[Guest]

Hi All:

___I received a pic of Rick Reece’s own warm air intake mod from Rick tonight and would like a bit more detail from those that have installed this mod on their own Insight’s for the winter months in case he is not around.

___Since I will be picking up the Insight in more then likely freezing temps, I would like to at least get a warm air intake installed for the drive home. It appears that all you need is the right size dryer vent hose and adapter of some sort? What sizes of what do I actually need? Rick mentioned a 4” hose but how long? 3’? 4’? Also, how is the dryer hose attached or located next to the CAT? Does it just lay right next to it? And the adapter … do you just tape it to the existing intake or do you purchase another PVC/plastic pipe of some type/size and attach it to the intake manifold?

___Sorry for all the questions but my time is running out and I would like to get this mod setup for install (parts and pieces purchased even if only temporary) in the Honda parking lot before I drive off. Since I don’t actually own the Insight yet, I have no template to come up with a proper setup currently

___Thanks in advance for any and all replies.

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:h1ju1byi][email protected][/email:h1ju1byi]

 

[Guillermo]

How can you appreciate the mod if you don't try the Insight "as is" for a week?

 

[cakley]

Hi All:

for install (parts and pieces purchased even if only temporary) in the Honda parking lot before I drive off. Since I don’t actually own the Insight yet, I have no template to come up with a proper setup currently

___Thanks in advance for any and all replies.

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:1c3gkt9w][email protected][/email:1c3gkt9w]

Not worried about your warranty?


Just get the 3-4" flex pipe, some long zip ties, knife, wire cutters,and a roll of duct tape.

I use a cold air set up but I like the power. Anyways you can remove part of the intake that near the front end by using a 10mm (?) socket. Simply unbolt and pull out. Next tape the hose to the opening and route the hose. tape and wire tie as need. Lots of space on te back side of the engine so just tape or zip tie the hose and let hang. The cat heats up to 400 pretty quick so leave at least an inch of space. Just my thoughts to help you out.

 

[redgiki]

Lean burn or regular mileage?

Has anyone tried the warm air intake on a CVT to see how it changes the mileage?

If not, maybe I'll be the first. My holy grail is "sixty five at sixty five" on my CVT -- if I can achieve that, I'll be one happy camper beating the EPA estimate...

 

[Guest]

Hi Guillermo:

___Here is the sale page w/ a few pics my Insight. It’s the snow in the background that has me concerned with not seeing lean burn until spring? With the Warm Air mod, there is a possibility of seeing it on the way home if I am really really lucky. Forecast highs for Sioux Fall’s and here near Chicago will be below freezing for the Insight's long ride home.

___Cakely, in regards to the warranty, not really … The 7 Yr./100,00 mile Honda Certified warranty will be up in a year and a half anyway I have the duct tape and zip ties setup already. I will head on over to Home Depot in the morning for the 4” flex pipe. I will make sure I bring along a 10 mm socket as well as a few screwdrivers and crescent wrench(s) as well. Anything else you can think of?

___Thanks again to the both of you.

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[emailm44bllz][email protected][/emailm44bllz]

 

[Guest]

Hi Redgiki:

___I can bet it will! There are a few 04 Prius owners that have started talking about Rick’s lmpg using the “Burt Warm Air Mod” in his Insight and we all know the reason. Cold temperatures suck the life out of any automobiles mileage but reading the many Warm Air mod threads in the Yahoo groups, it appears that it really works! That and making sure to cover up the radiator ~ 80% with cardboard. I will do that as well. I have the feeling my Insight will look like it came from the tape factory after I am done with the On-the-road mods

___Cakely, now you have me thinking about that warranty. Maybe I will stop at a gas station down the street to perform the mod(s)

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:2s5mecu4][email protected][/email:2s5mecu4]

 

[ericbecky]

This topic was discussed in November in the General Discussion forum under the title ”winterizing the nsight” (notice the missing “I” in “Insight”.) The thread also references some posts from the Yahoo Honda-Insight group. (That thread starts September 17, 2001 at post number 19094.)

From these verbal descriptions, I was able to make the modification. No tools necessary. No duct tape either. All you need to buy is the hose and maybe some wire. See below for details that I snipped from the other posts.

Here’s Armin’s verbal description from the “winterizing” thread:

“Standing in front of the car, look at the right side of the air filter box. Remove the 2" rubber hose going into it and just leave it hanging. Attach one end of the pre-heater hose to the box using the same clip that was holding the rubber hose.

route the pre-heater hose back and down underneath the battery box and over to the left, behind the engine until it reaches the first catalytic converter. Use some wire to hold it in place.”

Using the Honda-Insight thread as reference, I took BURT’s advice and purchased the duct/hose from NAPA.

"PART #825-4026 (2" X 36"). It needs to be stretched to its maximum length to reach the catalyst."

36” was fine, but you could ask if there is a 48” long one available. The guy behind the counter called it a preheater hose. The hose is a flexible accordian-like aluminum (?) hose that is black on the outside.

Good luck.

 

[Guest]

Hi Ericbecky:

___That was a perfect description and post! I am heading out right now and NAPA will be first on my list for the part(s).

___Thank You all and Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:mrd5t7u7][email protected][/email:mrd5t7u7]

 

[Guest]

Hi All:

___To finish off, I picked up (3) length’s of 18” NAPA pre-heater hose, 5 screw clamps, a small length of PVC pipe (cut into two 1” pieces and connected them all up to create a single collapsible but rather lengthy pre-heater hose this evening. No one in my area apparently stocks the 36” length so I improvised the best that I could with what I could find. With Rick Reece’s temperature measurements, an ~ 40 degree rise over external ambient should not be enough to harm the PVC ~ 18” away from the inlet next to the catalytic converter but we shall see …

___I have some cardboard, duct tape, and box cutters ready to form the 2 sided radiator block (75% should about do it?) and only need the Insight to finish up the on the road “Warm Air Intake” mod. I hope the intake hose and radiator block work just well enough together to offer some lean burn in 20 degree temps for the drive home???

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:25tt2nbk][email protected][/email:25tt2nbk]

 

[james]

Well, I did one too. Was cleaning the shed, and noticed a piece of 2" SCAT tubing that I had left from replacing some of the ducting on the Piper. Exactly the right diameter and length, too. Took all of 5 minutes and a couple of cable ties to install. And while I was there, I stuck a small piece of cardboard by the radiator - about 1/3 coverage, since it seldom gets all that cold around here.

 

[Guest]

Hi James:

___It worked great but it took me ~ 250 miles and 5 rest stops to figure out how much of the radiator to cover with my own home made cardboard and tape radiator block. The last 300 miles went off without a hitch other then battling a 15 – 30 mile side and head wind all the damn way home

___The Warm Air Intake itself took about 3 minutes to install but it took me about an hour to find all the parts because no one had a 3’ piece as listed above.

___As far as the radiator block, I started with just one side from the far left and covered ~ 1/3 of the front face. I saw the Insight enter lean burn just one time in the first 20 miles. I added a second piece to cover ~ 1/3 of the right side and saw lean burn for 1 minute on/10 seconds off for another 50 or so miles at varying but very slow speeds (< 55 mph). It was ~ 25 degrees F when I left and when I stopped receiving lean burn at all again, it felt about 25 degrees and the sun was going down. I began to apply (2) 2” piece of duct tape across the two cardboard radiator blocks at each stop until I felt I was receiving the appropriate activity. I now even receive Auto stops in below freezing weather! The first happened after the second cardboard application at the first rest area. After the final tape application, it will now auto stop every time above 32 and I receive Lean burn down into the mid to upper 20’s to the low 40’s consistently now. I have a section of radiator open that is ~ 1 ft. x 6” at the very bottom and center of the radiator and as mentioned above, have lean burn capability into the mid 20’s at least. Autostop works every time into this range as well. It is 40 degrees at my home right now so I cannot vouch for teens or below just yet … With all the screwing around and learning to drive the Insight, I received a respectable 74.9 mpg over the 550 miles home. A lot of the first miles were in the low to mid 60’s with lean burn being a hit or miss and another section hit or miss when it got cold at sundown. Another negative was a 15 to 30 mile wind from the direct right side and then head on basically from Madison, Wisconsin to the Illinois border (Home) … I could see the Insight’s FCD jumping into the 100 mpg + range when the wind was blocked by an overpass while in lean burn so I have very very high hopes for a summer of decent mileage feats without having to drive 50 mph as was the case during some phases of the experiment today. Boy did that suck!

___To add … If you use heat for cabin cooling, your Lean burn will go away in my brief experiences today. Not until I had the radiator blocked almost 90% could I achieve all the Insight is capable of (consistent lean burn, auto stop, and comfortable cabin heat) so keep this in mind for below freezing temps if you have them in your locale.

___Good Luck and thanks to all of you for giving me the knowledge to put this package together while on the road! It worked great. Gas mileage without lean burn is atrocious with a max of just 60 – 65 mpg maximum and there was a few lengthy 20 + mile periods during my science project when that is all I could receive :evil:

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:2d6z8kzh][email protected][/email:2d6z8kzh]

 

[james]

"Gas mileage without lean burn is atrocious with a max of just 60 – 65 mpg..."

Hey, are we getting just a little greedy here, or what? Just stop and think how that sounds

Though my mpg on this tank really is horrible: filled up just before Christmas, and went to visit friends up at the lake Xmas Eve, in the middle of a good snowstorm. About 50 miles of driving on mountain roads with 4-6" of snow and tire chains (and 50+ mph winds) gets the mpg down around 50, and I've been watching it slowly climb back this week. Almost to 60 now...

On the radiator blocking, what does your temperature gauge show? Mine would show 4-5 bars lit w/o the block, 6 with.

 

[Guest]

Hi James:

___Yes, coming from the Corolla, that sound a bit nuts, doesn’t it

___I have seen the same 6 bars on the temp gauge since my experimentation began … I added one more strip of 2” today so there is just a small 1’ x 4” opening and the mileage improved yet again. I was traveling to work in 30 - 37 degree temps and had a 76 tmpg over the 92.2 miles with a strong and steady 20 mph wind right down the nose :evil: At work, I added the next 2” strip and drove home in 37 – 47 degree temps. I hit a nice 80.3 tmpg over the same 92.2 miles. I don’t know if it was the higher ambient temperature, no wind, or the smaller opening but I could maintain lean burn for longer periods while keeping my speeds at the same 55 – 58 mph range throughout the commute. There was a few areas of auto-stop in dead traffic but most of the commute was with little to no wind to fight and that appeared to help as well.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:e6jt6sdk][email protected][/email:e6jt6sdk]

 

[figgy]

Air blocks (rain proof)

I have been experiementing with cardboard blocking for the area of the AC condensor over the AC fan, in combination with blocking the lower air intake area in the bumper.

I wanted something that would not get messy in the rain, and wouldn't melt in case things got hot (plastic was out).

Solution: I used some of the thin flashing from Home Depot (you can get a really short roll of 14 inch flashing for about 8 bucks) and folded it thrice over a cardboard stiffener. Then I taped the edges to keep them from scratching anything. You can clip this stuff with tin snips and easily make any size you want.

I spray painted the top part black so that when you see the front of the car the silver flashing won't show up and look bad.

Presto, waterproof, stiff, lightweight blocker.

P.s. The perfect clips to hold it in place are the 'bankers clips' from Office Depot which are about 5 inches long and exactly the right size for clamping over the AC condensor and the piece of carboard. They come on and off easily, and hold all the way down their length, so the block doesn't move or flap around at all.

 

[figgy]

Pictures at web site

I posted pictures of all of this at:

http://fungiart.com/insight/

under "Winterizing Mods"

 

[ivelostr2]

Just curious, someone mentioned that their warranty was up soon, does this void the warranty?
Is there any need for this in the summer heat, I would assume the car is already hot enough, but would this help mpg in the summer at all?
I am picking my (new to me) 2003 insight up tomorrow; I’m pretty excited about it too. This site is great…

 

[Guest]

Hi Ivelostr2:

___I have removed and reinstalled both the radiator block and the warm air intake more then a few times now. The Radiator block goes in for my morning drive to work as it is usually in the high 50’s/low 60’s (this week) but for the afternoon drive home, I remove it in temperatures above 72 degrees F. I have removed the warm air intake mod a few times just to see if there was a difference and have not noticed any when it is 75 degrees F or higher. I do see lower fuel economy on the instantaneous when it’s in the high 60’s or below with the warm air intake mod removed. Until we see sustained low 70’s or higher in the Chicago area, I think I will leave the warm air intake mod installed and use the radiator block for the colder morning commutes. With this removal of the mod(s) or leaving them installed depending on temperature, 5 of my last 6 - 96 mile commutes have been > 100 mpg.

___As it stands, I can remove the radiator block in 10 seconds and maybe 30 seconds for the warm air intake mod. I do forget to remove the radiator block sometimes like tonight’s trip home but since I maintained speeds > 15 mph other then 2 Autostop’s when coasting to a stop in heavy traffic, I wasn’t too concerned. I did not see anything beyond the normal 6 bars but I did keep a close eye on it when traffic slows to a crawl for anything more then a minute or two. If I did see 8 bars, I would immediately shut down the ICE and coast to a stop in the maintenance lane. Once stopped, I would remove the radiator block and be back on my way with the small Radiator fan spinning away until the normal 6 bars were showing again.

___If I traveled any distance in all city conditions, I would remove the radiator block at anything above 45 degrees F as I had the radiator fan kick on once when it was just 32 degrees while sitting in stop and go traffic in a small town 5 miles to the south a few months ago.

___As for warranty and such, if you burn up your ICE because you aren’t paying attention to the coolant temperature, that is between you and your maker.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:nfxs599c][email protected][/email:nfxs599c]

 

[ericbecky]

I've removed my radiator block. Althought there have been a few "cooler" (high 20's) mornings, I'm usually too lazy to put it in just because it's a little cold that morning. Mine also takes less than 10 seconds to install.

I have left my warm air mod in, although I noticed that mine is a little farther away from the catalytic converter than xcel's is. I haven't decided exactly when I'll take it out, given that I'm still getting good mileage. (mid 70's mpg to/from work for May)

Perhaps I'll try an experiment next week and see if there's a

 

[james]

Why not just make a smaller radiator blocker for spring & fall? My winter one covers about 2/3 of the radiator, so now that it's warming up a bit I'm going to make one that's about a third or so.

 

[ericbecky]

I think it, again, is because of my laziness that I don't put it in.
I already have a piece that is about a thrid the width of the radiator.
You see, my radiator block actually consists of two unequal widths of cardboard. One is about two-thirds of the width of the radiator, and one is about a third the width of the radiator. This helps in two ways. 1) it's easier to insert than one big piece and 2) I can create a "range" of blockage by varying the amount of overlap of the two pieces.
You could use this overlapping idea to make other sizes, too. But I just don't take the time to make it happen. My latest mpg is in the 70's so I'm pretty satisfied.