Hello fellow Super Dutians, I have a question about the the low restriction pre-filter (FA 1909) and snow conditions. I will be spending 2 weeks in snowy Montana and Wyoming at the end of December and my question to those of you that live in snowy country is regarding the snow pack that restricts the regular pre-filter. Do I need to order and install the low restriction pre-filter or will I be okay running the regular pre-filter?
If anyone is running the low restriction pre-filter, has there been any issues with it?

 

The question I have is can you just run without the prefilter? I mean every car I have ever had only had one filter and I do not see the need for the pre filter this just does not make any sense.

 

The pre-filter only covers about 20% of the filter. The remaining 80% of the filter is sucking air thru a big opening behind the headlight.

The filter area that is not behind the pre-filter gets dirty pretty quick, has leaves, bees, moths and lots of dirt. The area behind the pre-flter stays much cleaner.

I kinda assumed it was your safety filter. For when the main filter area gets plugged up, your engine can still breath.

White area was behind pre-filter, black area was getting the fresh air from behind the head light. And I changed this filter at 15,000 miles

 

What part of the filter gets clogged with snow? I have read where others say that the filter gets clogged with snow during snow storms while driving and reduces the horsepower. My understanding is the low-restriction pre-filter stops the snow from clogging the filter.
I did not want to be stuck in the middle of no where with a filter packed with snow nor did I want to stop every so often to have to remove the snow from the filter.

Thanks everyone.

 

Suscribing

 

I did not have loss of power or other accompanying symptoms. My restriction gauge was indicating that the filter was partially clogged, and this is what I found:





This was caused by snow inhalation. I did not have the "low restriction" pre filter, and this was likely caused in one of the worst snowstorms I've ever seen.

I had to laugh for a bit about everyone getting worked up over what their filter looks like. What a filter looks like has absolutely nothing to do with its capability to provide enough clean air to your engine. It can no longer provide enough air when there is enough restriction that the engine can't get enough air at WOT. The air filter restriction gauge will tell you this, and is the exclusive indicator as to when the air filter needs to be replaced.



I can't highlight the important part in the image, so I'll repeat it here: As with the previous generation high-capacity Donaldson filters used in the 6.0L/6.4L, the air filter restriction gauge is the proper indicator.

Replacing air filters by what they look like is like changing your oil every 3,000 miles. It's not necessary, doesn't help the truck any, and is simply wasteful. We have a restriction gauge for this purpose, and this is proven technology that's been used in commercial truck engines for decades.

 

AMEN I am not the only that goes by the gauge. i guess I can now say I am 1 of 2 people that go by the gauge

 

For the $11-$12 that an air filter cost, I'll change it every 15,000 miles when I do the fuel filters. I'll keep an eye on the restriction guage and if it indicates that I need it sooner. I can always pick one up and do it before the 15,000 miles

 

I use the gauge, but I also pull it out every oil change and clean the box out. I then can look at the filter as sometimes the can be covered in an oily black substance from metropolitan driving.

 

a little bit of "black oiliness" prob helps it capture dirt better, until its actually reducing airflow there won't be any performance gain or mileage improvement. .
Ultimately if it makes you sleep better........
but what is the point of ford developing a maintenance guidebook if we are going to arbitrarily cut every recommendation in half?
where does that end ,is cutting it in half good enough or would 1/4 be better maybe 1/8sure it won't hurt the truck......but there is another resource that it kills,my flippin paycheck
ford has gone to significant effort to develop the maintenance #. I am pretty sure whether its an airfilter or an oil change or whatever, that they have scientific data to prove that suggestion will provide an acceptable longevity with a good safety margin

 

I was at the dealer today and found this reading regarding the air filter. Sorry about the bad photo, its kind of hard to read with the glare.

 

soooo.... assuming that air does not "normally" flow through the bypass area, if the bypass is still clean the filter is still flowing ALL the air the engine needs. yes? no?

 

Think I'll do my oil at every 600 miles. Better safe than sorry

 

I rely on the restriction gauge to determine when to change the filter. As some other have posted I also pull the air filter out and clean the air box every oil change. There is always larger types of debris in there such as bugs, leaves, etc.

I like the bypass feature of this system and based on how clean my foam pre-filter is I don't think it has had a need to use it yet.

 

With my 6.0 I changed the air filter every 100k if it needed it or not. After about 60K on the first filter I took the vacuum tester to the air filter minder. It moved the filter minder before it even read any vacuum. This told me it was working. I personally trust these and it is amazing how long a filter will last. I had my 06 for 181,000 and put one air filter in it and never saw the minder move.