I recently had cam/heads/intake LS6/headers/ and a cold air intake VR B2 installed on a 98A4

The cam is a 224/230 114LSA

The car was dyno tuned and runs very well with the exception of idle in gear.
I want to avoid putting a converter in the car if it's not the cause of the problem which is what I'm being told. I chose the cam because it wouldn't require a converter. I understand the benefit of a converter but really didn't want to lose too much gas mileage efficency. Here is the problem:

The car idles at 1000 RPM cold upon warm up it comes down to 850.
When I put the car in gear the idle goes up to 1200 then back down to 850 but the RPM is obvious higher than 850 because I can hear the engine is reved a little my guess would be about 1100-1200 RPM and the car wants to pull through the brakes. The car does this anytime I put the car in drive or reverse. When I go to park it goes down to 850.

The RPM has also hung up at 1500 RPM when I've approched a light and shift the car into neutral. It's only momentarly though.

I guess my question is will a converter fix this problem or do I have another issue with the car. Before I go and spend 1800 dollars on a converter and install I want to address any other issue that i may have.


Thanks!

 

I had the same issue. Take it back to the tuner. Your cam specs are in no way radical. That being said the auto trans cars are very hard to tune the idle and coast down, but a good tuner can do it. That is what you are paying for and that is where your problem is.
You paid for a tune so take the car back or to another tuner for the proper settings. Sounds like you need more work on the idle air settings

 

it's in the tune.

 

Tuning is part art and part science. The tune needs a tweak. My car did that when I first brought it home. I brought it back to the tuner and they fixed it right up after I described what was going on.

 

Good to know that it's likey in the Tune. Thanks for the responses.

 

You can also try the OEM idle relearn if the battery has been disconnected.................it will either work or not

It worked on my 97' after I installed my 2" headers


NOTE: 15 minutes of city driving may work if you have lots of traffic lights to stop at...........

Here ya go.

Automatic Transimission

Turn OFF the ignition.
Hook the battery back up if not already done.
Turn OFF the A/C controls.
Set the parking brake and block the drive wheels.
Start the engine.
Ensure the engine coolant temperature is more than 80 degreesC (176 degrees).
Shift the transmission into Drive.
Allow the engine to idle for 5 minutes.
Shift the transmission into Park.
Allow the engine to idle fore 5 minutes.
Turn OFF the engine for 30 seconds.

Manual Transmission

Turn OFF the iginition.
Hook the battery back up if not already done.
Turn OFF the A/C controls.
Set the parking brake and block the drive wheels.
Place the transmission in Neutral.
Start the engine.
Ensure the engine coolant temperature is more than 80 degrees C (176degrees).
Allow the engine to idle for 5 minutes.
Turn OFF the engine for 30 seconds.

 

I have the identical cam as the OP (except I have a 113 LSA). I also have a 2800 stall. I needed to go back to my tuner 3 - 4 times for some fine tweaking. There are a lot of air flow tables and "corner cases" that need to be addressed. There are tables for PARK, In Gear, AC on/AC off, ECT ranges, blah, blah, blah.

I good tuner will be able to massage these tables to dramatically lessen (if not eliminate) the surge in all cases.

Good Luck

FYI - My idle: Park=900, In-gear=750

 

Its an easy fix. It just needs some fine tuning to reduce the idle from hanging.
You dont need a stall.

How far are you from Tampa ?

 

I'm actually located near Pensacola. My tuner is a good guy I took it back to him after the car was initially tuned. i had all sorts of problems with RPM surging and the car would buck like crazy at 45 MPH. It felt like i had took off in second gear in astandard shift car. The Shifts were really soft and the car was sliding between 3rd and 4th gear at cruise speed 55MPH. Long story short i took it back and the car drove great with the exception of the problem i have now but then I was just happy the car drove well. The RPM part drives me nuts now.
I'll call me tuner up and give him a shot at taking care of this problem.

I appreciate the responses.

 

A good guy does not mean a good tuner. Sounds like he doesn't know what he's doing.

 

You make a good point.