Secondary air filter out update

I have a 2009 access cab 4x4 4cyl. I have around 12,000 miles on my truck. I decided to take my secondary air filter out last week and would recommend that anyone who has the 4cyl take theirs out too.

I drive 68 miles each way to work. That makes for 136 miles round trip. This is all highway miles ranging from 45-75mph. I make this trip 3-4 times a week depending if it is my short week or long week. I tell all of this because I get a really good comparison because my driving habits are the same which makes it easy to see the difference in mpg.

Before I took it out I was getting 21-22 mpg every fill up. After I took it out i got 24.56 mpg on the first fill up. I will keep you posted if it goes up or down with more fill ups. As far as performance goes I haven't really noticed a difference but I haven't pulled my boat yet. I have a 20ft flats boat that I pull and will keep you posted it I notice a difference after I pull it.

As a side note just thought I would let those know that haven't done this yet that you do not have to drill anything to get this filter out. I simply took a small flathead screwdriver and popped the top of the posts off that hold the filter in. It took about 10 minutes to get the top of the aribox off, take the filter out and reinstall the top of the air box. Since I did not drill I can still put the filter back in if I need to.

I will be ordering the pro dry air filter this week and will let yall know if I seen any increase in mpg after I install it.

Happy wheeling Yall!

 

Danial:
First welcome to TW.

I am also interested in gaining a few MPG. By taking out the secondary filter do you think we run the risk of higher silicates making it into the oil?

BTW I just turned 2K on my 09 AC 2WD.

 

My 08 has just over 12,000 mi. too. Took my 2ndary off last March or so, but I cant determine if it has any power or mpg change. With synthetics and the 2ndary removed, I do notice it is less sensitive to clutch release at a red lights. Current mpg @60mph (thought it was 65,but speedo error..) is 26 mpg.Might get me a tonneau soon, I'm micro managing them trying to decide.

 

Nah, none of the earlier model trucks had a secondary air filter and if you do a cai it eliminates the secondary air filter also. From what I understand all this filter does is keep gasoline vapors from entering the air after you shut the truck off. It is completely made of charcoal and is pretty thick. I tried to blow some air through it after I took it out and it is definitely very restrictive.

 

Yeah I noticed that when my speedo says 65mph my gps bounces between 60 and 61mph. I don't know which one to believe

 

Everything is stock right now with the suspension and tires and rims so I guess toyota made the speedo a little off so when you think you are going 5mph over you are really doing the speed limit

 

Yup, my odometer was ok, the speedo looks to be around 2 off at 30, 5 off at 65 mph (as read off the speedo).

ARGH! Chris is baiting me into a threadjack!