Homemade CAI

[bigmoose15]

I figured I would share this CAI i put together myself. I originally had just a homemade cone filter in place of the stock airbox, but without a blocker I was seeing intake temps +20-25 over ambient. My Explorer is a DD, and in traffic the temps took a while to come back down after moving again, so I figured a CAI might help. Explorer is a '13 Sport with a tune.

No pics in the fender, too much of pain at this point. The cone filter is attached right to the 90* bend that comes off the pipe and goes into the fender.

The parts consist of:
two 3.5" silicone 90* elbows
1 foot length of stainless 3.5" pipe.
two 3.5" stainless silicone joiners
1 cone filter
5 hose clamps

It was a tight fit but it works. I did need to trip a small plastic nub off the bottom of the headlight assembly to get it to fit. The stainless pipe would not fit through the hole into the fender, but the slightly deformed silicone elbow was perfect. The elbows are overkill since they are reinforced for post turbo intercooling piping, but they are easy to find. My datalogger has stopped working with the latest Android 4.3 update, so no temp data yet. once i get it fixed i'll update this. I expect to get ambient temp when moving and for it to very quickly return to ambient after a stint in traffic.

I don't expect any increase in power, but i wanted the turbo sound with ambient air temps at a reasonable cost. Parts cost under $100 for everything. For me a way better option than the overpriced RAI's on the market. This won't work for people who need CARB approval of course. Also not for the fearful of hydrolock.

 

[gkviper192]

What are you logging with. Which app and what hardware ?

 

[bigmoose15]

What are you logging with. Which app and what hardware ?

I use Torque for android. I pair it with an ELM327 bluetooth module. An update for torque just came out today to support android 4.3, so i can get numbers soon.

 

[EcoPowerParts]

The Airaid UBI kit works great for this, 3" pipes with the 6" filter. Nice thing it's all plastic so not as much heat soak. I built the same thing as this for my Flex but used the UBI kit to do it.
http://www.airaid.com/u-build-it_intake_systems.aspx
101-302 3” Master Kit I with 700-493 (6”) Filter

 

[Harley#356]

nice cheap mod. can you hear the turbos spool any louder with the filter in the new location?

 

[bigmoose15]

nice cheap mod. can you hear the turbos spool any louder with the filter in the new location?

It sounds similar to the RAI i had before I moved it to the fender. Both setups sound way louder than stock.

The intake temps are only 3-5 degrees over ambient under very light throttle at 40mph, under part throttle or more they were ambient. I think either a plastic pipe or some insulator wrap will fix this for light throttle. I want to let it idle and get hot, then do some WOT pulls to see how the air temp drops.

 

[Downstrike]

Any concern with hydrolock?

 

[Ryan327]

Any concern with hydrolock?

Always a concern with a fenderwell intake...i just don't know how wet it gets in there!

 

[bigmoose15]

Any concern with hydrolock?

I don't have any concern. The fender is mostly blocked off from underneath. I don't see a way to get enough water in there on a splash. It might only be a concern if you actually submerge that area under water which i won't do unless I drive into a pond, then i'd have other things to worry about.

I did replace the metal tube with a piece of PVC from home depot. The metal piece held too much heat when idling in traffic.

Overall, I don't think there is much gain over the stock box, but this sounds much cooler and cost way less than the hot air intakes most other people are using.

 

[Ryan327]

You should look for ABS instead of PVC too!

 

[bigmoose15]

You should look for ABS instead of PVC too!

Good point, I see the ABS pipe has a temp rating of 176*F which should be good enough for that area. Home depot has a 3.5" x 2' ABS piece for $10.

 

[CobraJohn]

BigMoose.......any 0 - 60 data?

 

[bigmoose15]

BigMoose.......any 0 - 60 data?

Not yet but now that you mention it i will get some and report back. might be a week or so.

 

[CobraJohn]

Please include the vehicle weight you load into your timer's parameters.

I put 5300 in for mine which includes my weight of 200.

 

[Downstrike]

Does anyone know what the stock intake pipe ID is? Id like to do make one of these but Im trying to decide between the 3" ABS straight pipe or going 4" with some reducers on the 90 degree bends. Also did either of you clamp the silicone elbows directly to the rubber cone filter inlet??? Or did you use a small piece of straight pipe in between?

 

[bigmoose15]

Does anyone know what the stock intake pipe ID is? Id like to do make one of these but Im trying to decide between the 3" ABS straight pipe or going 4" with some reducers on the 90 degree bends. Also did either of you clamp the silicone elbows directly to the rubber cone filter inlet??? Or did you use a small piece of straight pipe in between?

Mine is 3.5". I did need a small piece to join the silicone elbow with the stock rubber part shown in the picture. my 3.5" OD elbow barely fits into the fender, so i doubt 4" will work for you unless you reduce it there which I can;t see having any benefit.

 

[Downstrike]

Did you just use a small cut 3.5" ID straight piece to join the stock rubber to the elbow?

 

[bigmoose15]

Did you just use a small cut 3.5" ID straight piece to join the stock rubber to the elbow?

No, i used a small cut 3.5" OD piece. I gathered parts from here:


http://www.siliconeintakes.com/

 

[Downstrike]

I appreciate all the info. I have been gathering a list of parts I am going to order. I just had one quick question about the filter. I have been looking into Green filters the two I found that were 3.5 are 6.5" in length and 5". Is it a tight fight length wise down in that fender wall where I may not be able to fit a 6.5" filter?

 

[Downstrike]

What did you do with the sensor that is hooked into the stock airbox?