so how does a C&L work?

C&L MAF, CAI? What did you buy from C&L?

In that case it's larger than the stock one allowing more air to flow. I bought one recently also, and if i remember numbers right the stock 55mm mass air flows 500-550cfm and a 73mm flows 800ish cfm. Number might be off but you get the point - less restriction.

88_GT_5_oh said:

i just got mine the other day and i thought it would come with something electrical, lol. how exactly does it work... i tried the C&L website but couldn't really find anything on how it works. i'm not second guessing me buying it at all, i'm just the kinda guy who likes to know exacly how everthing works

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I installed one on my 2000,,did you tell them what size injectors you had when you purchased it,,,it matters,,also,just need to unbolt the old sensor and slide it out,it should fit right into your new mass air,,1 important thing,,dont touch the sensor or get it dirty.If you do your car might not idle correctly..You can use alcohol and a q tip to clean it of before installing to be safe,thats what I did.The oil on your fingers might get on the sensor and screw up the computer.

88_GT_5_oh said:

ya i understand that part of it, just the whole thing with the sampling tube nad how it "tricks" the electronics with the sampling tube

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I am not sure how exactly the sampling tube works,,but in the back of the tube there should be a coloured paint dot representing what size injectors the tube is designed for.,On my car the idle was off a bit when I first installed it. I spoke with c&l tech, and they told me to turn the meter so the sensor was at approx. 1 o'clock instead of straight up and down,,I thought they were crazy but,,it did the trick,,Just trying to let you know what I ran across to hopefully make things easier for you.

does it realy "trick" the computer? I've always heard it's calibrated for injector sizes.

z9_87 said:

does it realy "trick" the computer? I've always heard it's calibrated for injector sizes.

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It is calibrated for injector size,,I know that for sure,,when I put 42 lb injectors in, I needed to re-order another tube from c&l.

This link, while involved, will give you a better understanding of how the various MAF's work.

http://www.allfordmustangs.com/Detailed/583.shtml

It doesn't 'somewhat' trick the computer it flat out tricks the computer. The sample tube reduces the amount of air that's actually able to get to the mass air sensor. The larger the injector size, the more it restricts the air. It fools the sensor into telling the computer to dump allot less gas than it would if there were 19 lb injectors installed. The computer thinks it's seeing less air volume and shortens the pulse width of the fuel injector to what is "hopefully" correct for the motor's current power setting. Some folks have had great success with C&L while other wouldn't even use them for ash trays. hehe With luck, your experience will be the former. One of the nice things about the C&L is that they seem to work rather well with the PMS. Anderson's PMS is pretty good at making up for deficiencies in the sample tube method of the C&L meters and it's easy to use to boot! You've got a PM 88.

Daggar said:

It doesn't 'somewhat' trick the computer it flat out tricks the computer. The sample tube reduces the amount of air that's actually able to get to the mass air sensor. The larger the injector size, the more it restricts the air. It fools the sensor into telling the computer to dump allot less gas than it would if there were 19 lb injectors installed. The computer thinks it's seeing less air volume and shortens the pulse width of the fuel injector to what is "hopefully" correct for the motor's current power setting. Some folks have had great success with C&L while other wouldn't even use them for ash trays. hehe With luck, your experience will be the former. One of the nice things about the C&L is that they seem to work rather well with the PMS. Anderson's PMS is pretty good at making up for deficiencies in the sample tube method of the C&L meters and it's easy to use to boot! You've got a PM 88.

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Just to add to what you said. Pretty much all aftermarket meters "trick" the computer....even the Pro-M's. I'm in the camp I don't care if it "tricks the computer" as long as it does what it's supposed to. Most of the problems people have with C&L's is they either use a CAI kit, or even worse, they use a filter right on the meter. Also, the larger injectors you go to, the sample tube get's bigger IIRC.

C&L's work great on N/A cars 99% of the time, and are super easy to recalibrate. I've had my 73mm C&L for going on 8 years now, and it's adjusted to everything I've done to the car along the way. I just recently upgraded to 24# injectors, switched the sample tube out, and have had zero issues.

I will say once you get into F/I, the C&L's don't work quite as well "as is", and really require custom chip/PMS/Tweecer to work correctly.

To the OP, if you have any more questions, I would highly suggest you call C&L. I had a quick question to ask them when I was upgrading to larger injectors, and I ended up talking to a guy named Lee there for almost an hour. He explained a ton of stuff, and gave me quite a few tips for tuning things just right. I wasn't sure if I wanted to get a sample tube for my 8 year old 73mm, or upgrade to their 76mm kit. He told me to stick with the 73mm and the new sample tube unless I had money to burn. I mean, to me, that's awesome service. He not only took all that time to help me out with a product I bought 8 years ago, he didn't even try to sell me the latest and greatest when I wouldn't see anything much from the $200 I spent.