Motors 98 dodge dakota "+20hp chip mod"

they sell these resistors on ebay for 97-2001 dodge dakota trucks with instructions on where to put it that add 20hp to it, anyone know where this goes without buying it

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7953611343&category=33598

i have a 98 dodge dakota sport....20hp is 20hp

 

I think I heard somewhere that these things were some kind of scam, and 20hp seems a bit ambitious. Even for the 230bhp V8 thats a 10% power hike, a hefty increase for a resistor. I would be very suspicious of this seller even if his ratings say otherwise.

It says in the ad that it fits to the IAT sensor, which I guess stands for indicated air temperature. I'm guessing this works on the principle of fooling the ecu into thinking the air temp is lower. Air is more dense at lower temps so the ecu will pump in more fuel to compensate. This will cause the engine to run a more rich mixture than intended, which could provide marginal power increase. However higher fuel consumption and possible catalytic converter damage could also result. It may also soot up your plugs resulting in power loss.

Now I'm not a motor mechanic, so these are just suspicions, but I would be very wary of these '20hp' claims. Maybe someone with greater engine knowledge than me can confirm my suspicions or prove me wrong.

 

having said that, its only $9

 

Yes its a scam. These do nothing whatsoever apart from changing the fuel mixture (if I remember rightly) which would not improve performance by 1hp, let alone the 20hp claimed.

 

What it does is fool the Lambda sensor into thinking that the engine is running lean, thereby increasing the amount of fuel that is injected. In SOME conditions this may result in more power, but it also means worse fuel economy, more smoke, harder starting (the engine will flood more easily), and it could cause damage to the catalytic converter and possibly other parts of the engine. In short, it's not worth it.