Tried a cold air intake spacer on my 2018 3.5L

Bought an intake spacer from a local shop in Phoenix. $60 part, figured easy gain. Installed it last Saturday, took maybe 40 minutes. Truck ran fine for two days then threw a CEL. Lean code on bank 1. Turns out the spacer messed with my MAF readings. Maybe my install was bad but has anyone else had this happen?

3 comments

3 Comments

sam_murphy3921d ago

Dude same thing happened to me on my 2017. Got one of those spacers off Amazon, threw a lean code in less than a week. Took it off and the truck ran perfect again. Total waste of time and money.

jenniferw8221d ago

$60 seems like you bought a problem instead of a solution. Those spacers are basically a gimmick on modern trucks. The whole idea that a hunk of plastic between the throttle body and intake manifold does anything useful is pretty much marketing hype. The lean code isn't your install being bad, it's the part being junk in the first place. Pull that thing off, put your truck back to stock, and clear the code. You'll be better off spending that $60 on gas or a good air filter.

wright.lisa19d ago

Did you actually see any difference with the spacer on before the code popped up, or did it feel exactly the same as stock? I'm asking because I almost bought one for my 2019 Silverado last year, but luckily I saw enough people complaining about lean codes to talk myself out of it. The whole marketing behind those things is so sketchy, like they promise better airflow and fuel economy but real trucks don't work that way anymore with all the computers. It just seems like the ECU gets confused when you mess with things that aren't broken, and then you're stuck chasing a phantom problem. I'd be curious if you even noticed any change in throttle response before the check engine light came on, or if it was just a headache from the start.