Volant "Cool Air" Intake

[thebrandon]

Here are some pictures of the intake, and some of the stuff you can expect when you see it for the first time.

Why did I replace the intake? My intake box cracked behind the filter. I replaced the intake only to have it break again. I figured something like this would be a great replacement because if the box breaks, I am still getting filtered air.

1. An intake installation is pretty straight forward. The intructions provided in the box provided little help though. And after checking on Volant's website, I found out I apparently was missing the second page included here:
http://www.volant.com/3dkls/iddb/Tfile/FILE/Instructions/Trucks/18000_Toyota/18634_2.pdf

2. This one REALLY irks me. I have put intakes on pretty much every vehicle I have owned, slow diesel tractors (for fun), boosted AWD cars, and other 4x4 trucks, and this is one of the worst things I have seen. The MAF sensor location is a joke. I have seen better quality mounts in cheap eBay intake tubes. It comes with an o-ring and piece of rubber to use in between the MAF and intake tube, but the problem is the sensor did not fit all the way in the pre-made hole, so it was impossible to make a proper seal. I had to bore it out a tad, and made my own gasket to make sure it was air tight.

Let me know if I am expecting too much from this or over reacting, but at $200+ I would expect something better than this.

3. The fittings on the intake tube fit the two new hoses that are provided, but there are three hoses that connect to the intake...the hose closest to the MAF is too small to fit over the new fittings. I live in AZ, rubber hoses tend to crack, and mine was no exception when trying to get this one on. I luckily had a replacement to use.

4. It is loud! I like this though. This is neither a pro or a con.

5. MAF is INSIDE the air box. I did not consider this a pro or a con, but it does mean you pretty much need to take apart the entire intake to clean the MAF.

Some of the hardware and fittings:

What it will look like under the hood. Still need to secure some hoses and tighten down the mounting points to be finished (dirt in your engine bay may vary):

Final thoughts:
For what you pay for this, I was expecting more to be honest. Overall, I am happy with the product and the decision to purchase it. If I had not made the changes I did though, this would be a big disappointment full of leaks.

Maybe I got a bad apple?

 

[thebrandon]

Pictures updated, they weren't showing up before.

 

[cashmoney]

I'm going to say bad apple. I've installed a couple of volant intakes and they fit quite nicely and don't have the problems you mentioned.

 

[jeremyc74]

I put one of these on a GTO about 9 years ago and it was crap too.

I'd be more concerned about the fact that you've cracked two OEM housings. Something is going on there. There shouldn't be any stress on the air box.

 

[baja1]

no idea what its supposed to do....but it sure LOOKS COOL! :bluejump:

 

[98WhiteT4R]

I have one one my second gen Xterra, it sounded awesome but always gave me a code which was annoying.

 

[Akulla72]

Looks kinda cool, but at the same time it looks huge.

Yeah I was wondering myself why your OEM stuff broke in the first place?

 

[thebrandon]

I'm not sure why the oem box broke twice. It was on the back of the box near the mounting point. Maybe it was the long bumpy roads and offroad use. I thought maybe with the first one I tightened it down too much, but the second one did the same thing in the same place. Could just be that the plastic was 15+ years old on both of them?

Don't get me wrong, I like this intake, it has solved my problem while still giving me the air box that I like to have. It just did not meet my expectations for the price point and required a little bonus work for me to be comfortable and ok with it.

 

[KainDrag]

Why doesn't this CAI not fit on the 98 year? Something different?

 

[SilverRidgeRunner1]

So that what it looks like installed. I've had one wait listed in my amazon account for months and just couldn't pull the trigger because of the mixed reviews in quality.

 

[thebrandon]

I believe the maf housing is different on pre 99 3.4 motors. So you would need a 99+ maf sensor for this to work.

Why doesn't this CAI not fit on the 98 year? Something different?

 

[T4RLVR]

Volant 18634

The Brandon.

You are not alone.

The foam that goes into the box doesn't fit especially when I have to run the MAF sensor connection wire through the opening. I had to resort to running it under the lid. There is no L shaped connector, so the 5/8 " hose does not fit. I had to use a zip tie to secure it. The air filter is pushed against the inside of the box, so it doesn't sit flush. I don't know if this is causing a whistling noise that I hear now. The placement of the holes for the MAF on the duct do not line up, so another hole was bored out. I had to tape the foam to the duct, but there is still a gap in the opening. The finish of the box is rough, and the carbon fiber lid was scratched out of the box. I don't think anybody will notice but me. I also put a lot of work into this, and I am not getting any error codes. I think I will keep it considering. I just thought that you should know that the design is flawed. Do not buy from New Level Sports. They told me that I should have put it back in the box. Before you agree, you know how it is when you start a project. If you're anything like me, you don't stop till the job is done, but if your don't have a good part, there is only so much you can do.

 

[Toyotayoda]

Why doesn't this CAI not fit on the 98 year? Something different?

it will fit a 96-98, just have to purchase a 99+ MAF sensor. NO worries the connector is the same, and it measures the same so should have no CEL trouble with that swap.