American Products Company Air Intake Kit

[ozone]

I am looking for an intake kit without trying to spend the $200.00 for a cold air intake and I ran across this. You guys already have saved me money by the reviews on the "Tornado" so I was hoping you also might have an opinion on this kit.

American Products Company Air Intake Kit: Universal; With Filter, Flex Hose, Clamps, and Silicone Hose.

http://www.partsamerica.com/productdetail.aspx?MfrCode=APC&MfrPartNumber=151600&CategoryCode=4023A

Anyone ever hear of this? Comments??

ozone11@cinci.rr.com

 

[cybergasm]

Why do you really need this? on both of my Explorers i just used a Ebay cone filter and adapter to fit the MAF and have had no problems and just left the rest of the factory intake tube alone. Besides the way ford runs the intake tubes anyways you might not be able to get anything else in there and have it fit right and still be able to close the hood.

Just my .02

 

[bikeboarder]

with the 4.0 you the stock tube flows more then the engine can suck. the only restriction is in the filter and MAF. IMO a cone filter is good for splasing through puddles, going thorugh streems and it makes it louder. You can still feel a little power gain but with or without it a stock 4.0 is not a fast motor. It is not slow by any means and it makes very good low down power.

One thing to think about is te temp of the air coming in to the filter. in the summer, late spring, and early fall it works great because the air is warm. but as soon as the temp drops so will your MPG and you MIGHT foul plugs, and get a check engine light. (i did last year) UNLESS you put the stock setup back on durring cold temp driving. The stock setup has vaccume lines that controll a valve that sucks air from around the passenger side exhust manifold. this warms the air and in turn lets the motor lean out because it can burn the fuel better with warm air. if you use a cone in cold temp the computer always "thinks" it is still cold and will make it run rich(like a choke on a carb.)

I just swiched back to the box and this is what i found.
I usally let it warm up for about 10 min everyday so take that in to account too.
Durring the summer i can average 320-350 miles to a tank with a cone.
In the fall with a cone it is about 220-250 miles
and with the stock box in the fall i am back around 300.
Last year i dident pay any attenchen to mpg so i dont know how it will differ in the winter then the fall.

just some food for thought.

 

[91exploreron37]

I dont know man mine is so much faster when its cold its unreal but I have more high rpm power because of my cam

 

[cybergasm]

I just finally got around to getting my E-bay special cone filter and MAF adapter on the truck today nice the truck can finally breathe

biggest thing i have noticed it more willing to rev now than before dunno about the power yet have to get on the fwy for that.....

 

[bobthekatt7]

So the MAF can't sense denser air flowing into the engine and makes the engine run more rich in the winter? I know from experience cold air makes engines run better due to density of the air (more of it) from R&D on my Mustang. Is there a way to modify (or replace) the MAF to make it read the air flow more accurately so the engine leans out properly instead of gets richer? I have the Performer RPM 500 cfm w/ manual choke on my Stang so I control everything about that. I'm looking to get a cold-air intake for my X for the slightly improved economy and small boost of power so I'm really interested in hearing more about this.

 

[bikeboarder]

yeah it "knows" that the air is cold but it will stay in "warm up" mode untill it starts to get warm air. which would come from around the manifold. so if it always gets cold air it will never come off "warm up" mode and gas mleage will suck. so yeah colder air is better because it is more dence and i guess if it is giving it more fuel because it "thinks" that it is cold then you should have more power then summer driving. The cone does give more power and i will put it back on once it warms up again, but i cant afford to only get 220 miles out of a tank.

 

[bobthekatt7]

I see your point and understand. Where I went wrong was my Mustang is old, and doesn't have anything like that. Air goes thru air cleaner and into carb. No MAF or anything like that. Closest I got to that is a manual choke to play with. Is there a way to "convince" the MAF the air going through it is fine and doesn't need to be warm? Or would that "convincing" mean getting rid of it (which I don't think is a good idea because I don't know enough), or getting an aftermarket MAF that understands what I'm looking for?
My 94 X is the youngest vehicle I've ever done work to under the hood. I'm an old Mustang man! This newfangled technology is driving me up the wall. I don't think I'd be able to handle a new one...lol.

 

[bikeboarder]

that i dont know.

 

[bobthekatt7]

I'll do some research on that and see what I post to clear this up. Maybe I can locate something that will do what I'm looking for. I'm not sure what the climate out there in Spokane is, but I'll tell you Whidbey Island doesn't exactly have the greatest weather...
My X just went over 156k miles. Still running okay as far as I can tell.

 

[unclemeat]

What about the KKM intake, available on this site. It is like $90 ready to install?

 

[cybergasm]

MAF's only do one thing which is measure air flow through the intake track by heating a wire inside. Faster the air flows, faster the wire cools more fuel the computer injects into the motor. Air temperature is done through a separate sensor in the intake manifold ( I believe).

 

[bikeboarder]

MAF's only do one thing which is measure air flow through the intake track by heating a wire inside. Faster the air flows, faster the wire cools more fuel the computer injects into the motor. Air temperature is done through a separate sensor in the intake manifold ( I believe).

this is true but if the air is too cold wouldent it cool the wires more and cause it to run rich?

 

[sjr033]

Cold air is more dense, like we all know. So if the computer did not "up" the fuel it would be lean. It is not rich it is were it should be. Same thing as more air cooling the the wire faster, well more air is getting to the engine so more fuel is needed for it not to be lean. More air and more fuel = more hp. It all depends on why OZONE wants the cai. If he wants more hp then good idea. If he wants mpg not so good.

 

[briwayjones]

At the same time more HP can also mean better mileage. Even though more HP uses more fuel since you have more power you don't need to run the engine as hard to achieve the same results which uses less fuel. But you have to drive conservatively and go easy on the skinny pedal.

 

[bobthekatt7]

Cold air is more dense, like we all know. So if the computer did not "up" the fuel it would be lean. It is not rich it is were it should be. Same thing as more air cooling the the wire faster, well more air is getting to the engine so more fuel is needed for it not to be lean.

I agree to a point. The denser air has more oxygen in it since there is more there. If I'm not mistaken, the goal of the system is to use the same amount of fuel but add the denser air and make it fire better since there is more oxygen going into the chamber. An important element in this process would be to have a good ignitions system, starting at the plugs. I don't think having the denser air would make the engine run more "lean" per se, but it would continue using the same amount of fuel to give more power, thus giving it better economy. See what I'm getting at?