Not so much a 3.4 question...Air intake temp.

[montessgtp]

Will a car idle tend to change more in cold weather rather than warm? Seems like my car and my g/f grand am see to idle slightly higher in cold weather after the car is warms up. Why is that?

Mines been bout 750-800 and hers is like 800-900 (2001 Grand Am 3400)

Also what exactly does the air intake tempature sensor do for your engine..

Like what does its readings change on the computer?

Do to the ghetto intake i have mine doesnt sit in the air intake because i lost the gromlets but sits somewhat close to it ....wondering if that gonna harm or change anything...

Its been bout 27-36 degree's here latelly..

[blk92z34getrag]

The Intake Air Temperature (IAT) is one of the sensors that the computer uses to control the Air/Fuel ratio. If the air is cooler it uses more fuel than if the air is warmer because cold air is denser, hence more air, hence requiring more fuel.

I think idle will change with the air temperature, probably a small rise in idle speed is expected, because as I said cold air is more dense, so more air and fuel are going into the engine.

As for your ghetto intake, I'm assuming you mean the mod where you get rid of that little extension on the front of the air box. I done that to my mom's 92 Lumina Euro 3.1 and my Z34 (before I got the cone intake) and it didn't affect the idle quality at all. But you said you lost the gromet? That is definately affect how the sensor reads. If you lost the gromet and it wont stay in (I know I broke the gromet in the stock air box when I took my IAT out and put in in my cone) you can probably use duct tape or something of the sort. You might try wrapping electrical tape around the sensor before you put it in, so it holds itself in. As long as there isn't air leaking out of the hole where the IAT fits in it should read fine.

[MBTech]

you have five major inputs to the pcm. Rpm, ect, maf/map, O2 and tps. These inputs have a major play in any decision the pcm makes on fuel mixture and so on. On most vehicles, the iat sensor is built into the mass air flow sensor. Basically, the sensor takes a reading quickly once the key is turned on, so the pcm knows how dense the air is so it can adjust the fuel accordingly. From there on, it is used in conjunction with the mass air flow sensor or manifold air pressure sensor, which ever your vehicle is equipped with, to decide fuel trims.