Lean seize?

C

chef91

New member
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163
Car
2000 Elantra
Hey guys, I'm new here. I hope I don't get flamed for not having a sweet car but I need some help with it.

I have a 2000 Hyundai Elantra. I should get a pic of it on here because I love it. Its nothing fancy but I think it looks really cool. Recently I bought a custom fit cold air intake system for it. I heard that it would increase engine noise which I personally would like. Some other gains are the obvious HP up and I heard they may up the milage a little (currently getting ~18 MPG). The issue I have with installing it is that a friend of mine who's opinion I respect says that its too late to put it in. He sites the 99,000 miles I have as too much saying that 30-40 is the latest you should install one.

He tells me the engine will seize because the CAI will pull too much air in thus leaning out the fuel to air mixture which will increase engine temp. Obviously an increased engine temp will cause my the pistons to expand and if they expand too much... Engine siezure :(

I come here looking for expert opinions on what to do. I already have the intake and it was purchased off ebay relatively cheap (another bad sign, I know) for $50. I'm a highschool student with an income of a little over 100 bucks a week so I am in NO position to spend. I think I can live with putting this down as a mistake and forgetting about it though. This is my last effort at salvaging the CAI by getting some other opinions. If this CAI really will cause my engine to seize could you offer up some cheaper ways to increase power, mileage, and engine noise?

Thanks,
Chef
 
Also I'd like to mention that wouldn't my mass air flow sensor negate this? Would it be a good idea to get an aftermarket air sensor or just clean up the one I have? If I should get a new one how much will that run me?
 
The MAF will sort out the extra mass of air (cold air is denser). Whether you'll get much more torque or power is debatable. You will get more noise. though personally I see this as a negative.

There's no risk of lean running as the amount of extra air available will be well within the range of the standard fuel system/injectors etc.

If, for example, you were adding a pair of turbochargers you might encounter lean runnning problems.
 
Welcome to Torquecars

Ive never heard of age being a factor in CAI. Of course generally the older a car gets the less reliable it is but majority of cars are designed to achieve 100k miles without failing. You wont have any trouble with forcing too much air into the block. As for increasing the temperature you should be worried if installing a turbocharger or something but an induction kit you will see little difference in temperature of the chamber.
As for causeing the air fuel mix to run lean a 2000 Ecu would more than likely compensate for the increased air feed.
I fitted my induction kit to my mg zs at 60k miles and its still hapilly running at 80k miles and theyre renown for failure lol.

As for the MAF mine just needed cleaning and it was fine afterwards. Buy it fit it then if it doesnt work sell it. you should see no issues from it.

Dont worry about getting flamed here my car is a shed and everyones been extreemly helpful to me. This isnt like other sites.
 
HDi fun said:
The MAF will sort out the extra mass of air (cold air is denser). Whether you'll get much more torque or power is debatable. You will get more noise. though personally I see this as a negative.

There's no risk of lean running as the amount of extra air available will be well within the range of the standard fuel system/injectors etc.

If, for example, you were adding a pair of turbochargers you might encounter lean runnning problems.
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So I should be fine with this. Thanks for the input. Do you have any recomendations for my next performance mod? Right now I'm doing a ton of lighting and cosmetic stuff (I'm much better with electronics than I am with engines) because its what I know. I'm replacing all my exterior lighting with LEDs, redding out my tails, removing the amber lenses from my heads, and putting in LED strips in the bezel of my heads to give the audi/eyebrow look. After that I have no idea what to do. Any suggestions? I've already put a stock spoiler on that I found online, got a new paint job, put xenon heads in, put a new sound system in, and put new racing pedals in. I also plan on taking some plastic stuff out of my engine and painting them with some high temp paint to match my car.

Just a side question but can anyone point me in the direction of someone who has/would be able to make euro style clear case tail lights for my Elantra? I can't find them anywhere. I assume getting customs would be expensive but that is something I am willing to spend vs getting a vinyl shop to "red out" my tails.
 
creature said:
Welcome to Torquecars

Ive never heard of age being a factor in CAI. Of course generally the older a car gets the less reliable it is but majority of cars are designed to achieve 100k miles without failing. You wont have any trouble with forcing too much air into the block. As for increasing the temperature you should be worried if installing a turbocharger or something but an induction kit you will see little difference in temperature of the chamber.
As for causeing the air fuel mix to run lean a 2000 Ecu would more than likely compensate for the increased air feed.
I fitted my induction kit to my mg zs at 60k miles and its still hapilly running at 80k miles and theyre renown for failure lol.

As for the MAF mine just needed cleaning and it was fine afterwards. Buy it fit it then if it doesnt work sell it. you should see no issues from it.

Dont worry about getting flamed here my car is a shed and everyones been extreemly helpful to me. This isnt like other sites.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the help. You guys are great. I'm new into car modding as you can probably tell haha
 
well tbh i havent looked into it but if you could help me out, when i pressed the button to wind down the window the headlights dim drastically lol. So ive resorted to not useing the window at all during night driving any idea?
 
windows pull a fair drain. do you have big sounds in the boot as well ? all this may be too much for the alternator.

next mods to do would be along the lines of exhaust
 
I would say get your alternator checked out. You should probably check the acidity of your battery as well. You should be able to buy a checker with little balls to see if its at a good level, most stores have them in a little eye dropper thing. It will usually be too acidic rather than too diluted as the water evaporates not the acid. So just add some water to it should it be unbalanced. If it is too diluted the issue should solve itself by waiting on some water to evaporate. You can find out how much water to put in online by searching. I don't know off the top of my head and I'm sure it varies from battery to battery.

If all that checks out you should just check all the cables and wiring to make sure everything is tightly in place. Do your lights dim whenever you use any electronic or is it just the windows? If it happens with any electronic its likely something I said in the previous paragraph. If not, it may be unfixable as your car may not have proper resistor placement or there is too much load on the battery. A new battery with would likely solve any problem not relating to the car's internal wiring or the alternator. But its likely you could just add some water to fix this and save some cash. Again, you need to check the acidity level before you do any adding. You could kill your battery if you don't.

it also should be noted that you can probably get an auto story to check the acidity for free. Just don't buy into their likely response for a bad ratio (i.e. looks like you need a new battery buddy) as you can just go home and put the water in if its too acidic. But why would they want you to save money? lol
 
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the last haf dozen ive bought are classed as sealed for life other than the vent thats normally under the labbel or hidden away. no more unscrewing and topping up
 
pgarner said:
the last haf dozen ive bought are classed as sealed for life other than the vent thats normally under the labbel or hidden away. no more unscrewing and topping up
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All you need is a dropper check that I mentioned before.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5244691_rebuild-car-battery.html

You can do what is described there or just test the acidity, add water, and retest until it is at a 1/3 diluted level. That is much easier, cheaper, and safer than the other way. Although it opens more margin for error.
 
Hi there and welcome to TorqueCars, it's good to have you along, that's what we are all about - sharing our knowledge.;)
 
chef91 said:
All you need is a dropper check that I mentioned before.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5244691_rebuild-car-battery.html

You can do what is described there or just test the acidity, add water, and retest until it is at a 1/3 diluted level. That is much easier, cheaper, and safer than the other way. Although it opens more margin for error.
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thats the problem on alot there is no where to unscrew and top up.
 
isnt it illegal under eu regulations to have batteries capable of topping up. In VN no probs this is exactly what we have and they always need topped up - perhaps the water evaporates as under bonnet temperature is really really high.
Suspect the ones capable of topping up are cheaper to manufacture.
 
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