1996 850R How to reinstall the intake air inlet & baffle

dmack87 · Post by **dmack87** » 29 Nov 2014, 16:30

When I was disassembling things to remove the fan assembly, I removed the air intake hose that goes to the air box, and also the fitting that attached above the radiator onto which the hose slides. When I pulled that out, the air inlet slid out as well with relative ease, so I thought nothing of it figuring I just slide it back into place when I am putting it all back together. Stupid thought.

When I reached the point of reassembling the intake hose, I can see no way to get the air inlet back in as it was before. As a matter of fact, it appears all but impossible due to a baffle screwed in front of the radiator to the front plate. There does not appear to be any room for the air inlet to slide back in and stick down into the area in front of the radiator?

Here is what the baffle looks like in the front, but there is no way to get the air inlet down between the back of the baffle and the front of the radiator, and the air inlet is too large to fit in as far as it should.

If I remove the baffle then I can fit the air inlet in place where it seems like it should be (tell me if I am wrong), but then it is loose with nothing at all holding it in place and the baffle will not go back on as shown below:

It also appears that the baffle would block the airflow to the air inlet even it the air inlet would fit in the space available.

There is also a little rubber attachment/insulator type piece on the air inlet that appears to be the type you push through a hole to hold it in place. While it looks like it lines up with the hole the baffle was screwed to, I can see no means of putting this all together or attaching the air inlet.

I am flummoxed. Can anyone pop their hood and see if you can make sense out of these pieces? Pictures would be greatly appreciated!

Post by **abscate** » 30 Nov 2014, 02:44

I hate when it's intuitive on disassembly and. Non-intuitive on reassembly.....

My 99 is different so I'll wait for a 96 to chime in on this problem

Post by **jreed** » 30 Nov 2014, 06:00

It has been about a year and a half since I worked on that area, but I took a bunch of photos... Here are the four that I could find that show the intake baffle and the rubber bushings that hold it.

I posted a write-up with lots more description and photos of the radiator removal process here:
https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=55629

: Intake baffle; IMG_8006.jpg (110.56 KiB) Viewed 1356 times

: View of baffle from inside during removal; IMG_7933.jpg (89.67 KiB) Viewed 1356 times

: Rubber bushings on baffle; perished rubber bushing on duct.jpg (107.5 KiB) Viewed 1356 times

: Slots in plastic for the rubber bushings that hold the baffle; Air intake slots.jpg (51.08 KiB) Viewed 1356 times

Good luck!

Post by **tryingbe** » 30 Nov 2014, 06:18

I'd just leave the baffle off. Factory cold air intake!

dmack87 · Post by **dmack87** » 30 Nov 2014, 07:02

jreed - Thanks very much for the pics as they confirm I am getting 2 of the 3 pieces installed the right way, and that yours has the baffle in place. Does your car have the air inlet piece, and if so, where/how does it go when the baffle is in place? That is where I am at a loss. It appears that there is no way to have that installed when the baffle is on, yet it must have been as I pulled it out of the same hole as the coupler, and the baffle was installed at the time Here is the air inlet I have:

tryingbe wrote:I'd just leave the baffle off. Factory cold air intake!

So if I leave the baffle off, is that air inlet supposed to stick down like I show in my second picture? I found a radiator removal video that showed a little plastic spike that the guy pulled through the hole that would have had the baffle screw in it but my spike is broken off (shown in the last picture). This is what is confusing. I have found pictures with the air inlet sticking down, as well as like jreed shows above with the baffle in place. It seems like if the baffle is installed, then the air inlet could not be, but the air inlet was present there at the same time the baffle was installed and that is what I can't figure out.

I am starting now to think that the previous owner did not have this installed correctly and just had the air inlet end piece crammed in the hole WITH the baffle on. When I replaced the crankshaft position sensor I had to remove the hose going from the coupler to the air box, and I can recall that it was pushed so tight on there that I could barely get it off. The accordion portion of that hose was totally compressed so so I had to actually pull the air box loose to get enough wiggle room to get the hose end off the coupler that attaches above the radiator in the two slots. Now, if I have the coupler installed correctly in the slots, the hose going to the air box is not long enough to connect, when before it was so tight I couldn't get it off. That makes me think that the air inlet piece was stuffed in the hole causing the coupler to stick way out past where it should have been, and compressing the accordion section of the hose to the air box and causing it to lose its' flexibility over time.

BIG QUESTION: Are the baffle and the air inlet piece even supposed to be installed at the same time, or do you remove the baffle when the air inlet is installed and sticking down like a scoop into the area behind the grill? Is the air inlet a factory installed piece, or an add-on that the PO didn't understand how to install?

Post by **tryingbe** » 30 Nov 2014, 07:39

dmack87 wrote:
tryingbe wrote:I'd just leave the baffle off. Factory cold air intake!
So if I leave the baffle off, is that air inlet supposed to stick down like I show in my second picture? I found a radiator removal video that showed a little plastic spike that the guy pulled through the hole that would have had the baffle screw in it but my spike is broken off (shown in the last picture).

This is how I bought my car. Never put a second thought to it.

dmack87 · Post by **dmack87** » 30 Nov 2014, 07:47

Thanks for the pics! Seems like that would provide much better air flow than with the baffle on, but I also wonder if it would suck up a bunch of snow in the winter. I see that your PO had replaced the little rubber pin with a bolt to hold that air inlet on. I think this is a baffle and no inlet or inlet and no baffle situation but my PO crammed the air inlet in there with the baffle on, causing the whole assembly to stick out quite a bit further than it should which compressed my hose to the air box making it incredible tight and fully compressing the accordion section of the hose (and probably limiting air flow as well).

Can anyone that has the baffle installed verify that the air inlet piece shown above is not present? The baffle is held on with just that single t-20 or 25 screw.

Rbaratt · Post by **Rbaratt** » 30 Nov 2014, 10:41

I don't know if this is very helpful but this is the way my car looks.

dmack87 · Post by **dmack87** » 30 Nov 2014, 13:45

Thanks for the pics! I think based on these and the preponderance of other evidence that the air inlet piece sticking down is not intended to be installed when the baffle is in place. I am going to leave the air inlet off on our car and leave the baffle in place for now. I may experiment later and see if there is any performance or efficiency difference with or without the baffle and air inlet in place. If PO had the inlet crammed in with the baffle, our car has not been breathing very well

dmack87 · Post by **dmack87** » 30 Nov 2014, 13:46

BIG THANKS TO ALL WHO TOOL THE TIME TO REPLY AND POST PICTURES. IT HELPED ME FIGURE THIS ONE OUT!