my CAI with BIG pics

[allensteiner]

EDIT/UPDATE: so after driving for a while i've noticed a loss on the bottom. when i said i gained some (in one of the posts below) that was my butt dyno because of the sound. i'm gonna play with shortening the intake a bit to see what happens.

anyways, the real thing is heat soak everyone talks about with any kind of intake but i've figured out a way to avoid it without wrapping anything etc. the problem lies in the vc breather hose. after driving for about 1/2 hour i checked where the tubing was warm and the only part heated was the mid pipe where the hose goes in. how to fix that? little breather filter on the vc fitting and problem gone - just have to plug the fitting on the mid pipe.

one more piece that was warmer was the pipe that houses the maf sensor but it was only warm around the maf itself so i figured it's probably due to electricity running through - no big deal.

bought it on ebay for $30 shipped, spent additional $20 at o'reilly for hoses, 2 couplers from spectre and an aluminium maf adapter (universal spectre, needed to drill holes) - the intake came with a plastic one. unfortunately i had to spend $30 at lowe's for the round saw to make a hole for my filter to sit inside the fender.no step by step pics because it took me a lot of time and with my lack of patience...anyways here's the pics:

btw the car sounds like i have glass packs in the muffler











as soon as i get another day off i'll hook my laptop up to see what temp i get when warmed up.
Modified by allensteiner at 2:08 AM 9/30/2008

[DevonD]

Looks like a good clean set up! feel any power difference? And yes, the sound they make with an intake is better than any song I have heard!

Haha but I seem to remember you being quite stubborn that CAI's were a waste of time and in another thread you even said something like "glad to see im not the only one smart enough to run the stock intake". So why the change of heart??

[D-Maxima]

good job

[Presscott707]

that is a nice setup man. that is just like how i want to run mine.

[allensteiner]

Haha but I seem to remember you being quite stubborn that CAI's were a waste of time and in another thread you even said something like "glad to see im not the only one smart enough to run the stock intake". So why the change of heart??

we're talking about a true cai here, not what most call one...the car is a lot more snappy throughout, and spins tires a bit when taking off - remember it's an AT with big tires

thanks guys

[Presscott707]

you should take that bad boy down the track and see what it can do. just dont be like me and have 200 pounds in the trunk and a full tank of gas .

[DevonD]

Haha Yeah I know. but did you have to move the battery at all or does it fit around the side?

[maxhopper]

I don't want to rain on the parade. You spent a great deal of time on it and I give you a thumbs up on effort. The problem I see is that the intake air needs to flow freely and undisturbed. That flex tubing does not look like it'd be ideal for this purpose. I bet you could find different sections of piping to improve on what you've already done.

[lightsout]

NICE NICE NICE smart with the heat wrap!! i used Buggy Header Wrap on my INJEN setup and could totally feel the difference. I also vented the bottom of the dust shield under the car to throw fresh air up onto the filter that has a waterproof hydroshield sleeve over the filter. i'd recomend a hydro shield if you drive in the rain semi-often.

great minds think alike! sorry my pic looks like shyza :-/

[allensteiner]

I don't want to rain on the parade. You spent a great deal of time on it and I give you a thumbs up on effort. The problem I see is that the intake air needs to flow freely and undisturbed. That flex tubing does not look like it'd be ideal for this purpose. I bet you could find different sections of piping to improve on what you've already done.

no flex tubing used, all 3" aluminium piping and rubber couplers i think the part you're talking about is the one by the battery - that's just hvac tape over the tubing to prevent soaking heat from the battery.

"great minds think alike!"

"Haha Yeah I know. but did you have to move the battery at all or does it fit around the side?"

that's why it took me a long time...sob is hard to make fit. i had to "force" the relay box from the inside of the fender to behind the headlight to make it fit. i also got rid of the battery cover which was big and just kept the battery heat in.

"i'd recomend a hydro shield if you drive in the rain semi-often."

i thought about it but the filter sits high up enough to go through a foot deep water without getting it wet. as for the rain...free water injection won't hurt anything and adds a bit of power.

"you should take that bad boy down the track and see what it can do"

i wish i could but there isn't one around here. plus i still have to replace my o2's because they're shot and i'm running too rich...and stomping on the gas pedal to hear the intake roar kills my mpg even more

[lightsout]

true

[allensteiner]

here's a little update.

when accelerating normally the car is quiet like before, but when i open her up it sound like there's a big v8 under the hood

one thing for people interested in getting a cai...i SEE the needle on my fuel gauge drop when i step on it. partially because my o2's are shot, partially because i have a heavy foot.

i've noticed a gain in low gears in acceleration but top end is lacking - that's why my next mods are going to be a gutted mevi (because the rod breaks and/or butterfly valves fall off) and headers/y-pipe/catback. all of that to compensate for lack of power from 50/60 mph up.

i still need to mod my fwi a bit - i have a gle but cut holes out where the fogs sit and cut out the middle bar in the lower grille for some more cooling flow to the rad (i'll throw a pic in sometime later...) - i'll be adding a bypass valve in case i hit some deep water and i need to extend the part behind the battery so i can have my filter facing the fog lamp hole (it's an open top cone dry flow).

almost forgot...after putting the mevi on (when i can afford it ) i'll throw a pathfinder tb on for even more flow.

can anyone spot me some $$$?

[flyboy367]

uh boy dont get me started on this debate again. there is no cai or hai there is high pressure and low pressure. without being almost on the street under the car its a high pressure system. it will sound nice and maybe pull 2hp from it but a low pressure will get you much more. i built a low just need to clean it up a bit and ill post pics. not much more needed then what you have. plus id say pull the iat out and mount it about 3" back from the filter. just make sure you solder the wires

[allensteiner]

low pressure...are you talking about cowl induction? what do you mean by "there's no cai or hai"? i get cooler air in because there's no heat from inside the engine compartment getting sucked in, just outside temp air. i've read about pulling the iat sensor out closer to the filter but doubt it works - if it did then ebay "chips" would be worth something.can't wait to see your setup. any chance for pics by tomorrow tonight? - i want to see it before i hit the road again

and i know it doesn't give much power but in low gears it's definately noticeable.

[flyboy367]

ok let me try to do this without typing a bible lol

you are right low pressure is like a cowl induction. its not the temp of the air its the density that makes the difference. like i said in someone elses thread unless you have an air filter almost on the tb and have a ram air within inches the air your car gets is always going to be heated. your engine is running hot and the hood traps the heat. the differences you make is getting low pressure air into the engine and fooling the sensors that its cooler to add more fuel to the mix. you get more power that way. maybe you lose 5* or so in temp. feel your cai after driving for an hour. its going to be hot. metal is heat conductive. the iat move works because its reading cooler temps from outside the engine bay. the air heats up as it travels from filter to throttlebody but its much denser and the sensor reading dumps more fuel into it = more power. the market is just flooded with people calling things cai. it should be called hdai or ldai. even on my carbed cars i had cowl hoods and isolated the carb in the hood with heat reflective material and heat sinks. but its the density that really matters. think of the people in nevada/arizona that blacktop is probably the same temp as the engine. but the pressure makes the difference. hope this helps.

[allensteiner]

you're right especially when it comes to southern states but up here we have moderate temps - 60-70 daily average lately so i pull air in at about the same temp. the heat soak you mentioned is a buzz killer but when i'm finally done with my setup it'll all be isolated with hvac tape to avoid that problem.

where's your pics!

[NewDad=4drs]

the air heats up as it travels from filter to throttlebody but its much denser and the sensor reading dumps more fuel into it = more power.

maybe because you tried to summarize, I am not sure, but this logic doesn't "jive" with me. The "more fuel=more power" logic is not true unless you are increasing the air side of your a/f ratio accordingly. Hot air is hot air unless you are force feeding it more oxygen molecules, then hot air is less dense than cold air. If you "trick" your sensor to think that your intake air is more dense, and then when it's not you will get more fuel but your a/f ratio won't be correct, you will be rich which = safe and slow. Appropriately lean with regards to timing = more power.

I am not trying to flame, I just am trying to get your "high pressure vs. low pressure" logic. What am i missing in your statement?

[flyboy367]

pics will be coming.

what i meant is where the sensors are you are getting the already heated air so the readings are low = lower fuel imput. moving the sensors down to the low pressure air will give greater readings = more fuel. most cai are not restrictive like the stock airbox so therefore more air flowing plus the reading of denser air for more fuel = more power.

[allensteiner]

there's one problem i see with the logic of moving the iat...the ecu doesn't use it at all to adjust afr - that's what the maf and o2's are for. iirc the iat data is used only for engine warmup, after that it's irrelevant. the ecu won't be able to make any adjustments from iat data since there's a lot more variables it would have to consider - i live almost 6000ft above sea level so there would have to be a sensor measuring o2 level in outside air so the ecu can figure out how many more/less particles get pulled into the engine depending on the intake air temp and then adjust for proper fuel ratio - i got myself lost in this logic but i just got back from a long day at work...so try to get what i'm saying plz

and like i said before - if the iat had any hp gain possibilities then resistor "chips" would be the best hp/$ mod on the planet.

[allensteiner]

update in first post ^