cheap air intakes

[EXterror]

All right people I'm a new proud owner of a 02 SE 4X4 3.3 N/A what do you think of this advice? I have made Zero Mods, looking to make HP upgrades. Cold Air, Cat back exhaust and throttle body spacer is what i'm thinking first? I have ~$500 to spend on upgrades looking for advice. And I'm not Mr. mechanic (not even sure i can spell it correctly).

soccerbrace 2004/beige4X4 SE

posted August 18, 2007 01:31 AM --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hey buddy, save yourself some money. Nothing wrong with asking a question though. I am all about getting the most out of my money. So with that said, I am going to tell you how to get the most out of your stock airbox.

First, clean your MAF with some MAF cleaner $5-$6 any auto store.

Next, purchase a K & N filter drop in ($50-ish but lasts the life of the car)and get your purolator filter out of there. You might want to purchase a recharge kit. To clean the filter when it gets dirty.

Third, go to the plumbing section of Home Depot and buy a 2" test plug and a 1.5" test plug. About $6 total.

OK, Check out your intake hose going from the airbox to the intake manifold. You will see 2 small hoses on one side and on the opposite side you will see another opening. This opening will lead to a resonator. You want to remove this resonator completely and plug it with the 2" test plug.

Do not start your engine while the resonator that is attached to the intake tube is out, you are going to throw a code

Now for the 1.5" test plug. There is another tube attached to the airbox. It t's off. This pipe is easily identified by the air temperature sensor.One side of it goes to the fender and the other goes mounts up to the radiator. The side that mounts to the radiator is the one that you want to remove and plug up the other hose. When plugging this hose, it is important to note that you might have to cut a little section off to properly seat the test plug in there. It is convex and concave.

Voila! there you have it!

IMHO, this setup is very comparable to the K & N FIPK. I would know because I just let my FIPK go for about $140. Damn, I am going to miss it!

OK, so let me tell you about the differences between the two. The FIPK has a cone style filter and the aforementioned heat shield. The drop in filter is flat and it is also in a sealed box.

Why did I go back to the stock box? Because I am going with a snorkel. Honestly buddy, with the setup that I just explained, I feel MAYBE a 1 HP difference from the FIPK. I would recommend this to anyone. Another question for you. Is a snorkel in your future?

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[Desert Rat]

An aftermarket K&N style intake and a catback exhaust system from Calmini would be at the outside edge of your budget (probably closer to $600)

Don't expect major gains with this. The 3.3 is kind of a dog engine, and is underpowered for the weight of your truck, but it is reliable.

[EXterror]

thanks for the info, what did you think of the jerry rig air box advice?

[hsckris]

I think "rigging" the air box won't net very much gain, but then again neither will a K&N or similiar.

I guess what I am saying is ask yourself, do you really want to spend ~500$ minimally upgrading an engine that you are just going to swap (if you are still going to swap it).

[EXterror]

chances are im not going to swap seems like a big job!

[hsckris]

chances are im not going to swap seems like a big job!

i guess it depends on your perspective. from my perspective, any swap is a big job.

maybe think some more about going s/c (as suggested earlier) ?

[Big-Bird]

Well I have to say it's been a while since I have posted anything of any length over the last week. I have been very busy so for any new NICO members who feel they have'nt been getting quick responses I must apologize. that being said......Exterror: I have been snooping around your various posts and I get the distinct impresssion you are less than impressed with your purchase. All this talk about Cold Air intakes, exhaust systems, engine swaps etc.

to touch on a few things. ENGINE SWAP:The 3.5L out of the Pathfinder is a true bear to install. Most certainly not a project for the timid. But I am quite certain you got that message from my pal Desert Rat in another post.

COLD AIR INTAKE

Yes there at least 4 options for you. Volant, K&N, AEM and I know there is one more but it escapes me right now. These do offer some improved performance. We had a 2005 Frontier Owner have his truck retrofitted with a new CAI and the dyno proved there were signficant gains. But that was a 4.0L. A CAI has its place and there are some potential drawbacks. An oiled filter requires a bit more inspection diligence. I also noticed with my K&N filter that I was getting an oily film on my intake throat and my MAFS sensor. This oily film did cause some havoc with my fuel economy because it affected the accuracy of the MAFS signal. A little electrical contact cleaner on the MAFS wire and the problem went away.

CAT BACK EXHAUST:

These are a great performance upgrade. There are gains off the line and passing ability, especially on the highway. They do have one drawback Exhaust noise typically does increase. Some say it's so loud they can barely stand it. Others say its quite pleasant. You can go with Calmini, Borla, Gibson who all make replacement systems for the Xterra. Or you can build one yourself using a Dynomax muffler and a good muffler shop.

THINGS TO STAY AWAY FROM!

Miracle electonics that claim 15-25% increase in fuel economy. This is a little resistor that is designed to go-inline in your air/fuel sensory system. I was just reading an article about this little POS in Nissan Sport Magazine and the technical writer says they are a waste of money. All they do is fool you computer into thinging the air is hotter than it really is at the MAFS. The computer doesn't buy this and reads the O2 sensors. Then it will adjust the air-fuel mix. This takes longer and actually decreases fuel economy!

Throttle plates: These do not work direct injection engines. I have preached this before. This item works GREAT on Throttle Body injection and carburated engines because it will mix the air/fuel more completely before it gets to the combustion chamber. In a direction injection the fuel is injected as the air enters the cylinder. The air becomes turbulent again as it passes over the intake valve and this defeats the purpose of the throttle plate which is supposed to create a tornado affect on the air.

I have not seen any true evidence that makes me state otherwise and I have asked for challengers to prove me wrong. And for the record my information comes from a Motorsports Dealer who specializes in import engines. He could have sold me those items but he advised against it with the facts I posted here.

Now here's what you can do. The 3.3L is a beefy hunk of cast iron. It can be punched out to a true 3.4L using the pistons from Nissan's VQ45 (Their small V8) Yes these do fit the 3.3's con rods. I posted a link to the actual site. Use the search feature in the trucks forum....you'll find it.

[EXterror]

let me take some notes and get back too you......

1stly, thanks for the great reply!

Sorry, If I came off impatient, I was. Only because I didn't understand that threads above me have been going days/months and when a new comment was posted they went to the top. Thus looking as if they have 3+post/30views compared to my 1p/2v and was posted after mine. My mistake!

Back to biz, I do enjoy my purchase, I just really like speed and exceleration(not a stock X "02" 3.3 N/A Atribute). However I do understand the torque factor. I couldn't afford the torque and the acceleration at the same time. I drove a 4walker (slow as well 3k more, not inpressed).Mits Endeavor "04" 225hp FW Drive only, Fast no 4x4 and car frame . Jeeps , land rover (Money trap),iszu's, Benz ....

Ultimently The X was the best buy @ $10K W/60k miles. Now time for the Mods, I have alot of great ideas thanks to you all. I do have a mancanic as an uncle and we trade my work, aftermarket audio for his mechanical work.

Sorry if this is to long im new to posting and its etiquette.

[hsckris]

basically all the bolt-on upgrades possible are (give or take):

air intake/air filter -- been discussed. good for a few hp.spark plugs/wires -- more/better spark=better efficiency at burning the fuel charge, which never hurts. also, indexing your plugs is sometimes good for 1-2hp. generally though won't give the vehicle more horsepower and torque, but it will improve the way your ignition system functionsignition -- same basic effect as above, to a great degree, but also depends on what you do (timing adjustments or not or what)exhaust/muffler -- been discussed; i agree that dynomax is best muffler if you are going muffler shop built route.cat. converter -- don't underestimate this, my brothers car picked up a good amount on the "butt dyno" with a high flow catprogrammers/chips -- can give more power, don't know if its available for a 3.3thermostat old hot rodder trick... i wouldn't recommend if you live in a real cold place or getting too low of a temperature maf sensor good for power on some vehicles, not sure if its available on the 3.3headers downside is it'll add sound and can reduce low end power. upside? usually more hp/tq at high rpm.injectors you probably won't really benefit from this without doing something more serious (s/c or nitrous or something)pulleys this will slow your accessory drive, but sometimes is good for 10hp or so.intake mani porting, port matching, extrude honing are all good things to do (since i don't think a replacement one is available for the xterra). nissan perf. mag got 12hp out of a measley 1.6 liter sentra motor just with extrude honing.e-fan i think the x has stock one, but if not its worth a couple of hpand of course, the big boys nitrous and s/c or turbo. if you really want to boost power, this is the way to go. doing so can adversely affect engine life, but honestly since the 3.3 was available in stock s/c form, if you went with a mildly upgraded version of that you'd probably be good to go.

internals (like new pistons and boring out the motor -- mentioned earlier) and even camshaft changes and things of that nature when combined with some of the above mods will result in the most power possible.

bottom line: i think if it was me, i'd make it s/c and do the pulley upgrade. and then slowly upgrade everything else listed above. if you have an auto trans, you may want to watch throwing this much additional power at it without upgrading it. for a manual, you'd probably just need a new clutch.

[houdini]

i run a k&n and flowmaster exhaust. i noticed more throttle response and slightly more highway passing power with those upgrades, but nothing crazy. best engine mod i did was remove the clutch fan and go to a efan setup. that actually did give me a little extra seat of the pants go power and better mpgs.

just my 2 cents.

[NCturbo75]

hey Big-Bird, I am in the process of upgrading the dinky exhaust on my 05 Pathfinder and I saw that you mentioned a Dynomax muffler. Which model would you recommend? I saw some Flowmaster models that look pretty nice for the money. In other words, I do not want to spend more than $150 for the universal muffler. And yes, I have a reputable muffler shop nearby that will be doing the job. Sorry...did not mean to jack this thread.

[hsckris]

I know you weren't asking me, but I think it'd depend on your desired set up. I don't think you'd need to get larger than 3". Hell, you probably don't need to get above 2.5".

The reason I recommend Dynomax (specifically the Ultraflow series) is that I read an article awhile back where they took an stock GM Fbody and ran it in the 1/4 mile repeatedly, each time with a different muffler (stock, flowmast, corsa, borla, dynomax, etc...). Dynomax had the lowest e.t. and the fastest trap speed of any of the mufflers, the muffler being the only change between each run. If I knew where that article was I'd post it.

[EXterror]

Thanks for all the great info! I opened my airbock tonight and it was packed full of leaves. Is that a shown of bad maintenance, or normal BS?

[NCturbo75]

I know you weren't asking me, but I think it'd depend on your desired set up. I don't think you'd need to get larger than 3". Hell, you probably don't need to get above 2.5".

The reason I recommend Dynomax (specifically the Ultraflow series) is that I read an article awhile back where they took an stock GM Fbody and ran it in the 1/4 mile repeatedly, each time with a different muffler (stock, flowmast, corsa, borla, dynomax, etc...). Dynomax had the lowest e.t. and the fastest trap speed of any of the mufflers, the muffler being the only change between each run. If I knew where that article was I'd post it.

cOOL beans. I had a Dynomax muffler on my old turbo setup and I really was amazed at the performance and sound. The price is more reasonable than Flowmasters.

[Big-Bird]

The intake port for the Airbox is inside the driver's side fender well. It's not uncommon for strange debris to get sucked into that area. I remove the entire air box system once a year and clean it with Spray Nine or Simple Green. I also check all my air box electrical sensors. What can I say I'm kinda freaky that way.

[soccerbrace]

Yes, This DOES produce excellent results!!!!!! I do not care what someone who has not done it says. Here is how you do it:

http://www.clubxterra.org/foru...=2192