Custom Intake/Stock Intake??

[fedyfedz]

I bought a maf adapter to replace the stock air intake to a performance air filter but bought a 3 inch adapter instead of 4 inch and I had to fandangle it to stay on. This was great at first and it increased my mpg from 13.2 to 13.5 which is not that much but it was something. The intake fell of and the service engine soon light came on. I had to put back on the stock intake and get the code erased. Is this worthe the hassle to put a performance filter like k&n on the stock tubing with the adapter? I was thinking about buying the correct adapter but I'am curious if its worth uninstalling and reinstalling....

 

[CALDWELL]

Here's a fairly cheap mod that i did to my X...

take your factory box...

***** everything is done on the bottom half of the air box *****

1. remove the silencer tube from the box.

2. then drill holes with a large drill bit or w/e you have, on the front of the lower portion of the box like so...

* I ended up cutting the edges of the holes, and just having an open face for better free flow air...

3. I did drill holes on the fender side of box.

4. I drilled holes in the back of the box as well.

***** i did NOT cut the side of the box facing the engine, cause it acts so what of a heat shield *****

5. Put in a K&N Panel Filter.


This will def make your X sound meaner, and you will feel the little punch of power lol

Or you could just get the K&N Intake for Dyno Proven gains

 

[fedyfedz]

If you went through a big puddle wouldn't water get into the filter box? And you noticed a sound/power difference?

 

[CALDWELL]

sure if i went through a puddle that was 4 feet deep...

its really no different then then having an open cone filter in that situation, but fortunatley i dont drive through basically pools of water lol.


the ( Air Box Mod ) makes your truck sound much better " more aggressive ". and it makes your throttle response a little better. i noticed a solid 1 mpg gain with my V6.

then once your start to dabble into exhaust, and a tune... thats when you will start to notice your X really wake up

do you have any mods at all or are you completely stock ?

 

[fedyfedz]

I only have a few little things and the exhaust and airbox mod is next.

15% tints / blue leds in dome, courtesy mirror lights and license plate/ 20k hids / aftermarket billet grill / rain guards

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Administrator/Desktop/explorer/IMG_1140.jpg

let me know if you can see those pics as to i cant figure out how to add a picture lol

 

[FU MONSTER]

I did the same thing with my factory cone intake. after adding a magnaflow muffler i finally started to notice a difference. not too much mpg gain but a little more pep on the throttle response.cheap mod until i finally spend the big bucks on a k&n complete intake

 

[Hitchhikingmike]

Wow great advice on the filter box. I've been looking for cheap performance modifications to make to increase my fuel mileage, as I drive 500+ miles a week. I think I will go do this tonight.

 

[CALDWELL]

it still isnt dyno proven, but it does help a little bit with mpg...

 

[Got2bneo]

Danny you have the most ghetto mod i have ever seen. Props to ya! lol I thought you totalled your Ex...

 

[Hitchhikingmike]

just did it over my lunch break!lol took minutes. I noticed an immediate difference in sound. I recommend everyone do this. I drilled in the same spots you did. I then just ended taking a dremmel to those spots and just cutting a giant hole in that place. Much more of a deeper sound!

Didn't really notice that much of a performance difference though.

I will report back if I get any mpg advantage.

 

[Ronin8002]

I went with k&n drop in also. didn't drill....just took out the duct that goes to the headlight. haven't driven enough to track mileage yet.

 

[CALDWELL]

heres the thing your going to need to understand once its first completed...

your going to wanna have a heay foot to hear your X, once you get past that heavy foot stage, you should notice an mpg difference. i noticed 1 mpg gain.

 

[Hitchhikingmike]

I drive over 500 miles weekly, which is almost one full tank for me. The highest mileage I have ever achieved is 21mpg, never over that. Give me a week to run a full tank and track my mileage. If my mileage peaks over 21 then I would call this a success.

 

[Limited02]

I've done the same thing to my airbox about a year ago, still runinng the paper filter though Trying to decide how I want the end result to be, completely new setup or just drop a K&N in. I'm leaning towards custom

 

[Ronin8002]

did some driving this morning with my setup on some long uphill stretches of 495...usually in the past when driving in OD my truck would downshift to get up those hills, but today it stayed in OD all the way up. Stayed at about 1800 RPMs the whole time (going 55). My scanguage said I averaged 23mpg for the trip (about 11 miles)...not 100% sure but I think that is at least 1mpg higher than before I did the mod for this same route.

Another change I made when I did when I did the drop in filter was the mod in post #31 in this thread:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=191709&highlight=throttle+body+gasket&page=2

I used a 99 cent 4.6 crown vic throttle body gasket (part number is in page 1 of the thread) and re-used the stock throttle body gasket washers just like in post 31...easy mod and it works.

 

[Ronin8002]

Update

Did some driving in the 90 degree weather we had this weekend. I found that with my stock headlight intake duct removed, my intake air temps got up to 140 degrees at one point due to being in slow, in-town traffic.

Just to experiment I put the intake duct back on and drove around some more. The hottest my IATs got in traffic with that change was 115 degrees. Not sure how much 25 degrees impacts mileage or power, but it does show that the stock routing of the air results in cooler IATs than having the intake pull air from under the hood.

Once I was at highway speed, the IATs came down to near ambient on both setups, though with the stock intake duct the temps came back down faster.

 

[CALDWELL]

The same can be said for the full K&N Intake when i had my 03...

at a stop or slow driving, my IAT's were up also, but the filter is also out in the open, and with the airbox mod your opening up the filter to alot more air. when the filter is isolated by the factory air box, clearly temps will be lowered...

but either way, you noticed an increase in mileage which is always a positive lol

 

[Joe Dirt]

btw- you need to add your pics from a Photobucket account and post the img code here, or go Elite and store them on the server here...

 

[fedyfedz]

Im getting ready to do this mod today.. anyone have any tips for me to make my life easier or to get the best outcome?

 

[CALDWELL]

its really a straight forward thing to do...

i posted a thread ( 3rd Gen Air Box Mod ) i listed the steps i did to complete the mod...

or look at my post on the top of this thread...

hope it helps fella !