I Made A New Air Intake!

[DennisG01]

I've been thinking of doing this for a while - getting rid of the restrictive factory plumbing. Anyways, it's pretty simple: I just used two short pieces of PVC pipe to connect the rubber elbows and the air filter (pic below). With my K&N, it wedges right up snug against the coolant overflow - holds it quite nicely. I might go back and open up the fender a little more. I did take out the factory bolts that hold the factory air box in place so the airl filter wouldn't bump against them.

I can DEFINTITELY hear the turbo better. I'll find out this weekend if it tows any better. I can also hear a sucking/whooshing noise when I quickly let off the accelerator - it lasts for about 1-2 seconds. What is that?

While doing this, I had a thought (and it goes back to a discussion about hood scoops): How about putting scoops on the inner fender well? Maybe position them in such a way that road grime and water doesn't come flying into the engine bay.

On Edit: Sorry about the small pic - I couldn't figure out how to make it any bigger and still have it upload to the forum! IF someone can tell me how to do it, I'll go back and fix it.

[MTTwister]

I would consider how to get cooler air for it to breath. If you could put in a louvered screen somehow - with the louvers going with the rotation of the tire ( ie - facing forward at the top of the wheel) wouldn't it reduce the amount of crud being thrown in?

What would be really neat would be a 'racing' shaped inlet on the hood that fed into a cold air box. Ya know what I mean ... :confused:

[stingthieves]

I still want to hang the big external filter housing and chrome stack off my old B model Mack on the right fender. But its just too UGLY!

[kyelectrical]

Hey Denny,
I had a similar idea, only I clamped my K & N Conical Filter directly to the inlet of the Turbo. It fits perfectly right beside the battery. I had to make a new CDR Vent Tube that routed to the closed end of the filter. I had to knock out a hole in it of course. By putting the filter directly in front of the turbo inlet it gives you room to put an intercooler in that space where the old filter box used to be. That works out real good if you put a small fan over the old fender air duct hole to evacuate heat from the intercooler. I like this idea better than the intercoolers that mount below the radiator. I am afraid of off road debris damagint those intercoolers. I haven't done the intercooler yet but plan to soon. When I get it all done I'll post pics.
Ken

[ogrice]

Thats great ingenuity. PVC pipe is the way to go. I run a K&N Round element right off the factory tube. I recommend a heat shield box or something. As for me, I ceramic coated the turbo and the exh manifolds. Did it to make the turbo work better, but lowering the underhood temps was an added plus for getting it done. You also could make some angled vents in the hood directly above the turbo to vent out the heat or place a working mini hood scoop directly above the filter. Either way, you will be sure to get cooler air to the engine. I'm going to be adding vents or putting on a mini hood scoop myself.

[DmaxMaverick]

....I can DEFINTITELY hear the turbo better. I'll find out this weekend if it tows any better. I can also hear a sucking/whooshing noise when I quickly let off the accelerator - it lasts for about 1-2 seconds. What is that?....

It's called "Turbo Bark". All that pressure built up during load, gets blown back through the turbo when you let off. It has nowhere else to go, unless you install a blow-off. Some of the high performance guys use blow-off valves (or gates) to protect their turbo(s). Nothing to worry about at the levels we are seeing here. Nice job!

About the image size.....
Simple. Upload your image(s) to the Photo Album (http://www.thedieselpageforums.com/photopost) (if you can post here, you have space there), then LINK them to your posts (don't "attach" them). The size is then only limited to the album limit. When you upload images to the album, there will be a URL for the image below the image when you view them.

[rameye]

One day I decided to take the fender connection off the airbox for more flow...It worked great ...UNTIL>>

I got stuck in traffic and the intake air temperature sent me into limp mode..

I dont know how you guys are getting away with it, without a fresh air intake source unless of course you have an intercooler.

[DennisG01]

I did look at putting the filter right onto the turbo, but my air conditioning lines are in the way.

I towed with it this past Sunday - not noticable difference in "seat of the pants", but it also wasn't a fair comparison to my baseline runs as the air temp was about 25* - 30* hotter. So I did not do any recording of elapsed time/EGT, etc.

[JeffsTowTruck]

http://community.webshots.com/photo/342908641/1342951920069926656BHPwdv#
This looks simular to mine. All I did was buy a K&N filter that replaced the org. and left the top off the air box. Wonder if it makes any diff to have the bottom of the box still there?
I also bought the hood and cut out the insulation for air flow and to help with the heat.http://community.webshots.com/photo/342908641/1342954417069926656MbyPyR

[canadian_eh79]

Maybe a little off topic but Jeffs hood reminded me i was wondering about pulling all the insulation out of my engine bay to cool things down a bit? Maybe i need the insulation come -31F canadian winter?:cool:

[DennisG01]

I have changed things a little bit. I found that the PVC was getting soft (I was able to deform it slightly by squeezing it hard. So, instead of PVC, I now have aluminum. The PVC probably would have been fine, but I would've always been thinking about it, you know? I changed it for piece of mind.

[baddiesel]

your gonna want to build a box to close it off from the engine heat ,i had to after i put mine on in may it,s good in cool weather and not towing . before building my box i was running in to defueling problems while towing it sucks all that hot air from the engine & turbo and feeds it right in the intake raising the ait and the sensor shuts the fuel down

[DennisG01]

I originally thought I would have to - but after towing through 100* days with the EGT's staying down to acceptable levels, I'm not worried anymore. It's never defueled - and I've made some pretty hard runs with it.
I think what might be offsetting the possible higher IAT's is that the air coming from the fender is blowing over the filter and keeping some of the hot engine air away.

[baddiesel]

i wish i had that luck.temps were in the high 80s the days it defueled on me which i did'nt think it was hot enough for that to happen. the trailer is only 6000# it might be the way i pull 70-75 mph in mountains like i do with my 5.9 gasser ,but since i made a box it has'nt done it .the only thing now i have to do is the manual converter lockup mod from what i have read in threads at another site it makes a big improvement for pulling

[DennisG01]

They say every vehicle is different. Maybe it's because my engine is an "F"? I tow the same amount of weight at about the same speeds (65 - 70 mph).

[baddiesel]

it might be you have the 4" exaust letting alot of the heat escape . my4" should arrive tomorow i'll trow it on that nite see if it helps. saturday i'm gonna be pulling the camper thru n.h .

[DennisG01]

You could be right. I'd be interested to see what that exhuast does for you. I put my exhuast on before I did gauges so I don't have a before/after comparison.