The stock intake entry is 2" round, but widens out to 2" x 4.5". I replaced the first section with 3" PVC from Home Depot to allow more airflow. I shaped it just a little with a jig saw to fit perfect then a little sanding and black spray paint. Let me know what you think. It feels like it has a little more power, but it may just be in my head. I have had the K&N filter for a month. Hoping it improves my mpg. Total cost of this project $11.00.

This is the stock setup. The piece just under the radiator reservoir hose is the one being replaced.

This is the 3" PVC (7.5" long) to fit into the fender opening.

Nice fit into the fender.

Slip the rubber baffle on (it is a perfect snug fit without hose clamps).

K&N, intake mod.

 

Hey thats a really cool setup you have there. Your engine is very clean, props to you.

 

Thanks. I keep her clean as a whistle. This is a really simple mod.

 

Great idea!

 

lol...I'm sure your engine sucks more air now...So much more than the cylinders could possibly ever use, huh? Are you compressing that air? If not, then your cylinders aren't getting any more air than it would draw normally. If your engine wasn;t getting enough air to run when you floored it, then it would stutter, stammer, and die because your A/F mixture would be so lean it couldn't run at all.

CAI's are a WASTE OF MONEY. I'm positive Ford spent a little more money researching how to get the most air into their engines to make it fuel efficient, and have good power than a piece of PVC stuck into the run.

 

I installed a K&N CAI kit on my 2005 F350 5.4L yesterday and I experienced an immediate improvement in performance. I have posted several threads in the SD forum about my truck's lack of sufficient power but I can say without a doubt that the K&N CAI kit works!

 

Charger- thanks for your input. You sound awfully anti-CAI. If its because their price is so high- I am right there with you (pipes and tuners, too). Compressed air would take a little more money than I have or want to spend. Thinking about pipes next, but not in a hurry (thanks to the economy). The more I drive it, the more I can feel a difference in giddy up. Its not significant, but today my mpg went up a little. I will know more over the next couple of weeks if my $11 was well spent. IF no real difference, then I can return to the stock setup in a matter of minutes. Happy trails.

 

So....if you could pick up 10 hp with a larger intake tube....or even 3....don't you think ford would have put a bigger tube in stock? CAI's don't do much of anything for a stock truck but make it sound faster off the line....they're noisy and make you think they're giving you power....but i'd bet if you dyno'd it...you'd find no real difference....

 

Ryan, good question. I don't have an answer. I don't have an answer to these questions either...

Why do the plugs in an F150 break off?
Why does my gas engine tap like a diesel?
Why do the F150 power window regulators fail so early?

 

You really think a 330ci engine can breath efficiently (at any speed above light cruise) thru the 2" hole in the end of the OEM air inlet? OEMs build in chokepoints to limit the performance of the vehicles to meet insurance points. Take a look at your exhaust right after the 2 down pipes merge where the 2.5" pipe is crushed down to 2" and ask yourself WTF? (also illustrated in Ken's Roush truck exhaust article) Air restriction via inlet size is a hidden (from most uninformed) way to limit the high load/RPM/top speed operation of OEM vehicles...Dodge/Chrylser does it on the Caravan by hiding a smaller 1" dia inner tube inside the big looking 4 inch outer tube...again WTF? Its all about liability. They got their power numbers for marketing off the engine dyno not the as produced chassis dyno. More advertised hp = higher insurance and more chance some grandma drives thru a storefront and blames the OEM for making an unmanagable racecar vehicle (this is the way insurance has made OEMs think/act)...Motorcycles are done the same exact way...ex: Yamaha's comes with a mysterious grey wire in the ignition that if you cut in half will double the rpm and power of the engine...or many vehicles come with a throttle stop that only lets you open the throttle 3/4 (tip= F150 does this too)...bottom line is OEM chokes these vehicles down purposely to live thru every situation from +130 mojave desert to -70 Alaska and every idiot in between...that's part of the fun of modding is figuring out the OEM engineering and their reasoning and then changing the parameters to suit just you... CAIs, just like any other part added to a computer controlled engine need the computer to be reprogrammed to work properly. I've helped install 3 different CAIs and all ran worse than the OEM until a programmer was used to set the computer for the CAI increased airflow. Then it was a big increase.

 

Excellent commentary! I'll be installing my SCT Livewire w/ custom tunes this weekend. I'll then be able to take full advantage of the CIA kit. These engines have a lot more potential than the manufacturers allow off the showroom floor. I intend to maximize my engine's potential!

 

great post

 

I second that great post indeed. There is alot of logic in there in many ways of how the government/insurance companies operate. In other words, many of us always have to question what, how and why things happen the way they do. Always in reason.

 

Great comments fellas I agree whole heartedly, I enjoyed reading the posts and I thought that intake was awfully small to, might have to try the pvc. Another pont is, whats the point of having a K&N if its not gonna do anything??And I'm sure chargersfan would use one if he doesn't already!lol catchya later!!

 

Power Hungry says removing snorkel is good for 8hp.More power begins at 3000rpm.