Does anyone have their battery air duct removed? I'm looking at installing a K&N short ram intake and I would need to remove the battery air duct to get maximum air flow to the intake filter. The inlet where the battery air duct is at would be a perfect pathfor the short ram intake. Has anyone left the battery air duct off and also removed the battery cover when they installed their CAI? I can't imagine why removing the battery cover and battery air duct permanently would cause any sort of problem from an engineering standpoint. I'm also thinking about removing the plastic engine cover as well. Is the engine cover purely for looks or does it serve a purpose?The engine isnot real pretty to look at once the cover is removed but I actually like to see the engine when I lift the hood instead of a plastic cover.

 

i removed mine a long time ago...
it just helps to keep the batter cool.
but then again, how many cars actually have an air duct to cool the battery?

 

as i recall the air duct help remove any dangerous particles around the battery and put fresh air in. it wont cause any damage if you remove it, but i dunno. its there for a reason isnt it?

 

I haven't seen very many cars with air ducts for batteries as you say. Did you remove your battery cover as well dentinger? I think I'm going to call a service tech and see what their take on the whole thing is. I'm still baffled though because why would Mazda take the time and effort to design this extravagant duct for just a battery? Maybe there is more than meets the eye.

 

ya, i installed a cold air intake, so the duct would cover everything up....
so ya, i removed it... ages ago.

 

I'm inclined to agree with SpeeDy3, the housing that encloses the battery has to be there for a reason.They wouldn't spend the money to put it in there if there wasn't a darn good reason for it.

 

i had mine off for a long time, and then put it all back on (the cover and duct) i realized that the battery got extremely weather beaten and dirty...actually caused my car to stall cuz of all the dirt weaking the power output (atleast thats what a Autozone employee said after overhearing my conversation with somebody else). Plus i repainted most of the plastic peices

 

Here's mytheory onwhy Mazda has the battery enclosed in plastic housing, with an air duct from the front of the car.

One, batteries don't like to be cooked. That's why car batteries tend to have shorter lives in scorching places like Texas. A "naked" car battery sitting in an engine compartment, especially if its located at the back of the engine compartment, would get cooked all the time.

Two, insidea battery are metal plates (a lead alloy). These plates, when immersed in acid, hold an electric charge. One of the main reasons batteries die is the plates crack -cracked plates cannot hold or conductcharge very well. Studies have shown plates degrade faster (and therefore crack sooner)when theplates arerepeatedly subject to rapid, uneven heating.Think of a naked battery sitting in an engine compartment -each timethe car warms up, the battery is getting hit by major heat coming from one side. It's rapid, uneven heating at its worst.

Three, batteries that are clean function better than batteries that are dirty. Dust impedes electric current. A serious layer of dust could (at least in theory) short circuit the whole battery. And keeping the connections nice and clean helps them resist corrosion.

So I think that's why Mazda did what they did. To keep the battery from getting cooked, from being heated unevenly, and to keep everything clean.

It does boggle the mind that the engineers who thought of all of this (assuming my theory is correct)couldn't think to put a trunk release button on the keyfob ...

 

^^+1^^[sm=icon_rofl.gif]

 

lol. i think they spent theyre whole budget on the mysterious plastic battery casing.