Hey guys, I took apart my iat sensor loop of wire and put it close to my grill. But now for some known reason, the check engine light comes on. Before i started my car, i wrapped the wire with electric tape in the idea it would keep the wire safe. The wire was not touching anything hot or laying on anything. But even when i put everything back to normal, the light is still on. I am going to have it checked at pep boys, and see what the code it throws. The car still drives fine, but the only difference is now, the muffler rattles when i am at a stop. Whats going on with my car? I have no idea what to do and i don't want to keep driving it, but i have no choice(only car). Plz, if anyone could help me i would really appreciate. Thanks for all your help.
97 Chevy Cavalier
2.2L 3 spd
Automatic
It's probably not plugged in properly... somehow... 99% of the time when I see "installed an intake, now check engine light is on" types of posts, it's the stupid IAT sensor not plugged in properly. I don't know why... maybe it's not seated properly or something.
btw.. these cars run pretty rich from the factory. putting the sensor in the front grill will only add more fuel... so... don't expect to see any real gains from this mod.
lean is where power is made
I took the sensor out of my intake and left it hanging in the engine bay... I made way better fuel mileage that way
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How do you have it laying in the engine bay, do u have the intake right on the top of the wire loom or what? Due to the intake tube and an radiator pipe being near, it is hard to place my iat without it being near something hot.
97 Chevy Cavalier
2.2L 3 spd
Automatic
What I would do if I were you:
Put the IAT back where it was, if you want "free" power, take out your intake resonator. It's the only thing you can do to your car to "make" hp without spending money. All you are doing with moving your IAT is getting maybe a teensy tiny increase in power, and using more gas.
If you want the code to go away, start your car, and pull your PCM fuse. It's under the hood in the fuse holder near your battery, and is marked on the outside of the fusebox. Let the car run for five minutes without it in, and then shut the car off and put the fuse back. This resets the PCM, and the code should be gone. If it comes back, you messed something up, and I suggest you get someone to check the car over, and find out exactly what code you are tripping. As far as the muffler rattling, I can't see that being related, unless your car is idling rough, causing a rattle. When the pcm can't get a reading from your IAT, it switches to a default fuel map, and uses a lot of gas... shouldn't contribute to a rough idle, or your muffler rattling, but you never know. You are most likely running rich while that CEL is on, so it's better to reset the PCM sooner than later.
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I just let it sit on top of the transmission case. No big deal... the short intake I'm using at the moment gets the air out of the engine bay anyway..
I noticed I didn't have black soot marks on my rear bumper anymore... car got much better mileage too.
Try it if you don't believe me
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i agree with puttin it back in the pipe....
reason.....
leaving it in the engine bay, invites dirt, so over time sensor gets dirty... dirty sensors read less accurately.
in the engine bay, leaving it on top of metal things can def really lean it out to the max. the transmission case can get upwards of 200 degrees at time (measured with a laser temp)
in the intake pipe where the intake filter is, its taking in air from behind the battery which is no where near as hot.
on the front of a car, still does nothing, but get dirty.... everyone has waxed their car, washed it... etc, then 2 days later its dirty again, road grime, dust, etc.
iat tells the comp the temp which has input on the fuel used, in addition to the 02 sensors input.
if the iat isnt reading right, then you force the 02 sensor to work harder basically.
if you put your iat sensor in a hotter place than the intake pipe, then basically you run even leaner... internals run hotter, over time that can be an issue.
