C & L install/touches radiator hose

1400 Views 8 Replies 5 Participants Last post by hawgman, Nov 26, 2005

johney5

Discussion Starter · Nov 26, 2005

I just installed my C & L..easy install...sct tuned...no problems. Car runs great.

The bottom of the C & L unit just barely grazes the top of the radiator hose..
Is that going to cause problems? I can't seem to instal it in any other way? The clearances are really tight. Am I missing something?
It's touching under the rubber section that joins the aluminum intersection, between the Maf body, and the filter.
thanks for advice and help.

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JP DeMolet

· #2 · Nov 26, 2005

It's MANDATORY that the TB DOES NOT touch the radiator hose. The heat here is INTENSE enough to badly warp plastic, will be conducted on metal.

This is something that won't show up on dyno testing but what about ALL SUMMER in everyday driving?

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johney5

Discussion Starter · #3 · Nov 26, 2005

Thanks,
That's what I thought...but how to fix this without this becoming a wrong product issue? I think the product is fine.

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thump_rrr

· #4 · Nov 26, 2005

johney5 said:
Thanks,
That's what I thought...but how to fix this without this becoming a wrong product issue? I think the product is fine.

JP DeMolet sells plastic. He should know that the competition has an aluminum intake.

First of all your C&L isn't plastic so it won't warp. Loosen your throttlebody clamp a little and try to tilt the intake front end up a little. If it's still touching you can use some exhaust heat wrap to insulate it. Look in my signature and you'll see that the C&L performs very well.

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hawgman

· #5 · Nov 26, 2005

You are correct. The air inlet pipe should not rub on your radiator hose. Loosen your boot bolts at the MAF and at the throttle body and see if you can adjust it out any. If you can't, then maybe find something to isolate the hose from the inlet pipe. Believe it or not, the same foam insulating cover that is on your home AC unit piping out by the compressor will work fine. Buy a piece and split it length wise and fit it over the top of the radiator hose.
My fear here would be the inlet pipe would eventually rub a hole in the radiator hose. Heat from the radiator hose transferring to the inlet pipe is a non issue ( in my opinion ). Let me explain why I say this...
The air does not stay in the inlet pipe long enough for the heat to transfer to it. If it did, C&L would not have designed a metalic inlet tube. Yes, you are going to have heat soak with the vehicle running and sitting still. You are going to have that reguardless of what the material of your inlet tube is made out of. And your upper radiator hose touching the intake pipe is not going to make it any worse. But, when the car is moving and air is rushing through the intake, it is going to be moving at too much of a volume to allow time for the heat to transfer. Think of it this way. Your garden hose is sitting outside in the yard in the summer. When you turn on the water, the initial water out of the hose is hot ( heat soak ). But once the water starts flowing through the hose, it cools off, right? Well air does the same thing in your intake pipe. If it is sitting in there, yes, it is going to be hot. But once it starts flowing through the pipe, the mass of air is going to be greater than the pipe's ability to transfer heat to it.

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johney5

Discussion Starter · #6 · Nov 26, 2005

That's a better response, thanks...i don't think i can adjust it too much more...but what will happen in stop and go traffic on a baking hot freeway in the summer?

There must be room for some clearance...but I did try for nearly an hour to adjust it and did not succeed to get it right.

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kj_cinci

· #7 · Nov 26, 2005

The heat for performance is nominal... for plastic it might be really bad! For you, as said above, I'd worry more about the coolant hose than my performance or CAI... :winks

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johney5

Discussion Starter · #8 · Nov 26, 2005

That is what I'm worried about!!!! Its not a performance issue.

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hawgman

· #9 · Nov 26, 2005

johney5 said:
That's a better response, thanks...i don't think i can adjust it too much more...but what will happen in stop and go traffic on a baking hot freeway in the summer?

There must be room for some clearance...but I did try for nearly an hour to adjust it and did not succeed to get it right.

I seriously SERIOUSLY doubt that heat soak from normal traffic driving is going to be any worse than it would be if they were not touching. If you have concerns from heat, you could try something like this
http://www.powerandperformancenews.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PH&Product_Code=PTL852213&Category_Code=

If it won't adjust out, then give the isolation method a try. Like I said earlier, just about anything would work. AC condensor pipe insulation would be a good solution. Just get a piece 3 or 4 inches long, then cut it length wise and wrap it around the coolant hose.

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