$10 Ebay 20HP SENSOR MOD EXPOSED.

Every now and then I will see a thread asking our opinions about a Sensor mod / chip up on Ebay that basically cost under $30.00 and claims to give you up to 20 HP trouble free. The one that caught my attention and was mentioned in this thread https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-aftermarket-performance-modifications-23/20-hp-sensor-mod-46008/
Since this one was only $10 I thought I would get it just to post pics here in hopes to dissuade others from putting this crap on their 8’s.

Here is the LISTING I “won”, Notice how the seller claims this is custom mod designed for the car exclusively. If you were to click the view sellers other items link you would see over 80 other auctions for the same MOD, but of course customized for the particular car mentioned.
In about 10 business days I received a 1st class letter with the “product” and “detailed” instructions. I think looking over the Instructions is enough to convince people it’s a scam. The last pic is with the rubber coating off and if you can’t see the detail the color code on this resistor going from left to right is BROWN , BLACK, YELLOW , GOLD. I went to a sight to decode that and it came back with 10 ohms with a 100,000 multiplier and a tolerance of +/- 5%. I am not knowledgeable enough to determine what damage can be done to your 8 by sticking a resistor of that value into a sensor.

 

thats awesome. i would have bought 5 of them for a good 100 horsepower.

 

the worst damage is spending $10 for a $.25 resister. Hopefully some of the Techies will be able to explain what the resister does.

Nice work!

 

resistor resists electricity... in other words it should slow down the current flow and lowers the ohm....

 

Most Intake Air Temperature (IAT) sensors are of the NTC (Negative Temp Coefficient) type. The resistance of the thermistor (= temp related resistor) decreases with increasing measured temperature.

By inserting this magic resistor into the IAT connector's pins, you actually put it in parallel with the existing thermistor, increasing the resulting resistance (Kirchhoff's law) and giving the ECU the false impression that the IAT is colder.

And as engine calibrations (mapping) increase spark advance with decreasing IAT, in order to compensate for slower burn rates (under MBT operations), or to get closer to the knock limit(under BLD operations), you end up with more spark advance, and therefore more power (in the knock limited areas only!!!, in the MBT areas, you actually lose power / efficiency).

 

I have a little draw full of that exact resistor. Wish I would have thought to sell them like this. Think there is any room in the market for another vendor? Hell I'll sell for a buck less and pay for shipping.

 

I wanted to add that this resistor should not affect the fuelling at all as the PCM regulates it to a given AFR, and even in closed loop at part throttle.

I should also add that this boggus device won't produce any performance benefits on a knock controlled engine as at full load the PCM controls sparks to borderline knock anyway. So you're left with an engine that works beyond MBT at part throttle, hitting your BMEP!

I remember a guy in Belgium selling such a ECU cheating device about 10 years ago, but at least he took the time to fit the resistor into a small sealed black box to maintain the mystery!

F

 

i like how the instruction say you are no longer required to use premium fuel.

 

so does the resistor work or not?
i still don't get it after reading all the posts.

 

Just for the record, resistor values in series increase in value, in parallel it decreases in value.

 

it not only works, but on some rotary engines it will give you 25-30 HP depending on the fuel mapping and ECU flash version

 

really. but most people do not support this idea that it will work. anyway, can anyone please tell me where can i find the IAT sensor pulb to intall this thing.
There are five terminals on the plug. which terminals?

 

I do not reccommend you attempt this at all.

What you're doing is creating a voltage divider so that the output voltage of this sensor has a different reading. The car will think it's running cooler than it is and you could cause detonation and destroy your engine by doing this mod.

 

Snizzle was being sarcastic. It doesn't work and will be of no benefit.

Oh well, Ajax, you beat me to it and even explained.

 

Ive had a resistor connected to my 99 cougar since 2000 and have not had any problems at all with it. Engine has 32,000 miles now and have passed NYS inspection for the last 4 years...........I actually forgot it was on till reading this :p

The only thing to mention is I always put premium in the car since new but in 2002 I decided to start using regular instead of premium. I filled up the tank and I started to get knocking so I went back to premium about halfway through that tank and it went away after a few days.

Simply, it just tricks the computer into thinking the incoming air is cold and I believe as a result it slightly advances the timing I dont believe it gives a 20hp boost though.

 

Actually reduces performance in newer cars (overall) because most new cars are running excessively rich A/F's at upper RPM's to reach the EPA2 regulation for 120,000 mile cat life.

So basically buy putting this resistor in, your causing the pcm to also add more fuel (to compensate for the cooler air), richening an already sickeningly rich fuel mixture.

 

You should attach it to the radio, it give you 20 more watts of power!!!

 

expo1,

Thanks for doing this again. I've posted this link about 30+ times on various car forums now .