help! car died...after air box removal

[skip]

I was driving home tonight and I decided to punch it in second gear, after i did that I was goin about 60mph and i put it in neutral to coast for a while. I see my rpms begin to go up and down... and then wayy down. Finally I'm still coasting but my rpm's are at 0. I turn off the road and pop the hood. Everything looks fine. I start it back up and get home. It seems to run fine UNLESS I shift into neutral while I'm at speed. I was also going about 25mph in 3rd gear and shifted into neutral and I noticed the rpm's going up and down a bit but not as bad as before (it didn't die this time). When I pulled into my drive way I noticed the car was idling fine. I drove it twice earlier today and it seemed to run ok.

Earlier today I removed my airbox and unhooked my battery for like 10 minutes. I still have a CEL but I was hoping that would go away..

So my question is has this happened to anybody else? Should I get the code cleared and put the airbox back on? I didn't really want to do this because I spent about 3 hours and a lot of blood getting my airbox out in one peice.

My car is an 05 with a k&n filter and stock rubber intake minus the airbox and tubing

Any help would be appreciated..

[racenpilot]

When you unhooked the batt, did you disconnect the + and - or what. You only need to disconnect the -. If you disconnect the + or hook it up last, the PCM sometimes will not reset itself, and will not run right, mainly at idle. I have had many cars come to the shop complaining that the car won't idle right, and open the hood and find out that they had a new batt or alternator. I unhook the - cable, and all is well.

[skip]

Yeah I just unhooked the negative only. I only did it for like 10 minuts though. Should I do it again and wait longer?? Thanks for the fast reply

[pclear9061]

well mine does close to the same thing but its just after i push the clutch in coasting up to a stop light but im thinking its b/c of the short ram intake and its getting a total different airflow than what it is used to stock. mine has gotten better over the weeks so just give it a little time and it should be ok. but also go to a place to check the code and i wonder if it is the p0171 code? if it is make sure that you check all the tubing that it is in correctly and also make sure that you have the breather tube on or that will diffently run really funkey.

[racenpilot]

Some cars it only take about 30 seconds, and some 30 minutes. You could try to do it again. Also, check to make sure that the air tube that goes from the throttle body to the air filter is on good. If it has even a small leak, it will cause problems. If neither helps the situation, You may need to take it somewhere that has a scanner to pull the codes and look at the datastream to see what the problem is. Just don't take it to a parts store that does it. 9 times out of 10 they are wrong.

[kiznaz]

Check to make sure the filter is still attached to end of the intake. I installed a short ram on mine, and have had my car do the exact same thing as yours twice. Each time I pulled over and looked under the hood to find the filter was off the intake and lying at the bottom of the engine compartment. After the second time I put a few screws through the filter to hold it in place.

[Cynic]

Did you keep the stock MAF housing or did you drill into the stock tubing? I found that mine did that when the MAF was not positioned correctly. More details on your setup and I might be able to help!

[skip]

My CEL went off today. After it went off I still noticed the car doing the same thing.... rpm's still going up and down when I am in neutral and going 25mph+ It seems to get worse the more I gas it and the faster i'm going. When I come to a stop it idles normal. This is very confusing.. I can't figure out why it does this... I checked all connections again and it looks ok. Filter is on TIGHT. I have both of the fake grill inserts cut out...could this be allowing to much air to the filter at speed??

Cynic: the intake is stock from the k&n filter back to the supercharger. I didn't mess with the MAF or cut anything... I just removed the airbox and the tubing that goes into the fender.

Thanks for everyones help so far. I am still

[pclear9061]

Originally Posted by skip

My CEL went off today. After it went off I still noticed the car doing the same thing.... rpm's still going up and down when I am in neutral and going 25mph+ It seems to get worse the more I gas it and the faster i'm going. When I come to a stop it idles normal. This is very confusing.. I can't figure out why it does this... I checked all connections again and it looks ok. Filter is on TIGHT. I have both of the fake grill inserts cut out...could this be allowing to much air to the filter at speed??

Cynic: the intake is stock from the k&n filter back to the supercharger. I didn't mess with the MAF or cut anything... I just removed the airbox and the tubing that goes into the fender.

Thanks for everyones help so far. I am still

NO. it will not effect it with a short ram. only makes a difference with a CAI in the fenderwell and its "sealed" in there.

[Cynic]

I've heard of people having problems with K and N filters due to the oil. Try using filter cleaner on it to get the oil off of there...clean the MAF sensor and that has seemed to work for most people.