Ok, so some of you have seen my other posts about having installed the Banks Powerpack on my V-10 '05 Excursion... The install made no distinguishable performance improvement either with an unloaded truck or while towing an 8,000lb travel trailer. I've talked to Banks twice and have basically been told its not their problem - that there must be some underlying issue that is starving my truck of power. It runs great (always has), has been well maintained (40k miles) and has been thoroughly checked over by my mechanic (who installed the Banks for me). We can find nothing that would cause the truck not to gain from the new intake, headers, y-pipe and cat-back. Even did a full fuel injector cleaning and changed the fuel filter just to eliminate that as a possible issue.

Its difficult with a scan tool to determine whether or not the MAF is working properly... we know its working cuz we're getting readings... but that doesnt necessarily mean its telling the computer the right things at the right time.

I'm wondering whether or not y'all think it might be worth the $$ to just buy a new one to see if that might be the cause of my problem? Or is there a way to test it for accuracy without putting as much into labor charges as if I'd just bought a new unit? Just for giggles, I disconnected it and did a 0-60 run, and it made a full one-second improvement over the 0-60 time with it hooked up. (btw, it has been cleaned with MAF cleaner -- no improvement)

The only other thing I can really think of would be a plugged up cat -- but at only 40k miles, that surely shouldnt be an issue, should it?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts/suggestions!!!
Mike

 

From what I've read on here Mike, as I have no personal experience w/ a 3v V10, their seems to be very little that you can do to the 3v versions to gain more power. captchas, Charlie, spent thousand's of dollars on his only to take everything back off and return it to stock. If I remember correctly, he ended up keeping his custom tuned SCT program and his header's only because they were a PITA to remove.

Evidently, the 2v's respond to mods a little better than the 3v's. The 3v's have a better intake tract, better flowing exhaust manifold's, a better flowing Y-pipe, and their's nothing to gain in a cat-back except for noise.

A plugged cat might be an issue, but if it's ran fine all this time, I doubt that's your problem. I'm afraid you might just have succumbed to the lure of more power, only to find it's not there. But I'm sure other's will chime in.

Good luck in your search.......

 

The '05 Excursions never got the 3-valve engine from what I understand (I could be wrong). Mine is a 2-valve.

Just FYI.

What bugs me is I keep hearing from these people who have put the Powerpack on other V-10 applications who just swear by 'em (especially in RV's). Why would it take 5 seconds off a 0-60 time towing in one application, but not in another? I know, I know... they can advertise any numbers they want to come up with, but Banks claims their test vehicle towed 0-60 in like 24 seconds (with my trailer, my Ex does it in about 23 or so), but after the Powerpack they're claiming it went down to 19 seconds. Thats a dramatic change. I got 'nothing' by way of improvement after the Powerpack.

What I'm wanting to know is whether or not anybody thinks a contaminated or malfunctioning MAF could possibly account for this? Could it be off enough to not allow the computer to compensate for the improved airflow?

Thanks!
Mike

 

[QUOTE=nebmike]The '05 Excursions never got the 3-valve engine from what I understand (I could be wrong). Mine is a 2-valve.

Just FYI.

QUOTE]

See what I get for assuming?? I don't know Mike, it seems to me their should be some improvement if it's a 2v.

Seems to me that if it were a malfunctioning MAF, you'd have other issue's. Like stumbling off idle, poor fuel mileage, loss of power. I don't think a malfunctioning MAF would just not respond to mods. It would rear it's ugly head before the mods, I would think.

 

Mike, do me a personal favor, and fill in your location in your profile, that'll help a lot.

What altitude are you at? What octane gas and brand are you using?

SO many different things are at play here...

What gearing for all the different vehicles where it did or didn't help?

PCM codes? (that's one thing I'd like to build a database for).

 

I'm in Sterling, Colorado... about 3800 feet. But I frequently tow into the mountains where I'm up at say 8000-9000 feet average. I'm using 87 octane, but have used 85, 87 and 91 with both Hypertech and SCT Livewire tuners (both before and after the Banks install), as well as with the Banks OttoMind. Not sure what you're looking for on the gearing, but its in the shop right now getting a 3.73 to 4.56 swap done. PCM is marked BUP3.

Mike

 

Mike you got to get that thing on a dino. with wide-band o2 at a shop that does a lot of ford tunes to see what is going on.