Ya'all made me do it!

[lowbridescape]

I 'installed' a WAI in the Escape. Installed as in bypassed the CAI so the engine could breath from the engine compartment. Didn't even remove it. Just unbolted it and twisted it so 80% of the air cleaner inlet is uncovered. Then I blocked the inlet end of the pipe so ambient air can't sneak in and dilute the warm air.

Then I took off into a driving thunderstorm to see what IAT the ScanGauge (which after one week is acting poorly, but it shows gauges) would show. It didn't do much going into the wind, rose about 20 degrees going away from the wind. I'm going to have to put the grill block (shipping tape) back on. But I have to wait for the car to dry.

If the temperature doesn't come up much, I can replace the air tube with a flex tube that follows the same path and then extends directly into the forward exhaust manifold. That ought to fix it. The elephant trunk will go right past the hole where CAI was. I could put in a flapper valve and regulate the temperature. Temperature could also be regulated to power level, so at idle it gets full hot and at full throttle (I've never been at full throttle) it gets 100% cold air. Economy and full available power! So many plans, so little budget. no time. <sigh>

Update: Grill block maintains about 10 degrees above ambient (83 vs 73 degrees (post-storm)). Gunna' have to get more ambitious. Flex hose coming up.

[Jay2TheRescue]

You could make your diverter automatic by controlling it with a vacuum motor. Just connect it to the manifold vacuum. It will suck warm air ar idle, will mix under medium load, and when vacuum drops under WOT, it will suck cold air.

-Jay

[lowbridescape]

My more exotic approach would be electrical and would use lookup table scheduling like the ECU. It would regulate IAT based on throttle setting independent of ambient temp. Feed the engine fire when it's idling and is least efficient and also least likely to detonate. Cool the IAT as power increases. Ideal would be to monitor what's going on in the cylinder. But I suspect that would exceed my meager resources.

Speaking of which...is IAT taken upstream of the throttle plate? I've read some posts where people put temperature sensors in the intake manifold. At idle and low power settings, shouldn't the manifold air be fairly cold due to the drop in pressure across the throttle? This would make really high IAT work at those ranges, at least until mechanical things start breaking from the heat. EOC and shutting down at lights is not really an option on my beast, so I'm trying to cheat and change the thermodynamics of the engine to make idling less painful.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

just for reference (and I know it isn't the same)

look at my garage, I still have the pics from my WAI in there. mine doesn't have any moving parts and there is no adjustment. it is what it is.

maybe after you get the tube in place, think about a heat shield or in this case an anti-heat shield.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by lowbridescape

My more exotic approach would be electrical and would use lookup table scheduling like the ECU. It would regulate IAT based on throttle setting independent of ambient temp. Feed the engine fire when it's idling and is least efficient and also least likely to detonate. Cool the IAT as power increases. Ideal would be to monitor what's going on in the cylinder. But I suspect that would exceed my meager resources.

Speaking of which...is IAT taken upstream of the throttle plate? I've read some posts where people put temperature sensors in the intake manifold. At idle and low power settings, shouldn't the manifold air be fairly cold due to the drop in pressure across the throttle? This would make really high IAT work at those ranges, at least until mechanical things start breaking from the heat. EOC and shutting down at lights is not really an option on my beast, so I'm trying to cheat and change the thermodynamics of the engine to make idling less painful.

Which is why I recommended the simple solution of using manifold vacuum to control it. As power increases vacuum decreases. As much as I love the technical, nothing beats a simple and cheap solution that works.

[lowbridescape]

I am now officially an Ecomodder!

Oops. Wrong website

I am now offically a GasSaver!

I just took a perfectly good part off my car and replaced it with an aluminum POS held together with duct tape.

I think I am getting too impatient for some kind of progress, either doing or seeing. When I'm out working on a car after 9:00 PM doing non-mandatory work, there's something wrong.

I replaced the CAI with a flex tube routed to the engine. The engine on the Escape 3.0L has a cover that I suspect is to help with sound reduction. It may save me having to build a heat shield. I put the end of the flex tube in an opening pointed pretty much straight at the front exhaust manifold.

Opening the air cleaner to the engine compartment bought me about 10 degrees over ambient. The flex tube is running 30 to 40 degrees over ambient IATs ranged from 100 to 110 on a 72 degree evening. After running on the highway and getting everything heat soaked, then stopping, the IAT got to 130 before the fan kicked in and it started to cool down. I think I have satisfied my tinkering bug for a while. I need to see if this will make a difference over the next couple weeks.

The Escape seems to be as sensitive to temperature as it is to wind. I don't even like to calculate mileage in winter. Too painful. Fingers crossed that this will make a difference.