Hi Guys, I was just reading the DIY CAI article once agen, after reading this I feel like putting a CAI kit in my 2.4L TE…like always I have a few questions:

1) Has anyone had any problems with THSmoker’s DIY CAI kit? If so what kind of problems?
2) Do I really need an Oval Tapered K&N Pod filter or can I just use any regular pod filter?
3) I’ve never done this before, so should I leave this to someone else or should I give it a shot?

Cheers
Maddog

I am also very interested in the satisfaction TE Smoker's kit has given AM members.. and if any problems have arisen. Looking to install to my 3.5.

2) Do I really need an Oval Tapered K&N Pod filter or can I just use any regular pod filter?


Its widely regarded that if your mitsubishi vehichle is fitted with a MAF (i think) sensor (on my car it's a square thingy with a wiring harness attached which sits just behind the factory air box - and measures air flow) then you will need one of the 'oval' style pod filters.



3) I’ve never done this before, so should I leave this to someone else or should I give it a shot?
Cheers
Maddog
My advise would be to take a look under the bonnet of your car - If you can figure out an easy way of getting air from the lower corner of the front bar to the throttle body, are confident you can get your hands on the nessecary materials, can join them all together in an airtight fashion - and if nessecary, are confident enought to attempt to extend the wiring of the MAF sensor..... then go ahead - give it a try.
Not being familiar with the under bonnet area of a 2.4L, or If your car is a manual or auto - its hard to say how easy/hard it would be to pull off.

Having sort of answered 2 of the above questions, here's my dilema.
I on the other hand have a 3.5L with an auto box haning off it - and I WANT COLD AIR!!! :rant:

So I want to hear from anyone out there who has successfully installed a cold air induction setup for a 3.0/3.5L auto - either totally DIY or with the help of a local engineering firm.

I'm in the process of trying to come up with a design for a CAI for my vehicle consiting of 2x 2' pipes (aluminium or fibreglass - havent quite decided but leaning toward alloy for rigidity) running from each 'fog lamp' hole in my TJ bumper. The one on the far side will have to run between the radiator and the front header and thus will be insulated. Both pipes will need to be bent to fit - and will terminate just below the factory air box.

The 'third' piece will be a 2-into-1 joiner which will slot into the airbox where the factory 'scoop' slots currently - I'm leaning towards fibreglass for this piece as it should be easier to mold nice smooth bends. The pipes will be joined to the 'joiner' by that flexible silicone hose used in turbo installs (a bit dear but should last forever considering no 'boost' will be applied).

One factor I like about the proposed setup is that it should only take 20-30 minutes to turn it back into factory air intake - which will be ideal for weekends like that we just had up here in brisbane. No way I'd have taken a car with CAI out on the roads yesterday.

So.... any thoughts anyone???? like I said - I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who's done a DIY CAI on an auto

I'm confused why CAI on an auto is going to be any different to a manual?

I'm confused why CAI on an auto is going to be any different to a manual?

There's a big 'f*ck-off' auto transmission in the way. I've never paid much attention to under the bonnet of the manual's, but i know that RPW's CAI which is what a few members have modelled their DIY jobs on will not fit an auto.

There really isn't much room at all - I'm looking at having to cut a bit of the battery cover thingy to even get a 2' pipe down towards the bottom of the bumper on the throttle body side of the engine.

But like I said - I really want to hear from any auto owners who have managed to come up with a solution (like maybe a RPW style setup is possible using different piping or something??)

Unbelievable, I honestly thought TH Smokers DIY CAI would fit on the 3.5 auto, ****

Its widely regarded that if your mitsubishi vehichle is fitted with a MAF (i think) sensor (on my car it's a square thingy with a wiring harness attached which sits just behind the factory air box - and measures air flow) then you will need one of the 'oval' style pod filters.


My advise would be to take a look under the bonnet of your car - If you can figure out an easy way of getting air from the lower corner of the front bar to the throttle body, are confident you can get your hands on the nessecary materials, can join them all together in an airtight fashion - and if nessecary, are confident enought to attempt to extend the wiring of the MAF sensor..... then go ahead - give it a try.
Not being familiar with the under bonnet area of a 2.4L, or If your car is a manual or auto - its hard to say how easy/hard it would be to pull off.

Having sort of answered 2 of the above questions, here's my dilema.
I on the other hand have a 3.5L with an auto box haning off it - and I WANT COLD AIR!!! :rant:

So I want to hear from anyone out there who has successfully installed a cold air induction setup for a 3.0/3.5L auto - either totally DIY or with the help of a local engineering firm.

I'm in the process of trying to come up with a design for a CAI for my vehicle consiting of 2x 2' pipes (aluminium or fibreglass - havent quite decided but leaning toward alloy for rigidity) running from each 'fog lamp' hole in my TJ bumper. The one on the far side will have to run between the radiator and the front header and thus will be insulated. Both pipes will need to be bent to fit - and will terminate just below the factory air box.

The 'third' piece will be a 2-into-1 joiner which will slot into the airbox where the factory 'scoop' slots currently - I'm leaning towards fibreglass for this piece as it should be easier to mold nice smooth bends. The pipes will be joined to the 'joiner' by that flexible silicone hose used in turbo installs (a bit dear but should last forever considering no 'boost' will be applied).

One factor I like about the proposed setup is that it should only take 20-30 minutes to turn it back into factory air intake - which will be ideal for weekends like that we just had up here in brisbane. No way I'd have taken a car with CAI out on the roads yesterday.

So.... any thoughts anyone???? like I said - I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who's done a DIY CAI on an auto

hmmmm, interesting. I have been thinking whether i could be bothered / if there is any point, running a 2nd pipe from the far side fog light hole as you have described. I am thinking of doing it mostly for the look tho. I like everything looking symetrical. Of course i could just put a dummy pipe in there....buuuut that would be gay lol

Unbelievable, I honestly thought TH Smokers DIY CAI would fit on the 3.5 auto, ****

You make an interesting point... now that I've read the article, the related discussion, and TH smokers profile again - It appears you may be right. TH smokers car (R.I.P) was a Auto and in the subsequent discussion, he claims that a kit could be made up to fit a TJ - so in theory, any 3rd gen auto ('cept AWD's) shouldn't be a problem. There definetly was space constraints tho'.

Although it did look like the pod he installed wasn't a 'oval' one. The other interesting thing he mentioned was that he removed the 'plastic guard' behind the bottom of the bumper to fit the thing - no mention was made of wether it could be put back on. I wouldn't feel real confident driving around with an exposed pod filter that close to the ground - oiled or not.

The other interesting thing he mentioned was that he removed the 'plastic guard' behind the bottom of the bumper to fit the thing - no mention was made of wether it could be put back on. I wouldn't feel real confident driving around with an exposed pod filter that close to the ground - oiled or not.

i hacked the sh!t out of the plastic crap in there to get my PVC pipe through :P
Pretty sure u can take it out tho, but it would be fiddly

Hey guy's

YES cai can be fitted to an auto
sounds like most of you guy's have'nt seen this yet!!!
DIY CAI (http://members.dodo.net.au/~thsmoker/cai/diycai.html)

now with the "K&N oval filter" WHY do people say you MUST have one????
its all about how good your MAF reads the air flow

the trouble with the normal pod is there is swirl before the maf, witch give's your maf a bad reading of air
here's a dodge pic

Chris

I had trouble installing my CAI setup. The pod wouldnt fit near the guard with the maf connected.
I'll give it another go of fitting it once the weather warms up.

now with the "K&N oval filter" WHY do people say you MUST have one????
its all about how good your MAF reads the air flow

the trouble with the normal pod is there is swirl before the maf, witch give's your maf a bad reading of air
here's a dodge pic

Chris

Thanks Chris, I was hoping you'd pop your head into this topic and shed some light on a few things. So exacltly what type of pod filter did you use if it wasn't the K&N oval filter - your diagram shows that, unlike standard pod's yours doesn't 'swirl' the air. Where are these filters available from, and how to they compare price wise to the K&N model??


I had trouble installing my CAI setup. The pod wouldnt fit near the guard with the maf connected.
I'll give it another go of fitting it once the weather warms up.

Was it a DIY kit like TH butchers? a RPW kit? or a completely custom job?

Do you suppose the design of the VRX front bar would be a restriction in installing one of these style CAI's?

I'm all confused now as to wether I should persist with my original plan of ducting 2x 2' pipes into the standard air box from directly behind the fog lamp holes. I assume there will be a bit of extra 'ram' effect from having the pipes directly in line with the 'holes' in the bumper and I will of course be fitting a K&N panel filter to the factory air box to improve flow.

I even toyed with the idea of replacing the factory air box with one from a different make of car (3rd Gen holden V8's have a much larger air box) - but when I thought more about it - the surface area of the panel filter probably wouldn't be the most restrictive part of the set up anyway. Anyone disagree??

that ram air effect is negilable.... especially for normal driving there will be bugger all pressure.... if u were doing 200km/hr u might get a little but i doubt u would notice it...
youd be better off putting a high powered computer fan in your induction pipe rather then trying to use ram air effect.
or get an actual ram pod instead of the crappy k&n ones....
ram pods have a huge opening and it tapers down to the size of your piping and this speeds up the air flow.
use an unoiled filter like an apexi or a blitz give u more flow then a k and n one.....
it depends on your priorities.... if u want best filtration then flow will be scarificed and vice versa

Thanks Chris, I was hoping you'd pop your head into this topic and shed some light on a few things. So exacltly what type of pod filter did you use if it wasn't the K&N oval filter - your diagram shows that, unlike standard pod's yours doesn't 'swirl' the air. Where are these filters available from, and how to they compare price wise to the K&N model??

the filter is a simota, made for the galant and is almost half the price as an K&N
i got mine from autobahn

at the same time before my crash i had a **** pod on and it made no differnce, had no trouble at all, but some cars do!!
(my simota had a little prang with a gutter, full lock in R, shhhh :redface: )

chris

Before we all get TOO carried away, the CAI is only good for a couple of kw - not the bonecrunching output some people think their going to get.

POD or Panel?? Both are fine and I am about to do both to my TF manual and TJ2 AWD auto.

My TF has the K&N panel filter and I will simply route PVC 100mm from the front left bumper to the intake oval hole of the stock airbox. The panel filter improved fuel economy and response noticably alone before any CAI. I have a paint stripping heat gun and have 'borrowed' a quantity of PVC pipe in numerous sizes to play with. I will paint the exterior of the pvc with bitumen spray (Powerplus(?) from BigW or Autobarn etc) to retard heat.

My TJ AWD has other problems: there ain't much room at all - barely room for a 50mm line let alone twin 50's. The key is obviouly volume vs flow rate vs flow distance vs flow turbulence.

I'm going to leave the pod (K&N oval) in place along with the location of the air sensor and run the CAI pipe firstly upto the intake size of the stock airbox as per my TF. I need to put some plastic shielding below and to the sides of the pod to reduce hot air intake from the engine bay. I may need to remove the front airbox shield completely and place a funnel outlet AROUND the contour of the pod. I have plenty of pipe to play with so I will try a few settings during the week and report :cool:

Guess like many other AM forum members have said, mods are relative to eachother.
More mods, more the car and other shi& can take effect.

Though i've gone out and am going to make a CAI kit with TH Smokers kit and the K&N pod I bought on the forum yesterday. I'll post comprehensive effects of what the CAI does to performance.

Okey doke, well I've had another go at installing TH Smokers CAI setup and got it all in nicely now.
The induction noise sounds really really nice, especially underload, and I've noticed an increase in midrange acceleration. Did I mention the induction noise sounds ****ing nice? Makes me want to floor it all the time.

I'll post some pics once I get my webspace back, hopefully late tonight/tomorrow.

My dad is a bit worried about water getting in, I'm considering rigging up some sort of sheild for underneath as I live in lovely Arthurs Creek, with lovely dirt roads.

TH Smokers kit does fit on TJ's, mine being the VR-X variety.
For those looking at TH Smokers kit, I bought some 16mm wire shroud to cover the wire when extending the MAF down. I also purchased some 370mm x 7.6mm zip ties, because while I was zip tying everything in place, one snapped. So I bought the thickest I could. Don't want my pod dragging out the back.

Car definatly revs more and pulls more.

*EDIT*

BTW, for smokers kit, you definatly wanna borrow someones ramps. Makes it a ****load easier when cutting the guard and what not.


http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~n0fear/My%20Car/CAI/Picture%20019%20(Small).jpg
http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~n0fear/My%20Car/CAI/Picture%20020%20(Small).jpg
http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~n0fear/My%20Car/CAI/Picture%20021%20(Small).jpg

Nice work n0fy!!! I like it!....since i finish tafe in a few weeks i mite give it a shot on my break.... :D

wicked job mate i hope your happy with it,
the induction noise is awsome is realy good i luv it, real throty
ill take note of those 370mm x 7.6mm zip ties, how many did you use?
is it still in primer or did you paint it? looks kinda the same color
have ya taken her out at night yet?

oh and as for the water thing chonga and i are doing a mod useing the stock snorkle hopefuly monday, ill keep ya posted

Nice. ill get working. is there anyone who wants a k&n panel. ive only had it for 3 weeks. its in its box and i want $100 for it? private msg me for info

wicked job mate i hope your happy with it,
the induction noise is awsome is realy good i luv it, real throty
ill take note of those 370mm x 7.6mm zip ties, how many did you use?
is it still in primer or did you paint it? looks kinda the same color
have ya taken her out at night yet?

oh and as for the water thing chonga and i are doing a mod useing the stock snorkle hopefuly monday, ill keep ya posted

Used 5 of the 370mm x 7.6mm zip ties. Yeah didn't bother painting it either. hehe.