for car lovers.......

I am mad at my car!!!!!!!!

about a month and a half ago I bought a cold air intake and my engine wont seem to accept it.:( :mad: About a week and a half after I put it on my check engine light came on and the car started bogging down..... then when it came time for me to renew my tag.. I couldn't pass the emissions test because of that stupid engine light. *sigh* I have talked to three machanics and called Nopi and they all said that the intake shouldn't be causing that problem.... well with no more time to wait.. (to get my tag) .... I went back stock yesterday.. and now the light is off and the car is running fine again.

Sorry to vent... but I paid a lot of money for that stupid part and me and no one else seems to understand why my car is not accepting it!!!!!!!:mad: I asked the guy who is doing my modifications if they would let me return it and get my money back... and he said he would have to ask the shop owner when he comes back next week...

i really really wanted to modify my engine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The cold air intake gave me 15 more horse power.... now it is all gone.... *whine*whine*whine* I want to be a race car driver...

(hey i'm a girl... i'm allowed to whine like this!! ;))

here are some pictures of my car...

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...6/fbdb1cda.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...4/fbdb1d86.jpg

Great car!!!!!!

I understand how you feel--I have a new convertible, and it is incredibly fast, and makes a lot of noise. My husband is the one who did whatever he had to do to make it a little "throatier", and I have to say, it's pretty fun.

I hope you can get your car to accept the part--just be careful:)

Sorry to hear it didn't work, Sara. Don't know why a cold air intake would do that, but if your mechanic can't figure it out I sure can't! ;) It should make the engine run better because it can breathe better, not bog it down. Maybe they disconnected something that needs to be connected when they installed it, but then they should have realized that when they took it off so you could pass.

And also, there are a lot of "track" events at real race tracks where you could get your car out and run it like a race car. I'll have to do some searching, but I'm sure I've got some links around here somewhere from all my Corvette buddies. I know up here at Road America (in WI actually) they also have Skip Barber schools, where you start out in a Dodge Neon and end up in a Viper, and other classes in open wheel cars like F1 and such. The link for that is here Skip Barber I didn't see anything at Road Atlanta, but I would think Road Atlanta would have something similar.

We do an event every year with the Alfa Romeo group up at Road American. We get about 4 or 5 - 20 minute sessions on the track over the weekend. 20 minutes doesn't sound like much, but when you're going flat out, braking and accelerating like made, 20 minutes is plenty of time. Race car driving is actually a lot of work. :D

Hope you get things figured out and get your car running properly with the cold air intake. And I'll see if I can find some of those links for you.

Oh, and there is someone who has your exact car where I park here at work. They must be idiots though because they always screw up the parking for everyone else. There's limited parking around here, and they think they own it all. :rolleyes: But I always think of you when I see the car. :D

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I understand how you feel--I have a new convertible, and it is incredibly fast, and makes a lot of noise. My husband is the one who did whatever he had to do to make it a little "throatier",

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I'm saving up now to get a new cat back system... that will give it the noise I want. I thought the intake would ... well it did a little but it is was barely noticeable..

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they also have Skip Barber schools, where you start out in a Dodge Neon and end up in a Viper,

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ha!! I would probably faint at the chance to drive a Viper.!!!! I would do it in a heartbeat.

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Hope you get things figured out and get your car running properly with the cold air intake.

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after I pass my emissions... I am going to maybe try another name intake. I had AEM... and I think I am going to try injen... I don't know... I might see if they will let me exchange it for the lowering springs..:confused:


I just don't understand why my car had problems with it and no one else does...:confused:

i'll have to check out the skip barber link at home... (i keep getting caught on the internet here at work)

We went to see the Petit Lemans at Road Atlanta... Those cars were so BAD!!! I had my picture taken with a 2million dollar Audi!! and a porsche and some vipers... but the Audi was so bad they wouldn't even let us touch it... *sigh*:rolleyes:

Yeah someone who loves Alfas-here's a photo of my baby-restored lovingly by my two feminine hands. As to the air intake-I have had it with mechanics-the old wait until the manager comes back-betcha anything they gave you the wrong one-or the ah-oh, counterfeit part-they are really difficult to distinguish from the genuine parts.

I believe all cars are evil...they look cool ,but inthe end, they are all out to get us!!

I love my Ford Ranger, but that stupid truck :mad: Since buying it used 3 years ago, I have replaced the engine, the battery, the muffler, the starter, the serpentine belt ( and something else around there) recharged the A/C twice, had the motor replaced on the fan, and a leak fixed on the power steering. Sunday while I was at the Dog Park, it started leaking anitfreeze and we thought it was the water pump. Thankfully, my dad came up and looked at it and found it to be a heater hose that he could change. Thank God for dad's to help work on cars!!!

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Originally posted by Airedalekisses
Yeah someone who loves Alfas-here's a photo of my baby-restored lovingly by my two feminine hands.

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Wow, it's beautiful! And you restored it yourself?!:eek: I, unfortunately, would never have the patience for that. It's the Chicago Area Alfa Romeo group that we do the track time with. They rent Road America every year, and sort of let us Corvetters crash their party. They also open it up to others because, I'm thinking, they need the attendance in order to pay for the track rental. Can't be cheap to rent a world class race track like Road America. They also have, during lunch time, what they call "touring." That's where anyone can get on the track with their car. The speed limit is 70 mph - somewhat enforced - and it gives everyone a chance to get their car on the track with no racing involved. People take their kids and my mom rode with me one year. Indy isn't that far from Road America so maybe you could check it out this year. Here's a link to the Chicago Area Alfa's where you can get more info.
Chicago Alfa Romeo Owner's Club
They also have links to other Alfa pages on the bottom of the home page.

:D

I would give my right arm to drive a Viper! :)

Cool car, Sara. I love the wheels, they really suit your car :)

Sara! I LOVE your car! I'm sure my brother would go crazy if he saw it. He loves those kind of cars!

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Originally posted by Cincy'sMom
I believe all cars are evil...they look cool ,but inthe end, they are all out to get us!!

I love my Ford Ranger, but that stupid truck :mad: Since buying it used 3 years ago, I have replaced the engine, the battery, the muffler, the starter, the serpentine belt ( and something else around there) recharged the A/C twice, had the motor replaced on the fan, and a leak fixed on the power steering. Sunday while I was at the Dog Park, it started leaking anitfreeze and we thought it was the water pump. Thankfully, my dad came up and looked at it and found it to be a heater hose that he could change. Thank God for dad's to help work on cars!!!

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Actually, I don't believe that's true. Not all cars are evil. Your problem is because your car is a FORD. Fords are evil.

F ixing
O r
R epair
D aily

Fords are evil, and we've had our fair share of them. Next time go for a German car. German cars rock. Japanese are really great too. Like Toyota, Lexus, etc. Awesome cars!

American cars are wonderful comfort wise, but in reliability, they suck, and Ford is the leader of all evil cars. :p

BTW, I speak from experience. We've had several Fords and still have one. The one we have now has done pretty good,thank God, for a Ford, but other ones! Phew! Their transmissions were dying everyday. :rolleyes:

Goooooooooo Ford! LOL :rolleyes:

thanks ever so much for the info!!!-I am a speed demon-my dad designed cars for Chrysler so I grew up around them. Let me tell you Vipers are soooo much fun to drive they are easier than you might think- you don't have to be afraid of them.yup I restored the Alfa myself-took me two years-I'm an artist so sculpting kinda came naturally-luckily the engine was perfect it was just the body and the interior-found it in a barn- it had been bedroom,bathroom, dining room and nursery to 6 possums-felt terrible to evict them!

Sara- adore your car hope they can get the problem solved-vrrrooom vrroom. :D

Amy it's not all the cars that are evil it's the FORD's you gotta stay away from the fords. Unless of course it's one of those sweet little old school Mustangs otherwise if you want a North American car stick to the good old ones like Chevy and such...can you tell my family has worked their will on me? :D

Pretty car! :) I have a 2002 GMC Sierra with Flomaster exaust. I love it when I drive past cars and their alarms go off. I get my kicks when I go thru parking garages and everyone's alarms set off. hehe.

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I love my Ford Ranger, but that stupid truck Since buying it used 3 years ago, I have replaced the engine, the battery, the muffler, the starter, the serpentine belt ( and something else around there) recharged the A/C twice, had the motor replaced on the fan, and a leak fixed on the power steering.

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OUCH!!! I have never heard any bad stories aout Ford Rangers before... sorry you have had such bad luck with yours.. I have been lucky.. I have only had two cars in my life and have never had to put one in the shop..

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Yeah someone who loves Alfas-here's a photo of my baby-restored lovingly by my two feminine hands.

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oh what a nice car!!!!! cars are such a fun hobby.... your's looks beautiful!!! I was wanting to take some auto classes at school ... but the hubby convinced me to just stick to taking classes for my degree...

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I have a 2002 GMC Sierra with Flomaster exaust.

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my friend had flomaster on his 68 mustang convertable... it sounded SO NICE!!!


THANKS everyone for the nice comments ..... I looove cars and wish I had the thousands of dollars I would love to sink into mine.. I've only been able to do a few mods.... below are some more pics....

(please excuse the dust :o )

This is a pic of my gauges.... I took the UGLY factory ones out and put these white ones in....
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...a/fbdb1ca8.jpg

here you can kind of see my floormats... they are diamond plate...
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...d/fbdb1c42.jpg

here you can see em a little better....
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...6/fbdb1c08.jpg

and here are my aftermarket wheels.... I want to lower the car cause it is hard to tell they are 18's unless you get right up to the car... I want them to fill most of the wheel well....

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...e/fbdb1c7c.jpg

and I've upgraded my stereo... and stuff... and I got blacklights under the dash... but I don't have a night time pic of them yet.
I guess most everything I've done is cosmetic... and when I finally venture out to modify the engine.. it won't work. I guess I will just have to keep trying

well thanks for letting me talk about my car.....:eek: :cool:

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Originally posted by Miss Meow
I would give my right arm to drive a Viper! :)

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But...but...then how would you shift? ;) :D

I've sat in one, and it was very....confining...I think is the best word to describe it. It was an older one, like maybe a '96 or something, but I'm tall and my head stuck up over the top of the windshield - good thing it was a convertible. :rolleyes: :D And it was really tight from side to side too. Not much room for any kind of movement - which makes it perfect for track events. It was really cool though, but I thought the hood of a Corvette seemed huge - the hood on this Viper was unbelievable! It was like 100 yards of hood in front of you, and you sit so low...

They are cool, but of course, being a Corvette person, I'm a little biased....:rolleyes: ;) :D

This is Fox-gal's husband.......


We are car ppl:) Your car looks ta be a 2gen DSM.

What engine do you have? SOHC or DOHC? Turbo or not? I'm thinking...not.

The stock ECU (comp.) uses a AFM (air flow meter) to "sence" the amount of air entering the engine. The norm. is for them to be mounted just after the air filter. It will have a wire harness that goes to it. In short.......It must be hooked up if still useing the stock ECU. Did you forget to hook it back up when installing the cold air intake ?

If the car runs good again, after reinstalling the stock intake,then it's safe ta say it was the cold air intake that was causing the prob.....The ? is why? I bet it has somthing ta do w/ the AFM not being hooked up right.


The idea behind a cold air intake is ta simply move the filter to a cooler spot under the hood allowing the engine to suck in cooler air. (the cooler the air, the more dense it is) and sense it's denser, your able ta get more air into one spot.

Who makes the intake?

I had a 1st gen DSM and my check engine light would come on if ANY wire harness was left unhooked.

It makes sence that the AFM was NOT hooked back up when the new intake was install. ie check engine light came on..

if you have a pic of the engine bay I can tell ya which I'm talking about.


If you ever want help with pulling more HP out of your DSM, you can PM Fox-gal (my wife:)


I can take you as deep as ya want ta go......

Sara! I love your car! :D Do you like to speed? ;) That car looks perfect for that! LOL

I so dig the diamond plate mats. I've never seen those. Where'd you find them?!!!!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Sara luvs her Tinky
I'm saving up now to get a new cat back system... that will give it the noise I want. I thought the intake would ... well it did a little but it is was barely noticeable.[OUOTE]


I think HKS, Greddy, and APEXi make systems for your car. We have a HKS full exhaust on our 400RWHP Mazda RX-7 (sold the eclipse for that car) and it has a deep bel-low note to it.




[QUOTE]Originally posted by Sara luvs her Tinky
ha!! I would probably faint at the chance to drive a Viper.!!!! I would do it in a heartbeat. .[OUOTE]

There not a great as they seem.





[QUOTE]Originally posted by Sara luvs her Tinky
after I pass my emissions... I am going to maybe try another name intake. I had AEM... and I think I am going to try injen... I don't know... I might see if they will let me exchange it for the lowering springs..:confused: .[OUOTE]

I don't like the injen brand. My friend put one on hes 240sx and they made it to go over/along the rad. Kinda dumb because the rad. gets very hot.

As far as springs go (if you don't have $4000 for some HKS coil overs) then Eibach makes some GREAT springs. Wrap them around some KYB AGX's and your getting closer.

I let my husband read this post......big mistake. Sorry guys he can go on and on about cars. It's what he does. But he knows his stuff.

Lol, Fox-gal. I so understand. That's how my hubby is with motorcycles.

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Originally posted by Tonya
Lol, Fox-gal. I so understand. That's how my hubby is with motorcycles.

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LOL OH no not your husband too. Bikes are his other love!!!! He has to many. On road, off road, super bikes, Quads and of course all the cars. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

What we put up with. LOL I heard him talk in his sleep...."more horsepower"

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Originally posted by Tonya
I so dig the diamond plate mats. I've never seen those. Where'd you find them?!!!!

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MY Husband makes them. I can't stand them....I drive bare footed and they hurt my feet. I made him take them out. I'm so mean!!! LOL

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The stock ECU (comp.) uses a AFM (air flow meter) to "sence" the amount of air entering the engine. The norm. is for them to be mounted just after the air filter. It will have a wire harness that goes to it. In short.......It must be hooked up if still useing the stock ECU. Did you forget to hook it back up when installing the cold air intake ?

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no... they remembered to put it back on...

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Who makes the intake?

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AEM

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if you have a pic of the engine bay I can tell ya which I'm talking about.

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O.K.... i'll take a pic today when i get off work.

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If you ever want help with pulling more HP out of your DSM, you can PM Fox-gal (my wife

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thanks so much for the offer..... i'll definatelly take you up on it!!:D

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originally posted by Tonya
I so dig the diamond plate mats. I've never seen those. Where'd you find them?!!!!

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I go to a place called Max Performance... where the install all my stuff and they ordered them for me. I only found one place on the internet with ones like mine that are custom cut... but my payment never went through... and I never got them,...:confused: but hey... it saved me some shipping and handeling!!

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originally posted by FoxGal
I let my husband read this post......big mistake. Sorry guys he can go on and on about cars. It's what he does. But he knows his stuff.

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I am so glad you did:D.... it is so hard to find someone with some answers. I have called Nopi so many times and they didn't really have any answers either....

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originally posted by Popcornbird
Sara! I love your car! Do you like to speed? That car looks perfect for that! LOL

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lets just say i have a clean driving record... and I intend for it to stay that way!!

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As far as springs go (if you don't have $4000 for some HKS coil overs) then Eibach makes some GREAT springs. Wrap them around some KYB AGX's and your getting closer.

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Yeah.... what I am looking at are coil overs... but I don't remember who makes them..