ResidualFreedom

Hello everybody..

Ok so I am currently building a totally custom stereo setup for the trunk of my '99 TL-P. Yesterday I was doing some final measurements and laying out the amps, caps etc...

I wasn't sure how much of the trunk in-lay conformed to the actual metal frame of the trunk and how much was astetics.. so basically I was going to strip the entire trunk to get a look at the frame. I also had to get the rear seats out to properly remove everything from the trunk.

Once the trunk was stripped I noticed a vent on the drivers side, directly opposite to where the tire jack is. The vent has thin rubber over the outsides of the vent, the rubber is attached to the top and loose on the bottom so it can open like a flap.







Wow, Look at all those wires!!!! lol Don't worry nothin is live!! all fuses are pulled!! and it will look imaculate when it is properly installed.

Ok.. I'm asking about this mainly because I'm most likely going to seal it somehow for SPL purposes.. I've just never seen or heard about this in any threads and I thought posting it here would be appropriate because it is a general question about the 2ng gen TL....

On a side note, I had a 12inch sub, in a custom box, directly in that corner of the trunk and yesterday when I opened up the trunk to empty it, I noticed FROST on my subwoofer and the box!! none in the rest of the trunk, none on the amps. I'm thinking the heat escaping from the car, from the cabin through the open armrest hole, then through that vent, caused a condensation/ frost to occur on that sub as the warm air passed it to leave the car.

So any info on why the vent is there? if I could cause damage if the vent is sealed? I don't think so, but it was put there for a reason, just want to know why...

bigA

iTrader: (1)

to relieve the air pressure when you close the trunk...

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

Yup, that's what it's for. The TL is sealed up pretty tight.

MikeekiM

It's also to let new air come in from the cabin...

The spaces within the car are NOT airtight by any means... If you put your HVAC on fresh instead of recycle, new air is coming in... Where do you think the old/existing air is going? Out an exhaust port somewhere on the car...

This is what happened on my 1stGen Integra... If you close all the doors and windows, put your HVAC on fresh mode and go outside, you will probably find where the old air is exhausting from... The integra actaully had external exhaust ports built into the side trim moulding... But most just exit out the rear fenderwell...

shawn744

whenever i'm in the garage where it's quiet and i can hear echo and i close any of the doors or the trunk, i hear a little thunk or something....i'm guessing it's that vent letting out pressure.....

shimbo519

it's to allow people, you have hidden in your trunk, to be able to breathe, but then again, that's assuming they are alive :paranoid:

dark inspire

EH03TL

It is to let out air when the HVAC system is blowing on fresh and for when the doors close or if the airgags deploy, they take up so much volume of space, if there were no vent the car would pressurize and pop your eardrums.

fsttyms1

Yup its there to allow air to travel out of the car.
the one on my prelude you could hear the rubber flap flap every time you shyt the door on the car.

and on a side note, boy did honda slap on the seam sealer!

Darkshear

iTrader: (1)

you should remove the rubber flaps on those, they are a known cause of rattle audible outside the car when using a big sub

ou sig

interesting...RF I cant wait to see your crazy setup!!! good luck man!

AustNMike

I was lookin at that too....I'm not so sure that's factory seam sealer. Almost looks like the RR body panel and left inner qtr have been replaced....

Mr Hyde

The vents give the fresh air entering your car a route to travel, and a place to escape.
You have fresh air rushing in through your vents, open windows, moonroof, etc. All that air coming in to the car needs a way to get out. Having those vents there lets the air out, and also gives it a path travelling through the car allowing proper circulation.

dnd2984

iTrader: (6)

ummm My vent is taped shut. I put like 5 to 6 layers of duck tape on it. When my bass hits it flaped back and forth like crazy and made a annoying noise.

After reading the post I am thinking of opening it back up.

ResidualFreedom

The flash made the seam sealer look yellow, when in fact they are painted the same colour as the car... the seam sealer was on before the interior of the car was painted...

It's the same everywhere else throughout the rear of the car... I literally have nothing in my car behind the b-pillar besides the rear brake light, seat belts, roofliner and carpet... Boy this car flies without the rear seats and spare tire weighing you down. lol

Does anyone think that there could be a safty issue if that vent were to be sealer up? as stated eairlier if the air bags go off the air will have to go out somewhere.... It seems like putting it near the driver and passenger seats would be a better way to release pressure in the event of the air bags going off. I can see it being in the rear of the trunk for proper circulation from from to rear of the car.

I don't want to get hit and have my passengers ear drums being blown in.... from my stereo I can handle , I'm slightly worried about the air bags..

ou sig

I would just leave it like it is...that will be the least thing you will worry about rattling with your stereo

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

When I dynamatted my trunk, I left it alone. But after the installation, I could hear the noises from the rubber flaps when the bass hit. It's annoying as hell, although you have to put your ear up against the car to hear it. But I know it's there, so it bothers me.

I'm probably going to rip the rubber flaps off when it's warm enough to work outside.



As for the air pressure, I couldn't tell you for 100% sure, but I really don't see any problems with it if you sealed it up. Yeah, the air needs to go somewhere, sure, but the cabin is definitely not air-proof, so it can relieve the air pressure in other ways. As for SRS deployment... I doubt you're going to blow out your ear drums. You ever see one of those pressure chambers where people go in to depressurize and whatnot? Well, that definitely has much higher air pressure than a car cabin with air bags deploying. So I think it'll be fine.

MikePA

There's a description in the Owner's Manual about the flow through ventiliation in the cabin. I don't have the manual with me, but I think it mentions the air escaping through vents at the base of the rear window? Maybe through vents on the C pillar?

dark inspire

hey, not to hijack the thread or anything, but if you were to mount ur amp on the side where teh flap is, where would you bolt the ground wire?

ResidualFreedom

buh?.. where ever you want.. The ground has to be attached to the frame of the car.. anywhere.. just make sure you scrape off the paint where you attach the ground... the ground will not conduct through the paint .. you could attach it to the metal just under the trunk hinge (you can see it in the pic, it has two small holes on it one above the other, about 12 inches apart, the holes are for the plastic puch-in plugs that hold the trunk inlay in place).. the metal that pertrudes out a bit.. you could put a nut and bolt then because you would have access to both sides of the metal you are grounding to.

Mine is grounded to the rear seat frame.. you'll have to take the seats out to get the rear trunk inlay out so it might be easier to ground on the rear seat.. up to you.

dark inspire

awesome! thanks man

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

Yo, H! Did you ever get that RBC?


My computer's down, so I've been posting on my roommate's computer.

Southern

I believe that the vent serves another purpose. When you close the trunk lid the excess pressure will vent through the vent. If the vent is sealed up the excess pressure will go through the subwoofer and possibly damage it.

dark inspire

naw man i havent gotten it yet! suckz cuz i just rewired the system, all tucked away. oh well, ill keep an eye out for it!

TeknoKing

i want to remove those rubber things, how do I remove them? Also, If I also make holes thru the carpet area around that vent area, would it help my sub to release air? Thus less vibration and a better thump.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

I'll look into it once my computer's up and running again and I can access the info. I gave them my credit card info and they haven't tried to contact me or anything, so I feel kind of skeptical.

dark inspire

yeah hopefully itll come im havin trouble wiring my system, the "signal sensing" controls seem to be messed up or somethin so i have no idea whats goin on. It works but everytime i switch teh car off there is a "thud" from the sub.

ResidualFreedom

I believe that the sound of the system will improve if the vent is sealed, and decrease if the rubber is taken off for easier air flow, even though the rubber basically prevents dirt from getting INTO the trunk, the air leaving has very little resistance from the rubber flaps.

I have come across a situation where I had used old MDF to make a sealed new speaker box.. the wood worked perfectly however the speaker didn't sound as good as I thought it should. I noticed if I pushed on the speaker I heard a slight "hsss".. the problem was ONE hole from where a screw when through the wood in the previous box. This one tiny hole was preventing the speaker from getting the proper resistance needed for a sealed box.. I sealed the hole up with some wood glue and silicone, and BINGO it sounds much much better. Leaving me to think that our trunk would sound better having the vent sealed. just my opinion from experience.. I wouldn't have thought one screw hole would have cause any problem with sound, I learned something there.

ou sig

Ya I never really noticed till today when I was cleaning my rims with my stereo on...right by the rear driver...I can really hear those damn things vibrate! Might as well just put some duct tape over them, you can always take it off if you need too.

So do we think they are just for air to vent when you shut your trunk? If so, those with the stock sub out (me); sealing up those flaps will be fine because the air can just go up through that hole.

Acuracy02

My car I owned before my '02 TL-S was a 1990 Integra and it had the same vents.... quite common for ventilation and pressure

paul_huryk

They are also used to relieve the high pressure build-up at high speeds that has the tendency to push out windows from their seals (not an issue in the TLs as they have frames windows all around).