ok i installed a home made intake on my eco and im getting a check engine light and when i floor it, sometimes my car hesitates for a second then pulls, i cant figure out why? i have no open holes in the pipe or anything, breather filters is on, air sensor is securely in (this is on a cobalt), im thinking maybe the air flow is restricted somehow? its a 3 in cone filter, not k&n but same one i used on my cavalier and had no problems with it....i just cant figure out why its doing this...any help is appreciated

TRY this, disconnect the neg bat cable. then the Pos cable. Wait about 2 mins, and reinstall in reverse .

yea i did that, now check engine light is off, did the bogging problem for a little bit but has gone away now so well see what happens when i drive it again tomorrow, hopefully its gone

Yep got a light on mine too. I need to try the battery trick to see if I can get it to go away. :rolleyes:

maybe its smart that i dont upgrade my intake system and wait for everyone else to figure it out first. :) heh.

after driving for a while its like normal, but at first it does the bogging out thing i dont understand it, doesnt seem bad for the engine though once its warmed up so im leavin it on :)

after driving for a while its like normal, but at first it does the bogging out thing i dont understand it, doesnt seem bad for the engine though once its warmed up so im leavin it on :)
first off is your air flow sensor connected? and if it is...is it on the right way? try turning it around and ifs on correctly you should not have to disconnect anything from the battery. your air flow sensor goes through 3 cycles and then catches the correct one. and it WILL shut off after the third cycle, so dont worry, it happened to my intake as well, mine was from a 95 civic. if u got any more questions feel free to message me..

ok thanks, i think i have started it 3 times though since installing it and the light hasnt gone off yet, i didnt drive it today though so we'll see tomorrow i guess, hopefully it works, yes it is connected and i have the little open part of the sensor facing the cone filter, which i believe was the way it was facing stock, so i dont think that is the problem. ill find out tomorrow and let you know, thanks for the help

i have ion redline got the K & n intake installed at saturn for 200. on my way home i let her loose then car went nuts in bad way. pinging weird idle etc so i took her home unistalled positive on battery for 3 hours then installed it. then went for a drive started out real slow (nothing over 50) then 30 miles into it started working her up to par then i let her loose no check engine light and she was faster then ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :bow:

the way i see it is the ECU and sensors are reading a whole different readiing then before (intake vs stock air box) so it is freakign out and telling you to check it. take it easy and do exactly what i wrote and if that dont work ide take her back to chevy for the ecu reflash :)

yeah 3 cycles thing doesn't do anything for our cars.

yeah 3 cycles thing doesn't do anything for our cars.
yes it does rm, every car goes through 3 cycles for the air flow sensor, coming from a mechanic. and he was so correct as my cars check engine light shut off after 3 starts.

ok ill have to try that, undo battery for 3 hours, then drive slow enough to where it doesnt bog out, then it should adjust itself by then?

OBD2 equipped vehicles are not like OBD1 vehicles....you wont actually clear a code by disconnecting the battery..(I know 17 people will argue with but its true).unless its for around 14days and the Keep Alive Memory fails....and the 3 cycles thing is unfortunately BS when talking about new GM vehicles also....the PCM does have cycles, and does monitor things in groups but it monitors the MAF constantly....if you had the key on when performing your mods that is the most likely cause of the CEL.....that said it may take a little while for the PCM to adjust to the new airflow OR you may have a lot of turbulence in the intake tract disrupting the MAF readings....or you could have induced an air leak....any air that gets into the intake after the MAF will cause problems...and will set codes ranging from MAF volume low to engine running lean.....your best bet is to get a hold of one of the 100-200dollar OBD code readers out there now...they will usually clear codes too, and if you post the DTC's I can help with diagnosis as much as I can.

Well I unhooked my battery yesterday for 30 minutes. Hooked it back up and no more light. Took it for a hard drive, still no light. So....

yea i can clear the light, but like i said its bogging down when i floor it when i first start driving, but about 5-10 minutes into the drive the bogging goes away and it runs normal....i just need that to stop lol, i have my battery disconnected right now and am gonna try what cvenom said and hopefully that will work, there are no air leaks after the sensor, you can see a picture of it here http://www.photobucket.com/albums/y5/wikkymaster , i know its not the best looking but it works

Do you have the cavalier extreme kit?

Also, I noticed I have a slight bog too, and it started when I changed the air system. I am sure it changed the tune of the engine though, thats why it does it. I am not worried about it. It runs good from 4k till redline, thats what matters :lol:

yea my check engine light is back on, the unhooking battery and driving good doesnt work lol, i dont like the fact that it bogs out it feels horrible and is really annoying. its the cavalier extreme one, i wish somebody had a solution for this, im going to email gravana to see if he has had any problems like that with his intake

yep mine is back on too. I don't really have a bog though. Is yours a auto?

Told you the battery trick didnt work..LOL.

Again anyone who has this problem if you can get someone to read the code for you feel free to PM me I should be able to help. :)

tryed an obd2 code reader today to get those codes but it would not link up with the car

the code reader or scan tool you use needs to be "CAN enabled" the Cobalt uses new computer protocols and not all readers/scantools work.

well then guess Ill try to find one of the "CAN enabled ones" ok here is a question ... my buddy has a scan tool that hooks into a computer.... will the pin outs on the harnes the same? that way I can try located a program that works with that

Issues with intake installs are pretty common on the JBO, and 99% of the time it is due to one simple sensor - that being the IAT (Intake Air Temp) sensor.

Now I'm not sure if Cobalt's have IAT's, but if they in fact do, then chances are that is the issue. A lot of times people install intakes and either damage the IAT or just forget to re-install it all together.

So first off, locate your IAT sensor (assuming Cobalts have them) and make sure that its plugged in securely. If it is, and its in the direct path of airflow (stock position), then there is a chance its damaged. Even if it looks okay physically, it could still have been damaged during the install of your intake.

Check it out, and let us know what you come up with.

everything looks good, same direction as stock, same area, dont believe it was damaged....but no mine is stick, and at around 2500-3000 rpms when i first start driving if i floor it it kinda bogs out, and i really dislike that lol, but once im driving for a while its like the computer learns it and it drives fine, but next time i drive again its like that at the beginning

the sensor is fine as I have installed by stock intake back and the light goes away and stays off.. There is no IAT only a MAF sensor on the cobalt. Another thing I have been pondering tonight is the sizeof the pipe. Maybe the position on the stock pipe directs onto the sensor more. Ill mess with it some tommarow and tell you what i come up with

And here I thought chevy designed this car for people to upgrade.... silly me. :rolleyes:

The IAT is integrated into the MAF on the L61 engine, it is highly likely that the air flow across the sensor has been disrupted, this will cause issues as the PCM is calibrated for to predict airflow across the MAF based on its stock position and therefore stock airflow....moving the sensor or changing the baffles/obstructions in the intake tract CAN increase performance but if the new airflow has dramatically different characteristics than stock the PCM may not recognise its flowing "better" it may just think its flowing improperly...and remember....more isnt always better...Ive seen many issues like this on homemade intakes for Corvettes and pickups....the pcm doesnt understand whats happening..but on a properly designed setup the you can have dramatic increases in power.

Why would you think Chevy made ANYTHING easy to upgrade??? :lol:

And here I thought chevy designed this car for people to upgrade.... silly me. :rolleyes:

yea wtf.... i emailed jim from gravana and he said it took them like 15 different positions mounting the sensor on their intake to finally get it to work right, so sounds like their intake is going to be good when it is available in like 4 weeks, but hes put a lot of time and r&d into his intake for our cars

Yeah thats going to be a problem if a aftermarket intake trips everyones check engine lights.

i will probably end up buying his, or maybe doing exhaust first or something to give time to aftermarket companies to get some made

thats really weird that your check engine lights are on and that the intake is bogging on you guys. i feel bad cuz i hooked mine up and it came on but went right off after 3 starts and my intake is amazing. the only thing i could think of is that your air flow sensor is upside down, i mean try it the other way, cuz if ur running it the wrong way i could consider it bogging that way.... until then idk what to tell you but hope it works for ya...

im pretty sure it is facing the right way, the litlte opening on the sensor is facing the cone, which makes sense since the air flows into the opening