I read a lot about air intakes & checked them out on e-bay.

Can someone please explain to me the difference of the air intakes over the stock box type filter? Also I see advertised air intakes & cold air intakes - are they different or is this just terminology? Also I see on e-bay there are claims of better performance & economy. Is there really any advantage? and if so, who's system is best?

P.S. Please excuse my lack of mechanical knowledge but the last time I actually worked on a car was back in the60's/70's. Since then I always had company cars & left maintenance & repairs to the dealers (mostly Toyota) & that was when I lived in South Africa & England.

 

Yes aftermarket air-intakes are better than the stock box type intake. The filter area is greatly increased and the restrictive filter box is removed allowing the intake to pull more air into the motor. Think of the motor as a glorified air pump. The more air in and out of the motor the better it will run. Changing over to a new aftermarket air-intake should give you a mild performance gain. The two popular brands are AEM and K&N. The AEM has a dry filter while the K&N has an oiled filter to trap dirt. The K&N filter can be washed and re-oiled many times but I'm not sure how the AEM can be cleaned. I personally have the K&N but their are complaints about the oil coming out of the filter a messing up the mass airflow sensor. Really as I see it, it comes do to which one you like the looks of or can afford. Also make sure the one that you might end up with comes with a heat shield. As to air-intakes vs. cold air-intakes, cold air intake pull air in from out side the engine compartment which the cooler air helps make more power. Other wise it's probally just a different name for the same thing.

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Thanks for the reply Adam.

I have checked out the intakes on e-bay & there are 2 possibilities as I see it.

ChromeIintakes & EautoTuning @ US$17.98 but have no heat shield.

Imperial auto shop @ UD$39.95 with the heat shield. This one is preferred simply because it is black & has the heat shield. (I'm not a fan of chrome)

I'm not sure what filter they supply.

Bearing in mind my Blazeris RHD & the engine addons are all laid out differently (as far as I can make out), I think it willstill fit. I'll need to ask the question before bidding.

 

i looked on ebay for those and have the chrome intakes one. its pretty much worth what you pay for so dont expect great things from it. I got it and was not too happy with its quality and should have just fronted the money for a kn cai kit.

 

Thanks for that. I didsee at the K&N one as well.

 

On a 2nd Gen Blazer they use a MASS AIR SYSTEM. That system if I understand right ties the air & fuel together. If you have a large volume of air, the mass air will not give you gas until it checks with the computer to check throttle position. From my limited experience with computers add ons really don't help as much as people claim or think. IMO the best improvement you can make is rechipping the computer. Then maybe you will see improvements with intakes & exhaust. There is an old school saying that says MORE AIR IN WITH MORE EXHAUST OUT = MORE GAS. Aftermarket intake systems run $200-$300. You better get a pretty good increase in mileage to pay for that cost.

 

Thanks for that.

Add another $150 (about) for shipping to New Zealand = $400-$450 & translated to Kiwi $ will be around NZ$600. Thats a heck of alot to pay for possibly minimal gain. I'll need to re-consider.
Need first to get the dealer to identify CEL code (transmission related) which they can only do on the 31st. (There is nobody else here who can check these codes) although since the light came on the truck has behaved very well).

 

The MAF sensor senses the amount of air coming in, to that you are correct. This is only one input into the PCM that is used to determine the proper amount of fuel to inject and what kind of timing advance to use. The IAT (intake air temp) sensor, MAP (manifold absolute pressure) sensor, MAF (mass air flow) sensor, TPS (throttle position sensor), the upstream HO2S (B1S1/B2S1 heated oxygen sensors), CKP (crank position) sensor, CMP (camshaft position) sensor, ECT (engine coolant temp) sensor, and the knock sensor all have a bearing on the PCM controlled outputs (IPW, STFT, LTFT, timing advance, etc).

Anytime you free up restriction in a motor, you increase its efficiency. While more flow through a motor does require a corresponding rise in fuel required, the gain in efficiency of the motor results in better mileage, thus, less fuel over the same distance, holding ALL other variables constant. You are forgetting that there is one thing that limits the air flow into the motor, the throttle body. What you are doing by freeing up the intake restrictions is allowing the motor to draw air past the throttle body with less effort. Anything that you can do to free up restriction before the throttle body will only help, however small the increase might be!

Now, a good tune will enhance things for sure as the factory tune is on the conservative side, but if used in conjunction, an intake (possibly a cat-back exhaust) and a tune will complement each other well.

If you go from 15MPG to 16MPG (for instance) at a fuel cost of $3.48/gal (as it was this morning), you are going from $0.23/mile to $0.22/mile. IF the intake cost you $250 (yikes), it would be paid for in 25,000 miles. Same goes for any modification (intake, PCM, etc) that gains you mileage. I'm not one to throw on a K&N FIPK cause of the name. I have used drop in K&N filters and home made intakes (with sealed heat sheilds <-- very important) in many of my vehicles with good results. My old Bravada had a drop in and the pay back was pretty short (10k miles IIRC which at the time was <4 months). When the filter needs replacing in my Rainier, it will get a drop in and I will probably make up my own pipe from the factory filter housing. It already has a rather large round filter that costs $25 as it is - the K&N costs $60 - Amsoil EaA filter costs $50. Both K&N & Amsoil are cleanable and the Amsoil filter filters better.

One thing to note with any aftermarket oiled air filter is that the oil can coat the MAF sensor elements, causing incorrect readings. Keep the MAF clean!

 

Wow! ok that's a lot to take in but in short if any of these systems can increase my consumption (& performance) from 12mpg to anything around 15mpg I'll be happy.
I think at around a $40 spend it will be worth my while exploring this route & see whatresults I get.
I'll check locally & see if K&N or AMSOIL filters are available without having to import them. Theonly filters I have seen locallyis FRAM but I don't know if it is a local or international based company. There may be others I'll investigate Saturday.