2003 Mazda Protege DX - Air Intake

[cyrus1979]

I have a seriously ill air intake hose. She is taped up but bleeding, my mpg is the evidence. Poor thing was that way when I bought it. Oreilly's has a Dormann replacement for bout $37, though amazon has it for $27 shipped

I want to know, however, is there a pretty aluminum pipe alternatve available out in the big world that will fill that spot?

Also, has anyone ever bypassed the resonance chamber?

Thank you, from a new citizen in the Mazda universe.

[irishkev90]

You can try Corksport.com for an intake, but, honestly, I'd modify the stock system like one of our members, goldstar, has. He did a very thorough write-up and how-to about it and made some noticeable gains. Look it up in the third gen engine forum, it should be stickied.

Also, welcome

[goldstar]

Welcome to CP.

There is a discussion of the Helmholtz Resonator (resonance chamber) and its operation, and whether or not it should be removed, in the reference cited by irishkev90 which can be found at:

http://www.wihandyman.com/forum/showthread.php?1977

Happy Motoring!

Admins or supermods, could you please move this thread to the 3rd Gen BJ Engine/Drivetrain section. Thank you.

[cyrus1979]

Welcome to CP.

Admins or supermods, could you please move this thread to the 3rd Gen BJ Engine/Drivetrain section. Thank you.

whoops! sorry bout that! guess i got in a bit of a hurry there.

thanks for the references as well! i have already read his posts on his mods to the create a ram air type intake, sealing factory holes, smoothing out air flow and plan to implement them but i still need the hose, it is a lost cause, not to mention ugly, and needs to go.

[irishkev90]

Is say just get an OEM replacement. An aluminum, mandrel bent, 2.5" tube would probably smooth out airflow compared to the OEM tube because of the accordion-style ridges which allow the tube to bend easily to replace the filter, but I'm not too sure if that would give you a noticeable gain in power or fuel economy, though.

Can't go wrong with OEM.

Edit: I know I have an aftermarket intake on my BH, but that was put on when I first started messing with the car and before I read goldstar's write-up. If I had the stock intake components still, I would swap them back in with similar modifications as goldstar suggests.

[cyrus1979]

Thanks. Ill be sure to post some pictures as it progresses. I've already repaced a nosiy sway bar link, but ill post pics of it where they belong

edit:
I went out and bought the OEM hose, Dormann. Getting the sensor near throttle body and its bracket off old hose was a bit of a chore, and the hose itself was a tight fit. Still a pretty easy swap. The hose clamps and sensor bracket were 10 mil i believe and had to use hefty pliers (channel locks) to remove bracket from old hose.

a sick intake hose indeed! hose turned out to be split in half!


that was a tight nut and bracket, dont throw it away though!


Ahhhh, thats better! Breathe baby breathe!