what is this thing!? air intake?

[2.3litersOfFury]

so my curiosity got the best of me today. under the hood of my 88 ranger coming out from underneath the battery tray is a tube. about 2 inch diameter and only about 5 inch long that just juts out into the engine bay near the radiator. its been there since i got the truck

so i decided to find out where it goes.

it leads into the "ram air" intake line that feeds the air filter housing.

attached to it is a vacuum actuated valve of sorts.

from what i can tell it operates through vacuum pressure.
when there is pressure the valve closes off to fresh air and sucks in air from the engine bay via the little "tube". it looks like something used to be attached to this tube.

What is the purpose of this?

am i missing something? leave it? unhook it?

 

[adsm08]

am i missing something? leave it? unhook it?

I love the train of thought that I assume was required for that last question.

Hmm, I have no problems, but here is something funky and I don't know what it does. I wonder if I should unhook it?

I'm not sure what you are talking about, but I'll be it is best left alone.

 

[Tedybear]

Leave it alone.

It sounds like the heat riser the truck uses in cold weather to preheat the air.

It uses a vacuum line from the intake to the air box, inside that is a temp vacuum switch, and that feeds a servo that either pulls air from the ram air setup, or off a pipe that runs to the exhaust manifold shield.

S-

 

[LIMA BEAN]

That tube is where you inhale water when you want to hydrolock your engine.

 

[RonD]

That tube is where you inhale water when you want to hydrolock your engine.

Yes, and the lower the better, don't wanna miss a hydrolock just because waters not deep enough.
I extended mine to 2" above the ground centered on the axle(no speed bump problems), this way if I drive through a fire I get better air, and of course better hydrolock positioning


Its the fresh air intake or preheated air depending on temperature, leave it alone.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Leave it alone.

It sounds like the heat riser the truck uses in cold weather to preheat the air.

It uses a vacuum line from the intake to the air box, inside that is a temp vacuum switch, and that feeds a servo that either pulls air from the ram air setup, or off a pipe that runs to the exhaust manifold shield.

S-

Yes, and it sounds like he is missing the aluminum flex hose that connects to the heat riser shroud on the exhaust manifold.

Charles

 

[SenorNoob]

Off-topic: Ya'll are evil. Funny, but evil.

Back on topic: Definitely sounds like the preheater setup to me. Should be a line of some kind going over to the exhaust manifold though.