does any one have advice weather to do the AIH delete. I thinking of doing so, but, I live in Alaska and we have had the wickedest cold weather so far this year,,,,,,,,,,,does that heat plug make that much of a difference in warming up the truck. by the way, the past month or so its been below zero at night, currently its -2 at 2:00.

as i read, the AIH turns on below 32 deg.

 

I believe the AIH Delete is better suited to us down here in the sun. I would not do it.

 

I thought it was just to prevent white smoke while in high idle??? I didn't think it 'helped' the engine warm up

 

Intake air heater starting aid system operation.

The system is activated by the PCM when the ambient air temperature is below 0°C (32°F), the engine oil temperature is below 55°C (131°F) and the battery voltage is above 11.7 volts.

The intake air heater will stay on for 30 minutes as long as the engine is idling and the above conditions are met.

The intake air heating system will only activate once per "key on event". If the heater is activated and the vehicle is driven, the heater will not activate if the vehicle is taken back to idle.

The intake air is heated by using a heating element mounted into the compressor manifold.

The intake air heater relay switch, located next to the glow plug relay switch, supplies power to the intake air heater element.

 

I removed my AIH somewhere around a year ago. It get's well below freezing here in MO, down to the teens and single digits during the winter. I did not notice any difference in the way the truck runs or drives since the AIH was removed, and I had it for 2 winters before I removed the AIH. I don't think it makes that much difference, if any to have it gone. The strict parameters that have to be met for it to run don't happen often. Basically, it only runs for a bit when you first start it and leave it idling. I think you'll be fine to remove it.

 

JT, he lives in Alaska. If he doesn't need it, WTH is it even there for? I wouldn't recommend removing it if I were him.

 

yellermax, as i read it, thats what id does........once all the parameters are met,
it just helps keep white smoke down due to the extremely cold combustion.
can any one else shed a little more light than that
thanks for the research amillar, i found the same type of info.
and so thats 2 to 1 against it.

 

Well, I certianly wasn't paying attention to where he lives. But, IMO, it's only there for emissions purposes, to prevent the short bit of unburned diesel that may come out during the first few minutes of a cold start. Only for emissions....but that's just my opinion.

I have yet to hear of anyone who has removed it causing running problems. Just think about the parameters that have to be in place for it to run - oil temp has to be so low, outside temp has to be so low, truck has to be idling. Once you start to drive, it shuts off until the next start, provided the oil hasn't come up to temp. Seems to me that it would rarely actually be turned on, and even then only for a few minutes.

bigtorque, if you wanted to see if it would affect the way the truck runs with it not turning on, you could simply disconnect the big red wire from the AIH relay to just unhook it. That would tell you if there were any cold running problems associated with not having a functioning AIH before you actually remove it.

 

JT does have a good point. It is a simple R&R and if it doesn't work, put it back in.

I just don't know if it is all emissions related. You have to admit, warmer air in the combustion chamber when it is really cold will assist combustion. There is no spark plug, so warmer air will give a higher compression and combust more readily. A marginal compression engine will suffer even more in a cold environment. Think about this, when it's in the 70s, I just turn the key, no GPs required.

Your call. Costs nothing to check but Ford wastes no money where they don't have to. It may be emission related but I think it is there for when the block heater cannot be plugged in in extreme temps. Just look at the activation parameters Amiller posted.

 

I agree with JT. From what I have read and witnessed, it seems to only be to reduce white smoke. I've had mine out for 2 years with no problems, and it gets cold here too.

 

Take it off. Unless you are planning on idling for more than 20 minutes at a time and leaving your parking brake on this thing will never come on.

I use the plug to read boost on mine, and added our code "P0541" eliminator, as your pcm and OBDII will be looking for it once removed.

AIH Options

BTW: It was only available on 7.3L from 99.5-2003, none before or after.

 

At 40 below zero, I would have second thoughts as well. I never noticed a change in performance when I removed mine.

 

thanks all,,,,,,,,, im going to test it today, its currently 3 deg.
if all sounds the same, which i expect it will, its coming out and a boost plug is going in. now i can get a true boost reading.

thanks again