New to Mustangs and working on cars, 2008 Mustang V6

bubblehead1 · 10-03-2007

I have never had the time or money to get the car I wanted and to improve it until know. I am starting a little late and have lots of questions.

1 week ago I purchased a 2008 V6. Since then I have ordered a MAC dual cat back exhaust, C&L CAI, Diablo tuner and an Underdrive pulley.

I would appreciate any help or suggestions before I put these on. Helpful tips such as what tools I need that I probably won't have or a way you have learned to do the job better.

**EagleAutosports** · 10-03-2007

Hiya and welcome. Glad you joined us.
I know this is your introductory post, but I'll move it to the S197 tech section so you get the most exposure for your question.

**stlwagon** · 10-03-2007

The CAI and tune is the easy part. The exhaust is a little trickier since there's some cutting involved. The underdrive crank pulley is easy but you'll need a 3-jaw puller (rent from Autozone) and either a breaker bar or impact gun to remove the crank bolt. Have fun and welcome aboard!

05silverstangv6 · 10-03-2007

you should take your car to the track before the tune and after to see the difference and really appreciate it also i plan to get cai an tune but havent decided on a brand

Bnuts · 10-04-2007

Ok I havent done the CAI in my 06 yet, but when I did it in the 04 v6 I had, you have to take the MAF out of the stock assembly and put it in with the CAI. There should be directions... if you deside to read them hahaha. I am planing on getting the same C&L and preditor chip so let me know how it goes. One thing I do know about the pullies is if you have a big stereo then they are no go for it. The purpose is to take power away from the alt. to free more power for your engine(.. I think). But you you plan on leaving your stereo stock then your ok

mercfocus · 10-04-2007

If you ever decide to get a supercharger, you'll need to put the stock under drive pulley back on because nobody wants to under drive their supercharger. Make sure to keep your stock pulley. The CAI would have to go too. I was going to do the pulley, but decided not to in favor of the supercharger I'm going to get one of these days.

mrjimmy · 10-04-2007

I have an06. I put a Steeda CAI and SCT2 generic tune in the car,,,ran so,so. Dumped the generic tune and went with a custom tune from VMP(jason,good guy) the car can now break em loose in drive from a stop and 2nd also(3:73 with T-loc).The tune will be the most impressive for you hnds down. Awakes that little 4.0 . I also have dual gt takeoff mufflers and JBA shorty headers,,,because I always wanted headers. Varying opinions on the gains from headers. I want to go FI so I think they will help.Duals sound good regardless of whose you get.
Let the journey begin,,,,,,,,

oh yeah I also have the aluminium drive shaft,but its turning out to be a project for me to install. I cant get the bolts undone to remove the old one,,,so off to a real mechanic...

bubblehead1 · 10-06-2007

This is alot of great input. I just got my MAC exhaust in the mail yesterday with no directions form LMPerformance and it was short on a few parts such as hangers. Knowing that I would end up throwing it all out of my garage with frustration I brought it to a nearby shop. It was so messed up that it took them 5 hours along with welding, cutting and mounting. The means justified the end however and it sounds beautiful.

mercfocus · 10-08-2007

It took only five hours for your exhaust to be put on? They spent seven hours at a shop up north from me and I had to leave at the end of the day with rattles, leaks, and one pipe rubbing against the tank. It was terrible and far from finished. I had to take it to a shop by my house where they spent three more hours fixxing everything. It's perfect now, but there's ten hours of labor in my exhaust. Did you also get the headers? I got Mac headers, pro-chamber, and mufflers all from the Mac factory north of where I live. I also got the CAI from them, but that's coming off when I get the SC.

bubblehead1 · 10-08-2007

I took it to Kearns Auto in Groton, CT. He told me he would get it done that day. He was booked and didn't start until after 5 pm. He ended up working until 10 pm. Talk about service. He has my money from now on. I bought him a case.

bubblehead1 · 10-08-2007

I just installed a C&L CAI without the tune. My car is running like crap. Does the tune really make that much of a difference or did I install something wrong.

mercfocus · 10-09-2007

You definately need to tune it.

Your Air/fuel is too lean right now.

You'll burn up the engine if you run it this way too long.

I had the same trouble with my Mac CAI. Running rich is ok, you'll just have crappy gas mileage. Too lean, which is what a C&L and Mac will most definately do, is a disaster waiting to happen. If I were you, I would put the stock airbox back on until I'm ready to do the tuning. Then, put the CAI back on right before you tune it. Diablo sport Predater has a list of custom tunes built into their flash tuner and one of them happens to be C&L. Should work great for what you have. Diablo doesn't have a tune for Mac, so I had to switch to SCT and a dyno. The Diablo showed incredible difference with just the stock airbox, so it should work better with C&L. Those flash tuners are about $450.00 after tax and whatever. You can get just a chip by itself for significantly cheaper, but you can't make future improvements on other mods with just that chip alone. Updates and programs can be added to a flash tuner as you upgrade your motor. There are other flash tuners out there, but I don't have any experience with any of those. Just Diablo and SCT. If you want to go with SCT, out here in CA its about $800.00 because of the dyno. East coust? I hope this info helps, and I most certainly hope you read this before you do too much more driving with the CAI.

bubblehead1 · 10-09-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by mercfocus

You definately need to tune it.

Your Air/fuel is too lean right now.

You'll burn up the engine if you run it this way too long.

I had the same trouble with my Mac CAI. Running rich is ok, you'll just have crappy gas mileage. Too lean, which is what a C&L and Mac will most definately do, is a disaster waiting to happen. If I were you, I would put the stock airbox back on until I'm ready to do the tuning. Then, put the CAI back on right before you tune it. Diablo sport Predater has a list of custom tunes built into their flash tuner and one of them happens to be C&L. Should work great for what you have. Diablo doesn't have a tune for Mac, so I had to switch to SCT and a dyno. The Diablo showed incredible difference with just the stock airbox, so it should work better with C&L. Those flash tuners are about $450.00 after tax and whatever. You can get just a chip by itself for significantly cheaper, but you can't make future improvements on other mods with just that chip alone. Updates and programs can be added to a flash tuner as you upgrade your motor. There are other flash tuners out there, but I don't have any experience with any of those. Just Diablo and SCT. If you want to go with SCT, out here in CA its about $800.00 because of the dyno. East coust? I hope this info helps, and I most certainly hope you read this before you do too much more driving with the CAI.

I got my Diablo tuner in the mail today. I installed the C&L tune in and it runs like a champ again. I haven't been able to let it loose to see a difference yet, but it sounds meaner. Thanks for the warning.

mercfocus · 10-09-2007

Didn't know you had already ordered a tuner. I'm glad you did.