94 Explorer snorkel build

1994 Explorer Snorkel
1-27” piece 3” PCV
1-6” piece 3”PCV
1-3” piece 2” PCV
1 cut to length 3” dryer flex tube
1 90 degree 3” PCV fitting
2- 45 degree 3" PCV fitting
1-6” dryer “B” vent top(Home Depot)(thats what I was told it was. ARB has their top with filter for 54.00)


TOOLS.
1-3 ½” Hole saw
Drill
Tin Snips or good shears
Extra Needed.
I used windsheild Urethane for sealer(NAPA)
1 junkyard stock aibox
1 sheet lexan (Home Depot)

Prep.
Take 3 ½” hole saw and make cut in junkyard airbox approx. center of the fender side (bottom portion). Cut a piece of lexan to cover factory intake and use urethane(this stuff gets everywhere so use some good gloves or have lots of thinner/fingernail polish remover on hand. If it gets on your hands you wear it off, but its great stuff) to seal ( you will have to trim some of the stock intake tube away if you leave it in place, I choose to do this because of some of the sensors that are in it).Get ready to cut a big hole in the side of your Explorers fender. I choose to make the hole all the way through the fender, rather than try to route the tube between. Cut your 3 ½” hole in front of the blower motor.
Pull fuse block off clips and loosen some of the clips holding the wires to the fenderwell and move aside(don't disconnect, there is enough room to get everything done.Test fit extra airbox(or your stock box if your using that) and eyeball length of flex tube you will need (s-shape from hole in airbox out through hole in fender. I left around 8 to 10" extra that could be trimmed off later. Use Urethane to "glue" flex tube to the airbox.
Important note here, let the urethane set up good before doing a lot of tweaking, the stuff is strong but if it hasn't had enough time to cure it will come apart.
You will probably need to do some trimming on the back mount for the airbox because of the tubing. I choose to just do away with it. Mount the airbox back into the stock location and route flex tube out the hole in fender.
I used the 2" PCV in the flex tube just to help in getting it into the 3" 90 degree PCV piece(sorry no pics)use the urethane for this (just squeeze the tubing around the 2" PCV and glue it to it and then put the other end, as far as you can, into the 3" 90 and use the urethane again. Push the assembly into the fender as far as you can.
Eyeball your 90 in the direction you want the snorkel tube to go ( I kind of eyeballed it to the pillar). Put the 6" piece of PCV into the 90( don't glue it leave it loose for now) add 1 of your 45's to the 6" PCV (again leave loose). Add the 27" piece of PCVto the 45. I drilled one small hole into the top of the 27" piece so I could use a self tapping screw to secure it to the pillar. Put your last 45 on top of the 27" PCV and adjust it to what looks like straight up.Adjust to fit your Explorer.
Use the self tapping screw( or drill a hole for the metal screw your using) to secure the assembly to the pillar. I chosse to use the urethane on all the joints, rather than glueing them, because of the trees around here. With the urethane, you just cut it away and replace the section you need(the urethane is the same they use on windsheild so it doesn' t get hard or brittle.
Reinstall your fuse block back into the stock clips.
Mount the dryer cap to the top of your 45 and use 2 self tappers to secure.
All measurements used are general(within a 1" or 2 of what you will need. These figures worked for me, but may be a little off for yours(do a lot of measuring first, then make your cuts. I ended up buying 5 feet of 3" PCV and 2 feet of 2". I have a lot left over).
It will take a little more to completely seal your air intake and for more performance you will need to make a tube between the MAF and throttlebody. But this would stop almost all the water in fairly quick, deep water crossings.
Total cost for me including the holesaw and 50 self tapping screws was around 130.00. I think thats pretty cheap compared to a hydrolocked engine. Later...........................BLOOD

fwiw, i hydrolocked my engine with a dryer vent hose snorkel that ran into the cowl on my 97 ranger.. they arent exactly water tight, whatsoever.. so dont submerge the bay.. (i was only in maybe 2' of water, hit it fast and the splash did me in..)

i have since gone to an all pvc snorkel (abs actually), with one rubber coupler from the airbox to the piping..

Thanks for the input, any is helpful. This one is somewhat protected underneath the fuse block. When you hydrolocked your engine was the tubing in pieces or just pinholes in it? As soon as I get the ARB top with the filter in it, I will do away with the stock box for 3" PCV to the MAF, then re-plumb from the MAF to the throttle body..........

Can you get just an ARB top? I thought you had to buy a whole kit.

i'm pretty sure it leaked in through the seams of the dryer tubing, its like twisted together.. i also had it wrapped in aluminum tape for strength, i used the idea from the old tech section article..

its possible it tore underneath the tape at some point in its life before i hit that water... it was hard to tell, cuz i pretty much destroyed it while 'uninstalling' it (ripping it off with my bare hands in anger, in the woods alone, 30 miles from home and 5 miles from town).. but as you said, yours is in the bay, protected, mine was just above the fenderliner...

your idea of pvc straight to the MAF sounds really cool and wicked solid.. i really question the stock airbox on my ranger (the round style one), i have silicone all around that thing at the seams, and the box halves especially...

I found the separate parts on a search when I was first looking for ideas on my snorkel. I will have to find it again and post the addy.........

or at least the part numbers...........

A good idea before you install a snorkel kit would be to submerge it in like a bath tub. Make sure the ends are air tight.

could you not coat the dryer hose in some sort of urethane (i know spelling sucks) to eliminate the possibility or leakage? Itd also give it some tear resistance and regidity to prevent accidentally pulling it apart doing high speed jumps and dirt road driving. Just a thought.

Jim Oaks said:

Can you get just an ARB top? I thought you had to buy a whole kit.

Click to expand...

You can get parts from offroadtoystore.com They have 3" and 3.5" 65-67 bucks.

The story is now here:

http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/winter2007/1994_Explorer_snorkel.htm


Thanks!