Looks like a restriction to me. Just loose it. You have an air filter right? These engines need all the fresh air they can get. Just my two cents.

 

just ditch the entire intake box and slap a cone filter on the end of the maf tube with a new oring. been runnin great for almost 2 years now without a hitch.

 

I repaired the flexible duct using fiber reinforced aluminum foil type tape used for taping seams in aluminum duct work in your house. It is the same width as regular duct tape, just made of foil with fiber strands cris-crossing it. My duct was not completely separated yet, so it was a little easier to repair. I also used some on the inside as the fibers were coming apart. I heated it to get the glue to attach better, and now it has a smooth finish for the air to flow over inside the duct.

http://www.venturetape.com/images/P/1525CW-01.jpg

 

Gorilla tape fixes anything. That stuff is crazy strong. You could probably seal a headgasket with it. We've used it to patch grout hoses mid job and it's held up to 50+ psi! Won't give you the blinged out look of the venturetape though.

 

well it's certainly a restriction. by how much I don't know. i'm not sure about taking it off altogether...and the cone filters are controversial.

maybe i should just lose it.

 

When you figure that most old school cars sucked air from under the hood, and a D1 sucks it from behind the head light under the hood, and in slow traffic it is warm air going in there anyway... not much difference with or without. As for temp of incoming air, the IAT sensor (part of MAF on a D2) tells the ECU, so it can adjust fuel mix based on calculations so complex that our right feet can no longer be trusted with it. So the ECU will adjust fueling for the difference in IAT, what ever that may be. You can also see the IAT on an OBDII scanner, and see what difference, if any, is observed in a slow drive down the beach road, wreckless eyeballz on the scanner, not the herds of college females out for spring break and debauchery.

Has SWMBO noticed the pair of 50 power binoculars you keep in the truck?

 

you are always angling to get down here. how about you come down for a week or two, do both my headgaskets and a couple other little projects and i'll give you the keys to the beach apartment, a case of medalla and a bottle of Barrelito.

 

The contro to the cones is that some are rather oily and people say the can make the MAF fail prematurly. I'd say thats only true for people that by the wash n reuse ones, that have no idea how to properly reoil the filter. The filters are cheap enough that once they are ratty, they can go in the garbage, no use getting those expensive K&N jobbers.

I saw no increase in intake temps from stock pulling from fender of this one. You could really just slap some tinfoil wrapped cardboard around it and seal it up with silicone and make your own airshield from the engine bay, maybe cut some rubber hose in half and put it on the top and sides to seal against the hood... but in my own opinion it would be fun to design and fit, but a horrible waste of time lol.

when you take the airbox out, there is a very large diameter hole that opens up, plenty of air not circulating from around the headers will be comming up into that lol. if you do any deep water fording or alot of mud/sand play, you could easily seal up the hole with a circular piece of cut styrofoam, duct tape, sheetmetal and gasket maker, whatever. i dont go above the bottom of the door sill in water as it is, and ive never even had a drop of spray up in that hole, and i checked. plus, the filter ends up sitting a good 6 inchs or so higher then that anyway, or you could easily ziptie the intake tube higher, or to the side, or make a splash shield... lots of options

 

im trying to relocate my washer reservoir right now. it's tricky. maybe id have space with that mod.

and realistically that type of wading won't happen...unless there's a disaster.

 

It is part of the air filter compartment housing, I had to find mine at a junk yard, and mine broke upon installation, DO NOT flex this piece at all. It will break. Going to use your all's suggestion and do I nice little tape job. Tacky, but I am not going to purchase an entire knee air compartment for one component of it.