K&N intake popping noise with Lead foot

tmaxx13

New member
idk if its just my vehicle, but sometimes when i step on it... my trans down shifts and my intake makes a pop sound pretty loud, its done it for awhile but someone asked me the other day that was in my car why it did that and i wasn't to sure, anyone else have this same sound with a full intake? thanks
 
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Nope. No popping before or after the S/C for me.

But can you describe the "pop" more in depth. Is it loud, like a gun shot? or like a small balloon popping? Or does it sound like backfiring?
 
it could be a backfire but its defiantly coming from the intake, sounds like small balloons popping up the the hood!!!
 
Plugs are my guess. You could try new plugs

Is there a CEL?

Do you get any physical feedback when it pops? (can you feel it, as opposed to just hearing it)
 
no you can just hear it, i will try to take a video of it and see if the sound is good enough to hear if so ill post it, but no cel, its not like it cuts out when it pops idk its so weird, is the best way to put a video on here to upload it to youtube then just copy the link here?
 
Plugs AND wires. Your wires are arching and causing a backfire and pops through your air box.

I bet it sounds like a rock hitting your wheel well...

and you won't necessarily throw your CEL.
 
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that K&N CAI is robbing you of power and mileage too, i had one and sure it sounded cool, but all it does is suck hot air from inside the engine bay. i swapped out for the stock air box and gained almost 4mpg and noticed my power was there in hills, and under a load. unless you are just set on that sound id dump you CAI and put the factory box back in and do a deckplate mod just my .02

and more on your question yes i think you might have bad plugs and or wires and you are getting a misfire which is causing you "popping" sound
 
shoot i wish my air box was in the same state that I'm in now, shipping would be ton to ship to AK, or i would switch to the deck plate mod, i will have to try my plugs next since i wanted to do a sea foam treatment won't be to much of a problem since i would be replacing them anyways, thanks for the advice
 
shipping should only be like $20-30, which you could save in gas in 6 months or less with the mileage... hell when my parents and friends would ship stuff to me in iraq it was only like $20, and some of those boxes were big and some were heavy, just make sure you get the whole set up. i never had the factory air box, i had to search around and buy one used. the guy who had my runner before me put the K&N on, and hacked it all up, i think it was for a newer tacoma... but yeah i had to get creative with how i hooked everything back up
 
If you have carbon tracking up the wire you might as well replace those or face the same situation again shortly.
 
I think he sprayed the K&N with the wrong stuff after the last cleaning....:wink2:

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i used a K&N cleaner kit, so i don't think thats it, maybe to much filter oil and sucked a drip or two in, but seems like it would of stopped by now since it was almost a month ago
 
that K&N CAI is robbing you of power and mileage too, i had one and sure it sounded cool, but all it does is suck hot air from inside the engine bay. i swapped out for the stock air box and gained almost 4mpg and noticed my power was there in hills, and under a load.

The Kid (& anyone else),

How does the K&N "rob you of power"? I thought the K&N Cold Air Intake actually shows a gain in HP as per the DYNO tests which are posted and show about 5-6 HP.

Also the K&N comes with with a divider that separates the intake from the rest of the engine bay, I always assumed this worked as it was designed and therefore allows colder air into the engine than the stock intake box. Doesn't the stock box just pull from the engine bay as well?

I have been running K&N for a long time, like 6 years and never had any problems. My MPG is ~ 18 city/highway but since there are so many factors this is a bad metric to judge an intake by.
 
The Kid (& anyone else),

How does the K&N "rob you of power"? I thought the K&N Cold Air Intake actually shows a gain in HP as per the DYNO tests which are posted and show about 5-6 HP.

Also the K&N comes with with a divider that separates the intake from the rest of the engine bay, I always assumed this worked as it was designed and therefore allows colder air into the engine than the stock intake box. Doesn't the stock box just pull from the engine bay as well?

I have been running K&N for a long time, like 6 years and never had any problems. My MPG is ~ 18 city/highway but since there are so many factors this is a bad metric to judge an intake by.

because it isnt sucking, or picking up cold air, it sits inside the engine bay over in the corner, there is no cold air over there, you dont have a hood scoop right there, you have a head light and a small hole where the factory air box used to be, but with out vacuum its not enough to do anything. that big cone filter just sucks up all the hot air from your exhaust manifold and radiator. CAI might work on some cars but not our runners, sure "dyno results" show improvements, but not off our runners or tacomas, they actually show a drop off in power with our trucks. there are a few guys who are running SC who went back to the factory air box because it yielded more power than the CAI. maybe if you removed the passenger side headlight and left that hole open it might be of some function but whos gonna do that? all the CAI does is make a nice sound, and rob you of power and mileage. put your stock air box back in and deckplate it if you want power and mileage back. the stock air box pulls cold air from back in the right front finder, and yes its a little restrictive, so thats why the deckplate. sure it might allow a little bit of that hot air in, but its still a lot cooler that only sucking that hot air.
 
I do not disagree with everything you are saying but I would like to point out that the Dyno K&N posted is specifically of 98 year Tacoma with the same V6 as our 4Runners. it shows a 6 HP gain. Now it would be great if a member could post their own dyno results so we have a second opinion from the manufacturor.
 
Sorry to disagree but I have a large gap under the front headlight that lets in plenty of "cold" air where the stock Filter box sits. I also have an ARB bumper which may account for the gaps under the headlights.

I've had my Injen intake installed for over a week now and am seeing MPG gains of 1-2 mpg from mine and that's on the conservative side. It has pretty much given me back the gas mileage that I lost when I switched from 265 to 285 tires.

I don't have a SC so I don't buy the results in comparing an SC'd Runner to a non-SC'd Runner. Also, the comparison's aren't valid if they swapped the CAI and the stock filterbox during the same Dyno session. You would need to reset the ECU/EFI and drive the vehicle a few days before re-testing on the Dyno.

I really feel that a CAI may be beneficial depending on the configuration of the vehicle. Generalizing based on a few individuals Dyno results for SC'd Runners isn't convincing enough for me.
 
IMHO the stock air box is best. I had both the CIA and a deckplate mod and currently use the stock air box with the deckplate closed. I think the extra air only helps at really high RPMs.

For me, the stock box works best for everyday driving. It appears the stock box provides better low speed power. For example, when taking off from a stoplight. Just my personal observations. No data or dyno as proof.

Every so often I get courious again and I'll open the deckplate back up but I just don;t like the torque I get with it open. I always end up closing it back up to get the low-end power back.

I do have the TRD filter, airaid MIT, oring mod and a TRD exhaust. I just didn't like the CIA or the deckplate.
 
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id like to join in to because there ARE other options then the stock airbox. Yes i agree that the setup on the K&N is exposed to too much hot air, engine dust etc. Which i also think can alter the performance. that little heat shield is still massively exposed from the top.

There are other intakes that i would put money on, that would give you at least better mileage and probably even better HP then the deckplate MOD and stock air box. I too would like to dyno mine to get legit results but im getting 22 to 23 MPGs at 120k miles before with just a K&N drop in filter it was around 18 to 19.

i sound like a broken record here and Bryson your thread got jacked! sorry buddy ill get back to it. But one more thing, even a lot of the newer sports cars today come with a CAI setup just like Airraid, Volant and the TRD kits, they are enclosed in a box and volant makes the porwecore filter that allows air to come in from only the top of the cone that points directly at the opening. blah blah blah

anyway sorry man that is strange, i dont get any pops in my setup and i hope you can get it resolved!
 

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