"Short Link Air Flow"

[Redneck Youth]

ok, so "Short Link Air Flow" is just something i made up, but do they make an intake system in which the air filter mounts directly to where the factory one starts by the throttle body? and if not, why? thanks.

 

[killj0y]

You mean like bolting it straight to the throttle body?

 

[Insanejughead]

Well, for starters, the air has to come through the MAF first, and it would often be crammed for space if that were mounted right in front of the throttle body with the air cleaner affixed to it, as well.

 

[scotts90ranger]

not to mention the air is warmest near the engine (although boats have been ran with the spark arrestor mounted to the throttle/carb for decades sucking in that hot ass air) so it is less dense, more dense sucked from the stock location in front of the radiator, or in the inner fender depending on year.

 

[adsm08]

The longer your air tube and intake runners the better air swirl and atomization you get, which gives better performance. I've seen what you suggest done with a ram-scoop hood on a 5.0 though.

 

[doorgunner]

The longer your air tube and intake runners the better air swirl and atomization you get, which gives better performance. I've seen what you suggest done with a ram-scoop hood on a 5.0 though.

So...ads.....I can put that 15' of flexible septic tank hose to good use since I dug a new tank closer to my trailer house?

 

[James86]

Well, for starters, the air has to come through the MAF first, and it would often be crammed for space if that were mounted right in front of the throttle body with the air cleaner affixed to it, as well.

Pretty much every GM V6 I've seen has the MAF on the intake directly, and they're shorter than whats on my truck

I'm honestly not sure if there's any advantage to having the MAF on the throttle body or having it on the airbox..... now I'm curious if it's more efficient one way or the other, or just manufacturer preference.

 

[Redneck Youth]

yeah, i was looking at CAI's and i just got to thinking. thanks for the input guys.

 

[Insanejughead]

Pretty much every GM V6 I've seen has the MAF on the intake directly, and they're shorter than whats on my truck

I'm honestly not sure if there's any advantage to having the MAF on the throttle body or having it on the airbox..... now I'm curious if it's more efficient one way or the other, or just manufacturer preference.

I haven't paid any attention to GM motors in a long time. I think I might now, because that sideways engine will have more room to be able to put the MAF in that location than would a fore-aft engine.

Do you know if the fore-aft engines are setup the same way, offhand?

Oh, and it's definitely worth messing with for a bit to see if it truly is efficient, or just manufacturer's preference.


Doorgunner, you just go right ahead and do that! Haha! You'd be the only person I would ever hear about with a truck that has a large intestine as an air intake system.

 

[kryptonitecb]

I believe the LS blocks have the maf attached to the upper intake also. If my memory serves me right I remember seeing them attach the filter directly to the intake manifold on 4x4 tv.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[shane96ranger]

I wouldn't mess with it unless you get a custom tune. As Adsm said, it creates a swirl effect coming through the intake pipe. It swirls more as it reaches the TB. Changing the characteristic of the flow it is programmed for could make it run worse. Ford designed their system to be further from the TB, GM did not. I would leave it be.

Also, the MAF is measuring temperatures. I would imagine putting it over the top of a hot engine will generate some false readings.

 

[AllanD]

Ahhh.... that explains why GM MAF's are so failure prone!

They don't isolate them from engine vibration like Ford does...

MAF's don't LIKE being vibrated.

Engines like COLD AIR which is how ford designed them, and the system works great until
some hillbilly/redneck/teenager/high school drop-out decides he's smarter than a whole
flock of smart engineers working for Ford motor company, strips it ALL off because some
hillbilly/redneck/teenager/high school drop-out buddy of his says "you don't need that stuff"
and they order a "Cold Air Intake System" that cuts into their Tattoo budget that doesn't actually help
the situation the least damned bit... and often makes it worse.

And Besides if you strip the ducting off where would you put your tornado?

 

[robertc1024]

After digging into how the MAF sensors work, apparently the Ford ones are like what Shane said - equivalent to a hot wire anemometer. Some of the GM ones have a vibrating element that changes its natural frequency with the air going over it. If they get oil or something on them, it changes the natural frequency a lot and screws up the engine control systems.

This got me thinking, I did some calculations on the air density. Three components are used to calculate this, RH%, Temp and pressure. Changing the pressure 1% changes the air density 1%. Changing the RH% 1%, changes the density 0.003%. Changing the air temp 1% changes the density 0.08%. Is that why modern cars have the MAP sensors? I don't see how MAF sensors can work very well without them.

 

[shane96ranger]

I don't know about the newest technologies, but when Ford switched from the SD/MAP (manifold air pressure) system to MAF, they also used a BAP (barometric air pressure) sensor to accomplish that. It looks identical to a MAP on my Mustang.

EDIT: This is what mine is:
http://www.latemodelrestoration.com/item/DY530/1989-93-Mustang-50L-Barometric-Air-Pressure-Sensor-Bap-Senso

I'm not sure how the BAP Sensor "provides manifold vacuum readings to the PCM" when it has no vacuum line. Seems like a bad description.

 

[doorgunner]

huh?