DIY: Secondary Air Filter Removal

It really isn't that bad half the time. Problem is, you don't know when it will be bad. I get called at 1AM just after falling asleep, and that may be the only sleep I get for the next 24 hours.


...and now for getting back on subject...

Soul, did you get it all figured out?

 

l just woke up! My sister stole my dad's phone... so i couldn't sleep at all. I walk out there we a flat head/aluminum foil and now I just froze.. how do i remove the battery lol. I recall you need to remove it for 20 minutes for the computer to adjust to the environment. ( I'm afraid i'll shock the shit out of my self )

 

Here's a Picture. It's that orange wad of wire that freaks me out. We'll see if i figure it out =] i'll die trying!

 

Hey 007 Tacoma do you do any side work. I have an O7 Tacoma and have no mechanical skills what so ever it would be great to have some-one who knows Tacomas to work on mine or do the interesting modifications you've done. Of course I would gladly pay you.

 

I only remove the positive cause the negative is a bitch.. I hope that's alrite?

Okay so do i remove BOTH of the filter? i see two =[

 

The filter you are looking to remove is the secondary filter. It is the one that is rivited to the top of the air box. Should be six plastic rivits that you will have to drill out, again taking care to not drill too deep and making sure to clean all the plastic shavings out of the box when you are done. In your picture the one on the left.

The other filter, the one that was not rivited to the box, the bigger one, is your primary air filter. You put that back in the box when you put it all back together. WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT RUN THE TRUCK WITHOUT RE-INSTALLING THE PRIMARY FILTER.

As for the battery question, to re-set the ECU I believe that they say to pull the negative cable, and I am not sure if pulling the positive will have the same effect. I did not bother to disconnect the battery when I did mine as the ECU will "re-learn" by itself in time, and I hate having to re-program my radio stations.

 

Thank You Thank You Thank You!!

 

So from what I have read, the secondary filter is ONLY for emissions??? Does it play any role in actual intake air filtration? Would hate to take it out and have something happen to my engine.

 

I am fairly certain that is the case and that the secondary filter is for emissions only. Though like 007 says at the start of this thread neither he nor any of the others who have done this mod accept any responsibility for anything bad that may happen as a result of someone else doing it. That said there has never been a secondary charcoal based air filter in anything else I have ever owned, including my 2004 Tacoma with the 2.7L engine which I believe is relatively unchanged to the 2.7L in the Gen 2 Tacomas.

 

I just want to make an informed decision. I wouldn't blame anybody else if something happened anyway, cause in the end it was me who made the decision. But thanks for the info on the older Taco's, this mod is sounding more and more realistic.

 

Alright guys Thanks a bunch!I want recontribute to the community at least what I did. Both the positive and negative battery plug is out as of now. I'm give it a go in 20 minutes if I screw anything up!

This is what I did! I didn't have a drill so I have resort to old school thinking.

I took a screw driver and nail. and start hand drilling holes in those specific spots. about 1cm or 1.5 didn't want to go too deep.

Then took a ranch and pivot it around and then PULL gently and it should come up. I got in a rush thinking my dad was waking up and start yanking after 3! NOT A GOOD IDEA! I broke one of sides.. just the plastic part. Hence do em all individually.

Then I use my climmer(no idea what you call it) tool to break off those extra plastic resides that my nails left on the black container.

I hope this helps someone! Thanks a bunch 007Tacoma on the review! and Thanks maverick491 for being here during desperate time!

Picture 1 = Tool used
2 = Broken side
3 = climmer

 

Sounds like you have gotten it all straightend out. Good deal, glad to have helped. Oh, and "climmers" are called dykes (short for diagonal cutters) or wire cutters depending on what part of The States you are in.

 

I should tell you - I am not an engineer or mechanic. I am only an enthusiast that is will to try things on my own vehicle. Although I have many years troubleshooting issues on many different vehicles and a cumilative >500,000 miles on all my vehicles, I don't know everything about cars. I am constantly learning, and most of that is on my own.

I don't normally work on other peoples vehicles. It makes me liable for something that I have no official training on.

What all are you looking to do?

 

Was looking to take out filter and possibly doing the daylight running lights and of course a stereo system in the near future. I do understand that you just like to work on your own truck don't blame you there. Anyway thanks for the posts they are all intersting.

 

I removed the secondary filter and the MAF screen on my '05 Xrunner last night. Can't say I noticed any difference on the way to work this morning but I really wasn't able to give it a good test in rush hour traffic with the AC on. The procedure is similar and the drill bit technique would have worked, but I just cut off the "mushroomed over" plastic with a utility knife blade. When I was done I just had 6 little round plastic mushroom heads to dispose of; No curly plastic bits floating around. For the screen I just pulled straight out on each attachment point with a hooked pick. It came off almost effortlessly. There were just few little pieces of plastic to clean up.

 

Hey Dbat, Are you putting LED's in your daytime running lights or are you from the states and installing them? In Canada the vehicles come stock with 4157 nall daytime running light bulbs. I swaped them out for a pair of white LED's and found you will blow a fuse if installed wrong. I LED's have to be installed one way because they are a diode, but usually in reverse polarity they would never blow fuses. Found if you install these lights in proper polarity they will work fine. Then you have to replace the flasher to a solid state flasher. Or you can live with extra fast flashing.

 

Just for a little post filter removal milage update for the V6.

I just returned from a camping trip this past weekend. If you'll remember from my previous post my best towing mileage was 11.00 MPG with a mix of mostly highway but a little stop and go.

This past weekend's trip turned in 11.79 MPG which should have been almost all highway. So in and of itself the .79 MPG better would have been great, but this trip involved several traffic jams on I-76 and the PA turnpike on the way to the campground Friday afternoon that made the hour and a half trip a three hour trip. This trip was also up into the Pocono mountains, so involved a good deal of down shifting to climb the hills and such.

Long story short I went up a bit over 3/4 of a mile per gallon under less than ideal conditions. So I expect to hit 12 or 12.5 MPG towing on flat ground without traffic jams.

I'll post another update with solo mileage info and more towing info, but in the mean time, this mod does show solid improvement for the V6 engines so go ahead and rip them out.

Thanks again 007.

 

Some good ideas but I already jumped into a TRD CAI. With the TRD I noticed a 1-2mpg increased when not using LEAD FOOT attachment.