Front grill question

[charlieskycorson]

I was thinking about taking the front grill off to allow more air flow to my air filter. I have a Fujita CAI. When it rains, will it get into my intake and hurt the engine at all?

[SkyVue2]

There is metal behind the silver and black plastic upper grill pieces.

[charlieskycorson]

O alright, so what if I were to take out the pieces on tip of my hood? Would that hurt my engine at all or are there metal parts behind that too?

[27rings]

Originally Posted by charlieskycorson

O alright, so what if I were to take out the pieces on tip of my hood? Would that hurt my engine at all or are there metal parts behind that too?

Not sure what you're trying to do that the CAI isn't already doing for you, but taking off the faux hood grilles will definitely lead to water in the engine compartment. You will also be exposing the composite (felt?) hood liner.

[EFBRODIESR]

Anytime you make modifications to allow air containing water, such as that which comes up from the road or from vehicles in front of you, you take the risk of saturating the air filter with water.

I have a 2006 motor home with a Ford V 10. They designed the air intake in such a way that air would ram into the air intake from the outside through the front grill. In a rain storm on my way to Florida, the engine began to stumble and eventually stall. For some reason, I decide to open up the filter canister since it seemed as though something was blocking the air flow. The filter was full of water and collapsed, blocking air flow. Fortunately, I had an extra air filter, but when I got to Florida, I had to change it again.

Ford came up with a fix which did away with the ram effect through the front grill. The air pick up was above the grill and ran down to the bottom of the engine compartment and back up to the filter canister. A drain hole was cut into the bend of the air pick up to allow water to drain out before it got the the filter. It had no effect on performance but sure made life easier in the rain.

[marlboromike]

do not fix what is not broken

[5.0 Willie]

From years on a forum for Supercharged cars I've learned forcing more air to the filter will not do ****. The turbo is going to compress the air on it's own. My old car was blown and had a ram air hood that did 0 for power.

[Rob the Elder]

Here is some useful reading

Index of stock intake and CAI threads - Pontiac Solstice Forum

The induction / cooling system on the Kappa platform is a bottom breather. The majority of the air needed to cool (and intake air) is captured in the high pressure zone at the front of the car below the bumper. There is plastic ducting that scoops up the air, moves it throught he intercooler and then throught he radiator.

Diddling with the upper grilles has a better chance of making the air flow worse rather than better.

There is some evidence that opening up the hood vents has a positive impact on air temps under the hood.

Function Hood Vents

JRinKY took thermal measurements some time ago when there was a long running conversation about the benefits of a cold air intake that draws air from under the hood. My recollection is that he found that the temps at the intake are within a degree or two of ambient as soon as the car is moving forward at any appreciable speed.

I am not sure what technical problem you are trying to solve but if its to get air into the engine bay, then the current ducting system does that very well. If its to allow air to exit under the hood, then a more functional solution is one of Norms vented fenders that will allow exhaust air from the rear corners of the engine bay which appears to provide a much better air flow.

See the "Functional Sky Fenders" link on this page
Saturn Sky at Norm's Fiberglass

[wspohn]

Originally Posted by marlboromike

do not fix what is not broken

X2

Idle hands lead to buggered up cars to no good end.