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spectre cold air intake

62K views 204 replies 78 participants last post by  LowBudget 
#1 ·
i just received this intake in the mail today and wanted to post up some pics of it installed. my jeep is a 2006 rubicon

only had one problem, I dont know what this plug is,maybe intake air temp sensor?? but there was no hole on the intake for this plug form the factory(spectre). I tried running with out this plug plugged in but the jeep threw a check engine light. so i actually had to drill a hole in my brand new intake to fit the sensor in. all i did was wrapped it with a little electrical tape to make a snug fit. anyone have any ideas why it didnt come with this hole?




the hardest part installing this thing was drilling the 3 inch hole in though the fire wall. but after that install was a breeze. So far the intake is pretty cool, makes the jeep sound really good. i swear it has better throttle response but it may be all in my head.

i know i need to clean up my wires under the hood:teehee:
 
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#19 ·
x2 i would clean up some of that spaghetti under the hood. a little wire loom and some tie wraps would make a big difference.

this intake will help in that it's breathing cooler air than the stock even though it most likely isn't flowing much more air. i would definately try to use the rubber grommet from the original to mount your sensor. if you leave it like that you're asking for some unfiltered air or even some water to go through the intake, not good.
 
#3 ·
Link to the intake? Isn't Spectre an autozone brand? if so then thats why it didn't come with anything vehicle specific.
 
#8 ·
Just get a rubber grommet that the air sensor will fit into snug and drill the hole out in the tube to put the rubber grommet with the sensor in. Thats how it was done from the factory and most aftermarket intakes.
 
#11 ·
i just received this intake in the mail today and wanted to post up some pics of it installed. my jeep is a 2006 rubicon

only had one problem, I dont know what this plug is,maybe intake air temp sensor?? but there was no hole on the intake for this plug form the factory(spectre). I tried running with out this plug plugged in but the jeep threw a check engine light. so i actually had to drill a hole in my brand new intake to fit the sensor in. all i did was wrapped it with a little electrical tape to make a snug fit. anyone have any ideas why it didnt come with this hole?

the hardest part installing this thing was drilling the 3 inch hole in though the fire wall. but after that install was a breeze. So far the intake is pretty cool, makes the jeep sound really good. i swear it has better throttle response but it may be all in my head.

i know i need to clean up my wires under the hood:teehee:
Do you have stock throttle body and exhaust? I'm curious if this kit would perform better when paired with a 62-63mm TB and aftermarket headers/exhaust or a cat-back.
 
#12 ·
#14 ·
To me, aftermarket air intakes like that are a 100% complete waste of $$$ where a Wrangler TJ is concerned. Such air intakes can help performance when the air intake was designed to be restrictive as some are, like the Mustang 5.0L and Z-28, but the TJ's is not one of those. The TJ's OE air intake system is already well known to be a completely free-breathing air intake system so the engine performance is not going to be improved upon by an aftermarket whiz-bang air intake. The TJ's OE air intake was specifically designed to be completely free breathing right from the factory.
 
#20 ·
You might want to let spectre know about that plug. They built the intake around the 97-02 TJs which I dont believe have one.
 
#21 ·
Cold air intakes don't significantly lower intake temps anyways. Watch your iat data on a scanner and see for yourself. The air coming in from the stock box isn't much higher than ambient..and that's not even accounting for heat soak into the sensor its self.
 
#26 ·
Simply not true. A difference of 10 degrees can make all the difference in the world. There's a reason nearly every race car in the world has a way to duct cooler outside air to the engine. And on a vehicle moving as slow as a rockcrawler undehood temps can soar way past outside air temps even on a cold fall day.
 
#23 ·
Note I am not a K&N basher. I find it interesting that there are no questions regarding Spectre's filtration ability. As soon as anyone mentions a K&N the flames come out regarding how much dust they may pass. Regardless K&N has been around for many years and on a lot of vehicles. Who is Spectre and how good is their filter? I've seen them on the shelf at Autozone right next to the rice junk. The stuff does not look tha impressive. For what it's worth, I trust K&N before Spectre.
 
#34 ·
+1. I have thought about buying this but living in the rainy Pacific Northwest I figured it would saturate the filter 9 months out of the year. I already have an open element filter and like the throttle response that comes along with it but don't like having it caked with mud when I go wheeling. The spectre appeals to me because the filter is housed and much less mud is getting into the cowl than into the engine bay. But as has been said, on the rare occassion that it does snow here it's gonna get filled with slush and when it starts raining is the filter gonna get saturated?
 
#35 ·
I have the windstar mod which is basically the same thing and filter getting wet has not been a problem for me at all. I did put a cowl scoop on facing the windshield but as long as the cowl drain stays clear I don't think even that is necessary. Intake is offset slightly to the side of the cowl vent, the intake is at a right angle to the way water would enter the vent and intake is a couple inches off the bottom of the cowl. Unless cowl floods I just don't see it being an issue.

Cleaning leaves out of the cowl scoop (if you put one on) that get sucked in there and then impede airflow has been something I have to watch for.

Oh, and as to the comment about the CCV valve, doesn't the valve connected to the intake pull filtered air into the engine not hot gases out of the engine?
 
#36 ·
Moisture getting on the filter or even the filter getting wet/saturated is not going to hurt anything. Moisture getting into the engine is not going to hurt anything. The damage from water come from a good volume of water getting onto a cylinder. Water is not compressable. If enough gets in it can increase the compression ratio to the point parts will break or even more and the engine will lock up.

Putting one of the stick on scoops facing the windshield is a good solution. Rain and moisture don't follow bends in air flow well so it will help keep rain out and the same goes for dust and dirt.

Your intake has a vacuum (sucks) The CCV pulls vapors from the engine to be burnt.
 
#38 ·
Personally, I think it's all a bunch of malarky. No air available from inside the engine compartment is going to be cool enough to make a difference. I cannot believe how easily some buy into the marketing claims made by aftermarket air intake manufacturers.

And think about this... do you cold-air proponents realize this... that even if you could get more HP from such an air intake providing slightly cooler air, please don't tell us you think it's going to make a difference anywhere but on the dragstrip. It certainly won't make any noticeable difference for typical driving or offroad needs. Spending big $$$ to achieve a theoretical improvement that wouldn't be noticeable for 99% of us (under 25 years of age excepted ;)) is pretty silly in my personal opinion. :wave:
 
#39 ·
Personally, I think it's all a bunch of malarky. No air available from inside the engine compartment is going to be cool enough to make a difference. I cannot believe how easily some buy into the marketing claims made by aftermarket air intake manufacturers.
That's exactly why it doesn't pull air from the engine compartment :rolleyes:
 
#51 ·
they are designed to be good all around but not the best performance wise. they are designed for mass production and a compromise that takes into account most people driving the cars are not racing them but just daily drivers that don't really want the loud intake noises that an all out performance airbox and intake tube would give you. there is always room for improvement in all areas of mass produced engines. but only doing a cold air intake without addressing a restrictive exhaust and a stock timing curve etc. won't show significant gains. it's only when you do a complete package of areas that you will show a gain worth the money you spend. the only reason i see to change anything on the stock tj airbox is the make it better for fording water such as the original poster was looking at.
 
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