I was puttering around on Ebay the other day, as I do sometimes when I'm bored, and looking at everything listed under Broncos when I came across an ad for some sort of a small chip that supposedly can be added to your engine in just a few minutes and claims to be able to add up to +20 HP to it. Now, I'm no expert but also not totally naive either. I was just curious if anyone else had ever bought one of these and if so, if it actually worked. Just seems too easy to be true. It says something about hooking it up to the ECU and having it replace the Intake Airflow Temperature Sensor. Would this actually do anything? If so... where exactly is the IAT Sensor located?

Here's a link to a similar item on Ebay in case I didn't explain it well enough...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-Bronco-20-HP-Speed-Chip-90-91-92-93-94-95-96-WOW_W0QQitemZ8072433645QQihZ019QQcategoryZ42604QQs sPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


Also, on another subject, what would happen if you just completely removed the catalytic convertors from your truck and just ran the pipe from the engine back to the muffler? I did it on an old car I used to have with no ill effects but not sure if it would work on the truck. I think my Catalytic Convertor is about shot but I don't have the money to have it replaced at the moment so need a temporary solution. From what I've read, that seems like the problem anyway. It was whining once a while back, though it hasn't done it in a while. However now the truck will stall out suddenly after it's been running a few moments and also seems to lose power completely sometimes while driving at a moderate speed, (35 mph or so), yet doesn't completely stall when driving that fast. I thought it may be a clogged fuel filter at first but replaced it and it's still doing it. Anyway, just a thought.

Thanks,

C.

 

That "chip" sounds like a snake oil scam to me.....and as far as the cats go....if you search here you will see that plenty of other Bronco owners have removed their cats with no ill effects.

 

First, the claim is "up to 20 HP", so anything between 0.001 .. 20 would qualify.

What many of these mods can possible do is enrich the mixture somewhat by slightly altering readings from certain sensor(s), and getting few HP increase with more gasoline is very possible, IMHO.

Since a slightly richer mixture won't burn as completely as a stochiometric one, you'll be decreasing the efficiency of the engine somewhat; say, you get 2% extra HP, but you'll be using 2.5% - 3% more gasoline.

I think you won't get 20 HP, but will get a few, but your mpg may go down. However, the only way to know it for sure is to install it, dyno the engine, and also measure the mpg.

There's also a small possibility that they're selling a 'placebo device' with nothing whatsoever in it, aside from a connecting wire.

PS:
Hehe, I just read the full description: "The Speed Seeker modifies your air/fuel ratio to give you top performance. "

 

No cutting wires or soldering? How do you connet it to the sensor then?
I'm with streetgang here, sounds like a scam.
The only chips that make a difference are the ones that replace your IC in the computer.