Thread: Cold air intake system

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This almost falls out of the 'hot rod' categories but is a performance related question.

Obviously, I can buy a cold air intake system for my truck, but since the other half of my genealogy is Scottish, I tend to be a bit of a ----tightwad. Plus most suppliers offerings are in the $3 to $500 bracket for my gas V10 Ford, so the payback mileage period is out of reality. Has anyone built a successful cold air intake system for his EFI vehicle? How successful were you as far as performance and possible fuel savings? How did you build it - that is, materials and a filter? What kind of costs did you incur - and do you feel that it will soon pay for itself?

Don't know your emission laws and test in NY,could get tricky if you have to get tail pipe sniffed etc to renew tags.what I mean is if you buy A K&N set up been flowed and tested to be street legal,have seen one made for a Crazy compact stock car but no trucks,same princable I would think.it was made of plastic tube and had all the fittings for sensiors and electrical connections as close to factory positions as possible.Gas milage?perfomance gaine yes.he said he made it for under $100.00 was not a K&N filter it was a differant off brand.have you looked into any power tuners or chips yet.

When my 2002 Explorer (5.4 V8) came off the 100,000 mile warranty, I promptly installed a K&N cold air system, Gibson Cat-Back exhaust and the largest mass air flow sensor I could find. The results were okay – but not as great as I had hoped for. Cost for all was about $1,200.

Before – 11-12 mpg city, 17 mpg highway
After – 12-13 mpg city, 17-19 mpg highway

I will say that the throttle response is improved (especially in the 40-80 mph range when passing) and the sound is a bit “throatier”. The folks at the local Ford dealer just smile and say, “All that money for a few extra miles per gallon. We told you that we (FoMoCo) had already made it as good as it can be!” On the plus side, I have not had to replace an air filter for the past 50,000 miles as the K&N is re-usable. Does it pay – Nah, but I like the additional grunt when I pass and the sound at least resembles a V8 now.

If you could get some appropriately sized rubber clamps and tubing, you may be able to duplicate the cold air system. There are some great pictures in the installation manual (on K&N’s web site) that could get you pretty close as well as help you locate the proper placement for the necessary emissions control piping. As mentioned above, the local authority having jurisdiction may frown on a “home built”. Mine has a CARB sticker on it and I think most states recognize California’s “Air Research Board” as sufficient for their requirements as well.

Regards,
Glenn

Thanks Glenn.
With the lack of any real available performance parts for an '06 and up V10, I've about made up my mind to stay with what I have at present. There is no available Gibson exhaust such I've used on my last 3 trucks, no really good chip that will do much, and none in the trans shifting department where my F350 really needs it and the fact that the K&N really isn't much of a deal at $331 at Auto Anything - and the payback isn't there for spending well over $1200 for what you described. What really makes it bad is that the 10% ethanol winter blend has dropped my gas mileage from ~10.6 or about 1 mpg to 9.6. The truck on "real" gasoline, if available, gets 11.6

Hi Dave, I made a cold air set-up for the '94 Camaro that I used to have. I got the filter from K & N & I got the plastic pipe & fittings from Home Depot. Actually it turned out pretty nice. I just painted it black. I wish I had some pic's. When I had my Camaro I used to hang out at camaroz28.com a lot & they had articles, pic's, diagrams to show what other people had done & I pretty much just followed what they did. Except I used the biggest filter that K & N had! Which was totally unnecessary. It was like 18" long, 8" around (or something like that). The Home Depot parts didn't cost much at all & neither did the K & N..... Bill

Bill, you think like I do, cobbling something up from inexpensive parts that works. Your filter size was real close to being right in my opinion, 144 sq. in. Bigger is better when it comes to filters.

It's a fact that for each 10 degree drop in air temperature going into the motor, the motor will pick up 1% power, assuming of course that fuel delivery is enriched at the same time to allow the proper a/f ratio.

If the vehicle already picks up ambient air from outside the engine bay, then you're not going to gain much with a different filter and ducting, but if the filter is picking up air from within the engine bay, then changing the system to pick up ambient air will improve power.

I just have to laugh to myself and turn away when I see these ricer guys at the dragstrip who have spent megabucks for aftermarket piping and a K & N filter arrangement and then terminate the filter right behind the radiator in the engine bay. Just another case of monkey-see, monkey-do without thinking the whole thing through. It's like the first guy who cobbled up a system for sale made it all wrong and everyone else followed his lead. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

I guess that brings me back to my original question - about homemade cold air intakes. My big concern with this particular truck is that there is soooooo much that is computer controlled, including the throttle (fly by wire) I'm worried about what parameters do I screw up - if any. Does it mess negatively with my already ho-hum gas mileage for my 7400# vehicle?

Originally Posted by IC2

I guess that brings me back to my original question - about homemade cold air intakes. My big concern with this particular truck is that there is soooooo much that is computer controlled, including the throttle (fly by wire) I'm worried about what parameters do I screw up - if any. Does it mess negatively with my already ho-hum gas mileage for my 7400# vehicle?

Don't think you'd get enough return on the investment, if that's your concern.... but then that's not real unusual when playing with a truck anyhow....

the weight is the biggest hold back on the truck... Only thing I've ever got any kind of decent mileage out of in these behemoth trucks is a diesel. The diesels will really react to air flow improvements, bigger exhaust, and a chip... I've got a V-10 laying in the corner, someday going to build a light little car to put it in and see what happens....

Anyway, pulling around that much mass, a couple mpg improvement is probably about the best you could hope for... Changing all the lubes to synthetics would probably accomplish the same....

...Gee thanks Dave I needed some reasurance that I'm not excessive!!! yeah it was 18" long & 7" in diameter, just got a pic of it off of the K & N website.... In fact I think what I used was sewer pipe!!! ..... And I remember using a cutting torch to get it to fit!!! It was beside the radiator & hung down so you could barely see it if you leaned down & looked under. Oh & now that I think about it, it got stolen so I had to replace it!!! Just the filter not the pipe}... Yes, the car sounded better with it....... Don't know about milage....

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Don't think you'd get enough return on the investment, if that's your concern.... but then that's not real unusual when playing with a truck anyhow....

the weight is the biggest hold back on the truck... Only thing I've ever got any kind of decent mileage out of in these behemoth trucks is a diesel. The diesels will really react to air flow improvements, bigger exhaust, and a chip... I've got a V-10 laying in the corner, someday going to build a light little car to put it in and see what happens....

Anyway, pulling around that much mass, a couple mpg improvement is probably about the best you could hope for... Changing all the lubes to synthetics would probably accomplish the same....

Mileage increase with syn lubes was a waste of $$. Mobil 1 - NADA, so am back to Motorcraft Semi Syn. ATF is whatever Ford uses. Differentials have a friction modifier that is compatible with the Ford Equalock/Traction Lock or whatever it's called.

Big mileage increases are not possible with this big of a truck and the less then spectacular aerodynamics - all I want is a consistent 10.5 to 11 town and 13-14 road. And the new Ford diesels, the 6.0 and 6.4 - their fuel mileage is not much better (1-2 mpg) then mine. With diesel fuel here over a dollar more per gallon, sure isn't worth it for a daily driver that seldom sees much bed or hauling load. Then there are the added maintenance costs (and warranty downtime) that really negate a diesel for the average joe. For a guy that regularly hauls a load though, the diesels are the way to go.

Funny, I never had any luck at all with cold air setups. On my '88 Merc 302, I gained 3 mpg by tossing the factory tube, opening the air cleaner entry hole, and sucking air from under the hood. On my '95 Dodge Ram, I'm going to make an old style open filter setup like on any 4bbl. carb and see what happens. I think most factory intake tubes are just too small to work at highway speeds.