Might this make your cold air intake... Colder?? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Might this make your cold air intake... Colder??

Rayz2000Sport

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College Dover DE,Baltimore(Essex) Maryland
Year, Model & Trim Level
2000 Ford Explorer Sport
There is a theroy that I have been thinking over in my head the past few days. A cold air intake provides the benefit of less restrictive air flow and sucking up air the is "colder" than what you would recieve stock. What I have been thinking is, what kind of results would you recieve if you took steps to make this air even cooler? What if you took header wraps (heat shield of your choice really) and wraped your intake tube? I think K&N makes a similar product. This would seem to keep the intake cooler (saving it from some of the engine compartment and ambient heat) and in turn providing your engine a breath of fresh cold air. In addition to that, could'nt you line your stock, or aftermarket air box with a heat shield material (dynamat, summit brand, your pref here) and shield your intake from the ambient temperature even farther? These are all just theroies, I have not tested any of this, but it has been on my mind and I wanted to get some opinions on what others might think. It would seem like a very simple way to improve your trucks performance with little effort and for not a lot of cash. Anyone have any insights on this topic? I am really interested to see what everyone has to say about this one.
 



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i have to admit that does sound like a good idea. now i dont know much about this stuff but the only problem i have is that i dont think it would make it that much colder that you would actually see a difference in performance. it seems like a good idea but i just dont see it making that a big a difference. like i said i dont know much so maybe im way off but thats what i first thought after reading this.
 






I really do not know what results this would have, thats why I am trying to see what everyone has to say. I think that in warmer climates it might provide more benefit (or during the summer months).
 






I don't really see the "Cold Air" intakes for Explorers that just stick a cone filter on the end of the MAF as a cold air intake. They do have a banifit, in that the air is less restricted in getting to the intake, but all the air is still coming from inside the engine bay and is going to be warm from the radiating heat from the engine. So I think simply adding some heat barier to the tubing leading the air into the intake would have zero benifit.

I do however, think if you re-located the air inlet outside the engine bay, say a snorkle, or in front of the radiator, you would be getting cooler air into the motor and then insulating the intake tubing MAY have some benifit, but it would be minimal still, but at least you would have cooler air to create a thermal barier for.
 






I don't really see the "Cold Air" intakes for Explorers that just stick a cone filter on the end of the MAF as a cold air intake. They do have a banifit, in that the air is less restricted in getting to the intake, but all the air is still coming from inside the engine bay and is going to be warm from the radiating heat from the engine. So I think simply adding some heat barier to the tubing leading the air into the intake would have zero benifit.

I do however, think if you re-located the air inlet outside the engine bay, say a snorkle, or in front of the radiator, you would be getting cooler air into the motor and then insulating the intake tubing MAY have some benifit, but it would be minimal still, but at least you would have cooler air to create a thermal barier for.


K&N makes cold air intakes for explorer, as well as Volant. Also there is the MAC just to name a few. The heat barrier would keep the air from being warmed by the tube between the filter and the TB from picking up any heat.
 












K&N makes cold air intakes for explorer, as well as Volant. Also there is the MAC just to name a few. The heat barrier would keep the air from being warmed by the tube between the filter and the TB from picking up any heat.

i think what billz260 is tryin to explain is that the intakes you listed are NOT true CAI systems. the filter to these intakes is in the engine bay; suckin up warm air. therefore insulating the plumbing will have little to no benefit.

now if your filter was pullin ambient air from outside the engine bay, you might see some benefit by insulating that plumbin from the engine bay heat.
 






also i have heard about painting the bottom of the intake white in drag racing...would it work if u coated your intake as well
 






In theory it sounds good. however my personal opinion would be that the intake air doesn't "sit" in the intake long enough to have any significant heat gain. So I would doubt if there would be any performance gains from this.
 






My scanner can take all sorts of data, like IAT(intake air temp) from the temp sensor. What I've noticed is that at cruising speed, the IAT tends to be whatever the outside air temp is, because it does suck in cold air from outside the engine compartment. I removed the flap behind the headlight and the old small tube that used to suck air into the stock filter box when I installed my intake, and there's a shield to help block the hot air coming from the fan. It does get hotter from the engine heat as you slow down and idle, but it cools down as soon as you start moving because the air is moving so fast, and that's the biggest benefit. It seemed to cool down faster with a CAI than with the stock filter box.

If your filter was outside the engine compartment and you insulated the intake tube it would minimize the heat gain. That would have the biggest benefit for stop and go city type driving. They do make kits to mount the filter outside of the box and insulation to wrap around the tube for a reason.
 






Yeah I'm not sure lowering the temperature of the intake tubes is going to do much -- its not like an intercooler where the volume enlarges and is slowed down. The CFM rate is too high for there to be much heat transfer between the walls of the intake and the air being pushed in (air isn't sucked in, its pushed in).
 






i think what billz260 is tryin to explain is that the intakes you listed are NOT true CAI systems. the filter to these intakes is in the engine bay; suckin up warm air. therefore insulating the plumbing will have little to no benefit.

now if your filter was pullin ambient air from outside the engine bay, you might see some benefit by insulating that plumbin from the engine bay heat.

Yep, that is what I was getting at, thanks Gumby.
 






Before you spend money and time on this concept, measure IAT and compare it to ambient temperature at speeds over 30 MPH.
 






Market in the Southwest...

All you need to do is market in these areas, people will hear cold air and jump at it. We buy all kinds of things for our cars here, and most of us don't really know what they actually do, but we buy them. It would work. When we go get our oil/fluids changed, they sell all kinds of things... we buy. When they tell us what shocks to buy, we buy... If the product works, it works, the functionality is there. I don't know what a CAI does, but now I'm interested - sounds nice to say you have one on your vehicle. :thumbsup:

What's the price range? Is it something visible that I can show people when I'm washing the car or at the car wash?
 






I don't know but I have a K&N cold air intake and it works fine but the only problem i have is I live in Michigan and when it gets to below 40 degrees my engine idles weird and stalls out when first started because I want to believe it's sucking that freezing cold air right into the engine causing it a harder time to warm up. If anyone else that has this problem and knows any tricks to stop it from doing this then let me know.
 






as long as you arent sucking in hot under hood air it will not make a noticeable difference. Maybe on a turbo or blower car.
 






I don't know but I have a K&N cold air intake and it works fine but the only problem i have is I live in Michigan and when it gets to below 40 degrees my engine idles weird and stalls out when first started because I want to believe it's sucking that freezing cold air right into the engine causing it a harder time to warm up. If anyone else that has this problem and knows any tricks to stop it from doing this then let me know.

I live in the Pacific NW where I had to scrape ice off my windshield the other morning at about 28 deg. No problem starting up with my intake. I even started it at about 35 deg the other night after it had been sitting for 6 days (it isn't my daily driver), and no problem. I don't think it's your intake causing a problem, so maybe there's something else causing this. Maybe you should start a post asking for help with this specific problem because there's a better chance it will get read by someone who knows.
 






It can't be the intake in this case- if the truck is cold, it wouldn't matter what kind of intake system you have. The ambient air temp is cold. The CAI doesn't make it colder. It is what it is- temp wise. I'd most likely look at your IAC or DPFE sensor if you idle is crap. When mine were bad, it would start, idle like crap, and die. Sometimes it would idle ok- but that was when the sensors were starting to go bad. At the end, it wouldn't idle smooth for the life of it. When sensors replaced, ides awesome.
 






thanks

yea i will get that checked out because it never idled like this before and should get it checked out
 



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