Snow Plugged Air Filter Solution?

It doesn't happen often, but sometimes you just get caught in drifting or powdery conditions.

On two occasions now I have had to pull my air filter after barely getting home to thaw the ices from it then dry it.

Any solutions other than a snorkel? Really don't want one. A CAI seems like it would not help as the snow is typically blowing up over the vehicle when this happened and would get sucked in there just as easily.

 

Good question. I just turn my snorkel head backwards, but I always wondered what others do. You could always carry another filter. I still have the stock filter and I carry an extra even with the snorkel.

I had some issues with my shocks freezing up two years ago. Parked it for a minute after romping and when I drove off I thought I blew the coil-overs out. Thank got it was only them being frozen solid and nothing a power washer couldn't handle. If I was in the middle of know where that could of gotten interesting trying to melt them.

 

I wish i had this problem... ^^^

wait, wut? were you in the south pole?

 

Southern New Jersey

Whenever we get it I play in it.

 

I doubt it was frozen shocks then.

 

+1 not in NJ....
even in the deepest VT winters cold soaking into the negative teens this wont happen.

 

I know what ice wrapped around coils looks like

Its from flying through powder at speed then stopping. Snow builds up quick.

 

When I had the V6 in the winter I'd pull the tube from the airbox to the fender. Just two bolts and the screw clamp. I did it primarily for fuel mileage reasons because it kept the IAT above freezing. If I had an open grill, it was usually 20-30F above ambient after the motor warmed up while going down the road; with a full block, more like 40-50F. If I had to idle for a while it might get 100F over ambient but in winter air that's no problem.

It might keep things from icing up but I never had that problem either way.

 

So it wasn't frozen shocks.

 

They were blocks of ice.

If your asking were the internals frozen that's doubtful. They are sluggish until they warm up in cold weather but never seized.

 

This looks familiar

 

Interesting. Never heard of that.

 

I've never had snow in my intake on a stock intake. I don't see how pulling air from the wheel well you could get snow up the intake tube unless you cut the plastic fender well. Snow coming up over the hood shouldn't get into the intake unless you've modified something.

 

This is probably the solution, but I just hate wrenching even a little bit when the conditions are right for my problem to occur. I'm not in the states now, but when I get there I will see if I can install some sort of quick fitting that could even be operated with gloves on.

Description of one of the occasions:

I wish I had a video of it, but a plow had made a single 10'pass through drifts up to 5 feet about 3-4 hours earlier and the wind was blowing 20-30 across filling it back up. I was driving 25-35 just to keep from getting stuck in the bit that was drifting back in. At one point there was so much snow going over the taco that I could see anything for 5-10 seconds and just had to guess from that last visual reference I had as to where I was on the road. One slip and into those big drifts on the side and it would have been sit in the car and wait until morning time to even start shoveling.

Had a mate with me who was in serious driving mode as well at this point, but his girlfriend was screaming at him "I knew we shouldn't have come"! If she had been better prepared for the weather, her walking back the 30 miles to town and civilization would have been more seriously considered.

Thanks for the advice.

 

Trust me, on three occasions in a 1 month period last January. Fender well not cut. The light fluffy stuff gets in there somehow.

The first time I barely made it home due to the power loss and drifts I was having a hard time getting through. Next morning I checked the filter and the ice ball in the center was baseball size with almost the entire rest of the filter full of ice to the tops of the ridges.

I assume it comes up through the well intake location.

 

Perhaps some sort of small, portable electric heater, like a camping heater, that runs off a cig lighter plug?Find one that would fit in/around the air filter housing. Just thinking off the top of my head. It has been many years since I had to worry about driving in the powder.

 

That's crazy. How long is this drive your talking about.

 

Town to my cabin is 20 miles with the last 25 only having 3 ranch houses with 2 miles of the road.

Driveway is a mile long also so I understand the family and friends that visit when I am working overseas tend to end up walking a fair bit of the time as the driveway doesnt get plowed unless I am home or a nearby rancher is feeling generous.

Attached is a photo of a light dusting and another with the missus getting lesson from the deck @ 300m target (just to show the contours of the area which are not reflected in the first shot)

Help is not readily available.

 

dude that place is awesome

 

X2

OP, never had this issue myself, that's pretty crazy, I would never think of this happening. I remember asking a guy about his snorkel sucking in snow, but never stock. Where I am, we pretty much only get wet snow, no powder. Very rare that we do, if we do though, I'll have to check things out after a drive in it.