Worried about intake..

by **mason10198** » Thu Oct 01, 2015 12:48 pm

I'm a little worried about my engine air intake. I pulled the filter the other day while installing my lift and found that it was almost completely clogged with mud. I ran over to auto zone and grabbed a new one, popped it in, and it INSTANTLY boosted my HP, torque, everything. I could feel and hear what seemed to be almost 50HP difference. I popped the hood and took the intake apart again just to check it out, and realized there were some dried muddy water spots on the inside of the intake tube. Now I'm worried I'm going to end up sucking in water. I've never gone through anything SUPER deep before, but there is a mountain trail I drive regularly that has some water holes that come up to the front grille if you hit them too hard. Do I need to do something about this? Aftermarket intake system or anything? How concerned should I be... :oops:

by **NC_IslandRunner** » Thu Oct 01, 2015 5:51 pm

Do you have skids, they may block some mud. I've been through shitloads of mud of all varieties and never had it in the airbox. I think Donnie had it happen before but he went through some deep mud and fast.

by **mason10198** » Thu Oct 01, 2015 7:56 pm

NC_IslandRunner wrote:Do you have skids, they may block some mud. I've been through shitloads of mud of all varieties and never had it in the airbox. I think Donnie had it happen before but he went through some deep mud and fast.

I do have skids but they won't help when water is coming in from the grille of the vehicle

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MY Youtube Channel · by **TBYODA** » Thu Oct 01, 2015 8:18 pm

Do you have the little tube in the lower right of the box still installed.
You could suck water/mud in that way. Yes you should be concerned about getting water in the motor because you could Hydrolock your motor. Take it easy through the water.

by **NC_IslandRunner** » Thu Oct 01, 2015 8:38 pm

If it's coming in through the grill you are driving to fast through it. Guy I worked with hydrolocked his Ranger in a puddle of water less than 1ft deep.

by **HARDTRAILZ** » Fri Oct 02, 2015 12:14 am

Get a snorkel.

You can see in my green filter thread how I packed it full of mud but none came through. A good filter like it would be a positive as well.

by **tarsh** » Thu Jun 02, 2016 10:06 pm

You could always be like me... But that tends to get you in Poked at lol jk jk look at my snorkel thread. There's always another alternative, you just can't be scared to try something.

by **mason10198** » Thu Jun 02, 2016 10:27 pm

tarsh wrote:You could always be like me... But that tends to get you in Poked at lol jk jk look at my snorkel thread. There's always another alternative, you just can't be scared to try something.

Yeah, I've looked at that thread a few times. Super nice build you did by the way!! I personally just can't stand the look of snorkels.. especially on a TB. I've seen several different builds and I haven't seen one that appeals to me at all. Like Jason ank Kyle, I've crossed plenty of places with not much of a problem. When I first posted this thread I was a total noob (not that I'm completely out of that stage yet...) and had no idea how to drive offroad. I'm pretty sure I had just gone crazy at the mud park and flew into a hole without looking and got some in there. But now my truck is 8 inches taller than she was back then, and got armor all over the bottom. I took a peek at my throttle body a couple weeks ago and it was perfectly clean still from when I cleaned it probably 6 months ago, and I've gone through plenty of crossings since then, so I'm not near as worried as I once was.

by **TBNewbie** » Sun Jun 05, 2016 10:04 am

I took a stock air box from a 2006 cobalt sssc and modded it to fit and now I have a under hood snorkel. puts your air intake about as high as it can be under the hood.

by **PROSPHOTO** » Sun Jun 05, 2016 11:42 am

do you have a pic installed...curious?

by **TBNewbie** » Mon Jun 06, 2016 9:05 pm

I cut the top of the intake off and used a 3 inch hole saw to make the stock airpipe fit inside and they both use the same filter so it works out great. If you have a body lift you could rotate it 90* and have it flat against the hood but as is it lays down nicely. I crossed 2 30 foot water holes end to end with water over my windshield wipers and the only thing that hydro locked was my underwear.

by **Jrgunn5150** » Tue Jun 07, 2016 12:56 am

That probably would have saved my engine.

The downside is that is going to draw hot air from off the engine, but I doubt it makes a huge difference.

by **v7guy** » Tue Jun 07, 2016 1:57 am

That's a pretty nifty idea, I like it. It's definitely pulling in hot underhood air, but it's better than pulling in water! lol

If you snaked it around to the drivers side you could probably help temps a bit since it's not going to be sitting above the exhaust manifold. But I don't know how much of a difference it would actually be in the real world.

Concerning my previous water crossing comments, Guys like Kyle, Matt (regulator, there's so many Matt's here), Rory, JamesD, Caleb etc all wheel a good bit more than I do and have been in a lot more situations with water than I have and they haven't found it necessary for a snorkel... or at least haven't had issues, So it may simply be how you're approaching the crossing and you just need to change your tactics.

Doesn't sound like you've done anything bad for the motor yet, so that's a positive and finding a different approach before you do damage is a plus too!

by **bartonmd** » Tue Jun 07, 2016 2:19 pm

There's enough water splashing around in side the engine compartment, that I'd be more concerned about splashed water going down hill into that airbox (that looks like it holds water) than the level getting high enough to fill the stock airbox. That only gains you like 2" in stagnant water height.

Mike

by **v7guy** » Tue Jun 07, 2016 5:07 pm

You just glue some plexi on top of a hole you cut in it and stick some goldfish in there Mike! They even stay warm in the winter! underhood relaxation!

Hadn't considered that actually, good point.

by **Jrgunn5150** » Tue Jun 07, 2016 5:41 pm

All I know is, if you put the driver's headlight under water, that's about all it takes lol.

by **HARDTRAILZ** » Tue Jun 07, 2016 5:50 pm

Not if you use the wave action to keep a clear pocket

by **Jrgunn5150** » Tue Jun 07, 2016 6:00 pm

That must be how I got through the first time lol.

by **bartonmd** » Tue Jun 07, 2016 10:28 pm

I've been up over the hood a couple times, just going the right speed...

by **TBNewbie** » Fri Jun 10, 2016 9:22 pm

Yes it does suck hot air from inside the engine compartment but I don't notice much difference in power or economy, there are small holes in the bottom so if any water did splash its way its way inside it will drain out. I wish I had pics or video but everyone was so shocked by how deep the water was and how high it was on my truck that no one took any but I swear the water was over the wipers over the mirrors, I could see the hood under water like it was in a fish tank and I thought I was going to sink it but it made it through.

Offroad Trailblazers and Envoys