hot intake problem?

[3rdchild]

This may be a dumb question but...

The other day i notice that my aluminum cold air intake pipe is really hot - temperature-wise. To hot to touch. I was wondering is this normal? If not then something must be wrong and i can only suspect that its probably robbing me of power.

[orestes]

Info necessary to answer the question: Year, Make, Model, Specific Cold Air intake, other engine mods, etc.

They can get hot - most of the time it wont matter, if you have some crappy rigged-up setup routed where its not supposed to, then you could have a problem. But Injen and other brands say the heat of the aluminum is not enough to show up on a dyno vs. stock or carbon fiber or whatever.

[AWDSR20]

the hard fact of cold intake on the KA's.... there all hot.. by the time air arives at the throtle body, it will be hot at that point.

BTW it is normal...

[SHIFT_KA24DE]

well the reason for the aluminum piping to begin with is to transfer the heat of the air to the atmosphere VIA the metal (which has low insulation properties). So the heat needs to go through the metal first... that's why it's hot. Plus the longer the intake piping is the more effective it is (larger surface area). But at the same time will reduce the responsiveness of the air induction flow. (hence, the short ram intake... but i don't think that makes much of a difference, personally)

[monooxide]

Heat is measured in Joules your Intake is pulling air fast enough by there that it wont change in temperature...take for example....If you blow air over a HOT HOT piece of meat does the air change in temperature(by more then 1-2 degrees?)? No it doesnt. It doesnt have enough time to change the air with the 35 J that may have transferred into the air... Your intake is damned close to your radiator(maybe touching) so if it wasnt hot i dont know what to tell you...

[R.W.240]

Originally Posted by orestes

Info necessary to answer the question: Year, Make, Model, Specific Cold Air intake, other engine mods, etc.

how is that nessicary to awnswer is question?


yes. the aluminum will heat up, moreso on KA intakes since they run right near the radiator. in most cases where you want more power (i.e. full throttle) it wont matter since the air is traveling too fast to heat up any noticable amount. it you really care about 1 degree of IAT you can paint it Silver or gold to reflect heat better... or get that wrap stuff that ties on...

if you really care about Intake Air temp find someone to make a plastic Manifold gasket the S2000 guys say it works wonders.

[AWDSR20]

Originally Posted by SHIFT_KA24DE

well the reason for the aluminum piping to begin with is to transfer the heat of the air to the atmosphere VIA the metal (which has low insulation properties). So the heat needs to go through the metal first... that's why it's hot. Plus the longer the intake piping is the more effective it is (larger surface area). But at the same time will reduce the responsiveness of the air induction flow. , personally)

DUDE, ur dead wrong... u think Al is absorbing the heat from the engine bar, hence reducing the heat of the air? WHAAAT???

put it this way, try to suck cold drink out of a straw, easy right and its cold. now do it but make the straw HOT, u will suck hot air.

back to the point, the air intake on the KA is mounted on TOP of the engine, and i air has to travel ACROSS the engine to the throttle. SO air at that point gets hot.

BTW: AL is used bcus its lighter and it cools quick, BUT Al heats up quick too.... (u could use Cu but people what shinny stuff!)

larger surfce area makes for more HOT Al, hence, hot air.. its cool dough, ur engine is ment to run that way.

[AWDSR20]

btw, longer air intake, more eror in the reading of air.
my MAF, is gone... i have Fcon, you sould have seen how BAD the reading from the MAF that i had.
by the time air is reached to the throtl body, the reading will be totally diff from the inital reading by the MAF.

so... MAF FAR AWAY from the throttle, BAD reading (the air Accelerating Velocity changes), Al piping, even worth... the temp changes Drematiclly too, (not that it didn't change bfr) .

[slideways...]

MAF too close to TB = bad reading also
i tried it on my old sentra and it kicked out a CE light if the MAF was too close.

[SHIFT_KA24DE]

Originally Posted by AWDSR20

DUDE, ur dead wrong... u think Al is absorbing the heat from the engine bar, hence reducing the heat of the air? WHAAAT???

put it this way, try to suck cold drink out of a straw, easy right and its cold. now do it but make the straw HOT, u will suck hot air.

back to the point, the air intake on the KA is mounted on TOP of the engine, and i air has to travel ACROSS the engine to the throttle. SO air at that point gets hot.

BTW: AL is used bcus its lighter and it cools quick, BUT Al heats up quick too.... (u could use Cu but people what shinny stuff!)

larger surfce area makes for more HOT Al, hence, hot air.. its cool dough, ur engine is ment to run that way.

i think if you read my comment again you'd notice i didn't say that the Al is absorbing the heat... the atmosphere is.. the Al just acts as the medium to exhange the heat during the process.

fyi... straws are made out of plastic. plastic is an insulator. (used to keep heat/cold in.. not through) (i.e.- thermo cups, electrical wire sleeves, and that polyester/cotton sweater your grandma gave you last X-mas) ... and how do you make straw hot? wouldn't it just melt? Additionally, you place an Aluminum spoon in your hot drink to cool it down faster... hence, the heat transfer from your drink... to the atmosphere... try compare that with a plastic spoon...

you just restated what i said "Al cools quick and heat up quick too..." obviously... if it doesn't, it'll just trap all the heat in. anyway, no point arguing about thermodynamics... it'll just keep on going. let's get back on the subject.

[SHIFT_KA24DE]

Originally Posted by AWDSR20

btw, longer air intake, more eror in the reading of air.

i think i mentioned that...

Originally Posted by SHIFT_KA24DE

...But at the same time will reduce the responsiveness of the air induction flow. (hence, the short ram intake

so anyway, yes it is normal. No worries.

[AWDSR20]

its all goodo bro! lol!