more air- without restriction- not just cooler air
So it can draw as much as it wants to, thats what the TB plate is for- regulate the airflow

the ECU does adjust things constantly--but for major changes to the engine you do need to force a relearn

Gen3 has some special issue with idle relearn and how to reset ecu properly- other than pulling the battery neg which causes you to lose all the presets on stuff and re-enter the radio nav security codes

 

Whats this relearn idle process?