Summer Time Heat & CAI

thefrantic1 · 06-06-2008, 01:00 PM

i have touched on this subject a few times but now since its 95+ degrees outside i need to figure things out. this is my first new modded car. all others have been carburated. i have a steeda cold air intake. obviously the reasoning behind the cai is more and cooler air makes more power. now summer heat and traffic is here. if i am stopped at a long stop light(5 minutes+) or at a drive through when i first take off the car is dead. no power at all. i would say a 80% power loss. i could floor it and go nowhere. as soon as i get going and get some outside air coming in it clears out until the next lenghty stop. it doesnt do it at short stops. when stopped with no outside air coming in and just hot engine compartment air being sucked into the intake is when it acts up. i know exactly when it will do it.

ok now is that common with cai's? do i need to put my stock air box on in the summer? is there a way to vent the hood of the engine heat without rain water getting in? do i need to move to canada where its never hot? ok just joking on that one. has anyone else had this type of problem?? thanks for any positive info..

acascianelli · 06-06-2008, 02:15 PM

I've never experienced anything like this. It's in the upper 80's today and I was stuck in traffic this afternoon and I didn't notice any hesitation.

blackS197 · 06-06-2008, 03:20 PM

I think its all in your mind. You are going to lose power to heat but not as much as you are saying. I live in so cal and it gets pretty hot. Engine temps should not be different from your CAI and stock. IF you had boost another story.

thefrantic1 · 06-06-2008, 03:51 PM

well i definately know its not in my mind. i fully understand some power loss with hot air. this is a temporary 80% power loss. i couldnt outrun a escort when it happens. the reasoning behind this tread is to see if anyone else has or has had this problem. there is no doubt its a warmer temp situation. roughly 75 degrees or cooler doesnt do it at all. the warmer the temp the worse it is. its 96 here today and i was stuck at a lenghty light & went to take off and it barely had any power. i floored it and nothing but sound. once i did get it going with some outside air coming in it cleared up. with the stock air box on i have no problems other than a little less power.

jlaurens06gt · 06-06-2008, 04:51 PM

I have the same cai and have never had that happen. It was almost 90 here today and expected to be 95+ this weekend.

Whose tunes are you using? You could try another tune and see if the samesymptoms persist.

thefrantic1 · 06-06-2008, 05:35 PM

i have a sct tune i purchased from steeda. i would have to reformat the tuner to accept another tune. i lose the other tune at that point. also dont have the moolah to get a 2nd tuner. this is just a weird thought. i have a cervinis hood which has a large buldge in the center. the driver front edge of the buldge overlaps on the cai. obviously heat rises so the engine heat along with the warmer outside heat sitting up in the buldge is being sucked into the cai instead of a stock or different hood the heat escapes differently. other than this the car runs great.no check engine light, missing or anything. just thinking its something weird like that. thats all i can come of with right now.

febigblock · 06-07-2008, 09:27 AM

I have the same problem. I live in upstate NY, and it was 90 yesterday. The car ran like crap. 2007 Black on Black GT. I bought it new and its bare naked stock. 7000 miles on it. It almost seemed like a plugged cat converter but as soon as I could get on the open road it got better. I noticed an increase in exhuast sound, much louder than when it runs normal. I found a thread on the truck forum that said the 3V heads on the trucks were experiencing this problem and the dealers were reflashing the PCM to cure it. I made my appt for Wednesday and I'll let you know what they do. Also, I watched my mpg drop 3mpg while it was running like crap.

howarmat · 06-07-2008, 09:41 AM

as been discussed many times before the cars get heat soaked easily. You will notice some loss in power, but not that much. If you arent exaggerating then you have something else wrong with the car.

Also, you can load 3 tunes on that tuner and its $50 for a new tune from a place like Bama, VMP and 75 for Brenspeed

ski · 06-07-2008, 11:38 AM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: thefrantic1

this is just a weird thought. i have a cervinis hood which has a large buldge in the center. the driver front edge of the buldge overlaps on the cai. obviously heat rises so the engine heat along with the warmer outside heat sitting up in the buldge is being sucked into the cai instead of a stock or different hood the heat escapes differently.

Maybe it's not so wierd. The flexible rubber on the top of your CAI's heat shield is designed to form a tight seal against the underside of a stock hood. If the problem is not happening with the stock airintake, then perhapsthe CAI is notmaking a tight seal due to the Cervini hood's design.
Did you do any data logging of the IAT(inlet air temperature) for the CAI and the stock air intake? If not, then doing so may give you some insight into the cause. Members of this and other Mustang forums have performed IAT data logging with the stock intake vs. several different CAI's, and the results show that the IAT not only increased atslower rates, but also reached a lower max temperatureswith the CAI's when their cars were at a standstill with the engine idling for long periods. If your results show the IAT increases at a faster rate and reaches a higher max temperature with the CAI as compared to the stock intakeforthe samegiven time period, thenthe CAI is probably not making a goodseal withyour hood.
Another way to check the effectiveness of the CAI's rubber seal with your hood is to apply a substance that readily leaves a mark when lightly touched(soft white chalk, thin layer of Vaseline, etc.) to the rubber seal, and see if it makes a mark along its entire length on the underside of the hood.

thefrantic1 · 06-07-2008, 02:46 PM

thanks everyone for all the info. its a nice and toasty 98 degrees here today so i have been trying some things on the car. a mustang buddy said he felt it was the tune. i made several adjustments with no improvement. i decided to switch the steeda elbow back to the stock elbow. i had heard of problems with them. no fix.

then i put the stock air box back on but keep the tune other than changing air box parameter back to stock. no problems at all. the car runs fine. so its no doubt a cai problem. everything looks sealed and tight on the box. its seems to come down to too much heat getting to the cai. i am notexaggerating at all about the power loss. its extreme. when it does it i can floor it and be passed by a moped. no kidding.

its a good possibility it is the design of the hood. i will try to check the seal as ski suggested. does anyone on here have the cervinis c-series hood? i'd be interested to find out if they had similar issues. thanks again for all the input from everyone.