Good but cheep cold air intake

[Curious Hound]

Correct me if I'm wrong, But in theory you would be able to tell if it flows better by looking at the fuel trim numbers. If the new intake actually flowed better then the engine would lean out and you'd see the fuel trim numbers raise ever so slightly to compensate.

But even if you did put a "less restrictive " intake on that doesn't mean the old one was "too restrictive". If the stock intake can flow 120% of the air the engine can take in and the aftermarket intake can flow 200% of the air the engine can take it... there is no gain.

I haven’t figured out how to get fuel trims from the obd1 test plug.

 

[Dirtman]

I haven’t figured out how to get fuel trims from the obd1 test plug.

Fair enough.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Never had those problems with mine. I've never cleaned the MAF on my Ranger, and that intake has been on it since 2002. I clean and re-oil the filters yearly. The Lightning has had that intake since I bought it in 2009. So stop spreading false facts. I use Simple Green to clean the filters and good old K & N oil to oil them. Just don't over oil them. That's the reason that MAFs get oily. Most people have a tendency to think "More is better." It's not in this case. One pass, very lightly applied, good to go.

You like your EPA mandated intake muffler, you can keep your EPA mandated noise muffler. They are there so the vehicle can pass noise emissions in a closed booth. If you're like me, and like the sound of intake noise, you got to do it. I love intake noise. As said above, my Stang has the stock exhaust system (for now, not much longer), and after I changed the intake to that beautiful WeaponR, it roars now when out and about. I love it. It's going to go really good with a new exhaust system. Just haven't decided which one as of yet.

I recently had the intake off on my Lightning, for some supercharger maintenance. You see that beautiful aluminum elbow, which replaced the crinkly black rubber POS? Not one drop of oil inside it. Totally clean.

I had a drop in K&N on my F-150 (with a mere mortal NA 2v 5.4) and I shelved it as soon as I moved onto a gravel road. I care more about my engines having compression rather than making intake noise.

Urban cruiser... who cares, you have less dirt in the air.

If you can HEAR air being sucked into an engine then there is turbulence, so something is WRONG

Most OEM intakes have baffles in them to quiet them down too. I know my F-150's does.

It also runs 5* +/- of ambient temp drawing from the fender.

 

[cbxer55]

The 3.0 is a great engine, but the idea of one needing a 3” intake tube is pretty silly. Sort of like a Cummins needing 2 6”stacks.

There’s a lot of people making money selling silly aftermarket parts to people who are convinced they do something, often in the face of all logic. Makes me chuckle like those “phase matched” Monster Cables used to do back in the day. The snake oil business is strong as ever.

Can your 3.0 with an automatic light up 255/60-15 Cooper Cobra GT's? Mine can, especially in the winter, when the air is colder. So, if colder air is making my truck have more power in the winter, the air at the filter must be colder. As I said, I have cold air tubes routing cold outside air to the filter. So, it can spin the tires in the winter, but only a slight chirp in the summer. That's just typical, since we cannot get rid of summertime air temperatures.

But anyhow, I don't put them on for any perceived power increase. Don't care. I put them on for two reasons, in this order. Looks then sound. Nothing else. I don't care about gas mileage either. Aside from the fore-mentioned fact, that the stock 3.0 Ranger heats the intake manifold to 195 degrees, so the temperature of the incoming air is irrelevant. I removed those heat tubes years ago. But the manifold still gets hot regardless, since the fan is throwing heated air all over the intake tube and intake manifold.

What temperature does the computer start pulling timing. Don't know that, but will mention my L again. It has a air-to-liquid intercooler. The pump doesn't even start til 100 degrees. And I guarantee, even with the stock airbox, the intake gets plenty more hot than that. There are two intake temperature sensors in the L, one behind the filter, the other under the intercooler. There are guys with setups to read both of them while driving. At least on the Lightning, the reading I've done shows there are huge benefits to open filters, since the stock filter in the stock airbox, cannot provide enough air to anyone who has changed the stock blower to another type. I have a Magnum Powers blower on mine, the evidence I've seen highly suggests that the open air filter provides more benefit than the stock airbox. And also, the evidence I've seen, yeah, when stopped it gets hot. Soon as you start moving, the temperature starts falling. I can live with that.

Even us guys with open filters on our Lightnings, we still have a favorite saying about winter time. "Good boost weather!"

 

[Blmpkn]

....so much for your theory that the computer pulls timing for hot air. LMAO!!

Its not a theory, LMAO!! But, it's your right as an American to believe as you wish

All it takes though.. If your curious.. is typing 5 little words into Google: hot air motor pulls timing. I'm sure there's something like 42,653,372 results to read through

 

[cbxer55]

I had a drop in K&N on my F-150 (with a mere mortal NA 2v 5.4) and I shelved it as soon as I moved onto a gravel road. I care more about my engines having compression rather than making intake noise.

Urban cruiser... who cares, you have less dirt in the air.



Most OEM intakes have baffles in them to quiet them down too. I know my F-150's does.

It also runs 5* +/- of ambient temp drawing from the fender.

I ran an open velocity stack on a 400 Pontiac motor for years, inside a cowl hood. Never had a problem with it that I could tell. The back of the cowl hood was screened by me, to keep large objects out. There was also a screen on top of the stack. I put well over 100,000 miles on that motor with that set-up. No filter at all. In the Mojave Desert. ;-)

 

[fastpakr]

This is a brilliant example of survivorship bias.

 

[sheep herder]

 

[Dirtman]

12 times!!!!

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I ran an open velocity stack on a 400 Pontiac motor for years, inside a cowl hood. Never had a problem with it that I could tell. The back of the cowl hood was screened by me, to keep large objects out. There was also a screen on top of the stack. I put well over 100,000 miles on that motor with that set-up. No filter at all. In the Mojave Desert. ;-)

Dry element tractor air filter is generally serviced every 200hrs, the sticker on my old junk with oil bathes say daily.

 

[Dirtman]

I ran an open velocity stack on a 400 Pontiac motor for years, inside a cowl hood. Never had a problem with it that I could tell. The back of the cowl hood was screened by me, to keep large objects out. There was also a screen on top of the stack. I put well over 100,000 miles on that motor with that set-up. No filter at all. In the Mojave Desert. ;-)

Doing things wrong and having it "work" is not an excuse to tell other to do it that way.

 

[Curious Hound]

I will say that in my case, my goal was to make sure that no part of my intake had a smaller cross-sectional surface area than the throat of the throttle body. For example; if the throttle body throat is 50mm (just guessing), that would have a cross-sectional area of about 1963 sq mm. So anything I installed had that much area or more. If it's perfectly round, then just make sure the ID is equal to or greater than 50mm. Granted, anything bigger is a waste. But you work with sizes that are available. Before I made my mod's, there were places that were much smaller in the OEM intake tubing and filter box inlet.

In my opinion, anything smaller than the throttle body is restrictive.

Breathing through a straw is difficult if the straw is too small. That's simple.

 

[cbxer55]

I will say that in my case, my goal was to make sure that no part of my intake had a smaller cross-sectional surface area than the throat of the throttle body. For example; if the throttle body throat is 50mm (just guessing), that would have a cross-sectional area of about 1963 sq mm. So anything I installed had that much area or more. If it's perfectly round, then just make sure the ID is equal to or greater than 50mm. Granted, anything bigger is a waste. But you work with sizes that are available. Before I made my mod's, there were places that were much smaller in the OEM intake tubing and filter box inlet.

In my opinion, anything smaller than the throttle body is restrictive.

Breathing through a straw is difficult if the straw is too small. That's simple.

Like the stock intake tube for the 3.0. It necks down to half the size of both the TB and the MAF. As soon as you put something bigger on it, you can tell the difference. Like between night and day. I put the stock tube on with the open filter, ran like crap. Took it off and ditched it forever.

 

[cbxer55]

Doing things wrong and having it "work" is not an excuse to tell other to do it that way.

I'm not telling anyone to do anything. What people do, or don't do, to their vehicle, I could care less. I was just responding that despite some saying they aren't worth it, to me they are. Worth every damn penny! And like I said, first thing I do when I get a vehicle. Junk the stock EPA mandated intake muffler, and put something on there that makes some noise and looks better when the hood is up. I take care of my vehicles, and like them to look better than the junk the manufacturers sometimes provide, even though they do it because the law says they have to.

You know my Ranger, I said it can light up some fairly large tires. I actually run those tires at 20 psi to keep them from spinning, and have a set of Lakewood traction bars on it for the same purpose, keep them from spinning. The wheel hop was ridiculous crazy at times. My L has Johnny Lightning Performance long bars. The Mustang already has factory traction bars and a pan hard bar.

 

[8thTon]

Can your 3.0 with an automatic light up 255/60-15 Cooper Cobra GT's? Mine can, especially in the winter, when the air is colder. So, if colder air is making my truck have more power in the winter, the air at the filter must be colder. As I said, I have cold air tubes routing cold outside air to the filter. So, it can spin the tires in the winter, but only a slight chirp in the summer. That's just typical, since we cannot get rid of summertime air temperatures.

But anyhow, I don't put them on for any perceived power increase. Don't care. I put them on for two reasons, in this order. Looks then sound. Nothing else. I don't care about gas mileage either. Aside from the fore-mentioned fact, that the stock 3.0 Ranger heats the intake manifold to 195 degrees, so the temperature of the incoming air is irrelevant. I removed those heat tubes years ago. But the manifold still gets hot regardless, since the fan is throwing heated air all over the intake tube and intake manifold.

What temperature does the computer start pulling timing. Don't know that, but will mention my L again. It has a air-to-liquid intercooler. The pump doesn't even start til 100 degrees. And I guarantee, even with the stock airbox, the intake gets plenty more hot than that. There are two intake temperature sensors in the L, one behind the filter, the other under the intercooler. There are guys with setups to read both of them while driving. At least on the Lightning, the reading I've done shows there are huge benefits to open filters, since the stock filter in the stock airbox, cannot provide enough air to anyone who has changed the stock blower to another type. I have a Magnum Powers blower on mine, the evidence I've seen highly suggests that the open air filter provides more benefit than the stock airbox. And also, the evidence I've seen, yeah, when stopped it gets hot. Soon as you start moving, the temperature starts falling. I can live with that.

Even us guys with open filters on our Lightnings, we still have a favorite saying about winter time. "Good boost weather!"

So many misconceptions - My Ranger weighs about 3100lbs, has 154 hp and a 4.10:1 drive ratio, and probably about a 80/20 weight distribution - it's a pickup truck, it can burn the tires all day and it means nothing. Even my '90 with a 2.3 Lima and some ridiculously high highway rear could. Did you know that the width of your tires doesn't make them any harder to spin? The contact patch is determined by the weight on them and the pressure you have them at.

There are several intakes on the 3.0, but the purpose of heating the intake is to prevent fuel from pooling/wetting on the surfaces of the intake runners. There isn't all that much area on the surface, and boundary conditions keep much of the air from flowing along it anyway. Plus the newer ones are largely plastic which isn't that thermally conductive anyway - so the result is the heated intake does a poor job heating the air going through it. You wasted your time removing those tubes, and probably increased the formation of fuel droplets which get pulled into the cylinder, wash oil off the cylinder walls and increase ring wear.

The rest of the stuff about your lightening is irrelevant to a NA engine, as the air in a boosted engine is heated by compression far more than ambient air temps. They'd be delighted to get the air temps after boost down to something like a hot day in Death Valley.

Look, I don't care what you put on your truck or why, enjoy it. There's no reason you have to justify it, but if you present it with some pseudoscience rational people are gonna dispute that.