Originally posted by VadersV6
...I know you can do this with the translator plus, but I wish the chip had a parameter to allow you to run the LS1 MAF, with the extended flow range without the need for a translator. But then that would mean less money for the people selling the translator and the extender...
I wanted to jump in on this. There is a reason why you need a Translator (or some other type of electronic gizmo) to get the extended flow range. It comes down to a hardware limitation in the Buick's ECU that a chip cannot overcome.
I'm going to try to keep this really simple, just for illustrative purposes. The hardware used by the Buick ECU is not capable of reading a "signal" from a MAF sensor that is greater than 256 grams/second. If a signal above 256 grams/second reaches the ECU, the hardware cannot process it properly, and an overflow condition results. Anyone who has experienced "MAF drop-out" has seen what happens - the ECU "freaks out" for a split second, because the signal cannot be processed properly.
So, how does the T+ get around this? Well, The T+ takes the signal from the MAF and divides it by 2. So, for example, if the MAF is seeing 300 grams/second, the T+ sends a signal equivalent to 150 grams/second to the ECU. The Extender chip then is set-up to double the amount of fuel that would be needed. So, if the T+ is sending a signal to the ECU that corresponds to 150 grams/second, the chip will fuel the car for 300 grams/second of air flow. By doing this, air flows up to 512 grams/second (256 X 2) can be successfully processed by the ECU. If you hook up a scan tool or DirectScan to a car that has a T+ running, you will notice that the displayed MAF value is exactly one-half of the "real" air flow value.
I don't know much about Stangs, but I would guess that their ECU hardware is already capable of processing higher values of MAF without "freaking out".
I hope that makes sense. Let's put it this way - if somebody had figured out how to make a chip that would allow for 512 grams/second of air flow without a translator, believe me, they would have done it.