Will a set of heads drive my CPU crazy???

earleys94gt · Nov 28, 2005

I am planning on doing a set of heads this winter, most likely Edelbrock Performers or AFR 165's(something that goes on out of the box). My car has full exhaust now and I might do gears as well, since I have an AODE. My question is, by doing just the heads and maybe gears, will my stock CPU be thrown off? Will my idle suck completely? Will it run too rich or too lean? I figured since I have a blown head-gasket I'd might as well do the heads while I was in there.

Also, does anyone know of a good "heavy-duty" water pump for our 94-95's? My stock one bit it and I need a good one because I want to get a Fluidyne radiator as well.

Thanks for any help or suggestions!

CManT1914 · Nov 28, 2005

Heads shouldn't mess with it too much. The cam is what really throws things off, especially since most guys do injectors and a maf at the same time. Just the heads though (especially if you're leaving the stock injectors and maf on) should be no problem.

I don't know about the waterpump.

nmcgrawj · Nov 28, 2005

earleys94gt said:
I am planning on doing a set of heads this winter, most likely Edelbrock Performers or AFR 165's(something that goes on out of the box). My car has full exhaust now and I might do gears as well, since I have an AODE. My question is, by doing just the heads and maybe gears, will my stock CPU be thrown off? Will my idle suck completely? Will it run too rich or too lean? I figured since I have a blown head-gasket I'd might as well do the heads while I was in there.

Also, does anyone know of a good "heavy-duty" water pump for our 94-95's? My stock one bit it and I need a good one because I want to get a Fluidyne radiator as well.

Thanks for any help or suggestions!

Heads will not change how the car runs. If you change the heads, i sure hope you get a new cam to take full advantage of them.

The cam is where you will run into those driveability problems. Depending on which cam you get, our computers are known to give "fits" with them. But there are a couple cams out there that actually work well with it. Those that have a high LSA.

But then, with a new combo, you will need a new tune. So thats when all those EEC problems disappear and enable you to run basically whatever cam you want.

Bottom line, without a tune, problems can arrise. But with one....well....you golden

final5-0 · Nov 28, 2005

The easy answer first!

I've been running a Stewart high volume wp for a little over a year now in hot Texas summers and I have been happy with it.

About your pcm Question ........................

If you would tell us your long term goals or how serious you wanna go with your combo ............

I'd be willing to bet you'd get a different answer than the one you get to answer your Question for right now.

Trust me ... you very well could be leaving power on the table if you're not careful and don't plan ahead.

Grady

Blackened302 · Nov 28, 2005

might wanna check your hard drive and mobo combo, though. changing heads and upgrading to sata instead of ide might cause some conflict.

lol, sorry, had to do it.

v6v8swap · Nov 29, 2005

Ram000 said:
might wanna check your hard drive and mobo combo, though. changing heads and upgrading to sata instead of ide might cause some conflict. lol, sorry, had to do it.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought that! You even had the guts to post it. Way to go man!

final5-0 · Nov 29, 2005

Ram000 might wanna check your hard drive and mobo combo, though. changing heads and upgrading to sata instead of ide might cause some conflict.

lol, sorry, had to do it.

v6v8swap Quote:
Originally Posted by Ram000
might wanna check your hard drive and mobo combo, though. changing heads and upgrading to sata instead of ide might cause some conflict. lol, sorry, had to do it.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought that! You even had the guts to post it. Way to go man!

If you two guys have something to say here

Don't foot around about it

Make your thoughts crystal clear for everybody to see so there can be no misunderstanding

Seems like both of you don't think things on this forum are as they need to be.

Feel free to explain yourself!

Grady

Black95GTS · Nov 29, 2005

v6v8swap said:
I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought that! You even had the guts to post it. Way to go man!

I'm also completely lost here. If you're bagging on the original poster, it's a decent question IMO. Any time you increase air flow all of a sudden, things will be off a little and the computer should be reset and relearn settings. After I did my intake manifold I started the car back up and you could stand by the exhuast and literally hear the computer's subtle adjustments. Kinda cool actually. It amazed the die-hard carb guy who helped me with the job.

To the poster: Lower LSA cams, MAFS, and injectors are what really throws the computer off. You should be fine with bolting on some new heads. At this point, your stock intake will be a major bottleneck, so why dont you do that while you are doing heads??? And hell, just toss a cam in there too while you're at it... But seriously, even a TMOSS port job is a big improvement for low low dollars.

Quick note though... aluminum heads respond MUCH differently to timing changes then your stock irons do. I think that might be what Grady was referring to about leaving some power on the table?? Well if he wasn't then I'll take credit for it. A lot of guys pay careful attention to timing, and usually find they can add more spark then before.

Adam

Black95GTS · Nov 29, 2005

final5-0 said:
If you two guys have something to say here

Don't foot around about it

Make your thoughts crystal clear for everybody to see so there can be no misunderstanding

Seems like both of you don't think things on this forum are as they need to be.

Feel free to explain yourself!

Grady

I JUST got it a couple hours later. It's computer geek lingo. The "ide" connected the dots.

IDE and SATA are both acronyms referring to cable types within the computer. Mobo is slang for "MOther BOard" and changing heads was taking literally as in actually changing your head.

Bad joke but funny in a "you did not just say that" kind of way.

on topic: no, you'll be fine!

earleys94gt · Nov 29, 2005

My plan was to just do the heads because I am just looking for a good street car with a little more a$$ than stock. I was also thinking about maybe doing a convertor. You know, just stuff to make it perform better on the road. I agree a cam would be nice, as well as an intake, but I don't need them nor have the cash right now. I know heads arn't cheap, lol. Anyways that's no two cent reply. Any other comments/suggstions, are more than welcome.

No "CPU" lingo, LOL.

nmcgrawj · Nov 29, 2005

earleys94gt said:
My plan was to just do the heads because I am just looking for a good street car with a little more a$$ than stock. I was also thinking about maybe doing a convertor. You know, just stuff to make it perform better on the road. I agree a cam would be nice, as well as an intake, but I don't need them nor have the cash right now. I know heads arn't cheap, lol. Anyways that's no two cent reply. Any other comments/suggstions, are more than welcome.

No "CPU" lingo, LOL.

I understand you just want a boost, but spending $1,000 + on heads alone isnt gonna be too smart. If u want a boost, but nothing major, i would look into gt40's and maybe a tmoss port job like mentioned above. The intake, like said above also, is the major bottle neck so at the very least, get rid of that while doing your heads.

But, if u are spending that much, you can find a decent cam for less than $200...well worth it IMO.

earleys94gt · Dec 1, 2005

I've been thinking...maybe the way to go would be Edelbrock heads, Edelbrock Intake (both Performer) and a cam. Here's my question, is there a cam that won't cause me to do a MAJOR tune. Or, what would be possible with the stock cam??? Any quesses/comments????

CManT1914 · Dec 1, 2005

The closer to stock LSA you get (116 being stock), the less problems you should have. So just don't get a cam with a 112 or something. I think quite a few guys have 114's and get away without tuning.

Pops Fun · Dec 2, 2005

Hi,
As Grady said think out your combo and decide what you want.. H/C/I is what most people do. You can certainly do a piece at a time just don't expect a big boost in power doing a piece at a time. Maybe a used set of alum heads and a ported intake for now then a cam later. I run a steeda 19 which is fairly friendly with our computer.

Steve

Methodical · Dec 3, 2005

How about some gears. I noticed your signature does not show them. By the way my cam has LSA is 112 and I was able to get the car to idle pretty good by using Ford's method for setting or resetting the idle.

Peace
Al

Methodical · Dec 3, 2005

final5-0 said:
If you two guys have something to say here

Don't foot around about it

Make your thoughts crystal clear for everybody to see so there can be no misunderstanding

Seems like both of you don't think things on this forum are as they need to be.

Feel free to explain yourself!

Grady

He's at it again.

Pops Fun · Dec 3, 2005

As I thought about this, my opnion is you should do gears... They are the best bang for the buck.. It won't give you anymore HP but man does it feel good.. Then save some money and go for it..

dstanggt50 · Dec 3, 2005

Heads should be ok w/the pcm, I ran my lunati 51014 cam w/ported heads, stock computer, maybe had an idle issue every once in a while, my idle was f/p sensitive imo, won't idle unless it has over 43psi vacuum off. I would go for heads and gears. While I have not had that many driveability problems due to the cam in this car, I had the same cam in my 87gt, auto, maf converted, and the car had a really hard time idleing, had to get the idle air adjuster thing to get it to run.

Methodical · Dec 4, 2005

dstanggt50 said:
Heads should be ok w/the pcm, I ran my lunati 51014 cam w/ported heads, stock computer, maybe had an idle issue every once in a while, my idle was f/p sensitive imo, won't idle unless it has over 43psi vacuum off. I would go for heads and gears. While I have not had that many driveability problems due to the cam in this car, I had the same cam in my 87gt, auto, maf converted, and the car had a really hard time idleing, had to get the idle air adjuster thing to get it to run.

Interesting about the lunati cam. I have the same cam but at 39psi. How do you know it was fuel pressure related that created your idle issues. I may try the same thing. I use the tweecer and wonder how that will affect my tune.

Peace

nmcgrawj · Dec 4, 2005

Methodical said:
Interesting about the lunati cam. I have the same cam but at 39psi. How do you know it was fuel pressure related that created your idle issues. I may try the same thing. I use the tweecer and wonder how that will affect my tune.

Peace

I forget the exact numbers, but the computer can adjust for FP changes within a certain %. So if its on the small side of things, it can just re-adjust itself to where it was at.

Now if u make a change big enough beyond that window that the EEC can control, then it will do what it can and leave whatever on the table i think.

Will a set of heads drive my CPU crazy???

earleys94gt

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