Air intake/airbox maintenance

Hello, so today for the first time after buying my truck I decided to clean the MAF and hit the air filter against the ground to get rid of some dust from shredding the trails. My concern is there was a lot of dust and inside the air box and in the filter. Can any point me to a thread or give me some guidance on how to clean the secondary air intake screen or maybe a better alternative to the oem intake filter because I off-road in a dusty and dry area.

 

The air filter seal looks kind of warped.. Was it installed correctly? Even the most minute of gaps in the seal within the air filter can allow alot of dust to get in. My engine bay is dirty as snot but my intake is crystal clean. I would clean it all out, replace the air filter and ensure it seats correctly. If the problem persists, i would look to see if the airbox itself is not installed correctly/is damaged or warped.

 

Pull the entire assembly and just wash it out with water. Let it dry out in the sun once the water coming out of it looks clean. Let it dry for the day and if the secondary filter is still damp then it is what it is, just reinstall and run. Nothing will happen and the incoming air from the intake charge will dry it naturally.

There is no better filtration than the stock paper filter. The only drawback is that it won't flow as good as a cotton gauze filter like the AEM and AFe filters do, but that literally means nothing until you are pushing the power limits of the filter setup like supercharging. Replace it as needed and move on with life.

As for the MAF sensor, a good shot of carb cleaner will clean out those sensors right out and you should be good to go all around.

Hope this helps.

 

well I am not sure I got the car about 6k miles ago. I’m getting a new filter tomorrow morning before my trip to Zion

 

thank you that helps a lot. Would a snorkel intake help ?
Also I did clean the sensor with MAF cleaner

 

You have your fender liners on still, particularly the passenger side? That’s a shitload of dust lol

 

My engine bay looks like that after my trips to the ocotillo desert but the filter doesn't get that dirty. I'd check ur seal.

 

yes I do

 

so I just noticed I have a crack in the air intake / filter box thing that connect to the air box. Stupid stealership must have broke it

 

That crack isn't that bad and could be repaired with a soldering iron. What does the rest of the intake look like further up? If the tube is dirt then I would start looking in wheel well for a missing panels or poor fitting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRCMIDILfEI

 

Warning-Soapbox statement: More evidence that a person should do a through inspection of their "new to them" vehicle after bringing it home. There is no way a properly installed filter is going to let that much dust in in only 6K miles. It is also evidence that as you use a vehicle in "unusual" or "severe" conditions, you should adjust your maintenance schedule. Stepping down from the soapbox now.

OP, in addition to the plastic welding above, you can likely take some silicone or RTV and fix that crack. While I've had my AFE dry filter in for the last almost 4 years years, I used to have good luck finding OEM filters for cheap on Amazon or Ebay.

 

My filter box has a big chunk missing on the top edge near the same spot. It's not a sealing point so I've left it...for years now. That filter isn't warped, the outer rubber piece can come off. I have applied grease to the inside and outside of the seal before installing. This helps seal it and keep the dust out. Technically speaking we could replace our filters every off-road trip. Cabin air filter too. My CAF is usually plugged after a good run.

 

Not related to the filter, but you can just pop that engine cover off the back hinge once you have the front two nuts off, the rear of it comes off with no further fuss. You don't have to use a tire iron to prop it up.

 

A snorkel MAY alleviate some of those issues OP. The obvious solution to this issue is to stop driving in dusty conditions.

In the obvious event that you can't do that, get a snorkel and accept the amount of excess maintenance you will have to perform on your intake system. It is what it is bud.

 

You need to run a diesel filter. I know the Ford 6.0L diesel filter will hold 3lbs of dust before needing replacement.

The Ford filter is made by Donaldson.

https://www.donaldson.com/content/d...0027-ENG/Air-Intake-Systems-Product-Guide.pdf

 

Hey guys so I was on a trail when my check engine light came on my truck loss complete power and could only drive going 8mph so i scan my truck and it was my Throttlebody was very dirty so I clean it got back on the road and when I got home i decided to take the air box and clean it right but when I remove the air box from the throttlebody I heard something break and it turns out that it was a small vacuum hose on the back of the air box so I called the dealer for that part and there saying that they go for $800 can I just drill this and stick in the vacuum hose or what should I do