Intake Air Temp. Sensor

[grey88gt]

Has anyone moved the air intake sensor over to the air box, or inlet pipe where the air is cooler and the sensor isnt picking up residual heat off of the lower intake manifold ? Pros and Cons on this mod. Thought about moveing it while I had the manifolds off.

[vristang]

My opinion -
Don't try to fool/trick the computer. It will only lead to driveability/longevity issues.
Ford calibrated the input from that sensor for its location. Moving the sensor will throw off its calibration, and all of the decisions that the computer makes based on that input; fuel and timing.
I have hear of some people locating the act in the air box because their intake did not have the threaded provision, but this is far from ideal.

[HoodStrype]

Yep my friend did... He put it in his cold air intake. Now it acts really bad when it's cold outside. We think it's because of that very thing, but not sure.

[Hozer 88GTConv]

I absolutely agree with the above. My intake air temp sensor regularly reads in the low 100's in the stock location. If you move yours to the cold air position, it will think it's too lean and dump fuel creating a rich condition.
Then, the 02's will sense a rich condition and try to force the injectors to go lean again.
It will go into a loop, and run crappy. That's a technical term!
good luck!

update: here's the code you will see...
54 (orc*): ACT (Air Charge Temperature)/IAT (Intake Air Temperature) sensor voltage too high, indidcating -40degF. Suspect shorted sensor, harness.

[grey88gt]

Thanks guys. I guess Ill leave it alone then. Just an idea. Iam going to replace the sensor anyways while Iam there. I may find a used inlet tube from a doner car and mount the old in it and try it later on, just for grins. Thanks for the input!

[Rev]

Why not put the sensor where it picks up actual inlet air temp and get the computer programmed to function with that actual correct info? I'm not familiar with all that, but it seems reasonable to start from a correct data input.

Rev

[Hozer 88GTConv]

The problem is the physical construction of the sensor. It provide a voltage based on resistance values for a given temperature range.
In other words, it is not a true thermometer. It is just a piece of metal that alters voltage output to the ecm based on temp changes in a very narrow temperature range window.

If it was a true wideband thermometer, the idea of programming the ECM to respond accordingly would be valid.

[vristang]

Originally Posted by Rev

Why not put the sensor where it picks up actual inlet air temp and get the computer programmed to function with that actual correct info? I'm not familiar with all that, but it seems reasonable to start from a correct data input.

Rev

The air temp at the inlet/filter is not really the concern. What the computer needs to know is what temp the air is when it enters the combustion chamber. Intake air temp will influence potential for detonation, so the computer uses the ACT signal for timing calculations (among other things I am sure). As the air travels throught the intake, it does pick up some heat from the manifold, increasing its temp. It is always better to measure directly, than to try and extrapolate.

Yes you could move the ACT anywhere you wanted, and reprogram the computer. Tuning the computer is not within the scope of most of us though, as it takes some specialized equipment. But as mentioned above, it is better to measure the temp directly, where it matters.

As eluded to by Hozer88GT...
The ACT and the ECT have a temp range of 20C to 120C (~70F to ~250F), so if moving the sensor outboard and reporgramming the computer, it would be best to replace the stock ACT with a sensor with a more suitable range. A sensor that could register air temps of about 0F would probably be good?

jason