Do I step on the brake pedal while it's disconnected or after reconnecting the battery and before restarting it ?

 

Wow, thanks Mage ! My hope is revived ! It's been raining all day and it was dark when we got back from work, so I'll plan to try this tomorrow. I'll post what happens !

 

I definitely think the situation is unique to your car. I have a 2000 with the exact same exhaust setup. The stock resonators are not straight through like it was on the 92-97 models, it's a 90 degree bend into the two rear resonators which then do another 90 deg bend inside the resonators to go to the back. When I removed mine, I replaced them with 2.25" piping going directly from the rear split to the stock mufflers, I gained a measured 2 mpg. I definitely gained additional midrange punch with no noticeable difference off the line. If your car feels like a dog now, it may only get worse when you try reverting the whole thing back to stock.

 

Same setup as mine, and 93. It is one of the loudest cars myself or any of my friends own, even turbos don't match. The occasional backfire is pretty funny too.

 

Well you have a 98 which is vvti and uses a hotwire maf and coilpacks so your v8 is a little different than others non vvti versions. a drop in K&N filter would let your car breath much better and it could restore some power. Since you have a hotwire maf on the 98, you dont have to worry about runining it from the K&N as you can just spray it with maf cleaner if it has an issue down the road.
92-95 with the older style of maf's you want to stay away from oiled filters, use a performance dry one like the aem if possible or wash a K&N out and don't reoil it nearly as much if at all, it will still catch enough bad stuff unless you live in a windy desert sort of region.

 

Wow, you guys are all so helpful, it is much appreciated, thank you ! The rain has let up, but my wife is in town with the car now so I'll have to try resetting the ecu this evening. I think I'm going to take your advice and try a K&N filter after all. And Dougspeed, when I went to have the resonators taken out, I told him that from the advice on these forums, to replace it with 2.25" pipe, and he said that the pipe was actually smaller, like 2" or a little under.. I wonder if that could be a bottle neck as opposed to too little back pressure as I had originally thought.. Well, first thing's first, I'll reset the ecu and go from there and of course I will guys you all posted..

 

Yes a smaller pipe would be a restriction look under there visually and see if the pipe size is the same or not, what is going to matter is the inside diameter.
reset the ecu first and go from there. if still not happy with the performance maybe there is an issue with the pipe size or try the intake.

 

Well, I reset the ecu last night and went for a quick drive even though it was raining cats and dogs. I was careful on curves so as not to lose control, but I honestly don't notice any improvement. I held the brake pedal down for 90 seconds just to be safe, but When I started it, I let it idle to warm up for about 5min. I know this may be grasping at straws. but is it possible that by letting it sit at idle, that the ecu just set it self to standard setting or would it wait until I drive to get a feel of the air fuel mix and adjust from there ? I think tonite, I'm going to warm it up first, then reset it and just get in and drive.On another note, I looked at the pipe and it looks to be the same size as the rest of the stock piping. Keep in mind that I only had him replace the pipe where the resonators were, I didn't go all the way back to the mufflers or anything. I might try to get the filter tonite, I'll keep ya posted...

 

it takes at least 2-3 drives to start learning everything but you might just have some other issue.

 

Ahh, my mistake right there. I live in the midst of a forest so to get to a road where I can let 'er rip would take longer than the measly 10 minutes that I drove down the little road and back. We're going into town for dinner tonite and getting there is at least 45-50 minutes or so, so that should help.

 

I'll need to check the valves and leaks ( if there be any). The TB was just cleaned last summer. The air cleaner is clean, I'll need to chcek the fuel filter though. The car has about 145k on it. I got it from my dad in Dec of 2012 and he kept it very meticulously for the few years he had it. In fact he had his mechanics go through it last year too.

 

I cut mine and noticed nothing but great sound. Even though you may be right, correlation does not necessarily mean causation.
It could perhaps be a strange coincidence involving a different issue.

 

Well, I didn't get the K&N, cuz I don't have the $62 to spend right now, so I got a standard replacement one for $13 plus, some Sea foam. Should I stick it in the gas tank or the oil ? The guy at the auto parts store said that it may thin out the oil so to only put it in for the last 1000 miles or so before the next oil change..

 

Oops, scratch that last remark about the seafoam, I just saw another thread about DIY seafoam, ha ha.

 

you don't need to put it in your oil how would that help? maybe if you have a fuel problem but I don;t use that stuff on my cars