Intake air at COLD temps - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

PanzerSD · #1 01-07-2010, 02:15 AM

How can I make or allow the air being drawn thru the air filter to be warmed slightly at VERY cold temperatures? It's -30 outside, and unless I put card board in front of my radiator, my K-Jet Sensor plate ices open and floods the engine once the throttle is let off.
way back I've seen cars that have heater pipes coming from a shroud on the exhaust manifold and drawn in by the engine. had Mercedes ever tackled this problem? I'd need to make a shroud and stuff...

lkchris · #2 01-08-2010, 04:29 PM

Might want to verify function of idle control valve, which is supposed to provide extra throttle (throttle bypass) when engine is cold.

PanzerSD · #3 01-08-2010, 06:52 PM

I know that's stuck open a bit, but that's not the issue. The air coming into the air cleaner is SO COLD that if freezes the moisture in the crank case vapor and forms ice around the edge of the MAF sensor plate jamming it in it's partial throttle position, and when I let off the throttle, the plate is still open a bit, just enough to flood the engine when Idle position is reached. This will only occur at operating temp and only while driving.

anziani · #4 01-10-2010, 01:33 PM

You could move to Phoenix

Anziani

tinypanzer · #5 01-11-2010, 10:08 PM

Wow, now that's an interesting problem. One thing you could try is to put a filter on the crankcase pipe coming into the air cleaner.

If that doesn't work, perhaps the best approach is to wax up that plate so slick that ice won't stick to it.

Or, you could just pull off the air intake hose and let the thing breath the slightly warmer engine compartment air......Block off the radiator with cardboard, and that will help even more.

PanzerSD · #6 01-11-2010, 11:22 PM

I could also re-route that inlet for Vapor to the non-filtered side of the air cleaner. so the water condenses on the filter.

DANSMB · #7 01-12-2010, 12:14 AM

Why not just remove the air supply pipe that goes from the air filter to the radiator and let it suck engine compartment air?

Dan

PanzerSD · #8 01-12-2010, 01:04 AM

The Air cleaner inlet is already within the engine compartment, Placing cardboard directly in front of the radiator greatly reduces the large volume of supercooled air coming into the engine compartment.
I used a remote temperature probe at one point and measured the ambient air being -30 at idle, and intake air at -48. Driving at partial throttle, with the vehicle in motion, the ambient air moving past the vehicle is at around -40 to -45, and the intake air was a balmy -74*C

Whereupon I took my foot off the throttle and it flooded, and for as long as the fuel pump was running, it was pouring fuel into that engine. It took a good couple of hours sitting before it was dry enough to turn over without fuel washing the cylinders (at -30 fuel wash=Death)
If I allow the car to come to operating temperature, and allow all the engine parts to absorb as much heat as they can, there is enough heat in the metal to prevent the freezing from occurring. I imagine when the temps are that low that a humid day all sorts of frost is building up on that sensor plate.

JordaanDMC-12 · #9 01-12-2010, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PanzerSD

The Air cleaner inlet is already within the engine compartment, Placing cardboard directly in front of the radiator greatly reduces the large volume of supercooled air coming into the engine compartment.
I used a remote temperature probe at one point and measured the ambient air being -30 at idle, and intake air at -48. Driving at partial throttle, with the vehicle in motion, the ambient air moving past the vehicle is at around -40 to -45, and the intake air was a balmy -74*C

Whereupon I took my foot off the throttle and it flooded, and for as long as the fuel pump was running, it was pouring fuel into that engine. It took a good couple of hours sitting before it was dry enough to turn over without fuel washing the cylinders (at -30 fuel wash=Death)
If I allow the car to come to operating temperature, and allow all the engine parts to absorb as much heat as they can, there is enough heat in the metal to prevent the freezing from occurring. I imagine when the temps are that low that a humid day all sorts of frost is building up on that sensor plate.

WOOOOW -74oC?

That's actually kind of awesome in a way lol. That is an interesting problem you have, usually everyone on here is having overheating problems lol I would think the wax might work as said by a previous poster, although I don't really know. Please keep us updated if you find a solution!

PanzerSD · #10 01-12-2010, 01:15 PM

yeah, that's pretty frickin cold. Around here (Central Canada) highway driving when it's really cold can result in clutches freezing to pressure plates and throttle body's icing up at WOT. I'm going to try some PAM cooking spray, but other than that, wither some exhaust shroud fed intake tube for the air cleaner or settle for cardboard in front of the radiator. I personally like the cardboard because it's FREE but I have to replace and remove it when the temps dip.

tjts1 · #11 01-12-2010, 02:09 PM

If you have junkyards in your area, take a lot for a non turbo Volvo 850. On non turbo cars, volvo installed a thermostatically controlled intake that tried to maintain a minimum 70f intake temperature. It has one hose connected to the front of the grill and another connected to the exhaust heat shield. With a little creativity I'm sure you could adapt it to the Mercedes during the winter.