I change my air filter about every other oil change. I have never paid any attention to the air filter sensor on the housing until today. I thought it might be time to change it but when I looked at the indicator. It was not near showing a restriction. So, am I changinig it too often? I want to run a clean filter but I want to get the full life of the filter also. I also noticed for the first time that a wire was connected to the indicator. So, I have two questions;

1 Can I trust and should I go by the monitor that shows when it is restricted to know when to change the filter?

1 Does the filter sensor turn on a light in the dash when it is restricted?

Thanks for your help. David

 

There's pretty relevant information at:
http://www.filterminder.com/

You didn't say what year your truck is, but it may be monitored on the instrument panel. My 2000 isn't and I just have to look at the FilterMinder on occasion. But I have a 6637 filter, which may mean longer periods between observations! ;-)))

Pop

 

On the 02+ the filter minder does have a dash indicator.

In my estimation, if the filter minder ever moves on a stock truck it's way past time to change it. I've seen a couple caked up solid that didn't move the minder.

 

Before I went with the 6637, mine tripped on a filter that looked mildly dirty. The truck ran smooth with plenty of power. Thinking it had inadvertantly tripped, I reset it and drove about 35 miles, from McKinney out to Denton, TX. It was tripped again by that time, and I bought a new filter there. Never moved all the way back to Los Angeles, so I figure it was doing its job as designed.

I drilled a hole in the end of the 6637 and it's there today, mindin' the filter. I won't be changing that filter until it at least moves a little. So far, I trust the little buggers to be doing their job. I have previously installed them on two gassers, my '89 F250, and my wife's Odyssey. They work as advertised, at least for me.

Pop

 

I've never had the light come on, and I've never been able to get the filterminder to move. Consequently, I don't trust it.

 

Brian,

I can understand your mistrust. However.....

It's likely that you're changing air filters long before they need to be. It takes a fair amount of restriction to start the FilterMinders moving. If you have a hand-held vacuum pump with a guage, you can verify that it works as advertised.

I am currently using one of your 6637's, which lets my engine see virtually no restriction, but I won't be changing it until that 'Minder at least moves a little. Then, I'll be ordering another from you.

Remember when it comes to air filters, up to a point, dirty ones filter better than brand-new ones. The FilterMinder helps determine where that point is.

I know that Ford engineering doesn't always think things through as well as they should, but I doubt that they buy these things from their vendor without good reason.

Pop

 

Ok, I'm a noob! Please explain what the 6637 filter is?

Thanks for your patience!

 

A lot of us have replaced the filter box on our 7.3's with a huge commercial filter that you can mail order from Brian, a poster above, or locally-purchase. Cost from Brian is real reasonable. He'll know what you want, whereas the local parts-chimp will just stare at you with that far-away look. It costs more there, too.

It ends up looking like the one in this thread, where there are five different pictures on three different trucks:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s....php?&t=388451

Do a search on "Kwik mod" for even more. The engine has much less inlet restriction, and that's a GOOD THING!

Pop

 

whoops, got side tracked and was going to post, but springer got me on that. check my gallery, i have pics of the www.fleetfilter.com part number "46637" (your local napa store will be "6637"). if you go to the local store, dont tell them it is for your truck. say it is for an excavator or skidloader or something if they need to know. because they would normally give you the stock replacement filter.

 

Napa carries them "6637". My only problem with the filter setup was hot air getting in it. If you in a hot climate you may want to isolate it better. A better and cleaner setup is the AIS system from FORD. Designed for this truck.

 

The Ford upgraded AIS filter system uses Donaldson filtration technology that (I believe) was developed for the US armed forces, and is very effective in removing fine dust particles.

As implemented by Ford, however, it's been found to be somewhat flow restrictive unless the filter box is also "modded" with holes and a foam sleeve to add additional intake air from the wheel well. The wheel well has been found to not be a good place from which to get air, especially on dusty roads.

The unmodified AIS DOES offer better filtered air for users that will never be extending the operating parameters of their engines, or attempting to get all out of them of which they are capable.

The downside is that the kits are relatively pricey, as are the replacement elements.

WildBill sells them, as well as the foam sleeves to mod them, if that's the way you decide to go.

As an aside, both of this forum's current moderators are pretty knowledgeable about these engines, and they both use the 6637 filter.

Stick around this forum for a while before deciding about a replacement air filtration system, if you intend to do that. There will be lots of informed opinions to help you make your own decision. There are up-sides and down-sides to each of the systems.

Pop

 

dont worry about the fact of hot air. it doesnt matter if youre sucking 40* air or 120* air. the turbo heats that air up so hot, it is relatively no difference by the time that air reaches the intercooler. one way to get more of a "ram air" effect is to do the zoodad mod. but im hesitant because of the fact of driving in rain.

 

You don't have to worry about water getting into the filter with the Zoodad. That's one of the first mods that I did and my filter has never been wet, ever. I live in Seattle, where it rains a LOT.

 

You are totally wrong on the temp issue. If intake temps didn't matter our trucks wouldn't have an intercooler. The hotter the intake temp the less power the engine will make. Cooler air is denser and contains more oxygen. Without oxygen the engine will not run. If the 6637 is installed correctly you still get air flow to it from the grill. Someone checked temps at the air filter and at the grill while driving and found minimal difference with the 6637. While idling the temps underhood are higher. As soon as they began moving the temps dropped back down. As Kwik said I've also had no problem with water. I removed an Air Aid (same design as AFE stage I) system because it was too restrictive. The 6637 was worth 5 lbs of boost on my truck.

 

Kwik,
Did you notice any difference after doing the Zoodad mod ??
Also, did you put a screen over the openings ??
I've been considering the Soodad for some time and am just curious !
Thanks