Warmart
Member
- Thread starter
- #1
This is probably going to be a huge post, so don't act like I didn't warn you 
I've had my DD 2016 GT Premium auto in CO for almost 3 months and have been lurking my arse off here for all of that time. Although I was thrilled with the power in my Mustang, it didn't take me long to notice some repeatable throttle lag and shift issues and so I spent a ton of time researching aftermarket tunes and intakes in hopes of an even more thrilling drive.
It's pretty obvious that Lund is the most loved mail order tune here with Livernois most likely falling into 2nd place (arguably). Regardless, I fought a long running mind debate between these two and weighed the prons/cons for and against an nGauge, etc. I sent some "feeler" pm's to a few vendors and received by far the best response from the Livernois rep here on the forums, and it sold me on going with them.
On Sept. 20th I ordered their MyCal tuner, Severe Windstorm CAI and Evenflo 160 thermostat bundle. I had quite a few messages with their rep prior to this as I found many complaints about the thermostat not actually providing any lowering of CHT. The rep stood behind the thermostat and swore that it performs as advertised.
On the following Friday I started the install. I used hose clamp pliers on the hose below the housing and caught most of the runoff in a gallon ziplock bag. My first issue is that the thermostat and o-ring popped out on me and I didn't realize the o-ring was supposed to go into the engine housing AFTER the thermostat. Needless to say, I had a pretty bad leak immediately. Thinking the o-ring just got kinked, I took it apart and tried it again. At first it was fine but within 30 minutes it began dripping and then it got real bad. I said the heck with it and took it to a shop, stopping along the way to refill the coolant. By that time I had an email from a Livernois tech saying I probably had the o-ring in wrong. At this point I just let someone that was less stupid fix it for me. $93 lesson learned, although it probably could've been averted with a simple instruction sheet in the thermostat box. Still my fault, obviously, but in my defense it's been 25+ years since I messed with a thermostat, and they've changed a wee bit. :shrug:
Then I got back home later Friday and installed the CAI (relatively easy although some of the hoses were persnickety) and then loaded up the 93 tune and took it for a drive. Like most people I immediately noticed the difference and I was really happy. Then, I had some odd lag when taking off from a stop and a CEL quickly popped up. I figured it was just the "learning" phase and I could clear it. I cleared the CEL and 3 codes (two were different "too lean" dtc's and the other was torque related) but they came back all weekend long. I tried reflashing the tune, etc. The tech was responding to me well on Saturday and started to suspect that I was given the wrong CAI (with a more restrictive tube that didn't require a tune), and he mentioned that this has happened before. I took some pictures of the inside of the tube via the airbox and on Monday the tech confirmed that I had the wrong CAI. Ugh. For the time being I loaded another tune they had provided which was for a stock intake. I never got another CEL or dtc.
At this point I was pretty hot, sure it was a simple mistake but it shouldn't have happened. I also mentioned that I was seeing exactly the same CHT's as with the stock thermostat and reiterated the need for a simple instruction sheet. They said they'd get me a replacement air tube and airbox cover (different logo and a larger window for aesthetics only) sent out, but they've totally blown off any questions I had about the CHT temps.
On Wednesday of last week the replacements arrived (plus a nice t-shirt and hat, thanks Livernois
) and I had the joy of fighting the air tube fitment all over again, this time mostly in the dark (not recommended :doh - but all went well and I reloaded LMS' 93 Performance tune built for their 'severe' intake. Since then I've been rocking all through Mexico with nary a code or problem.
In the end, everyone I've dealt with at Livernois has been very responsive and helpful in every regard except the aforementioned thermostat temps. Almost makes me think there's a ton of history here that they are aware of, but that's just my take, who knows? I would of course like to scream at the shipping person that packaged the wrong intake!
The tune is friggin' awesome and does everything I hoped it would, so overall I'm very pleased. I might've liked a bit more sound from the intake, but it's a closed design so I guess I'll live with it. No difference in IAT versus stock. I just wish I would've went with a Reische 170, I don't see any complaints about them and the o-ring design alone would've saved me a huge pain in the ass.
I've had my DD 2016 GT Premium auto in CO for almost 3 months and have been lurking my arse off here for all of that time. Although I was thrilled with the power in my Mustang, it didn't take me long to notice some repeatable throttle lag and shift issues and so I spent a ton of time researching aftermarket tunes and intakes in hopes of an even more thrilling drive.
It's pretty obvious that Lund is the most loved mail order tune here with Livernois most likely falling into 2nd place (arguably). Regardless, I fought a long running mind debate between these two and weighed the prons/cons for and against an nGauge, etc. I sent some "feeler" pm's to a few vendors and received by far the best response from the Livernois rep here on the forums, and it sold me on going with them.
On Sept. 20th I ordered their MyCal tuner, Severe Windstorm CAI and Evenflo 160 thermostat bundle. I had quite a few messages with their rep prior to this as I found many complaints about the thermostat not actually providing any lowering of CHT. The rep stood behind the thermostat and swore that it performs as advertised.
On the following Friday I started the install. I used hose clamp pliers on the hose below the housing and caught most of the runoff in a gallon ziplock bag. My first issue is that the thermostat and o-ring popped out on me and I didn't realize the o-ring was supposed to go into the engine housing AFTER the thermostat. Needless to say, I had a pretty bad leak immediately. Thinking the o-ring just got kinked, I took it apart and tried it again. At first it was fine but within 30 minutes it began dripping and then it got real bad. I said the heck with it and took it to a shop, stopping along the way to refill the coolant. By that time I had an email from a Livernois tech saying I probably had the o-ring in wrong. At this point I just let someone that was less stupid fix it for me. $93 lesson learned, although it probably could've been averted with a simple instruction sheet in the thermostat box. Still my fault, obviously, but in my defense it's been 25+ years since I messed with a thermostat, and they've changed a wee bit. :shrug:
Then I got back home later Friday and installed the CAI (relatively easy although some of the hoses were persnickety) and then loaded up the 93 tune and took it for a drive. Like most people I immediately noticed the difference and I was really happy. Then, I had some odd lag when taking off from a stop and a CEL quickly popped up. I figured it was just the "learning" phase and I could clear it. I cleared the CEL and 3 codes (two were different "too lean" dtc's and the other was torque related) but they came back all weekend long. I tried reflashing the tune, etc. The tech was responding to me well on Saturday and started to suspect that I was given the wrong CAI (with a more restrictive tube that didn't require a tune), and he mentioned that this has happened before. I took some pictures of the inside of the tube via the airbox and on Monday the tech confirmed that I had the wrong CAI. Ugh. For the time being I loaded another tune they had provided which was for a stock intake. I never got another CEL or dtc.
At this point I was pretty hot, sure it was a simple mistake but it shouldn't have happened. I also mentioned that I was seeing exactly the same CHT's as with the stock thermostat and reiterated the need for a simple instruction sheet. They said they'd get me a replacement air tube and airbox cover (different logo and a larger window for aesthetics only) sent out, but they've totally blown off any questions I had about the CHT temps.
On Wednesday of last week the replacements arrived (plus a nice t-shirt and hat, thanks Livernois
) and I had the joy of fighting the air tube fitment all over again, this time mostly in the dark (not recommended :doh - but all went well and I reloaded LMS' 93 Performance tune built for their 'severe' intake. Since then I've been rocking all through Mexico with nary a code or problem. In the end, everyone I've dealt with at Livernois has been very responsive and helpful in every regard except the aforementioned thermostat temps. Almost makes me think there's a ton of history here that they are aware of, but that's just my take, who knows? I would of course like to scream at the shipping person that packaged the wrong intake!
The tune is friggin' awesome and does everything I hoped it would, so overall I'm very pleased. I might've liked a bit more sound from the intake, but it's a closed design so I guess I'll live with it. No difference in IAT versus stock. I just wish I would've went with a Reische 170, I don't see any complaints about them and the o-ring design alone would've saved me a huge pain in the ass.
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