air box

17743 · Jan 9, 2016

just a word of warning if you have a snorkel or are considering one, the nissan airbox is not a sealed unit, far from it i didnt fit the snorkel but a quick look over and it seemed fine, last night my ns bulb blew so i got a new one and was fitting it, i left the engine running as the wife was keeping warm and dry whilst i froze but i noticed suction around my hand (ooerr).

After i got home i opened the airbox and found behind the silly sponge there is a few clips which hold on the baffle these let in air which isnt normally an issue as it will be filtered however on a sealed snorkel system could be a real issue, its actually quite a strong draught all sealed now with black silicon after degreasing and a fibreglass patch made up to cover the drain holes, i also replaced the OEM sponges pieces with thicker micro cellular just to mop up any rain water that may get in via the snorkel

Rich. · Jan 9, 2016

Someones done a very bad job of fitting that then. My Safari snorkel came with 10 page instructions, 6 of those pages are about removing the air box and cutting off parts and sealing other parts. A lot of people also remove the cumbersome airbox and fit an inline unit like a K&N apollo.

Rich

17743 · Jan 10, 2016

yes i was thinking about that however am not a fan of oiled filters, i was looking at the earlier D22 airbox as it looks like a much better design, just not sure if it would flow enough

Rich. · Jan 10, 2016

Yep, agree with you on the oiled filters, especially with the MAF being so close.

To be fair, once you you've done the work to the stock air box it works perfectly well.

Rich

Leebuts · Jan 10, 2016

cssuk said:
just a word of warning if you have a snorkel or are considering one, the nissan airbox is not a sealed unit, far from it i didnt fit the snorkel but a quick look over and it seemed fine, last night my ns bulb blew so i got a new one and was fitting it, i left the engine running as the wife was keeping warm and dry whilst i froze but i noticed suction around my hand (ooerr).

After i got home i opened the airbox and found behind the silly sponge there is a few clips which hold on the baffle these let in air which isnt normally an issue as it will be filtered however on a sealed snorkel system could be a real issue, its actually quite a strong draught all sealed now with black silicon after degreasing and a fibreglass patch made up to cover the drain holes, i also replaced the OEM sponges pieces with thicker micro cellular just to mop up any rain water that may get in via the snorkel

Hi cssuk
I'll be looking at my airbox soon as its missing clips and leaking, i'll be looking at snorkels this year also, I've not looked at it at all yet...
I noticed you've fibre glassed patched the drain holes, just so say I work with fibre glass and it does not stick to well to abs plastic, it will seem ok at first but will eventually delaminate, especially if glassed Inside with a slight air draw sucking on it? I'd use silicone around the fibreglass edges as a precaution?
Like I say I've looked at mine yet, but just thought I'd mention that.

I was thinking about the snorkels, and that they must draw In some moisture during heavy rain also, but you say there are sponges to take care of that, I'll find out when I look at mine.

Cheers

17743 · Jan 10, 2016

Leebuts said:
Hi cssuk
I'll be looking at my airbox soon as its missing clips and leaking, i'll be looking at snorkels this year also, I've not looked at it at all yet...
I noticed you've fibre glassed patched the drain holes, just so say I work with fibre glass and it does not stick to well to abs plastic, it will seem ok at first but will eventually delaminate, especially if glassed Inside with a slight air draw sucking on it? I'd use silicone around the fibreglass edges as a precaution?
Like I say I've looked at mine yet, but just thought I'd mention that.

I was thinking about the snorkels, and that they must draw In some moisture during heavy rain also, but you say there are sponges to take care of that, I'll find out when I look at mine.

Cheers

thanks for that i used it externally after abrading the surface and then siliconed it internally when done but i wasnt aware of that, think i will look at an alternate airbox just need to figure out the maf mount

Rich. · Jan 10, 2016

Safari call for Sikaflex, but any adhesive sealant is the best stuff for job. Remeber it has to be 'sensor safe' as some sealants can damage the MAF, supposedly.

The decent snorkles are all very efficient at filtering out moisture and rain, the safari does it via the air ram, theres videos on their website if you're interested. Not sure i would trust the cheap ebay knock offs to do the same though. I've driven through some very heavy rain and snow storms and never even had dampness inside the air box.

Rich

Leebuts · Jan 10, 2016

Hi
Even abrading the surface don't help, as rich mentioned sika flex is an excellent material (polyurethane ) as is Ct1, soudal, and stixall (cheaper alternative)
All polyurethanes used in boat building, ive not tried these on plastic, i'll be doing a test by applying different ones to a cleaned box , leaving for 24/48 hrs then peeling off to see which has the best resistance.
I reckon if you put a perimeter sikaflex seal around the grp (fiberglass) covering it and the plastic it should be ok.

Rich I'll check out the safari video thanks, I was thinking about making a fibreglass snorkel that runs up the window pillar (seen a couple of smart discreet looking ones on YouTube videos )
But again wondering about rain water ingress.

I'll do a post if/when I get round to it all.

I may just stick to the safari though (tried and tested).

Cheers

Ps. Rich that's your truck on the new nn banner? (Cool!)

Rich. · Jan 10, 2016

I've used Tiger seal and now Tek-7 on friends snorkles with equally good results.

Will be interesting to see what you come up with!

Haha it is, the old girls famous!

Rich

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