Anyone Know Anything About Resistors, And Them Being Used To Increase

ilrandomheroil · January 15, 2008

ok so i just bought this product that is suposed to increase your hp, and potentialy mpgs. Its a little resister that goes in the IAT sensor. Its suposed to quote"uses a resistance value of 3,100 ohms to override the sensor and signal the computer that it is receiving air at an optimal temperature of 56 degrees."

it was only like 5 bucks and i installed it and it might just be my mind playing tricks on me but i think it might have done something. now it seems to accelerate alot faster but then when i hit 70 i get real high RPMS but very little acceleration. more so than usual. and when i used to hit 70 i accelerated pretty quick to 90. but now its like it hits 70 and struggles. maybe im just crazy but if you know anything about how or if this works i would apperitiate your input.

Wingnut · January 15, 2008

Of course it's going to run better. They all run better in the cold. By tricking your truck's computer to think that it's only 56 degrees out, you're effectively bypassing the purpose of your IAT sensor. There's a reason why your truck pulls timing at higher temperatures, and anything that falsifies that data to the computer is a bad idea. That little $5 part could blow your engine if it's 110 outside. On the flip side, if it's cooler than 56 degrees, it's leaving performance on the table.

I'd put that thing in a slingshot and aim it at those pesky kids that are always walking on my lawn.

You can buy a sensor that will read faster and more accurately than the factory one. That, along with insulating your air passages and possibly relocating the IAT sensor to a location closer to the actual intake next to the throttle body for a more accurate reading of the temperature of the air entering your engine....Well...That's about as far as I'd go with it. Accuracy is one thing, but faking an important signal that tells your engine how to maintain a good A/F ratio is just begging for trouble.

Wingnut · January 15, 2008

Oh, and it's not actually "adding" horsepower. It's tricking the computer into letting loose more than it should for the current (actual) conditions.

For short, it's snake oil, and you should chuck it right at the head of the person that sold it to you.

carneyman · January 15, 2008

Oh, and it's not actually "adding" horsepower. It's tricking the computer into letting loose more than it should for the current (actual) conditions.

For short, it's snake oil, and you should chuck it right at the head of the person that sold it to you.

Agreed. If all it took was a $.30 resistor, gm would have already done it.

gave20 · January 15, 2008

Where do these people come up with these things. If the same amount of energy went into developing products that actually work who knows what potential a vehicles could have.

Draenor · January 15, 2008

Where do these people come up with these things.

I dont know, but people fall for it. I'm sure they make a killing when gas goes up. I need to get into the resistor and throttle body spacer scams.

I'd be a millionare before the year is up.

ilrandomheroil · January 15, 2008

well right now its 32 degrees and i had recived two of the resistors and had them both installed this morning i took one off and it runs a hell of alot better. so in the cold is it ok to use or is it risky all around?

VMax2007 · January 15, 2008

well right now its 32 degrees and i had recived two of the resistors and had them both installed this morning i took one off and it runs a hell of alot better. so in the cold is it ok to use or is it risky all around?

Why would you want to trick you truck into thinking it's cold out when it really is?

Throw it in the trash and move on.

Schmids5.3l · January 15, 2008

Be glad it was so cheap, because it was a complete waste of money.

minibike132 · January 16, 2008

Of course it's going to run better. They all run better in the cold. By tricking your truck's computer to think that it's only 56 degrees out, you're effectively bypassing the purpose of your IAT sensor. There's a reason why your truck pulls timing at higher temperatures, and anything that falsifies that data to the computer is a bad idea. That little $5 part could blow your engine if it's 110 outside. On the flip side, if it's cooler than 56 degrees, it's leaving performance on the table.

I'd put that thing in a slingshot and aim it at those pesky kids that are always walking on my lawn.

You can buy a sensor that will read faster and more accurately than the factory one. That, along with insulating your air passages and possibly relocating the IAT sensor to a location closer to the actual intake next to the throttle body for a more accurate reading of the temperature of the air entering your engine....Well...That's about as far as I'd go with it. Accuracy is one thing, but faking an important signal that tells your engine how to maintain a good A/F ratio is just begging for trouble.

A big AMEN to this. I've only been on this site for about 2 months(I've got a few tech sites under the belt but this is my first consumer site. I'v seen about 4 threads on the iat resistor and this is me because I couldn't find a way to put it as elequently as wingnut. It would just be an uphill battle. There should be a stickey or at the very least a tech wiki on why this is a silly way to try to add anything good to performance.

svensk · January 16, 2008

Put it up there with de-screening the MAF.

Zembonez · January 16, 2008

Of course it's going to run better. They all run better in the cold. By tricking your truck's computer to think that it's only 56 degrees out, you're effectively bypassing the purpose of your IAT sensor. There's a reason why your truck pulls timing at higher temperatures, and anything that falsifies that data to the computer is a bad idea. That little $5 part could blow your engine if it's 110 outside. On the flip side, if it's cooler than 56 degrees, it's leaving performance on the table.

I'd put that thing in a slingshot and aim it at those pesky kids that are always walking on my lawn.

You can buy a sensor that will read faster and more accurately than the factory one. That, along with insulating your air passages and possibly relocating the IAT sensor to a location closer to the actual intake next to the throttle body for a more accurate reading of the temperature of the air entering your engine....Well...That's about as far as I'd go with it. Accuracy is one thing, but faking an important signal that tells your engine how to maintain a good A/F ratio is just begging for trouble.

A big AMEN to this.

Yeah... ESPECIALLY the slingshot part!

Y2KLimited · January 16, 2008

Of course it's going to run better. They all run better in the cold. By tricking your truck's computer to think that it's only 56 degrees out, you're effectively bypassing the purpose of your IAT sensor. There's a reason why your truck pulls timing at higher temperatures, and anything that falsifies that data to the computer is a bad idea. That little $5 part could blow your engine if it's 110 outside. On the flip side, if it's cooler than 56 degrees, it's leaving performance on the table.

I'd put that thing in a slingshot and aim it at those pesky kids that are always walking on my lawn.

You can buy a sensor that will read faster and more accurately than the factory one. That, along with insulating your air passages and possibly relocating the IAT sensor to a location closer to the actual intake next to the throttle body for a more accurate reading of the temperature of the air entering your engine....Well...That's about as far as I'd go with it. Accuracy is one thing, but faking an important signal that tells your engine how to maintain a good A/F ratio is just begging for trouble.

A big AMEN to this.

Yeah... ESPECIALLY the slingshot part!

take that crap off.