need help making a hai (hot air intake for 1998 Saturn SL2)
 

I'm wanting to put a hai on my 98 saturn sl2. please someone explain to me how to do t his. Keep it in simple terms. I dont know much about this. Stuff so I'm at a loss. I understanf why to do the mod just now exactly how to build it for maximum effect. I appreciates it guys have a good one.

It depends on the engine a little, but here is the general idea: find your air filter box, usually on top of the engine, then find the intake tube that leads to it, about 2 inches diameter and usually black. Investigate how to detach the tube from the air filter box. They usually can be detached, but it might feel like a hassle to get it off when you are new to this. Now find the exhaust manifold (where the exhaust pipes exit the engine. (CAREFUL: make sure you do not touch the pipes without checking that they are not too hot!) Figure out the best route from the air filter box to the exhaust manifold for a pipe like the one you detached (getting to within a foot and preferable over the exhaust manifold will be enough). Now, take the intake tube you detached to the hardware store and more or less match its inner diameter to some plastic plumbing pipe or flexible foil type hose used for HVAC purposes (what exactly you get will depend on the route you identified). Affix that tube to the air filter box in a secure manner (engine shaking can knock pretty tight fittings loose, so make it tighter than it seems to need just to attach it and not have it fall off.

I hope that helps.

james

hey thanks. I guess I should of clarified im new to this hai. I am a motor head and do know quite a bit about cars in general. Thank You for keeping it simple though. My air box has the opening. To suck the air from the front and the side of the air box has the resonator. What confuses me is the two opening the resonator and the opening to suck air.

the resonator should have one push pin in it that holds the resonator to the upper radiator support. once you remove the push pin, the part of the resonator going into the air box is just a round tube that will slide out. once you have the resonator removed you can block off the existing air inlet, one right behind the headlight. now you will be pulling all your air through the hole on the lower passenger side of the airbox, which would already be slightly warmer. from this point its up to you to fabricate some tubing to feed air from near the exhaust manifold to that hole on the airbox.

i've personally HAD a hot air intake on mine. when built to pull significant heat at highway speeds / air consumption, after the car was warmed up and i get stuck idling in traffic the car ran very poorly. so i've removed mine until i make some sort valve to be able to change my air intake source.

So you didnt like your hai? What would be the easiest cheapest way to hook a hose to the hole where the resonator. The hole is alot smaller. Won't that have a negative effect

dakota1820 -

This is a good thread on the subject :

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...akes-7602.html

Here is mine from the above thread :

http://ecomodder.com/forum/98579-post11.html
http://ecomodder.com/forum/98804-post13.html

Here is where I got the idea :

Modified air intake for hot air added 7.2% to mpg - SaturnFans Forums

CarloSW2

I am going to cut the air filter box somehow. Where the resonator goes in. Where should I re route my iats to?

in the path of the air.... i was lazy w/ mine since i was experimenting before going whole hog. pulled the sensor out, figured out how big of a hole i needed to be able to push the iat and connector through, and with the length of wire available (witch wasn't much as i didn't unravel the harness) picked a spot on the front side of the air box as close to the passenger side as i could be to drill a hole through and let the sensor dangle through, hanging by the wire.

i only ran a couple tanks like this, probably should do something better for long term use

I think im going to lengthen the iats and cut the factory intake hose slide the iats in and get some quick steel to glue it in real good? Sound like a decent idea? Also does it need to be in a certain position close to the end of the hose or closer to the throttle body?

if you mean the hose between the air box lid and the throttle body i wouldn't. just because it creates a greater opportunity for dirt to get sucked into the engine sometime down the road, and i figured being in the air box before the air filter was more similar to the original location anyway

Its the only place to put it unless I put it in the hose between the box and the exhaust manifold. But its a dryer hose it doesn't cut it just rips like foil.

http://imgur.com/TUQAf.jpg. here is my hai. What do you guys think? Cost 6 bucks to make.

dakota1820 -

Looks good to me, but I wonder if it will have trouble circumventing the coolant hose?!?!?

CarloSW2

What do you mean?

dakota1820 -

If it's installed and working, then there's no issue. Uninstalled it just "looks" like it would hit the hose to the left of the air filter box.

CarloSW2

My version, installed on a 96 Saturn SL:
http://members.lsol.net/gop4evr/unlinked/100_3895.jpg

http://members.lsol.net/gop4evr/unlinked/100_3895.jpg

I removed the resonator and plugged the original intake tube. As you can see, I used plain old 2" pvc drain pipe and installed the IAT sensor in the new intake. The small diameter tube works well when driving for better fuel economy. I did not box it in to capture more heat around the intake manifold, but this seems to have a noticeable effect, and it is a clean installation.

My mpg has been slipping lately. It needs a thermostat and the plugs have enough miles on them, plus I have not been as attentive in my economy driving techniques of late. Lifetime average is still over 41 though, with a high of 49.6 on one long trip.

It will heat up quicker and get hotter if its insulated. My latest one is insulated all the way from the manifold to the throttle body. I think an IAT temp in the airbox of about 150f is good.

I also think the hot intake tubing looks large and would have problems getting by the radiator hose on my SC1

Sorry, this message board won't allow me to post any pictures

I think another point that needs to be considered is the diameter of the tubing. Not just for clearance issues with other hoses, etc., but because of the low air volume being used in economy driving. In my picture above you can just see the large (4") feeder tube going between the air filter box and the throttle body. The high volume of air that this large pipe holds is counterproductive to what we are trying to accomplish, in that the air has time to cool again before it actually gets into the cylinders. It seems to me that the smaller cross section would help keep the velocity of the airstream high enough to avoid heat losses, thus requiring less insulation. The way I figure it, the throttle body on my car has an opening of around 2", so anything larger than that is overkill on the intake diameter. Of course, this line of thinking is in opposition to conventional theories, but we're not concerned with horsepower. I am willing to tolerate slight performance sacrifices (within safety margins) in trade for fuel economy. And of course, not to be too restrictive so as to starve it for air.

And it may not matter that much on the Saturn. The main thing as far as the Saturn engine management system is concerned is to achieve a higher temperature at the IAT so the ECU leans out the mix accordingly. To do that, you need to get the warm air from the heat source to the IAT before it cools significantly. To me this means tubing no larger than is practical. I know I could do some plenum and insulation work on mine to bring it up some, but this is a low budget operation, and I have no scanguage or anything to monitor the actual intake air temp. The last thing I want to do is lean it to the point of some kind of internal damage. Since I can't monitor it, I am staying conservative on my mods.

A digital oven thermometer can give you a temp reading. If the temp gets too hot, accelerating performance turns crappy, and spark retards. Fuel economy actually drops if it gets too hot (it was terrible at 195f). My current version has a flapper valve to control hot or cold airflow to keep it from getting too hot.

Insulating the whole thing and then covering/sealing it up with duct tape solved the heat loss problem for me.

Thriftee....I would like to know more about the flapper valve you have set up to control intake temp.

It allows airflow from hot or cold or both and is controlled mechanically, but could be controlled by stepper motor or choke type cable.

But if you are going to control it, you'd want to know the temp in the box

I know the Scangauge type devices have that ability, but the only cheap way i can think of to get it is from a digital temp probe

I have a similar set up on my 2000 SC1. I did not have to insulate the airbox. I monitor the IAT with a scangauge. I normally see temps around 165º to 185º. Those temps occur after 20~25 minutes of my normal commuting, 60%"city" driving.
PS: Thriftee - there is another person doing a blend door setup on another site. Search for "cheapybob" ;>) :cool:

Does this also work on carbs?

You would need to reduce the amount of fuel to match the reduced amount of oxygen in the warmer air, but make sure it doesn't get too lean.

Maybe the venturi effect would do that by itself because the air would be thinner?

Or maybe it would appear to be running rich?

Do carbs have to be adjusted to feed less fuel for higher altitudes? If they do, then the same thing might apply.

I've never tried it or seen it tried...

According to this, at least these Weber carbs need to be rejetted for high altitude...

OER Carb. 1 818 764-1901