So I had hooker long tube headers installed this week and my car feels weaker for some reason. Its running pretty choppy, and its acceleration seems to have slowed down. I talked to a mechanic at a muffler shop today and he said getting it tuned would help. I was just curious what people here would think.

BTW I have a 93 z28; everything is stock except a K&N cold air intake and loudmouth exhaust.

 

After headers I would definitely expect a tune is in order. Your car is now breathing easier, with no increase in fuel. Also, check your plug wires to make sure none are getting burnt.

 

dosent 93 have a maf? if so then it would add fuel but a tune might still help even more so with your other mods. if its just amps then yeah get it tuned for sure

 

No. 93 LT1 does not have an MAF sensor. Its the only year that doesn't. Runs in speed-density, where the air volume flow is calculated using engine RPM, displacement, and a programmed table of volumetric efficiency (VE). The ECM converts volume flow rate to mass flow rate using the MAP and IAT readings. If you improve the "breathing" on a speed-density setup, the VE will change and the VE table has to be tweeked.

All that said, you shouldn't have a significant loss of power from installing the long tubes. Are you sure you have no exhaust leaks before the O2 sensors, that you have no misfires (burned wires are common with headers) and if you used extensions on the O2 sensor harness wires, are you sure you got a good connection? Another problem with putting long tubes on a 93 is the unheated 1-wire O2 sensors. The further away you move them from the engine, the less likely they will heat up enough to function properly. You can convert to 4-wire heated sensors if that's the problem.

 

Injuneer is 2 for 2 at diagnosing problems with my car. It turned out that the headers burned some wires.

I have one more question. I'm probably going to get some 4-wire heated sensors; and I was just wondering if there was a certain brand I should go for.

 

AC/Delco (now "Delphi").

http://shbox.com/1/heatedsensor2.jpg

 

Well my car started running kind of sluggish again today. I took a look under the hood when it was dark and I could see some flashes every once in a while. I was just wondering if that meant the wires are already screwed up.

 

How old are the plugs? An excessively large plug gap can encourage the spark to take a different path, often through the wire insulation to another wire, or to ground. The stock AC/Delco platinum plugs have a tendancy to lose the platinum pucks, opening the gap real wide. If that happens, you'll destroy the wires pretty quickly.

 

Ive had the car since November and I have never changed the plugs. Its a 93 so there's a chance they could be pretty old. I'll check them out tomorrow. Thanks for the help.

 

Ignition problem. Aint the headers.