So i was laying under my new R/T just seeing where everything was and how they changed things from the neon platform.
After seeing all the pictures of the intake setups for the Caliber, which all put the filter in the stock location allowing it to absorb engine bay heat.

I was thinking.. theres a bunch of room behind the bumper directly to the side of the throttle body and infront of the transmission (atleast on my FWD 5spd R/T), im sure with some fancy bends and a bracket, that a actual cold air intake could be made to sit down in front of the transmission allowing it to inhale outside/cooler air as most proper cold air intake setups do. the only issue is the coolant hose to the radiator is kinda in the way to make one that runs completely out of sight under the stock intake setup location.

I've only had my Caliber for a few days so I'm not in the mood to start taking things off the car just yet, but i also dont want to spend money on a warm air intake =p Just seeing if anyone else has had this idea and tried it

That sounds like a plausible location for one, much simpler than the idea I been bouncing around in my head. Will have to check that out on Pixie with the 2.0/CVT combo.

 

Now if we could relocate the battery (as seen in the picture above) to where the stock filter box was we could basically use a 45 coupler to a J bend and put a filter directly infront of the trans.

 

Well, it's a bit of a snorkel but the Caliber does have a cold air front-mounted intake vent. A larget vent would be appreciated but I wonder if displacing the battery is worth it? Why not dock-in a larger vent?

One member (damn... who was it again?) actually did ju that: a custom, larger intake vent.

Personally, I'd be tempted to get that 3rd party hood that fits the non-SRTs. I just can't decide if I love or hate the car yet!

 

You might be thinking of MykTurk here is a photo from a post he had I really like the looks of this. Would like to know how he made it!

 

The front mounted air intake (that covers the battery) catches it's air from where? Looks like it comes from the very small separation between where the front edge of the hood meets the top part of the bumper, that tiny gap. I'm not an engineer or mechanic, but it doesn't look like much of a flow of air there.
I agree that if you swapped the battery and the cold air intake you could hit two birds with one stone... you would be parking the CAI right in front where it would catch more cooler air entering the engine compartment... PLUS it would be further away from the driver seat = less NOISE! I thought of trying to make that work while I was installing my K&N CAI last week. I'd love to figure out how... looks very doable.
If anyone tries this I would love to know how it works out.

 

The front mounted air intake (that covers the battery) catches it's air from where? Looks like it comes from the very small separation between where the front edge of the hood meets the top part of the bumper, that tiny gap. I'm not an engineer or mechanic, but it doesn't look like much of a flow of air there.
I agree that if you swapped the battery and the cold air intake you could hit two birds with one stone... you would be parking the CAI right in front where it would catch more cooler air entering the engine compartment... PLUS it would be further away from the driver seat = less NOISE!

First up, yes, it's drawing it's air from, the gap of the hood and and opening around the hood latch, there are also two rubber seals that help direct cooler outside air towards the intake opening. My design takes as much advantage of that as possible. One could cut another opening in the radiator support cover right in front of the intake, maybe even add a small scoop behind the grill (current project in design stage) and get more air still.

Moving the battery is a regular topic pretty much whenever CAI's for the Caliber are discused and it is generally regaurded as a great idea, but no one has done it yet. If anyone wants to offer their Caliber as a ginny-pig for one of these conversions, I'm game to build it.

 

Thanks guys. For the record, there are over a dozen of them bopping around out there, all over the world, (plus a few members here do have one also). I never post anything about them because I'm not a supporting vender, just a member, it's a TOS issue I respect completely (Once I have a few other items to offer, that may change, but for now, I can't justify the cost...).

But, I Haven't made any intakes in a while ether, guess it's time to get the plastic and jigs back out, huh?

 

Myk if you just happen to consider playing with those jigs again and to avoid a TOS problem I would be willing to "donate" a reasonable reimbursement for your time. Um so PM me?

 

Well, for starters, are you willing to drive up to the greater St. Louis area for a day or two?...

 

Ok, scratch that.
I'm going to try some tinkering around myself. I know there's a better way than how the CAI is currently set up.

 

All that really needs to be done to relocate the battery is, slightly longer cables, and a battery tray that mounts where the PCM and Air box was, not sure how strong that support piece is that holds it, but its 2 bolts.

 

I have an idea of how to get the intake to sit completely below the car, next time i go over to my garage I'm gonna play with some couplers and my spare intercooler piping and see if my idea is feasible.

 

Wouldn't there be a chance water would hit it if it was under the car?

 

Most CAI setups have the filter as close to the ground as possible for a more dense air charge, cooler air is always nearest the ground.

But yes if you drove thru a major puddle or small pond theres a risk of inhaling water, but thats also only if the entire filter was submerged forcing the engine to suck the water in.

I never had a problem with having the filter that low on my previous car(s), which sat MUCH lower to the ground than the caliber but i also always avoided driving during flood conditions. Making a splash shield would also help with that situation. And people without the factory foglights could tuck it back behind the fog hole.

Also theres a ton of room directly below the battery tray, so if theres room and the bends arent extreme its possible to just put the filter there, if you had water high enough to reach the bottom of the battery tray, your already looking for trouble since thats probably at about the bottom edge of the door if not higher.

 

To avoid having any water entering a cold air intake from under the car, angle the opening to the rear. There will be less chance of a large puddle forcing water into the filter.

 

You can also put in an Air ByPass Valve in the pipe which will protect the system should the filter become submerged in water. Follow this link www.aempower.com
They have them listed there and I am sure the other manufacturers of CAI systems have this sort of part available. If not just measure your intake pipe and order accordingly.

 

I plan on going over to my garage tomorrow to tinker on my 98 R/T, while im there im gonna tinker with the idea since ive got spare couplers and intercooler piping (altho its only 2.5") and see what all needs to be done

 

I'm very anxious to hear what you come up with! Please let us know if you've got any good ideas.

 

With just a few mods this should work.

 

You know, as goofy as that looks, I see no reason why it wouldn't work...
Ugly, sure, in a very "Road Warrior-ish" kind of way. Crude but effective low buck application, I see oil lines and a small intercooler in place, yes... I'd say it works!

 

Ok guys, spent a few hours tinkering with the idea and I found a solution i plan on going with once a few things are done that are hindering me using it.

1) i need to get the support bracket welded to the pipe (i don't trust everything hanging off the silicone coupler)
2) the IAT sensor wiring wont reach and I'm not about to solder longer wires to it on my almost new car, but I'm pretty sure i can come up with an extension piece that will plug and play just fine next time i goto the junkyard.
3) Need a port for the PCV/Breather hose (A simple threaded barb fitting a the proper size hole in the pipe will solve that)

BTW I did start and rev the engine a few times after everything was snugged up.. I can't wait to get this officially completed because the car sounded SOOO MUCH BETTER!!

And onto the details...

I had a spare pipe from my K&N Neon SRT-4 CAI that i wasn't using, I cut it up, using the same filter that came with it (K&N RU-4950) and a 90 degree silicone coupler we have a solution that puts the filter directly under the battery but still well above the bottom of the bumper (i forgot to take some reference pictures) in fact its well above the lower core support, so inhaling water is a non-issue unless you drive through a puddle/pond that puts the water level above the lower grille in the bumper. There is also a threaded hole in the lower core support that the support bracket bolts to.

Pictures:





So there we go, a actual CAI for the Caliber (Atleast the Caliber R/T FWD 5spd). You saw it here first

 

AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!!!!!!!

WOW, it feels like Christmas!
Well Dawm... I've gotta hand it to you. I was about to go with ShockJock's idea, but I think I like yours a little better!
Now, where do I get the parts you've listed? Or can I chop up my K&N and make this work? I'd rather not since I plunked down so much dough on it, but I'll do whatever I gotta do to make this rig work. The only problem with the K&N tubing is it tappers down in size (bigger at the filter, then smaller to the engine).

 

You'd just be better off selling the K&N Intake rather than hacking it up and throwing away the left overs.

Well basically its just the following:
90 degree 2.5" Aluminum pipe (cut down to size)
90 degree 2.5" silicone coupler
Two 2.5" hose clamps (or T-Bolt clamps) - for the 45 degree coupler (one for the TB, one for the pipe)
K&N RU-4950 Filter (But any filter with similar size/shape would work, you can look up specs on knfilters.com)
Hose clamp for the filter

The only additional pieces would be the extension for the IAT sensor wiring, and a support bracket, I tried to locate another spot to help support the piping but I could only come up with the one that requires welding. But looking at the K&N instructions for their intake, it looks like they have a clampable mount that might work if its available to order, basically it sits on the intake and then its gets a hoseclamp over it to hold it in place, then a bracket attaches to it. I sent K&N an email to see if that part was available for purchase by itself.

Everything could be purchased off eBay. I would recommend aluminum piping as it wont ever rust, using steel piping you run the risk of it rusting on the inside due to moisture which even tho its filtered air, moisture is common. I've seen alot of people using steel piping for their intercooler setups only to see them rusted on the inside after a few months of use.

As long as the filter isn't Taller or Wider than the RU-4950 (5.5" Tall, 5" round at the top, 6" round at the base) it wont hit the frame/chassis
http://www.knfilters.com/search/product.aspx?Prod=RU-4950

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Heres a few items on ebay that could be used:

180 Degree Intercooler Pipe ~ Cut this in half and trim the length and you have 2 CAI pipes.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-5-Universal-Turbo-Intercooler-U-Bend-Pipe-2-5-Inch_W0QQitemZ120292539897QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item120292539897&_trkparms=39%3A1|65%3A1|240%3A1318&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&timeout=1218834550856
90 degree Silicone Coupler
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/_Car-Truck-Parts-Accessories__CXRacing-2-5-Enforced-90-Degree-Elbow-Silicon-Hose_W0QQitemZ250280336851QQadnZCarQ20Q26Q20TruckQ20PartsQ20Q26Q20AccessoriesQQadiZ2865QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item250280336851&_trkparms=39%3A1|65%3A2|240%3A1318&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245
K&N RU-4950 Filter
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/K-N-UNIVERSAL-AIR-FILTER-2-5-INLET-L-5-5-RU-4950_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247QQcategoryZ33659QQihZ006QQitemZ160272406289QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWD1V

 

great quick efficient design concept :rep:

 

Where does the crank case vent hose plug into now? My K&N has a skrew in nipple vent for it to slide over that's up near the filter (just outside the head shield opposite the sensor plug)... Which leads me to question#2 where does the sensor plug into?
Sorry if all my questions sound elementary or self explanitory, but I'm kinda new at this stuff.

 

The sensor wiring doesn't reach, which is problem #2 (Problem #1 is the support bracket needing a weld) Next time i goto the junkyard im gonna see if i can find a male end of the sensor pigtail and make an extension piece (i already have a spare female end off my other project), You could cut and solder longer wires to it, but im not willing to do that as ive only had the car for a week.

Adding a barb to the pipe and a longer hose from the PCV isnt that hard, just drill a hole in the new pipe and thread in a barb fitting. Or get a bung welded on and do the same.

Maybe a vendor on here could come up with a package for this, I've already done the leg work, all that needs to be done is pipe bent, cut to size, weld a breather port & support bracket, solve the IAT wiring issue and bundle it up with the filter and coupler. I can talk to a few people locally and possible get a few of these made but thats iffy at best. The only setback is the IAT wiring not reaching.

 

I'm going to see a guy about exhaust tomorrow... I'll see if he can help me put this rig together. He's probably got the right tools to do this sort of thing.
I really want to dump my current CAI setup and do this... can't wait!

 

An exhaust shop should be able to recreate it just fine, minus the coupler and filter, but i don't know if they'd have aluminum piping, steel would work but as i mentioned before steel has the ability to rust and rust likes to flake off and that totally defeats having the filter on the end of the pipe =p But as i said before the only issue I've yet to solve is the IAT sensor wiring.

 

I'll probably end up cutting and splicing my sensor wiring. I don't have much choice.... Not only do junkyards in my area not have any Calibers to scrap from... most have never even heard of a Dodge Caliber. I called and asked if they had any Dodge Calibers on their lot and they said "A Dodge caliper... for what car?" DOH!!!
Any drawbacks to splicing the wiring?
Also, I'm not sure what a "barb" or a "bung" are (unless your talking about the human buttocks)... but hopefully my exhaust guy will know.

 

a bung is kinda like a nut you weld to something to give it extra surface for threads.
a barb is that pipe with edges that you put hose on and the edges prevent the hose from easily coming off.
you can get a barb that also has a threaded end so that it screws into the bung.

heres a picture of the type of barb im talking about

and this is a bung

most newer dodges share the same connectors/sensors, you dont need to find a caliber but something newer that is a Chrysler/Dodge might have similar parts/connectors.
You'd be surprised what you can figure out if you poke around cars in the junkyard =p My 98 R/T has a 00 Stratus 2.4 Engine Block, 02 Stratus head, 98 R/T Cams, 04 SRT-4 oil cooler,turbo,oilpan,oilpump,waterpump,intake manifold, 00 Neon Transmission..etc

there's no drawbacks in cutting and extending the wires, if done properly no one would be the wiser, just be sure to heat shrink anything you solder so that it isnt exposed to moisture or cause a short. I'll prolly be extending my wires too if i cant find the connector im looking for. If the connector is found than it makes the whole thing much easier for everyone else and makes it an easy bolt on modification. The IAT issue is why i think there are no other intakes of this style out.

 

Good news.. i think i have found an IAT harness

So guess what that means? aside from having to get a support bracket welded.. this idea is no longer an idea its a reality.

 

$12 is not an expensive gamble... Especially if it works! If it doesn't, and you haven't hacked it up, it's still a good part, off to the 'Bay! You may even get more than you paid.