Love my 89 7.3 club wagon. Had it for about 13 years now and know pretty well how it should feel on the road. My mechanic (and it's a little tough finding one who will work on it) replaced two heater hoses that had been chafing against the hose/box thing that attaches to the air filter. I've noticed in the past that if the filter didn't get mounted properly to that hose, performance suffered, primarily I have to put the pedal farther down to get up to speed. Still gets to top speed eventually but if I didn't have a GV overdrive I would be maxed out at 55 due to not revving any higher. Anyway, I noticed this after the hose replacement, called my guy and he said, yeah, I pulled that off because it looked like it was going to chafe again. Of course, this had been a few days previous and he had chucked the assembly, but promised to 'figure something out' when I bring it in.
He did indicate that it routed air from below, and all I can figure is that it really needs that routing because the engine compartment is SO crowded that airflow is restricted.
Other changes with this include slightly easier cold starting and basically no smoke out the tailpipe, even when flooring it away from a stop, which would previously leave a big ugly cloud.

IS the hose as necessary as it seems? A tech's response would be appreciated, and would help to back up my observations.
Any ballpark on replacement cost and sources? I'm in Ventura County, CA FWIW. (but too far from the awesome Tarango's diesel to be convenient)

Thanks.

 

This "hose" is about 3-4" in diameter? I think youre talking about the factory cold air intake. Removing this will cause a dip in performance, however, i wouldnt have thought it would make as much of one as you are talking about. That really sucks your mechanic tossed it, its very worth having.

Solutions: there are tons of these molded factory CAI style intakes in the junk yard. So even if you can find one for a van, odds are you can piece a few together to get something that will work, even if it requires some cutting. But you DO want the engine drawing in air from outside the engine compartment.

 

oh goodie.now all you need to do is tell your mechanic to replace it for you on his dime since he owes you one.
tell him this is the one you'd like installed free of charge to make up for his incompetence.
Hypermax - Product Display

 

Thanks guys, especially for the reassurance that A) it's necessary and B) it's easily findable. He's been good about a million things, including junkyard connections, so I'm not worried that he'll make it right. mmmm, air.