Warm air intake on a Focus....

[California98Civic]

Found this from a 1990s Toyota 4runner parts supplier: AIR CLEANER. Fits: TOYOTA | Village Toyota Parts Seems the thermostatic air cleaner systems were around until quite recently. Know any on even more recent, perhaps OBD2, vehicles?

[CigaR007]

Proper engine bay insulation can increase the intake air temperature. That is what I am trying to achieve; some easily removable insulation blocks capable of retaining heat. I have noted a gain in terms of IAT; going from -2F to 16F when the engine is fully warmed.

[Olympiadis]

With a properly working OBD1 or OBD2 system it shouldn't matter if you have a MAF, MAP, or both.
The MAF and MAP are key in the fueling equation that determines what part of the fueling map the ECM uses; however, the O2 sensor always has the final say in determining the injector pulse-width that is executed. The adaptive fueling routine is applied last and calculates any fuel trims necessary to the final pulse-width value in order to stay within proper AFR range as determined by O2 sensor feedback.

It is true that many systems out there are not functioning 100% correctly, and so you will get many variations on your results.

The WAI does work on our 03 Focus, and especially so in cold weather.
As mentioned in an earlier post here, the loss of power (throttle response) due to the warmer air will indeed increase throttle resolution, thus making it easier to drive the vehicle while using the least amount of power necessary.
More throttle resolution means more gas pedal movement for less opening of the throttle blade. That can be a big help on some vehicles depending on the mechanical leverage of the throttle cable connection, and the internal design of the throttle bore. Some throttle bodies are designed for very snappy reponse with little throttle movement, and others are designed to be much less sensitive at very low throttle openings (right off idle).

WAI systems that I have tested in the past have worked extremely well on carbureted and TBI systems where fuel vaporization and distribution are poor.

As for pumping losses, I'm sure they are a little less in some cases, but I don't feel that is the primary source of fuel economy gain by using the WAI.
It seems to me that the heat increases the quality of fuel vaporization, and speeds up the burn in the chamber.

I have seen an instance where a WAI caused a significant loss in FE. It was an underpowered engine that was needing to do a lot of work, - load carrying and hill climbing. The loss in power from the WAI created a need for so much throttle that PE - Power Enrichment mode was invoked by the ECM, which enriches the mixture to between 11.5:1 and 12.5:1 AFR depending on the model. In this case it would have been extremely helpful to have a driver controlled valve to switch between CAI and WAI.

[Olympiadis]

Originally Posted by CigaR007

Proper engine bay insulation can increase the intake air temperature. That is what I am trying to achieve; some easily removable insulation blocks capable of retaining heat. I have noted a gain in terms of IAT; going from -2F to 16F when the engine is fully warmed.

I would like to see how you did yours.
I have had some ideas, but never did implement them.
There are a lot of factors to consider with something like that.

[mbrac]

I found my problem with not getting warm air into the Intake - it was a closure of the hose that I was using - I had it too close to the heat source - and it stated to melt close - once I solved that problem - I get consistant 60 degree temp into the intatake - so now I can go back to collecting data to analyze - glad I checked the hose first - I could have taken the whole setup off - hose last - only to find the problem at the end - just lucky I guess -

[ConnClark]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

Was that last line supposed to have a link? I'd like to see it, if so. And just as an FYI for readers who might not know, not all cars have EGR. Mine does not. What this all demonstrates is the need to know your car and test for results whenever there is substantial reason for doubt about a mod.

OOPS! I forgot the link.

http://www.swri.org/3pubs/ttoday/Sum...n-and-Cool.pdf

It should be noted that they get vague as to if they are comparing cooled EGR to no EGR or ordinary EGR In this article.

I have seen others papers on cooled EGR improving economy over ordinary hot EGR as well but they cost money.

“Doing More with Less� - The Fuel Economy Benefits of Cooled EGR on a Direct Injected Spark Ignited Boosted Engine

[Blacktree]

Originally Posted by Olympiadis

I have seen an instance where a WAI caused a significant loss in FE. It was an underpowered engine that was needing to do a lot of work, - load carrying and hill climbing. The loss in power from the WAI created a need for so much throttle that PE - Power Enrichment mode was invoked by the ECM, which enriches the mixture to between 11.5:1 and 12.5:1 AFR depending on the model. In this case it would have been extremely helpful to have a driver controlled valve to switch between CAI and WAI.

That is a very good point. If you reduce engine output to the point where the PCM is in PE mode a lot, your fuel economy will be wrecked.

Also note that some ECMs / PCMs are programmed to richen up the fuel mixture, if the air and/or coolant temperature gets too hot (presumably to prevent pre-ignition).

So there is a break-even point which you can accidentally cross, if you're not careful. That point will depend on the vehicle, and the ECM / PCM programming.

[Daox]

I dunno about other engines, but on all the (mostly Toyota) vehicles I've driven you have to darn near floor it AND hit some fairly high 3000+ rpms to go into fuel enrichment. Otherwise the engine lives in closed loop very happily.