Aftermarket air filters on modern engines?

[sgtsandman]

Just keep this in mind while you read that... I’m a lifelong Ford fan and will alway pick a Ford over a Chevy. But I’m also honest.

And that was in jest. I know Ford has their faults. Like the rain of rust pieces falling off my truck while banging on the upper shackle bolt with a pickle fork trying to get the Sum B’tch out or atleast out far enough that I can get an angle grinder with a cut off wheel on the part of the bolt I can reach in order to get the shackle out. Three hours later with a lot of cussing and swearing. It’s out.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

And that was in jest. I know Ford has their faults. Like the rain of rust pieces falling off my truck while banging on the upper shackle bolt with a pickle fork trying to get the Sum B’tch out or atleast out far enough that I can get an angle grinder with a cut off wheel on the part of the bolt I can reach in order to get the shackle out. Three hours later with a lot of cussing and swearing. It’s out.

I hit the easy button... new shackle brackets are $30 a side. No fuss, just kill eight rivets.

 

[adsm08]

Funny story (sort of funny)...
We got our first GMC c5500 mason dump back in 04. The first time road depot used it was to follow a brine truck around the entire county. They followed the truck everywhere and at every red light, the passenger jumped out, ran up to the back of the brine truck, and shut the valve off. When the light turned green, they turned the brine valve back on. After about 4-5 hours, the GMC stalled and wouldn’t start.
Long story short, following a brine truck around for hours plugged the air filter solid with salt and stalled the engine.

Stupid story (sort of)...

One time I was doing a test for an underboost code on a 6.7 SD. Part of the test is to put the air filter in a plastic bag and reinstall it to seal the air box for smoke testing the intake.

On the next step you start the engine and monitor some stuff. Engine ran like crap and built even less boost than when it came it. I forgot to take the bag off the air filter.

 

[don4331]

*insane nonsense rant warning*

Ok I'm fully against "cold air intakes" but I have been a fan of using k&n filters (direct replacements, not cone filters or nonsense). I am well aware that if you don't know how to oil them properly they can mess up your maf sensor. But I don't drive in dusty conditions so I like being able to take it out and clean it whenever and throw it back in.

Been using K&N filters in everything for 20 years. Recently I'm fighting with my truck over fuel trims being high. I said lemme try something and stuck a motorcraft paper filter in it. (It's had a K&N since 2009). Fuel trims came down and evened out across the throttle range.

So... here's my thought here. Given positive fuel trims, the k&n filter obviously flowed more air than the ford filter. BUT do those numbers equate to a power increase or just reduced fuel consumption when dealing with a modern sophisticated efi system?

Dirtman:

We'll see if I can explain this...

Ford engineers need to compromise on every component - a CAI that works great in summer in Tallahassee, Florida, doesn't work worth $#!+ in winter an hour north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, an air filter that needs maintenance after 20 miles off pavement doesn't work for my in-laws who drive 13 miles each way to town on gravel roads - they aren't going to clean and re-oil the filter after every trip, etc.

K&N filter flows more air (as do headers, CAI, etc), which an efi system in closed loop, compensates for adding MORE fuel. Which is why you are seeing higher fuel trims. One can do the same with a carb by installing larger jets. More air & more fuel equals more power which is why the brochure will quote xx hp increase at peak RPM and WOT.

More power reduces fuel economy if you keep the same throttle position. But, when we are driving constant speed e.g. 55 on interstate , the increased power allows decrease in throttle position (less push on the skinny pedal), so you MIGHT see increased fuel economy. There's a very complex trade off between more efficient engine and "throttled" intake - the 2 basically work against each other and you don't gain as much as you thought you would based on the quoted hp increase.

Does that help?

 

[19Walt93]

Which is the important Ford part?
The rotted off exhaust manifold studs?
The v10s that dropped valves?
The bad cam phasers?
The 3 valve spark plugs that break inside the head when you try to replace them?
The spark plugs that blow out of the head and take the threads with them?
The track bar bushing that causes death wobble?
The brakes that wear out in under 30k miles?

Our newer Ford F550s don’t compare to our older 03-04 and 08-09 GMC c5500s mechanically. The GMCs were wiring nightmares and had every electrical problem you can think of.
But
The GMC brakes were massive and could stop a loaded freight train.
The Allison transmissions never had a problem.
The only engine problems we ever really had was seized glow plugs. ( When on broke, we just put a new one into a piece of 3/8 pipe and bolted it to the head... don’t ask.)

I worked at a dealer for the entire production of V10's.
*Most of the rotted exhaust manifold studs were on trucks with plows, carrying the plow over the road causes the road salt and slop to curl up under the front of the truck and plaster the underside of the engine. Stainless studs fixed it.
*Never saw a V10- or a modular V8 drop a valve.
*Did have some cam phasers make noise, often when they were sludged from lack of maintenance.
*3 valve plugs don't break off when removed correctly, we would warm the engine, replace the plugs on one side, warm the engine again and do the other side. All by hand-no impact tools.
* Properly installed and torqued plugs don't blow out of 5.4's or 6.8's
*Track bar bushings, worn out parts, and severely chopped tires cause the wobble.
* Don't consider we had any premature brake wear complaints on trucks we maintained. We would clean and lube the caliper slides every 15k.

 

[sgtsandman]

I hit the easy button... new shackle brackets are $30 a side. No fuss, just kill eight rivets.

The thought had crossed my mind but I had already spent more money than I should have with the new shackles since I was already there.

Item of note for those who get the 2011 and possibly the 2010 year models. The rear hangar is only partially riveted in. The front two holes are rivets and the rear two are bolt and nut.

 

[don4331]

The thought had crossed my mind but I had already spent more money than I should have with the new shackles since I was already there.

Item of note for those who get the 2011 and possibly the 2010 year models. The rear hangar is only partially riveted in. The front two holes are rivets and the rear two are bolt and nut.

I think that has been standard for all Gen 3 Rangers - my 98 Rangers have 2 rivets and 2 bolts of the rear hangers.

 

[sgtsandman]

I think that has been standard for all Gen 3 Rangers - my 98 Rangers have 2 rivets and 2 bolts of the rear hangers.

I don’t remember the 1998 I had being like that but it was an RWD. So, that might the reason why for the difference. Not that removing the rivets are all that big of a deal.

 

[97RangerXLT]

My 97 had one of the rear hangers with 2 bolts

 

[1990RangerinSK]

And that was in jest. I know Ford has their faults. Like the rain of rust pieces falling off my truck while banging on the upper shackle bolt with a pickle fork trying to get the Sum B’tch out or atleast out far enough that I can get an angle grinder with a cut off wheel on the part of the bolt I can reach in order to get the shackle out. Three hours later with a lot of cussing and swearing. It’s out.

You know your truck is rusted out when banging on it with one of these:

causes rust flakes to rain down off the truck.

 

[1990RangerinSK]

I think that has been standard for all Gen 4 Rangers - my 98 Rangers have 2 rivets and 2 bolts of the rear hangers.

FIFY

Note: Gen1 is 83-88; gen2 is 89-92; Gen3 is 93-97; Gen4 is 98-11

 

[Dirtman]

My butt itches

 

[ericbphoto]

My butt itches

A butt like that ought to itch.

 

[Dirtman]

A butt like that ought to itch.

You know my butt personally?

 

[sgtsandman]

You know your truck is rusted out when banging on it with one of these:
View attachment 43621
causes rust flakes to rain down off the truck.

You are not wrong. The particular pickle fork I used was similar to this one. LOL