Cold Air Intake Attempt

[Splash94]

First off, i decided to wrap my airbox, and all the hoses, in pipe insulation that i bought from the local hardware store. When i started to take off the intake, i noticed the "ram air" hose from behind the headlight has a pipe coming from it that connects to a little cover over the exhaust. In my attempt to get colder air into my engine, i'd like to get rid of this extra pipe. i have everything wrapped, and i'm debating on whether or not to take off that extra pipe. does anybody have any idea what it does or if it will hurt anything taking it off? i have a 94 ranger 4.0. pictures will be up soon for everybody to see. Thanks for any ideas or comments.

 

[safn1949]

Get the KKM intake here http://www.explorer4x4.com/reviews.html put on a nice turbo muffler and hang on,you will be amazed at the difference......if the engine is tuned and running well.

 

[little x]

The intake draws warm air from around the header until the engine has warmed up completely, then it closes a valve and only draws air from the front snorkel behind the headlight. I wouldn't remove it, your truck will take longer to warm up and you won't see any performance gains.

 

[Splash94]

The intake draws warm air from around the header until the engine has warmed up completely, then it closes a valve and only draws air from the front snorkel behind the headlight. I wouldn't remove it, your truck will take longer to warm up and you won't see any performance gains.

Thanks, i had no idea what it did. but that would make total sense. I think i'll leave it on there. with winter driving in MN, i'd like to let it warm up faster.

Safn1949, thats something i'd love to do, but i dont have the budget for it. There's quite a few more things on the needed list before i get to the wanted list and a real cold air intake. Any other cheap performance/mpg boosts?

 

[ericautopart]

A CAI will likely do nothing but make noise. It is POSSIBLY to see gains in MPG or HP but in my passed experience it's not likely. If K&N claims up to 7 HP gain, that means out of a possible 1,000,000 dyno runs they may have seen 7 HP once. Same goes for MPG. They do make noise though...

 

[safn1949]

A CAI will likely do nothing but make noise. It is POSSIBLY to see gains in MPG or HP but in my passed experience it's not likely. If K&N claims up to 7 HP gain, that means out of a possible 1,000,000 dyno runs they may have seen 7 HP once. Same goes for MPG. They do make noise though...

It made a major difference in the way my 94 runs,mind you as I said you have to get rid of the stock restrictive muffler also but the ex runs much better.

 

[Splash94]

Well if i did the real deal, i'd definately have to buy a muffler along with it. but what i was wondering was if the high flow cats were worth spending the money on? do they really work better with a performance muffler?

 

[safn1949]

Dude,you are right up the road from me,I'm in Mankato.I have the stock cats on mine,these are not super powerful engines to begin with and I personally wouldn't spend the big bucks for new cats unless mine were hosed.

 

[Anime]

If you want a performance bump on a budget, you can just pop in a high-flow replacement air filter in the factory box. You can also "swiss cheese" the lower part of the air box for more air flow, or simply cut out a small part of the fender side. You can also swap out the factory muffler for a $20-30 Thrush Turbo at the parts store, which makes a big difference as well.

You COULD also get a cheap MAF adapter and a cheap cone filter, but in my experience these don't perform as well as their quality counterparts and it's better to save up for the real deal.

Likewise, you could keep the current exhaust and save up for a Dynomax Super Turbo catback kit. They sometimes have a very nice rebate deal and go on sale at the same time, making it a VERY inexpensive DIY upgrade.

The other best cheap performance boost is regular maintenace items. Good Motorcraft spark plugs, good spark plug wires, a clean MAF, clean TB, properly tensioned throttle cable, proper tire pressure, good coolant, oil changes, etc. etc. A well cared for 4.0L, even nearly bone stock, is WAY better than a poorly maintained engine with a ton of performance parts.


As for the CAI/muffler upgrade, it DOES make a difference. A HUGE difference. Performance with a K&N in the factory box and a stock replacement exhaust was ok, but with the KKM and Dynomax Super Turbo catback, it's neck-snapping performance.
It DOES make more noise as well, but that's a byproduct of higher intake and exhaust air flow. The noise isn't objectionable, either, it has a nice throaty performance sound, and has a nice mean roar at higher RPMs.

 

[Splash94]

well i mean, i just got the ranger so i didnt know what to do first. its all stock and i figured i'd start with the exhaust and a k&n replacement filter. it has 140xxx on it and when i step on it, the valves clatter really loud. so thats pretty much first on the list to fix, then performance parts. anybody know how to fix the clatter?

 

[safn1949]

Are you sure it's valves and not pinging,that can make a hell of a racket.

 

[Splash94]

well it runs nice at idle, and mild acceleration. but when i give it enough gas, about half pedal or more, it starts to make really loud clatter. i've been told from a few friends and my father that the 4.0 OHV is notorious for valve noise, and often problems with the valves. so that would be my first guess.

 

[RedneckRambo]

well it runs nice at idle, and mild acceleration. but when i give it enough gas, about half pedal or more, it starts to make really loud clatter. i've been told from a few friends and my father that the 4.0 OHV is notorious for valve noise, and often problems with the valves. so that would be my first guess.

my 4L would do that too. i switched from 85 octane to 87 octane gasohol and no more noise. it also burns a lot better which gave me more power

 

[Anime]

If it's got the valve clatter at 140,000, it might just be the lower intake gasket if you're lucky. You can try tightening up the fasteners on the intake manifolds and see if there's any difference.

If not, it's probably the worn rockers and pushrods. The valves don't tend to have any issues, but the lifters can go bad as well, but that might just be from the wear on the rockers, which in turn causes the pushrods to wear and then some lifters go.

An easy solution is replacing the rocker shaft assemblies, along with the pushrods, on both sides, before any other problems occur as a result.

 

[Splash94]

How hard is it to replace the rocker arm assemblies? I have the time (and the patience) to do it. And what about price for parts?