Stock Air Intake Box

At the front of the box there is a rectangle shaped opening that looks like it should have an air duct going to the back of the headlight bezel. Is that for colder air. Mine is closed and so are all the others I have looked at.

Death Valley Paul 95 Cherokee

I took mine off and then made a custom duct for cold air, HOWEVER, i went through some mud and all that went right to the filter, so i got rid of that duct...

you can open it up, but be careful for water and mud getting in the air box.

The air it picks up is about as cool as it gets on the road. At low speeds your better off venting the hood and keeping the engine compartment cooler then just ducting the air filter. (IMO)

ya create a heatshield or insulate the intake

Don't know about the 95 but my 88 has a vacuum operated valve there that diverts air off the exh manifold into the air box to assist in warm ups. There's a sensor mounted on the back of the air box cover, that when hot, allows vacuum to flip the divertor over, closing the hole to the exh and opening the duct into the headlight cavity. The 95 don't have the shield on the exh manifold for the preheat air.

Is the hole completely blocked off?

I've looked at a 95,96,97, and 99, trying to figure out the point of that small opening in the airbox, as it certainly looks like some ductwork should attach there. On the 95 and 96, there's a cutout in the metal bulkhead, just aft and to the right of the headlight, but a plastic cover is affixed to the sheetmetal, blocking the opening. On the 97 and 99, the airbox still has the opening, but the sheetmetal has none. None of the 4 had any ductwork connected to the airbox, even though it looks as though a couple of screws and a short piece of duct would get a lot more cold air than they could otherwise get with the airbox situated as it is. Is this something only CA jeeps would have been equipped with? I had thought cold air duct, but perhaps this warm up assist connected there instead? I've wondered about that odd layout since I bought it.

My 96 had a plastic cap held on by two hex screws there. I don't know why they blocked it off at the factory. Anyhow I removed that cap and cut away a lot of metal and some of the header panel so that my intake could get access to more outside air. I have some pics in the project section on Jeepstrokers.

My '97 has the opening in the front of the airbox, and it also has the cutout with plasic piece on the sheetmetal. No ductwork or evidence of such from the PO. There is also no evidence that the hole in the airbox was ever covered or sealed.

my 94 2.5l had the little plastic cover on it and my 93 4.0 has a little plastic tunnel connected from the air box to the hole. on my 2.5 i took it off and havent had any problems.

My 91 had the hole in the front of the airbox behind the headlight which is great for getting cooler air into the intake but not so great for water fording... After the second or third time I ingested enough water to kill the motor I blocked that hole off and cut a new one in the rear of the airbox. It's been better but have ingested some more water in in so I guess I need to just put a snorkel on it:tears: