aFe causing smushed intake boot?

[HokieZHP]

I noticed when changing my spark plugs that my intake boot is smushed up to crunched up. (pic below). Have other aFe users experienced this also? I don't remember it being like that with the stock airbox. It seems to be limiting airflow though. I tried wiggling the components around to straighten it out with no luck. Is there a way to remedy this? Maybe a new boot? Or is it irrelevant?

(sorry for iphone pics)

http://tapatalk.com/mu/a6890f84-9b00-4c8f.jpg

http://tapatalk.com/mu/a6890f84-9b10-83ed.jpg

[danewilson77]

Hokie....mine isn't like this.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[HokieZHP]

Alright it's weird cause the black housing is sitting as far forward as it can while still lining up with the holes, the silver adapter is snug against the housing and the MAF is tight as well so I'm not sure why the boot is doing that. Is it adjustable on the lower end? Is there space for it to slide back and forth down there?

[danewilson77]

I wonder if your boot is seated correctly on the icv and on the intake.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[HokieZHP]

I know it's seated on the intake but I'll check the ICV. There's a lot of slack though so I feel like there's a big correction needed somewhere. Would it be worth it to get an aftermarket intake boot?

[mikeyb74]

I have an afe on my 325xi and it is not doing that. Chris what about a silicone intake boots?

[HokieZHP]

That's what I was thinking of were the silicone boots. Just wondering how expensive they are and where to find one. I'll go home today and try to work on it and straighten it out. If not I may get a silicone one.

[mikeyb74]

I just googled e46 silicone intake boots and all that comes up is apps for e46 m3. No M54 apps. I would love to pick up a pair myself.

[HokieZHP]

I also googled quickly with no results. I've seen them around, just need to figure out where to get a set if I can't fix this.

[mikeyb74]

My work sells Samcosport silicone hoses for e36s and e46 M3s. I checked out Samcosport's website where they don't offer any for the M54. which I think is pretty lame.

[Hornung418]

Stett is the maker of 330 intake boots.

RootedDROIDXstatus. Come at me, bro.

[mikeyb74]

Link Justin?

[Hornung418]

http://www.shop.stettperformance.com/product.sc?productId=22&categoryId=4

I thought they made a single piece.

David has one on his ZHP.

[mikeyb74]

Sweet! Thanks :)

Stettperformance even offers silicone rad hoses. I wonder when the M52tu and M54b25 silicone intake hoses will be ready?

[Hornung418]

Not sure. I believe it was an e46f forum project. But the Silicone Rad Hoses do look very nice!

[HokieZHP]

Ok so upon further investigation I broke this. Runs allllll the wayyy down in the engine bay. How bad is it/is my car drivable?http://tapatalk.com/mu/45863f4d-29ee-7aa0.jpg

[Hornung418]

Its a vac line. Easily fixable with a new connecting hose. Pull off both pieces of outer rubber and affix with a new one. As a cheap fix you can use a piece of metal tubing and shove the two pieces together. Some track day fixes for your Daily Driver :)

[HokieZHP]

So the line inside the rubber connector was never connected to itself? It was just the outer rubber? Ok that makes me feel better.

Any other quick fixes? Heatshrink?That could be found in a garage before say work at 8am tomorrow? Lol

[Hornung418]

That would also work. But if you have an old Antenna for an RC car or something, that can be broken into an inch long piece, and wedged in between them. I've got several 'rigged' vac lines. I don't have time to replace the ones deep behind the intake manifold. I've had no issues in the year that I've had them like that.

[HokieZHP]

Lol the r/c antenna was the first thing I grabbed. Too small though. I found some tube in my garage up in the garden section and it fit perfectly. Good thing my dads a pack rat. http://tapatalk.com/mu/45863f4d-3068-32a8.jpg

[Hornung418]

NICE!!! Good work You'll be fine with that for a long while. Check it whenever you're under the hood to make sure it's not loose or undone.

[HokieZHP]

Thanks. Had a quick panic attack but learned something new. Not too familiar with under the engine stuff but learning more and more every day! Thanks once again guys! :thumbup

[MasterC17]

I've had mine do this as well, if it's the same problem I had the big harness running under the intake is probably behind the intake boots, just slip it forward and everything should align in place. Picture to show you what I'm talking about. The thing circled in red is what I'm talking of. In my picture it is how it's supposed to be.

[HokieZHP]

Still haven't had many luck straightening this out. Today I loosened all of the hose clamps and tried to move the two boot pieces around to make it straighter but didn't have any luck. Not sure what I can do. Seems like the upper intake boot needs to be about 1.5-2.5" shorter to fit correctly. From looking at it from the outside there looks to be about an inch of room inside where it's smushed.

More pics:
http://tapatalk.com/mu/45863f4d-e73e-d381.jpg
http://tapatalk.com/mu/45863f4d-e763-33d6.jpg
MAF:
http://tapatalk.com/mu/45863f4d-e79b-8ca2.jpg

[danewilson77]

Ima take a pic of mine tonight....so we can compare. I think it may just need to be rotated?

[HokieZHP]

I tried rotating it. Unfortunately the clamp on the lower part of the lower intake boot is facing downward.....so I can't easily get to it. I did try to rotate the upper boot but didn't have any luck. The lower boot needs to be moved further back which I could possibly do if I could rotate it.

I'm going to email aFe as well and see what they say. I may end up having to take some stuff off to get to that other clamp.

[mikeyb74]

Chris did you have a picture of the intake? I just had a 330ci customer have the same issue. The intake was set back just enough to bend the intake boot.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/miamibusta69/P1011292.jpg

[HokieZHP]

Just this one.

http://tapatalk.com/mu/42c3c8b3-a9bd-51b8.jpg

[mikeyb74]

Your intake looks correctly installed. I looked at mine at lunch to compare them.

[HokieZHP]

Yeah I mean everything about the intake looks correct except my boot is messed up. It's really bothering me too. I emailed aFe but have yet to hear back.

[mikeyb74]

Yeah I mean everything about the intake looks correct except my boot is messed up. It's really bothering me too. I emailed aFe but have yet to hear back.

Hopefully Afe will response to your email. What about picking up bew intake boots?

[HokieZHP]

Hopefully Afe will response to your email. What about picking up bew intake boots?

I was thinking about it but chances are they'll be the same length so I'm still out of luck.

Unless someone has them and can comment on their length?

[mikeyb74]

Weird! I've installed numerous intakes from AFE and other brands in e46s and never really had this problem. I still think the air box is set just enough back to cause this. Do you still have the factory airbox? If so I would swap them out to see what happens. I've seen both the heatshield being bent just enough to cause alignment problems and the velocity stack mass air flow sensor not being 100 percent put together.

Just trying to help you out.

[HokieZHP]

Mikeyb--no worries. I'll try to get to it tomorrow. I'll re-install the stock airbox and take some pics. I have a good friend flying in from Ohio staying with me and she leaves tuesday so if I don't have time to get to it before then I'll do it next week.

Thanks!

[billschusteriv]

Ok so upon further investigation I broke this. Runs allllll the wayyy down in the engine bay. How bad is it/is my car drivable?http://tapatalk.com/mu/45863f4d-29ee-7aa0.jpg


Its a vac line. Easily fixable with a new connecting hose. Pull off both pieces of outer rubber and affix with a new one. As a cheap fix you can use a piece of metal tubing and shove the two pieces together. Some track day fixes for your Daily Driver :)


So the line inside the rubber connector was never connected to itself? It was just the outer rubber? Ok that makes me feel better.

Any other quick fixes? Heatshrink?That could be found in a garage before say work at 8am tomorrow? Lol


That would also work. But if you have an old Antenna for an RC car or something, that can be broken into an inch long piece, and wedged in between them. I've got several 'rigged' vac lines. I don't have time to replace the ones deep behind the intake manifold. I've had no issues in the year that I've had them like that.


Lol the r/c antenna was the first thing I grabbed. Too small though. I found some tube in my garage up in the garden section and it fit perfectly. Good thing my dads a pack rat. http://tapatalk.com/mu/45863f4d-3068-32a8.jpg


Nice. I think we need some DIYs on track day fixes from our track rats. (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) :biggrin

[mikeyb74]

Hey Chris did you ever figure out what was causing this?

[HokieZHP]

No I didn't. Haven't had time to really dig around under the hood here at school. Engineering school is kicking my butt with all the work. Since there is a slight crack in the upper boot around the sensor input I may be switching my boots for some nice stett boots here in the next few months. I'll see if that fixes it. Other than that I can't think of too much else to do since there's not much wiggle room in there.

[MasterC17]

Wish I had found this thread earlier, probably irrelevant by now but I had the same issue. With me, the wiring harness that sits next to the intake boot near where the boot connects to the AFE intake can get stuck behind the boot squishing it. By moving the wiring harness in front of the boot you remedy the problem. Stett sells silicon boots; I may be getting them because the AFE likes to squash things and they are a lot stronger.

EDIT: Upon further inspection, I've already replied to this thread...lol

[HokieZHP]

haha thanks for the reply though. On mine, the harness does sit in front of the boot. I think the aFe intake just pushes it back further and the boot isn't strong enough to push back. I'm hoping a silicone boot will fix it because I don't think there's any other option.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

EDIT: Upon further inspection, I've already replied to this thread...lol

Nice!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk