Convoluted Intake

[Chamisha07]

I am new to this board and mostly new to working on Foci (generally accepted form for plural of Focus?) though not entirely new to Foci. My fiancee had an 05 3dr hatch of oddly the same color as mine. Anyway...

I never did any work on her car as it was under warranty when she had it, but I have a fairly extensive history working on compact cars. I was surprised to find that I could not open the airbox on this car and through this site (from Google) found that it is in fact probably a money making scheme disguised as Ford's way of saving you time, trouble and money in the form of a sealed dealer-only replaceable item that should last the lifetime of the car.

Ok, well that doesn't sit well with me. I like tinkering and I have seen the how-to posted for making a stealthy CAI by replacing all the junk under the airbox with a cone filter. I could easily do that as I have a K&N cone filter laying around. What I wonder though, is it possible to just eliminate that whole convoluted mess of the sealed box and just put on a tube with the filter after it? Will I be tripping codes like crazy or will everything function if some things are just left to dangle? I've never run into problems like this on my old cars (3 S Series Saturns and a Neon). Of course maybe they weren't nearly as complicated (technologically advanced?) as this car.

Anyway, thanks for all the other amazing how-tos and general information. I have a feeling I will be visiting this place often!

[Sponsor]

[mainest]

Most of the CAIs (cold air intakes) and SRIs (short ram intakes) are simply a "tube" attached to the MAF housing, with an air filter of some type (usually a cone). They rarely trigger a CEL if installed properly, which includes disconnecting the battery during or after installation, so that the ECU can "learn" the new intake. I had one, a Steeda SRI, on my '05 ST, a Duratec like yours, but 2.3l rather than your 2.0l. It made a bit more intake noise, but was otherwise very similar to the sealed 100K factory box, except it was serviceable. My Steeda is for sale if you are interested. Good luck.
And, welcome to FF!

[matmatician]

Hey there, welcome to FF!

The intake on these cars are a breeze for people who want to do CAI's. The only sensor you can really funk up is the MAF sensor, and that's pretty darn hard to do lol. All the factory stuff on there can go with no problems. I got the Steeda Short Ram Intake (some call it a CAI, but its really more of a short ram as far as design is concerned) and had it custom powder coated, but left all the rest of the intake system on below the intake. Tons of folks rip the rest of the stock monstrosity out though.

Here's a pic for some inspiration :P and if you have any questions, ask!

[PRSman25]

The K&N 57 series intake for the 2.0L motors is wonderful.
It uses the same cone filter you probably have, but replaces everything up to the throttle body with a hard polyethylene tube.
Super clean install, and it keeps your air cold, because the polyethylene tube is a much better insulator that the typical metal intakes.
Here's a picture if you want any "inspiration".

[sailor]

if you would like some instructions (a 'how to") look around (search) for "Stealth CAI"

It's a "sticky" on here, and you'll find a lot of posts from those who've done it.

Basically you use minimal hdwe. and existing pieces to remove the box & hook up a cone filter before the MAF.

Prev. advice on unhooking the battery to "reset" the computer so it can "learn" the new intake speeds up the system's adaptation to the change....

Luck!

(Very popular cheap mod.)

[Chamisha07]

Thanks for the responses and the welcome wagon (I'm assuming its a Focus wagon)!

@maintest - How much is your Steeda intake? I generally go homebuilt with my intakes and I could fabricate something if necessary, but maybe for what I want to do it would be easier to go with something ready-made. If the price is right, I might just do that instead.

@PRSman25 - Thanks...that does look like a dead simple install, but I think we have different engines. My intake is not in the back over the valve cover, but toward the front and comes out toward the driver side headlight.

[matmatician]

Originally Posted by Chamisha07

@PRSman25 - Thanks...that does look like a dead simple install, but I think we have different engines. My intake is not in the back over the valve cover, but toward the front and comes out toward the driver side headlight.

Correct, he has the Zetec engine, and yours is a Duratec. The steeda intake was about $230

[grayzx35speed]

Originally Posted by Chamisha07

Thanks for the responses and the welcome wagon (I'm assuming its a Focus wagon)!

@maintest - How much is your Steeda intake? I generally go homebuilt with my intakes and I could fabricate something if necessary, but maybe for what I want to do it would be easier to go with something ready-made. If the price is right, I might just do that instead.

@PRSman25 - Thanks...that does look like a dead simple install, but I think we have different engines. My intake is not in the back over the valve cover, but toward the front and comes out toward the driver side headlight.

I have to ask if you have a PZEV. When I put my CAI on my PZEV there was no cut away for the PZEV line to attach. Basically the pzev just scrapes fresh air off the intake and dumps it into the exhaust gas. If you do have a pzev youll need to keep that in mind when buying/making a CAI SRI.

[PRSman25]

Whoops! Completely missed that you have the Duratec.
Disregard all information in that post. Haha