DIY: Secondary Air Filter Removal

How many years is the 4.0 engine the same? I have a VVT-I 2010 4.0. How many years are made identical?
There is not a hole lot out for the '10, but the '09 looks to be the same, true?

 

engines should be the same all the way from 05 to '10 they should not have changed

 

You say it works, I say it doesn't. Below is a chart of of 05 2.7 dyno'd with the factory air filter and then without a filter at all. So a K&N would be somewhere in between agree'd? As you can see there was no difference in power. red was without the filter and blue was with.

 

Just took out the 2nd filter. I got 415 on a tank of regular unleaded last week. Will post later. Filled up last night.

 

While it's not a direct comparison to what they are doing, I feel pretty confident the air filter is way more restrictive than that screen. So if NO air filter gave you nothing, I can't imagine removing the screen will do much for you.

 

did it work taking the secondary filter how do you take it off

 

I took the charcoal filter out and got absolutely zero change in power or gas mileage. Looking at the thing it is easy to see why...I could see through it and it was quite clear that it yielded no restriction to airflow whatsoever. I should have just left it in there. It would be great if something simple like that could fix the bad gas mileage problem but unfortunately that massivley porous charcoal filter presents no restriction to airflow at all. Fuhgeddaboutit...

 

well, i just went out in the parking lot at work and did this...easy enough and I have all the requisite tools in the box anyhow, only took a few minutes.

I am wondering though...do I need to disconnect the battery to reset the ECU? Does it matter which terminal I take off? 20 minutes should do the trick, right?

EDITED to add:

ALL I can say is...wow.

The wife and I both ended up spilling water all over ourselves trying to drink from the water bottles in traffic...its like driving a go-cart now compared to before. Its gonna take a few days to re-train myself how to keep off the throttle and I'll start seeing MPG improvement, but for now I'm playing like a 12 year old with his first enduro. I'll be lucky not to burn the tires off of it or get a ticket this weekend! Its night and day different. Almost like a different truck.

 

So living in CA is it a bad idea to do this mod?

 

I cut mine out this morning and I know everyone says it makes no diff, but I can feel a little better throttle response. I was planning to switch to a better CAI system so I did'nt feel I would be needing the thing any way. Placebo effect? its possible but I know this truck well and I am pleased to say it just feels more alive. Maybe they could make a machine that could tell me what I'm feeling (ha ha).

 

Whatever. Sounds like a fertile imagination. When I took the filters out of my trucks (both 2007 and 2009) v6, I could SEE THROUGH the filters. Literally. So if someone believes that a filter that is packed so loosely that the media can be seen through, presents a restriction to air flow, that is freekin ridiculous. And when removed I felt like an idiot as I drove because there was ZERO IMPROVEMENT in throttle response or fuel mileage or anything else. It was a waste of time to even go in there and do it.

 

well I guess that's that then. If you say it's true it must be. Or possibly at sea level it makes no difference. I live at 7500' so less O2 already, just a theory. Or possibly some people can't feel the little things like that, while some of us can. (If your ass or right foot is to fat). The difference is very slight so all I'm saying is there might be more variable's. Whatever, it seemed like a dumb part to have in there anyway.

 

just did the mod my check engine light turned on got upset about the light then i remembered to reset the truck so i reset it and it turned off. I notice more power and it sounds louder too i have a kNN filter and the elbow mod. happy with this mod

 

Just completed this MOD on my 05 V6 and I used a 1/4" wood chisel to knock off the plastic revet head.

 

agreed! This puts that to rest. I did it, noticed nothing.. this proves nothing happens. great post

 

Just did this on my 4 banger.

Took like 20min start to finish if that. Definitely has some more pickup, very happy with this mod overall. Can't wait to get the dynomax muffler on now.

Thanks OP

 

HI, great info here. But I was wondering, has anyone done this to a 2010 v-6. I may have just missed reading it. But I am very interested in this mod. Thanks

 

Hard to say if taking the charcoal out really helped. Did not notice any better gas mileage. I took the snorkel off that goes to the fender and put a 3 inch tube in place.
It really took the bottom end out of the power band. It gets better fuel mileage driving over 70 mph, which sucks.
I wish there was a good priced tuner, Uni Chip is pretty damn pricey if u ask me. I wish HP tuners would make a tuner.
A tuner would give you more options than a programmer.

What spark plugs are u guys running in your truck? I was thinking of using Denso Iridium w/ 4mm electrode