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AEM F/IC install and disappointment

10K views 22 replies 17 participants last post by  oraclem19 
#1 ·
Hey y'all,
I have an '03 Accord coupe V6 automatic and installed the above mentioned F/IC.
First of all, the installation was a huge PITA. A lot of wiring cutting, splicing and soldering. I never wanna go through that again. I also put the car on a dyno this weekend. With V2 CAI, PCD's, J-pipe and Borla exhaust, the car initially put down 213hp and 180 torque on a DynoJet. Unfortunately, after "tuning", there were no gains to be had :mad:. I guess the ECU will always override the F/IC :banghead:.
Anybody out there run into similar problems? Am I gonna have to boost this car for the F/IC to be useful? Will I blow the automatic transmission apart with just a modest boost (Say 62mm turbo)? Can the manifold hold the extra boost?
I really want to move ahead with modifying this car, but I am really at a loss as to my next direction.
 
#4 ·
Lol. I know. I bought the car new in November of 2002. I was perfectly happy for the first 5 years I owned it. Then my buddy talked me into installing a CAI. Now I'm obsessed with modifying this car, and there is nothing out there for it. Plus, I need to pass the OBDII scan so that really restricts me.
 
#5 ·
Damn... with all those bolt ons I wouldv expected to see more than 213 whp. Is that with richies v3 j pipe? Sucks the FIC didn't turn out with success... How much did it end up runnin ya?
I told myself I'd stop putting $ into my auto v6 but I'm really tempted on the v3 since my custom j pipe is far inferior
 
#6 ·
Got the FIC for ~$400 and with time on the dyno, the total was north of $600. Live and learn I guess. I wouldn't recommend it. The stock ECU will override the FIC everytime, you can only make small changes to the AFR and you can't advance timing. The ECU even fights the FIC on changing VTEC engagement. I'm sure it's a great product for the right application, but our cars are not made for tuning if you need to pass OBDII tests.
Yeah, I have Richie's V3 J-pipe. I would personally recommend it. It's very good quality and made a big difference in performance.
I was definitely expecting more than 213/180 out of the car. The guy helping me tune my car was having trouble using an automatic transmission on the dyno though, so I don't know how accurate those numbers are.
 
#7 ·
Search for FIFelon. He and Paul (NVA-AV6) figured out a way to tune closed loop (partial throttle) with the FIC. Once the module is wired correctly, it tunes the car just fine withOUT the ECU recalibrating.
 
#8 ·
Search for FIFelon. He and Paul (NVA-AV6) figured out a way to tune closed loop (partial throttle) with the FIC. Once the module is wired correctly, it tunes the car just fine withOUT the ECU recalibrating.
i know the issue with the 3g TL (and 7th gen accord more then likely) is that it has WIDEBANDS for the primary O2 sensors, instead of narrowbands, which the fic is able to easily trick



but yeah OP, the FIC is not a end all to all the tuning, you gotta be willing to work in "harmony" with the factory ecu

as far as advancing timing, the ecu should do it itself (at least to a point), then retard timing as needed with the knock sensor
 
#21 ·
I hope we can get this tuning discussion going, I've been following lots of posts and still haven't found a good answer of what the right way to go is, and what the benefit will be. So the choices seem to be Apexi Neo with boomslang harness or the ECU from a 2007 Tl-s, with hondata harness and flashpro. I really want to tune my car so any info would be greatly appreciated.
 
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