Just a stupid little idea I was thinking of. Let me know your thoughts.

Background: I have a 2005 Edge 4x4 3.0L V6 Reg Cab. Since it is an 05, noone makes anything for it yet. I have a Flowmaster cat-back, and plan on buying an X-Cal2 from Doug in a month or so, but I would really like to get a better intake as well, but noone makes anything but a drop in replacement filter (K&N)

So I was reading Wowak's How-To and another similar how to which I believe was on the now defunct Gen-Edge, one where the person actually took Wowak's mod a step further and cut out excess material in the air box (on the 2 sides that face away from the engine) and another person who instead cut holes in the air box which I believe he installed grates/filters into.
This looked nice, almost OEM. But while looking at this thread, I glanced at my computer and noticed the fan (I picked up a cheap tower case that had plexiglass sides and a cooling fan on the outside) and thought "Why not do the same thing on my truck?"
The fans run on 12V (.29 amps or so) so my question is:
If I mounted two or three of these on my air box, pulling in air, do you think that would might help or not do anything? I mean, I'm sure going down the high way at 60 mph, plenty of air will get to the drop in in filter and through, but standing still and in bumper-to-bumper, wouldn't more air help the engine/mpg? Any thoughts? Or am I just nuts? (well I know I'm nuts, but still . . .)

 

its not worth it, your engine wont take any more air than it needs, unless its being force fed. if you did the airbox mod like on GE (the one that i wrote) then your engine is getting all the air it could use.

 

Actually, it will RESIST any air flow. If you put them on the box with no holes other than the fans, then all air must come through the fans. They will not be able to make anywhere NEAR the hundreds of cubic feet per minute an engine needs, and they will act like a resistance at high flow rates.

Electric superchargers are not on the market for a REASON. You simply can't get the boost in pressure required without a very powerful motor -- which with only a 12 volt system is cost prohibitive. By the time you get a large enough fan motor, you need a MUCH bigger alternator, lol.

So your idea, though logical, fails in the face of the "numbers". MANY have proposed this over the years and I remember some were SAVAGE with me for arguing against their "common sense" approach. Interestingly, none of them ever came back with a successful system.

 

Your nuts.. lol..

 

Actually, I had considered that, since I'm sure highway speeds generate MUCH more air force than the computers fans could ever hope to. I had planned on leaving room for open holes for air to simply flow into. These fans would be an add on to that mod.

Oh well. It was a thought. Thanks for the input, and not being too harsh.

Off to see what other inane ideas I can come up with!

 

you could get a Tornado






that was a joke keep up the thinking though, its ideas like yours that, every once in a while, pioneers some new mod

 

Oh, stop it, Bob! (don't tease the members)

Jim there is no "assist" without positive pressure over atmospheric. It's true that you can make a "ram air" system to get a LITTLE when driving down the road. But it's not as much as you might think. The fans would not be able to keep up with even that and probably would spin BACKWARDS if they were just on the airbox, and not on the ram-air scoop.

Getting an intake system that is already sucking air to a positive pressure (usually called boost pressure) of even 1 PSI requires a tight compressor and considerable power -- as in horsepower. Simple truth: the fans can't produce even a tiny fraction of what's required, and therefore will INTERFERE, not add. It's not like you can just put a few fans in parallel and get the "boost".

It's good that you're thinking though. I've had LOTS of ideas that didn't turn out to be practical --don't stop thinking!

 

You know I was thinking about this one too. I had pondered about it for a few days... My theory though, was less about additional airflow, rather air temperature...My thought was to mount a fan on the inside of the engine compartment and draw air through the box, to ensure a cooler air exchange......But after doing some figuring like you all had said there isn't that many benefits.

 

Amazing how this idea never dies.

There is one company "sucessfully" doing this, but their product illustrates the reasons why this isn't very practical.

http://www.boosthead.com/product.php
http://www.turbomagazine.com/tech/0406tur_knight/

In short, I will explain.

Engines gulp tons of air at WOT

Any fan not able to match the required airflow will just get in the way (Like John said)

A fan will have to spin very fast, and be very efficient to provide the required air, and actually provide compression (boost)

Fans that can do this are turbines (IE superchargers or turbos)

To power these electrically takes a lot of power.

So much power that you need additional batteries and charging capability

That adds a lot of weight (and expense)

Which makes the truck heavy (and slow)

Got it?

 

just hook up a hairdryer... it's like an electric turbo!!!!


(I'm being sarcastic)

 

E-RAM baby! One whopping PSI of boost (maybe)

 

good lord.... what has the stupidity of American stumped to now

 

i thought the same thing when i read your post.