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Intake Air Temp Sensor Location

507 views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  Rick Evans 
#1 ·
After rebuilding the bottom-end (after a few pistons bit the dust) I've spent the last 3 months trying to tune out detonation. One thing that crosses my mind is the location of the IAT sensor in a blown car. Right now it sits in the fenderwell just behind the meter. The air is much cooler, than it is after it runs through the blower (especially at full boost). Wouldn't it make sense to relocate the sensor to the blower discharge tube (say midway to avoid superheated areas like the bends in the pipe). I haven't seen any threads on this and I've had so many burns on both superchips and Diablos I think the contacts are wearing out. I have more than enough fuel. Thoughts are appreciated.
 
#2 ·
You could always just take it out of the intake all together or put a resistor in there. But if your worried about detonation, then wouldnt the best idea be to have it in the hottest location, so it senses the heat and pulls timing to prevent detonation?
 
#3 ·
My Novi 2000 kit also had the IAT mounted near the MAF in the inner fender. I relocated it to the inlet pipe just before the throttle body specifically so timing could be backed off as inlet temps increased. I also caused a larger timing rollback with my EEC Tuner. When I datalogged and saw how hot it was getting I also temporarily installed a J type thermocouple to confirm the indicated readings. Turns out it was worse than the factory IAT indicated. 270 deg F and not even wound up tight yet! No wonder controlling detonation (or maybe even preignition?) on 92 octane gasahol has been such a difficult thing! That's when the aftercooler fund was established.

I think putting the IAT downstream of the blower is simply a prudent act of self-defense.
 
#4 ·
IAT Location

Of course, then the question becomes, not that I've moved it to a more appropriate location to tell the computer the real intake temp, will all the programming that Diablo has done to attempt to remedy the situation go out the door. This is when and EEC tuner for the 4.6 would be nice.
 
#5 ·
I'd ask the Diablo tuner. It depends on what changes they made. Some tuners pin the timing at a fixed value. If that was done then the IAT can't affect timing anyhow. It will then only affect fuel. Normally it pulls timing and enriches fuel as temps go up.

The EEC Tuner does work on '96 4.6 Mustangs. It's just a tuning tool though. It's not a 'tune-in-a-can' kind of product. You have to provide the tuning intelligence.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the insights. I guess the first stop is Diablo, and then go from there. I did look at the EEC Tuner site, but it doesn't seem they support the ZXA4 code on my car. I think the expression is something like "coming soon", whatever that means.
 
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