My WAI

[GasSavers_maximilian]

A much stronger and more thorough blower test came to the same conclusion: only the box with the tiny hole, which I'm assuming is the resonator. So now I need to figure out why the temperatures are so low. There are a few possibilities, none of which are mutually exclusive:

1) Not that hot under the manifold shield (at least now that I've moved it out slightly)
2) My adapter is lousy
3) Heat losses in fairly long intake path
4) More air is getting sucked through that tiny hole than I think

The adapter gets pretty darned hot, but I've never measured it. I should try to put my oven thermometer in the intake pipe right after the adapter. It doesn't change instantly so I'd have time to get it out and read it after stopping as long as I'm quick about it.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Did the thermometer test and with a IAT of 138 F (was warm today) the thermometer a few inches behind the adapter read just over 200 F. So I guess I can rule out causes 1 and 2. The ducting is very long and most of it is inaccessible so I can't insulate it. Warranty means I can't modify the air box to reroute the hose and replacing it seems like it may not be worth the effort. I'll try taping over that tiny hole, but it really is so small as to be silly as an explanation.

I did a little measuring and the intake path is a little over four feet until it hits the air box. About half of that is accessible, so that's something.

[theholycow]

What about changing the duct material to something that's naturally insulating or something pre-insulated?

[GasSavers_maximilian]

That's possible for the 2' that I added, but the factory ducting would be tough. I could yank the battery and fuse box and replace it, but that makes warranty reversal a problem (I'm sensing a theme...). I'll give the exposed part a shot though. I wonder what's available in such a small size?

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Switching to a smaller duct might help too, since this one has twice the flow area I need. I could have 40% less exposed surface area if I used one that was just big enough. Have to keep an eye open for ducting.

Hey, what about that foil backed bubble wrap stuff? I have some of it kicking around and I could tape it on with a bit of effort. In fact I might be able to slip sheets behind some of the factory ducting to partially insulate it in a removable manner. I know it won't melt now!

[GasSavers_BEEF]

I would worry about the buble wrap melting.

I used flexible exhaust pipe. it comes in an assortment of diameters and though it isn't that flexible, it does give you some lee-way. I can't say whether it would work or not, it may be something to look into. it is pretty thick too so it takes a while for it to heat soak and start losing heat out of it. and I think I paid less than $10 for it at O'reileys auto parts (they have them at advance and autozone, O'reileys was just closer to me)

[GasSavers_maximilian]

The good news is it doesn't melt (I figured it wouldn't be the end of the world so tossed it on there) and it cost me nothing and was easy. The bad news is that insulating the exposed section did nothing to raise final temps. I tossed my cooking thermometer in the air box just to get a second opinion and it agreed (well enough) with the SG2. Warranty issues restrict me from doing too much more, except covering that tiny hole in the resonator.

If I could modify the air box it'd be easy to reduce the pipe to about 19" or so. Drat.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

As expected covering the tiny hole in the resonator had no impact. I'm going to poke around under the fuse box and battery and see if I can slip some insulation in there so that it's either invisible or can be removed quickly.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Had to remove a lot more stuff than I expected to gain access, but I managed to slip insulation around the whole duct in a removable way. The close quarters allowed me to just shove it in without tape. Also surrounded the air box mostly (some gaps). I just cut a shaped piece for the bottom and put it inside since there's plenty of clearance. I also taped over the duct opening leading to the resonator in case the joints are leaky. Fingers crossed, because this is about all I can do warranty-wise.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Took it for a questionably necessary errand run and I did gain a few degrees: peak of 141 F with an ambient of 68 F, but that was after a very long hill climb after getting fully up to temperature. On the way down the other side it went down to 107 F. I'm out of ideas for improvement so I guess I'll just live with it for a while and see what cold weather difference it makes.

I was thinking if I could get some sort of in-line air filter I could bypass my air box completely, but it looks like the car computer forms one wall of the box, which is probably important for some reason.