Where Can I find a cold-air intake for a 93 ford explorer?

Question

I've looked around on google, but I could only find like K&N intakes from 1995 and up. Does anybody know if there is even a cold-air intake available for a 93 XLT explorer? And also how do I figure out which ones are street legal?

Answer 1

Reality check....it is a EXPLODER, I mean Explorer, not a Corvette or Mustang. There is nothing you can do to give it enough horsepower to beat anything.

But if you insist, you can make your own intake from PVC plumping pipe and fittings

http://www.allfordmustangs.com/Detailed/...

Answer 2

The coldest cold air intakes are the ones that the vehicle came with use a drop in K&N

Answer 3

I can't tell you anything about a cold air system, but, L M C Truck lists a K&N filter for '91-'94 Explorers with V-6 power for $49.95. Their part # is 50-3472 and it's 50 state legal.

If you really want a complete cold air system, you might have to make your own as Don said. It's not that hard. Be aware though that these systems will make it easier for water to get into your engine, especially if you take it off road. This can cause serious engine damage up to and including hydrolocking the engine.

Answer 4

Don't expect any real performance improvements from a cold air intake.  They are just eye candy.  They may possibly flow air a little better, but no gains are from cold air.  Here’s why.

First, you need to think of your engine as an air pump.  If your 4.0 liter engine had the perfect cylinder heads, perfect camshaft, largest possible valves, perfect intake manifold, at 4500 RPM, it can only flow about 318 CFM of air.  I doubt you have these perfect engine components, so the engine flows considerably less, as much as 25% less.  It's not as though you are feeding a big block V8 with a big Holley carburetor.  So how much airflow do you really need?

Next, you need to examine the throttle body and the tube that connects it to the air filter housing.  I will use my car as an example.  The engine is a common multi port fuel injected, 3.1 liter V6.  On this engine, if you measure the diameter of the throttle plate, it is 2.035 inches (52 millimeters).  If you measure the diameter if the stock pipe that connects the throttle body to the air filter housing, it is 3 inches, (76 millimeters).  Since the stock pipe connecting the throttle body to the air filter is already 50% larger than the throttle plate, adding an even larger pipe will not flow any more air than can already pass through the throttle bore.  No real improvements here unless you also add a larger throttle body and enlarge the throttle opening in the intake manifold.

If you examine the air filter housing you will see that it draws its air from an opening in the radiator core support, drawing air from in front of the engine compartment.  This air is already relatively cool.  No gains found here.

The name "Cold Air Intake" is very misleading. On a cold air intake, even if it has some kind of intercooler, it will NOT cool the air any cooler than the ambient outside air temperature.  Also consider that the air passes quickly between the air filter and the throttle body, too quickly to absorb any significant amount of heat.  With a V8 engine, you gain about 1 horsepower for every 10 degrees Fahrenheit drop in temperature.  Therefore, even if you could drop the incoming air 50 degrees, you gain a measly 5 horsepower.  These gains are proportionately less on smaller 4 or 6 cylinder engines.  So they are hardly worth the expense.

Another thing to consider is that your engine is equipped with an EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) valve.  This device dumps hot exhaust gas from the exhaust manifold, into the intake manifold.  This exhaust gas is over 1000 degrees F. A cold air intake can't make a difference over this extremely hot gas.  Your engine is tuned to operate with this so it is not a problem.

The air filter used in the cold air intake is the only component that may give you any real improvement.  But with a late model fuel injected engine, avoid the ones that use the washable oiled gauze elements.  If even the slightest amount of oil from the filter gets on your Mass Airflow Sensor, it will foul the sensor.  This sensor is located in the tube between the throttle body and the air filter housing.  If fouled, it will send erratic signals to the engine management computer.  This will mess up your fuel / air mixture to the point that you could have even less power than you had before you added this component.  If you already have one of these types of oiled air filter elements, you should clean the Mass Airflow Sensor with the correct cleaner every few months.  Use Mass Airflow Sensor cleaner, and not carburetor cleaner, or you will destroy the sensor.  Instead of the cold air intake, I would just simply add a low restriction air filter element.

For a little bit more than a cold air system, you can purchase a dry nitrous oxide system.  For about $350 - $500, you can install a dry nitrous oxide kit that will add 50 - 75 horsepower to your Explorer.  This will give you performance gains you will actually notice.  I would not recommend a wet nitrous system for something this old. The additional power availible with a wet nitrous system would be too hard on an old engine.

If setup correctly, you can use nitrous to make some decent power without damaging your engine. With any power adder, it is only when you get carried away adding too much power without beefing up the rest of the engine and drive line when you start breaking parts.

In your case, you do not want to add more than 100 horse power without first installing forged pistions, connecting rods, and crank shaft.  Maybe add even less horse power considering the age of the vehicle.  I would limit the nitrous to only a 50 horse power boost with an engine this old.

Checkout the Summit Racing Website.

The bang for the buck

Cold Air Intake

Cost = $200 Average.  Horsepower gained = 10 HP, and I'm being generous.  About $20 per horsepower gained

Nitrous Oxide

Cost = $500 Average.  Horsepower gained = 50 HP Average.  About $10 per horsepower gained