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Cold Air Intake

9.2K views 8 replies 8 participants last post by  gbreezer80  
#1 ·
Hi All. I recently had an AEM Cold Air Intake installed on my 2011 Toyota Tacoma. Shortly after install my check engine light came on. I got the code read and it was p0101. Since then we've cleaned the MAF, made sure all cables, hoses, etc were connected properly. Finally I replaced the MAF thinking it shorted upon installation. That worked for 3 days, then I got the p0101 again. It says the truck is running too lean. I've contacted AEM and all they wanted to do was refund the intake, provided no help or feedback at all. Basically said they didn't know what to do. I do live in a very cold area, below freezing most of the winter; however, I do ensure my truck has ran for several minutes and the engine temperature has moved off cold before running. Has anyone encountered any problems such as this and have any trouble shooting tips? Obviously, the intake was installed correctly, proper model for the truck, etc. Thanks in advance for any help.
 
#2 · (Edited)
not sure on Tacomas but on 2008 mustang gt if you run a cai you have to have a tune added. car will run lean without changing the fuel trims. i have a hand held tuner, SCT, with new tunes from Bama Chips. probably need to do a search for tacoma tunes or put a smaller sleeve on in air intake too much air coming in causing the lean condition. call them back and see if they have a insert to bring the flow down, most cai manufacturers have a non tune versus a tune needed cai. probably having problem because of the colder air is denser and will be okay when the weather warms up. do not run it lean, will cause major damage.
 
#3 ·
P0101 just says the MAF is operating outside of its normal voltage range. If that's the only code, that normally indicates a bad MAF. Any chance you could have gotten another bad one?

That code wouldn't normally indicate a lean or rich condition, the ECM should still compensate fine. You can check the freeze frame data to see the mixture ratio to tell for sure. It will also tell you what else the truck was doing when the code was set, it's good to look at that to see if there's something funny.

Other codes would be thrown if there was a lean condition, or if the MAF connectors or harness were bad, or the ECM going, etc.

Do you know anyone else with a Taco? You could swap out their MAF with your old one for a few trips to see if it really is bad, or if it is really your intake. Note that it will take 2 trips to set the CEL.

It would surprise me if the intake is causing this, the MAF should be able to compensate for that just fine. Especially since the stock intake is reasonably free and cool. You might check your installation to see if it is somehow restricted or hot.
 
#4 ·
I know several other people with Tacoma's, the problem is talking them into letting me exchange MAF's with them. This MAF came from Advanced Auto and it was new, I guess it is possible it's bad? I would think they would replace it if that's the case. That battery wasn't unplugged during installation, that's why would thought it was most likely the MAF. I bought the truck brand new and nothing has ever been done to it besides this.