Airaid CAI

[vteckiller2000]

Funny you posted this, I did this about a month ago to mine. No ill effects and the filter has not been wet when I checked it.

 

[plumbago]

I'm working on a very similar air intake/grill mod for our 2013 2.0L EcoBoost XLT. same principle except the grill is the standard grill which won't allow for quite as much direct air flow because of the chrome bar in this area. However the direct air flow will be greatly enhanced over stock ! I would be most interested if you could post any IAT comparisons for your mod.....Thanks and best regards Plum

 

[BtownB10]

Do you flip a quarter to see what you want to drive that day? Nice Z too...

 

[gkviper192]

Do you flip a quarter to see what you want to drive that day? Nice Z too...

lol, thanks but no I drive the Ex Sport every day and love it.

 

[Harley#356]

nice mod, been wanting to do this! What are the tricks to getting the lower half of the grille apart? I was able to get the top part unbuttoned to do my black emblem, but didn't go any further to undo the bottom half of the grille to remove it totally.

 

[gkviper192]

nice mod, been wanting to do this! What are the tricks to getting the lower half of the grille apart? I was able to get the top part unbuttoned to do my black emblem, but didn't go any further to undo the bottom half of the grille to remove it totally.

There are 3 tabs on the botttom of each side holding it to the bumper and than there are 4 bolts on the back side/inside that are a pita to get to.

 

[Harley#356]

Rog-o. You can get to all 4 from the top? Or did you get them from under the bumper?

I'd like to hitup the track before doing this mod and datalog the run.

 

[gkviper192]

Rog-o. You can get to all 4 from the top? Or did you get them from under the bumper?

I'd like to hitup the track before doing this mod and datalog the run.

Yes, you will have to use a ratchet wrench since it is very tight getting your hands down there to get the bolts off. You can see the 3 tabs in my picture where the grille is off and you can also see 2 of the holes where the bolts went in. My best advice is to pop the grille off the top 1 or 2 tabs first so you can pull it back far enough to access the bolts. I did not even put the bolts back in when I reinstalled the grille. There are a bunch of 10mm bolts on the top and the 3 push tabs on each side hold it in very securely. I literally grabbed it and pulled on it hard and it didn't move at all so I left them out.

 

[Red14Sport]

Hi gkviper192, nice mod. Can you please tell me if the hood seals down on the gasket of the Airaid box or is there a gap and hot air from the engine reaches the filter?

 

[gkviper192]

Hi gkviper192, nice mod. Can you please tell me if the hood seals down on the gasket of the Airaid box or is there a gap and hot air from the engine reaches the filter?

I can check for you a little later today.

 

[Red14Sport]

I can check for you a little later today.

Great, thank you. I heard if you apply baby power to the seal, then close the hood, you should be able to tell if you have a good seal. Look forward to hearing the results. Thanks.

 

[gkviper192]

Went back in for round 2 tonight... These pics are after I cut but before I went back in with a dremel and smoothed the plastic out real nice. Really opened up a lot more than before now.

 

[plumbago]

Your 2nd stage mods, appear to me to be way over the top. If you don't reseal the Airaid cut away portion to the cowl venting you have cut away, you will actually loose any benefit you may have gained. And besides you will greatly raise the heat being allowed to surround the intake. Then there is the positive/ negative ambient air flow induced by the cooling fans that will impact how air actually flows under the hood. This may effect the cooling pull all the way to your intercooler and cause additional problems. Good luck here, but this is a case of bigger and more ain't better. Believe it or not Ford does do a pretty good job of engineering these things. Not saying they can't be improved somewhat, but this going the wrong direction fast....best regards Plum

 

[gkviper192]

Your 2nd stage mods, appear to me to be way over the top. If you don't reseal the Airaid cut away portion to the cowl venting you have cut away, you will actually loose any benefit you may have gained. And besides you will greatly raise the heat being allowed to surround the intake. Then there is the positive/ negative ambient air flow induced by the cooling fans that will impact how air actually flows under the hood. This may effect the cooling pull all the way to your intercooler and cause additional problems. Good luck here, but this is a case of bigger and more ain't better. Believe it or not Ford does do a pretty good job of engineering these things. Not saying they can't be improved somewhat, but this going the wrong direction fast....best regards Plum

Well as of last night it's by far the quickest and fastest explorer sport in the world and continued to run faster times than any other explorer sport after hot lapping it over a half dozen times so I guess I'm doing something right.

http://youtu.be/nyDC_wy-jVU

 

[gkviper192]

Your 2nd stage mods, appear to me to be way over the top. If you don't reseal the Airaid cut away portion to the cowl venting you have cut away, you will actually loose any benefit you may have gained. And besides you will greatly raise the heat being allowed to surround the intake. Then there is the positive/ negative ambient air flow induced by the cooling fans that will impact how air actually flows under the hood. This may effect the cooling pull all the way to your intercooler and cause additional problems. Good luck here, but this is a case of bigger and more ain't better. Believe it or not Ford does do a pretty good job of engineering these things. Not saying they can't be improved somewhat, but this going the wrong direction fast....best regards Plum

In response to your theory here, I understand where you are coming from but I did not cut away any part of the box that is going to allow more engine heat in. The front of the box is open from airaid. all I did was open up the lower portion of the box to allow the direct airflow coming through the grille to get right to the filter.

In regards to the intercooler. It is right smack in the front of the car there is no way this would pull air away from it. Like I said I was not suffering as bad as i thought i may be last night at the track after hot lapping the truck many many times.

 

[ieee_raider]

I did a similar mod today with stock air box and filter (plan to change to K&N drop in filter).

I didn't do any testing beforehand like I should have, but after, here were my results using TORQUE for android via an ODB bluetooth module.

With outside temp at 95 (per MFT display):
At park / idle: ambient air at 102 and intake air at 112~117
Cruising at 30: ambient air at 102 and intake air at 107
Cruising at 50: ambient air at 102 and intake air at 102

That's all the testing I've done so far...

 

[ieee_raider]

I did a similar mod today with stock air box and filter (plan to change to K&N drop in filter).

I didn't do any testing beforehand like I should have, but after, here were my results using TORQUE for android via an ODB bluetooth module.

With outside temp at 95 (per MFT display):
At park / idle: ambient air at 102 and intake air at 112~117
Cruising at 30: ambient air at 102 and intake air at 107
Cruising at 50: ambient air at 102 and intake air at 102

That's all the testing I've done so far...

Clarification: I did the first mod (cutting out behind the hex on the grill)
I didn't completely remove the grill though, so it didn't take long.
Unattached grill at top, leaned it out, and stuck dremmel in the gap. Worked well enough!

 

[BillyG2014Sport]

DIY Idea for Cold Air Intake Assitance

I am getting ready to install a AIRAID cold air intake on my 2014 Sport and was thinking about away to channel cold air towards the CAI with out modifying my grill and cutting holes that water could find its way in. I know that there is a cavity in the driver's side fender in front of the wheel that feeds air into the front corner of the engine bay where the CAI would feed from.
I am not a fabricator but I feel that some of you guys might be able to create something that would mirror the intake cut out and duct work that already exists on the passenger side that is used for providing cold air to the down pipes and turbos. I have noticed that the Sport is the only ones that have this cut out and metal duct. Let me know if you think it's a good idea or a bad one and how hard it would be to fabricate something like this.
As soon as my CAI intake is installed I am going to begin my own system and see how things turn out.

 

[Sgt1411]

Many of us bought aftermarket CAI and then removed them.

Then there are lots who still have them installed and love them.

Personal preference I guess.

The technical reality is they were proven to improve very little if not reduce performance.

I left the stock airbox and just modified (cut out plastic leaving mesh only) the Sport grill mesh directly in front of the air intake so the air has a straight shot in. Thats my home made ram air intake of sorts.

Did the same on the Interceptor Utility grill I have installed too.

 

[Sgt1411]

This is the Sport grill mod I copied from another poster who did this back last year.