airbox mod

[poonpower]

I've read somewhere about modding the stock intake to allow a bit more power and better gas mileage. What I want is a indepth description on how to do this with pictures. I still dont know what to cut, and I wanna make sure before cutting anything
THANKS

[Not Jo3L]

http://www.clubprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1977

read that

towards the last few pages of the thread there is pics

[mazda protege 2]

^^ good info, save the trouble and get an intake, youll be way happier then with this mod

[Not Jo3L]

Well if you keep your stock airbox you will notice more low end tq...then with the aftermarket intake you gain higher end tq.

The stock airbox is built farely well and its almost better to save your money then buy a SRI.

IF you want to get a CAI then it might be worth it to you but i am happy with my stock air box and k&n panel filter.

[poonpower]

Thats what I like, I wont be going anywhere fast, just more efficiency and cheapness.
I used to have a CAI, but didnt like the noise, the hassle of changing the filter, and the wasted fuel of ingesting cooler air.

[Not Jo3L]

Then go with just a k&n pannel filter part number 33-2134.

Then dont forget to tape up the holes on the snorkel, bottom of the airbox, and resonator with some thick high temp electric tape or something of that sort.


I will be doing the tape tommorow since i have no plans.

[lilchild87]

idk what to do for my 99' 1.6?

Get CAI?
get SRI?
Do any custom mod?
Do my own mod?

Help me out please!

Thxs!

[poonpower]

Then go with just a k&n pannel filter part number 33-2134.

Then dont forget to tape up the holes on the snorkel, bottom of the airbox, and resonator with some thick high temp electric tape or something of that sort.


I will be doing the tape tommorow since i have no plans.

what will sealing of the holes accomplish?

[goldstar]

what will sealing of the holes accomplish?

Two things.
1. The snorkel passes over the radiator. By sealing the snorkel drain holes, ingestion of hot air into the air intake duct is prevented.

2. Since after modification, the air intake is located in a high pressure area, sealing all the drain holes (snorkel, Helmholtz resonator and air box) will help reduce negative pressure in the system by preventing loss of any ram effect due to the forward motion of the vehicle. For a fuller explanation of this process, read the references cited in the thread. Duct tape does an excellent job of sealing the holes, BTW.

[goldstar]

Thats what I like, I wont be going anywhere fast, just more efficiency and cheapness.
I used to have a CAI, but didnt like the noise, the hassle of changing the filter, and the wasted fuel of ingesting cooler air.

If you don't want the air intake system to ingest cooler air, don't do this mod. However, I don't see how increasing the density of the intake air in any way wastes fuel. Sure, if the MAF sensor "sees" denser air it will signal the PCM to lengthen the injector pulse to prevent leaning but, in conjunction with the O2 sensor, the correct stoichiometric A/F ratio will still be maintained in closed loop operation. With the slightly extra power available, just backing off on the throttle slightly will maintain the same fuel economy as before.

Actually, if you carry out the full list of mods as detailed, you'll reduce pumping losses in the intake duct and probably slightly increase overall fuel economy.

[red95_240sx]

i think punching the peice of grille under the snorkel out, or taking off everyhting up to the airbox r good options.

[lilchild87]

Canyou guys post pics to see how i can do it, i saw the long thread with pics what i couldnt get it, like i said what will be the best? CAI, SRI, custom??

Thanks!

[goldstar]

Canyou guys post pics to see how i can do it, i saw the long thread with pics what i couldnt get it, like i said what will be the best? CAI, SRI, custom??

Thanks!

You pays your money and you takes your choice. In the case of this mod, you don't pay any money, except for some tape.

[lilchild87]

Then how this mod goes? what changes? pictures please! thx!

Any noticeable Gains/noise??

[goldstar]

Then how this mod goes? what changes? pictures please! thx!

Any noticeable Gains/noise??

I'd like to help you out here. I have a complete write-up but on a different forum and I don't know if I'm allowed to reference it here. The last time I tried it, the whole thread was deleted and I wouldn't want to be responsible for the same thing happening again.

Gains: increased throttle response and better acceleration off the line and throughout the rpm range. Nothing dramatic, but definitely noticeable.

Intake noise: a slight but noticeable increase; nothing at all like a SRI or a CAI.

[lilchild87]

Good then, i only want to hear my muffler, not the intake.. so i read this thread you are talking about, and seriously dude, i didn't understand!

Can you explain it very easu for me with pics? with good details

I'll appreciate it alot!! :D

[Not Jo3L]

Today I sealed up my intake i tried taking out the airbox and after unscrewing 3 screws i thought i was done, but there was one more underneath the box so i decided to just leave it in and tape it up that way.

There were 4 holes under the snorkel, 1 in the airbox, and 1 on the hemoltz resonator.

I think thats all of them.

...and i was wondering when goldstar would comment on this thread :)

[lilchild87]

Today I sealed up my intake i tried taking out the airbox and after unscrewing 3 screws i thought i was done, but there was one more underneath the box so i decided to just leave it in and tape it up that way.

There were 4 holes under the snorkel, 1 in the airbox, and 1 on the hemoltz resonator.

I think thats all of them.

...and i was wondering when goldstar would comment on this thread :)


ok man so which holes i need to put tape on?? the 2 on the front plastic, then the one on the resonator and then the big one on the bottom of the airbox?? then where's the engine going to get air from?? (boom03)

[Not Jo3L]

ok man so which holes i need to put tape on?? the 2 on the front plastic, then the one on the resonator and then the big one on the bottom of the airbox?? then where's the engine going to get air from?? (boom03)

Theres four on the snorkel

undo the two bolts holding it down and flip it over..its easy to see the four holes.

use two strips of tape to cover them up.

the engine will be getting air from the entrance of the snorkel still and the hold at the bottom of the airbox has no effect on the airflow cuz it has a big hole on the side closest to your grill.

[lilchild87]

Theres four on the snorkel

undo the two bolts holding it down and flip it over..its easy to see the four holes.

use two strips of tape to cover them up.

the engine will be getting air from the entrance of the snorkel still and the hold at the bottom of the airbox has no effect on the airflow cuz it has a big hole on the side closest to your grill.


Oh ok now i got it, there are 4 holes under the log plastic thing?? tapethose 4 and thats it??

[Not Jo3L]

1 more in the airbox and 1 at the bottom of the resonator

you will haveta go under the car for the resonator

[lilchild87]

Then 4 under the long plastic, 1 under the resonator what which one on the airbox?? have any pic?

[Not Jo3L]

Then 4 under the long plastic, 1 under the resonator what which one on the airbox?? have any pic?

Nope as the moment no

its dark outside and i just put everything together had to tape up my airbox cuz im missing one of the clips. the clip should come in sometime this week then i can take off the tape and take a pic

[poonpower]

damn man, Im just itching to do this mod. My car is going to the shop tomolo, so I will prolly get it done in the next few days.
this is a great forum, haha

[lilchild87]

damn man, Im just itching to do this mod. My car is going to the shop tomolo, so I will prolly get it done in the next few days.
this is a great forum, haha

Why to the shop? mod didn't work? you fucked it up? (jerkit)

lol

btw i'll do my mod tomorrow and post pics

[poonpower]

Alright, I did the mod this morning. It wasnt as easy as I thought, took about an hour, with a lot of cutting and trimming and grinding. It came out great, though I didnt notice any performance increase like others have said. i THINK it pulls harder when accelerating, but it could be just the placebo effect.
Its ok, its free, didnt expect much.

[Not Jo3L]

Alright, I did the mod this morning. It wasnt as easy as I thought, took about an hour, with a lot of cutting and trimming and grinding. It came out great, though I didnt notice any performance increase like others have said. i THINK it pulls harder when accelerating, but it could be just the placebo effect.
Its ok, its free, didnt expect much.

Did you reset your ecu?

and if goldstar can maybe answer this for me...if i remove my grill to be replaced with mesh will the ram air effects be gone? Instead of air getting shoved through the opening we have created, it will just hit the grill and rush into the engine bay with little air being forced into the snorkel. Any thoughts on this?

[lilchild87]

Did you reset your ecu?

and if goldstar can maybe answer this for me...if i remove my grill to be replaced with mesh will the ram air effects be gone? Instead of air getting shoved through the opening we have created, it will just hit the grill and rush into the engine bay with little air being forced into the snorkel. Any thoughts on this?

I'm gonna put a weapon ram air directly to the airbox... place it on the right small grill or maybe the one on the front

[poonpower]

how do I reset the ecu? just unplug the battery, no?

[Not Jo3L]

Yes and pump the brakes a few times while you wait like 10 mins.

It will help the Ecu relearn faster with the new amount of air it is getting.

[poonpower]

pump the brakes while the battery is disconnected, or pump it while the car is turned on?

[Not Jo3L]

while the cars negative battery terminal is disconnected and just leave it disconnected for like 10 mins

hook it back up and drive wild for like a 100 miles and your ecu will compensate from the new gain in air.

[lilchild87]

while the cars negative battery terminal is disconnected and just leave it disconnected for like 10 mins

hook it back up and drive wild for like a 100 miles and your ecu will compensate from the new gain in air.

Really?? can you feel the gain??

[Not Jo3L]

Yah when i did the cutout mod i felt a good improvement in lower end tq

took me less force to push the gas pedal in to get up to speed quickly.

When i install my exhaust ill probably reset the ecu again and feel more gain on the butt dyno

[lilchild87]

Yah when i did the cutout mod i felt a good improvement in lower end tq

took me less force to push the gas pedal in to get up to speed quickly.

When i install my exhaust ill probably reset the ecu again and feel more gain on the butt dyno

ok so after you do the mod.. you disconect the negative wire from the battery.. pump the brake for like 10 mins.. then re-connect the wire and then???

[Not Jo3L]

ok so after you do the mod.. you disconect the negative wire from the battery.. pump the brake for like 10 mins.. then re-connect the wire and then???

No just pump it like 10 times and then wait for 10 mins.

Hook the negative back up start the car and take it out for a afternoon spin.

Try running it harder then you would normally do and then the car will settle down to normal with more hp gain.

[lilchild87]

No just pump it like 10 times and then wait for 10 mins.

Hook the negative back up start the car and take it out for a afternoon spin.

Try running it harder then you would normally do and then the car will settle down to normal with more hp gain.

So instead of pumping it leave it there for 10 min.. ok

btw when i leave it there..the jeys shoudl be off or on stage 1??? like hwne all the lights turns on on the dashboard

[Not Jo3L]

btw when i leave it there..the jeys shoudl be off or on stage 1??? like hwne all the lights turns on on the dashboard

well after takin my time to read this
umm all you do is
1. unplug negative battery terminal
2. go in car and pump brakes a few times
3. leave your car sitting there with keys out completely untouched for about 10-15 mins the time doesnt really matter.(i usually just grab some food or skate for a while)
4. reconnect battery
5. take it for a drive i usually reset my ecu before trips so the ecu will have relearned itself when i get back to wherever
6. enjoy some newfound hp and tq cuz the rest of your mods are not this free.

[CaliAv8r]

i didnt pump the brakes after my CAI and headers...does that mean they have not done anything for me?

[Demoniam]

nahh, pumping the brakes just helps to push the last little bit of electricity out of the system. as long as it stayed unpluged for a bit, you should be fine!

[red95_240sx]

or not drive for 4 days

[pr5owner]

a CAI is only like $60 on ebay, you keep the filter it comes with as a temp swap and you get a K&N for $60.

i use a cheapo cone filter off ebay ($12 or somethig) as a temp for when i need to recharge the K&N, my Injen filter was WAY too dirty to be recharged

[Tukalama]

Ok, almost 1 whole year since the last post. Found this from the cheap mod thread and had to try it. Anyone have any water problems since they did the mod? I made the cutout, taped the holes, put in a K&N filter in the airbox, reset the ecu and drove hard for awhile. WOW. Is it really this easy to make a noticable difference with such a simple mod? LOVE the results!

[norwood1026]

Very cool I need to try this mod for myself. (2thumbs)

[Not Jo3L]

water is not a problem..the heat of the radiator can stop small amounts of water. theres no other way water can get in there unless the driver does something stupid.

[E21BIMMERHEAD]

I did this "mod"(cut out the area on the grill, duct taped the holes on the snorkel-airbox, I have a k&N air filter, removed the screen/grill thingy in the MAF, and reset the computer) for a while it idled very poorly and didnt really no what to do but I drove it hard as hell for about 60miles and then when I started er up the next day it idled perfect. I have notice much better mpg and now it has more oommff everywhere, can rev more cleanly to redline without feeling choked at 6k. also I noticed at like 60-80 I can hear it whining like a little supercharger because of what I assume a ram air effect taking place? If I get a really good pull and it breathes deeply the noise is loud! lol, yeah it def gave alot better top end.

[Not Jo3L]

glad you noticed a difference. you cant beat free or very cheap mods like this.