Volant CAI + Scoop install on '13 2wd DCSB TRD Sport

I've done CAI's before and thought I needed a little challenge this time. So I went for the biggest box with the scoop, decided to do it at night, outside in 32 degree weather :/

Everything came out of the engine bay fine.
Converting stuff over was okay.
Mounting stuff was a bit of a hassle. Thankfully they included an elbow and a few extra inches of tubing.
Getting the Donaldson Powercore in the box was a major B. I let out several strings of profanity I'm not proud of. It basically can not fit the adapter inside the box. I couldn't find anyone else having this problem & a solution online. I saw some VW and Dodge guys chucking the Volant filter and mounting a K&N filter on the end.
Anyway, I wound up cutting the rubber lip off the Powercore just to get it to fit on the adapter base inside the box.
Oh, and those rubber mounts for the pump? Make sure you wear some gloves, reach through and tug 'em. Just treat 'em like big ol' cow teats.

After the HOUR LONG Powercore debacle, the scoop was a five minute job, except for the fact that NONE of the holes lined up correctly to the truck. This was a quick and easy fix with a drill and a bit (on the plastic only). Still, after everything I'm left with two nuts & bolts that were never mentioned in the iffy instructions.
link: http://www.volant.com/3dkls/iddb/Tfi...ta/38240_3.pdf

Anyway, it's all mounted up. Looks decent. I wish I could mount the engine cover back on top. it seemed to block some engine noise. I noticed the engine was loud after cranking it up. Granted, it was 32 degrees outside and it had been sitting for three hours. SO anyway, idle was HIGH (1400-1500) for a while before settling down to 1100. I took it for a spin and yep, there's a motor under the hood. I wasn't prepared for one shift which knocked me back into the seat. The exhaust note is slightly different too. Mind you, I'm still on stock exhaust. That's the next step




See, the adapter is larger than the lip of the powercore. The rubber on the power core is so dense it won't stretch over the adapter:




Cut and fitted. Finally:






Finshed:

 

Used WD40 after considering some drastic options. Hell man, same exact experience! Good to know I ain't the only one who was like "F Volant...What the hell."

 

Congrats

 

No check engine light?

 

Nope. No CEL and it's been on for nearly 1100 miles. I read here and elsewhere that the '13+ have a redesigned tube with a better MAF sensor placement & seating, so the CEL issue with the earlier design is no more.

Related: I'm charting my mileage and will post results from pre & post install following my next tank of gas.

 

Round 1:

Mileage/Fuel Used/Fuel Left/Avg.mpg./Reserved/Notes
318.8 / 17.8 gal. / 3.2 gal. / 17.91 / 57.3 miles / mostly city
307.7 / 17.4 gal. / 3.6 gal. / 17.68 / 63.7 miles / mostly city
360.0 / 18.3 gal. / 2.7 gal. / 19.67 / 53.1 miles / 3/4 tank hwy 65-75mph

Average totals:
328.8 / 17.8 gal. / 3.2 gal. / 18.42 / 58.0 miles

Round 2:
Mileage/Fuel Used/Fuel Left/Avg.mpg./Reserved/Notes
319.5 / 19.1 gal / 1.9 gal / 16.72 / 31.8 miles / Intake & exhaust added


348.1 / 18.4 gal. / 2.6 gal. / 18.92 / 49.2 miles / low psi @ 1/2 tank


370.1 / 18.7 gal. / 2.3 gal. / 19.79 / 45.5 miles / 1/2 city, 1/2 hwy

Average totals:
345.9 / 18.7 gal. / 2.27 gal. / 18.47 / 42.2 miles

Notes:

Round 1 was fresh from dealer, all stock.

Round 2 was colder weather, intake & exhaust installed. Weather was so cold air leaked from tires. Was running low (24 psi.) for 1.5 tanks. Mileage improved when tires were inflated to 31 psi. I am running regular grade ethanol gas (winter mix). Round 2 tank 1 is an outlier because I was throttling it A LOT. If that tank is removed you can see I minimally marked increase in mpg.

My highest mpg tanks were recorded when I was about 5 hours south of here. The temps were a good 10-12 degrees warmer. My worst mpg tanks were recorded during significantly colder than average weeks.
While the premise behind a CAI is to bring more cold air into the engine, I think there's a minimum temperature threshold where, maybe it becomes so cold it is actually a hindrance to efficient combustion. Perhaps the solution is to only run CAI in warm months or leave stock intake in place.

I look forward to comparing summer gas and temp numbers to this data set. This is just raw data so you can glean from it what you want. The best things I've found for fuel economy is to watch the right foot, time the lights, keep it under 2k rom and monitor tire psi. 31 or 32 psi. Is a pretty good point for pavement.

 

I have the same setup, the Volant and scoop on my 2012 DCSB OR.

And yes getting that Donaldson filter on was about a 30 minute ordeal and
made a painless install and PITA.

 

Did any of you have to extend the wires for the smog pump? I saw a YouTube video where the guy had to solder some wires to extend the harness. I'm hoping that won't be necessary

 

bbourque5, I did not have to do any type of rewiring. The only issue I had was with installing the air filter. Use WD40 on the inside of the filter rubber to slip it on inside the box.

Also see this thread: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/cold-air-in-take-anyone.280148/page-2

 

Awesome! Thanks for the reply, that's a relief. Also, thanks for the tip; my brother and friend had Volant CAIs in their trucks, and I do remember it being a pain in the butt.

 

Five years and 75,000 miles later, I decided to change out the filter. It was a pain at first but not as much as the first time. I just lubed up the top and the rim real good with Vaseline, worked it a little bit, rocking it back and forth on the edge and it slipped right in there! Still had to give it the finger like last time, though. It’s a tight squeeze to work in the box with both hands and the filter:

 

i just installed mine. no CEL for those asking but my long term fuel trims are upwards of 20% out. i'll need to recalibrate my MAF. thankfully i have hptuners to do so. i also made some modifications to the air box that others might want to know about. for one, i drilled small drain holes in the bottom of the box, i had a S and B intake before and found water marks at the bottom. the second mod i did was to cut the window opening to make it a little wider. this allowed me to install the filter and adaptor flange as one assembled unit. now removing and installing the filter is as simple as loosening the 2 bolts and pulling it out. 3rd is a bit more difficult to explain. i didnt want to use the ram air for a few different reasons so i wanted to optimise the fender portion of the air box. i noticed that the tubing to the throttle body is 4" diameter and the intake hole of the air box was only about 3" going into a 4" hole in the airbox. the tube that sticks out of the side of the airbox to the fender is what i modified. it had a taper down from 3.5 inches to 3 inches. i started by cutting the smaller portion off. then i thinned out the walls on the tube opening the inner diameter from 3.5 to >3.75 inches. pretty close to the 4" hole it was going into. only problem was that i had just cut the pipe shorter so it no longer penetrated through the fender. i installed some weather stripping on the fender hole to bridge that gap. lastly i plugged the hole for the ram air intake. doing all this brought my measured intake temp down 5-10 degrees c, and increased my max airflow by %2. sorry, i rambled on a nit there. just happy to have it done. now to calibrate the maf...