did mod, like I said.. I cant tell any performance improvements yet. but it does look like my EGT drop faster after letting off.

 

It could, but ford makes a kit to compensate for it. I think you can probably do a search and find the part number here.

 

Actually--after thinking about it--I wonder what affect the water would have on the MAF? sensor in the intake since it reads a temperature difference to know how much fuel to add for the incoming air. Maybe I'll have to pose that question to one of my resident tuners to see if they have thought of that. I know that if you overoil your cottongauze high intake filters the oil will affect the sensor. hmmmmmmm--some food for thought since the water injection occurs after this point, correct?

 

I can't imagine any amount water or snow(depending where you live) would be good after long periods of exposure to the filter or sensors. I live very close to the Gulf of Mexico and there is already surface corrosion present on other truck componets. With the amounts of salt on the ground in snow bound states that would be a problem once it gets past the filter. No matter what filter system that is being used whether Stock or Aftermarket...There is a certain amount of water,dirt,sand and other FOD that will cause damage. In the least this mod would have to greatly shorten the life of the filter and be a huge indication point to a dealer. Are there pictures anywhere of the mod after the mod giving a view from the front?

I use aftermarket tuning and exhausts with aftermarket gauges so I already expose my truck to enough of a warranty test when the time comes. It seems that FORD is particularly picky when it comes to the Air Filter, Oil Maintenance and Fuel Filter maintenance schedules. I just can't imagine them liking this at all and also don't see that it makes that much of a difference to benefit the overall performance. Like others have also mentioned in other posts about the dealer requiring them to replace the aftermarket airbox before they would do warranty work. To really see a difference in performance a water or Meth injection would be the most noticeable difference but I'm sure would not go over well with warranty claims either.

These types of topics come up all the time and I like to see the discussion on them because it always seems to edge all of us towards better education of owning a diesel engine. Especially the few contributors in the group like Vloney, MRXLH and VicFerrari that make their living specifically from working on these beasts...

However it is funny how most of the topics whether stock or modified all pivot around the most important componets to diesel engine life and performance. Air, Fuel and Oil...

 

LOL--I can see I stirred the pot a little.........Actually it does make a difference. If you look where the air from the stock airbox gets pulled from behind the core support then you're still getting "hot" air from the engine compartment to some small extent plus you're pulling from a very restricted area. If you open up the core support directly in front of the air snorkle then you get MUCH cooler air (it's been tested by numerous individuals) but you have to take the downside of shorter filter life. I've personally never gotten anything much bigger than a cricket or a large grasshopper from the front of the filter box, but I have knocked large amounts of sand (I lived in Austin, Tx for 2 years) from the filter itself. I've been through some Texas Toad Strangler rainstorms and never had any issues with the stock Donaldson filter. I do have an Airaid sitting here in the basement as I always seemed to get a "haze" of intake smudge with it. I run the 100hp predator (don't start about the heads, cause SCT is coming) and have virtually no issues with EGT's--at least no more than anyone else--with the stock air box. The salt issue would be something to ask the guys from the northern states that use that stuff heavily in the winter time. As good as the Donaldson filter is I just don't see much getting through--especially if you service it regularly, but.........

 

npccpartsman...The main "Bug" problem that I was concerned with was our infamous "LoveBugs". Anyone that has gone through Louisiana and SouthEast Texas around May and September know what I'm talking about. They are amazingly thick like no other pest I've ever dealt with.

I guess the only way to find out what damage could be caused by either water, salt or other FOD is for enough owners to report back from different parts of the states.

 

LOL--I grew up in Arkansas--went to school in Baton Rouge, and lived in Austin, Tx. the past two years. I know the infamous "LoveBugs" well. Did you know the best way to keep them off the front of your vehicle is with something like spray vegetable oil???? It really works. I however can't imagine them being any thicker than the mosquito's in the ricefields around my hometown of Stuttgart where you have to use a drywall mud knife to scrape them off your windshield at night about every 15 or 20 miles......if they don't bleed you dry before you get done.

 

A lot of people get a piece of screen like from your window or similar and make a little screen that goes in front. Don't have to worry about bugs that way.

 

Well, I just spent about 15 minutes with my friends.....Craftsman, Dewalt and Dremel. I now have nice hole to let all that cool air in. As far as a shorter filter life goes or poorer performance, I can always "fix" the hole with 100mph tape

 

anyone else see EGT temps going down any faster ? mine are just as high but seem to drop off faster

 

Where was it that I read that someone made a "damper" to cover the hole during a rain????? Anybody???? I think it was something like a 8' choke cable that ran into the cab. `Believe I'll look into a small fab job this next week.

 

does cutting the hole larger affect the warranty? someone said ford makes a kit ? whats the kit like and whats the part number?

 

I guess the “Zoodad” mod does not make sense to me. I have read most of the threads on it and it doesn’t add up. My stock truck’s intake air temp is what ever the outside air temp is except when idling in traffic. So, maybe that is where the zoodad would be beneficial. Other than that, I can’t see where it would be a benefit.

The ram air effect is bunk. If these diesels were normally aspirated engines, it might have an affect if the intake system was sealed. But these engines are turbo charged, and the boost is electronically controlled so if the engine calls for 20 psi, it gets 20 psi, no matter what the pre-compressor air is doing as long as it is not blocked or choked to the point of limiting the cfm. There is no way that by driving down the road, with the zoodad mod, that you are generating any kind of pressure that would significantly affect the amount of boost the turbo generates, especially since there is a gap between the zoodad mod and the intake snorkel.

I would think the zoodad mod would decrease the performance of the radiator/intercooler. By cutting that hole, you are reducing the stagnation area that pushes air through the radiator/intercooler. Is that amount of loss measurable, I am sure it is, but you would never see the difference, just like there isn’t a difference with the zoodad mod. There may be a perceived difference, but that doesn’t mean that there is an actual difference.

I am not anti zoodad, but the mod just doesn’t make sense, especially having the intake air temp below ambient, that just plain old breaks the laws of physics. I don’t think anything will get hurt by running the mod, except for maybe a wet or snow clogged filter, but if you are running a stock Donaldson, then it shouldn’t affect it long term.

 

You are probably correct in your statement, I dont know if I see any difference after I did the mod. The ram air thing is crap IMO. The only thing IMO it does is to allow more air into your filter for heavily modified trucks. A stock truck, i dont see how its doing much.

 

One thing you guys have to remember about compressors (a turbo is a compressor) the suction pressure is directly related to the performance of the compressor, the compression ratio, and the final discharge pressure. More than likely what the gain of this mod is in traffic you are using more dense air charge, due to it being ambient, and not whats in the engine compartment. The ram air would be allowing your turbo to react quicker because it will have positive pressure coming into it, not vacuum, thus allowing it to operate more efficiently. The turbo will only boost exactly as you mention, what ever it calls for, how easily it acheives this is where the minimal performance gain comes in. It also makes the effiency of the intercooler better by the charge air coming in at ambient, which would explain the drop in EGT after letting off the throttle.

Ryan