about 6 or 7 months ago i bought a cold air intake from mustangtunning.com i ahd trouble installing it so brought it to a garage and they put it in. the pipe that attaches to the engine had a hole in it with a lil piece of rubber around the edges but was open and the guy said to leave it open. is this right? shoudl this be open? is unfiltered air goin in? is that bad for the engine?
cold air intake
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unfiltered and unmetered air can cause it to run rough and if something big finds its way in there, that wouldn't be good. I believe the hole that you are looking at is for the IAT sensor which is on 99-00 Mustangs, but on 01-04, the IAT was integrated into the MAF. You would have to find a way to plug the hole and put some silicone around it to seal it good.
well, it's the 99-04 series CAI, so it just comes with the IAT hole, it's just your 2003 does not have the IAT sensor to go there.
"But even in the 99+ years, there were changes to the design of the stock induction system. 99-01 V6 Mustangs have a seperate sensor for temputure, thus incorperating the temputure sensor hole in the MAF to TB tubing. While the 02+, redesigned the MAF itself to incorperate the temputure sensor inthe MAF housing. Thus making the hole for the temp sensor an obsticle to overcome for the 02+'s. If you wish to put a 99+ CAI onto your 02-03, you will need to come up with a way to plug up the hole. Some have gone to an automotive chain store, purchased a rubber grommet to plug up the hole. One person in particular used a bicycle valve cap and silicone to plug up the hole. Quite creative. He has yet to report any problems with this method."
http://www.asbclan.com/rellik/cai.html < a nice CAI article with a long, but good, FAQ.
"But even in the 99+ years, there were changes to the design of the stock induction system. 99-01 V6 Mustangs have a seperate sensor for temputure, thus incorperating the temputure sensor hole in the MAF to TB tubing. While the 02+, redesigned the MAF itself to incorperate the temputure sensor inthe MAF housing. Thus making the hole for the temp sensor an obsticle to overcome for the 02+'s. If you wish to put a 99+ CAI onto your 02-03, you will need to come up with a way to plug up the hole. Some have gone to an automotive chain store, purchased a rubber grommet to plug up the hole. One person in particular used a bicycle valve cap and silicone to plug up the hole. Quite creative. He has yet to report any problems with this method."
http://www.asbclan.com/rellik/cai.html < a nice CAI article with a long, but good, FAQ.
Plugging it is not bad. By leaving the hole open, the engine starts to pull in air that is not measured which makes you run very lean. Leaning out a car leads to pre-detonation which is damaging to the engine, a bad detonation could lead to a rod going through the oil pan. Not to mention if a small pebble gets through the hole and could knock against your valves, and if it makes it into the chamber, damage the valves and pistons.
Check if the local autoparts store has a rubber grommet that would fit and cover the hole, or if they don't, someone has used the valve cap from a bicycle tire, put it over the hole and used a slicone sealant to keep it there. He hasn't reported any problems with his fix either.
Well, you figure on the 99-01 models (I have a 2000), the hole is plugged by a sensor. For the 02-04 years, that sensor was included with the MAF to simplify things, but this leaves that sensor hole open. Leaving a hole past the MAF is always a bad idea because the engine will pull the air in the fastest way possible, and when this happens the MAF cannot meter the air that comes in through the hole because the MAF is before it. If the MAF cannot meter the air, the ECU will not put enough fuel into the chambers leaving you running lean, and since the MAF and O2 sensors will show different readings, it will only throw a code and make the engine run bad. Too lean causes extreme heat inside the combustion chambers and can lead to pre-detonation. The heat can melt pistons and pre-detonation can cause unwanted stress on the rods, eventually possibly causing failure. MAC, BBK and K&N all include a gromet to cover this hole for 02-04 years or they do not have the hole at all.
V6muscle00
New Member
isnt that unplugged hole causing a vacuum leak? or is that vacuum only created inside the throttle body? i just found it weird that u havent heard any high pitched whistling 
Roland69
Sergeant Tangnet
PLUG THAT HOLE...do you think unfiltered air is good....no you mite as well be running no air filter at all
Not trying to be a dick but would anyone run thier car without a filter
Not trying to be a dick but would anyone run thier car without a filter
Roland69
Sergeant Tangnet
is the pipe aluminum if it is take it to someone with a TIG welder and see if they can plug it with some aluminum fill rod. and then you can smooth it and polosh it and you would hardly be able to tell there was a hole there in the first place. The welder should only charge you 20-30 bucks....Or even wrap some tape around the tube for now. Heck even use bubble Gum lol
also another question u v6 guys who do not have the temp sensor. did you have the sam problem or did you buy one that came with something to plug it up with. let me know because i would rather get a new one. also the MAC one looks like it has the some thing or am i wrong. u guys r the best thanx for all the help. hopefully i can fix this soon
