hey guys,just signed up hoping to get some advice.iv got a 97 el fairmont with p+p tickford head shaved with a metal gasket and a big cam,tuned length pacey's,high flow cat,2.5" mandrel bent lukey exhaust,aunger intake,k+n box filter, ef pipe from box to intake(bigger) and adv timing.
anyways just had a t5 fitted and iv got the fan and idle problem.ive read a few things on ur site and come up with 3 potential options,j3 chip,1650ohm resister,and manual ecu. the car also feels like its limping a bit.has anyone had these probs and if so what did u find was the best way to overcome them??? i was also curious about engine management,like a flash tuner..

For the best possible fix, manual ECU with manual engine loom. Secondary, J3 chip with an XR6 manual tune burned on works just as well. Last resort is the resistor trick.

I have driven with the resistor trick for 2 years just fine. The only problem was the hunting idle issue which I didn't really care much about. The J3 with XR6 mapping fixed that issue for me...however when you reset the ECU (ie remove battery for some time) there is a constant issue of stalling. I'm not sure why, but after about 200km of driving, the idle just fixes itself. This has happened to me 4 times over the last 4 years. At least once a year the J3 does play a bit of havoc which requires a reset and you're back to idle issues for a short time. I am not sure what the cause is, but I believe it may be because my J3 chip vibrates loose every so often. This is just my experience on the J3 chip, many other people haven't had such issues. I still think it was money well spent over a rare over priced manual ECU.

cheers,don't know much about them.bout how much u reckon they cost,n who sells em?? did ya find the car not having as much top end power as ud expect without the resister in ? or iy drove the sam after the resister..

I have a chip and tuner for sale in the in the sale forums...

ford-parts-for-sale-f17/fs-ti-performance-j3-chip-tuner-t115536.html

Cheers,
Tim

TI Performance sell J3 chips and I bought one when they came out on the market a few years ago. It was worth the money IMO. Plug and play pretty much.

Resistor tricks is cheap...maybe $2...just requires you to know where to put the resistor. So if you know how to follow colour codes on a wire you'd be set.

I don't get what you mean by "did ya find the car not having as much top end power as ud expect without the resister in ?". If you meant...when I put the J3 chip in, did I lose power? If so, then no. J3 chip has XR6 manual mapping which helps with fuel mapping and better idle. There probably is a power increase, but too small to really feel it.

If you meant that the car drove better without a J3 and resistor, that I can't comment on. Never drove the car without a resistor...but I'd be hell annoyed if the thermo fans are continuously on. Also since the ECU would think the transmission is running hot, it probably changes are things to make the car run at less than 100%.

soz mate i had a few last night might of been too clear,all i meant is the car almost feels a bit slower with the t5 then the auto.but like u said u never drove it without at least the resister so yea i reckon the mixture isn't right due to the ecu not reading things right.wouldnt be a prob wit the resister but by the sound of it i think that j3 xr6tune chip is the way to go thank for the advice mate