mstep3

This weekend when I changed my oil I noticed that I had some black residue around the inside lip of the turbo....wasn't much but I'm pretty sure it's not really good to see any residue or dirt in there.....just tried to wipe it good with a clean rag....

opened up my air filter box & realized that the same black residue was around the edges on the air filter....just running a regular Fleetguard.....I've never really noticed this happening before, but I'm guessing that the factory air box is not making a good seal anymore around the edges of the air filter.....

You guys that are running the BHAF....Have you noticed that these work much better than the seal that the factory air boxes make? I'm thinking of changing over after seeing this.....

SIXSLUG

I experienced the same thing come to think of it. I had a black residue on the inner flange of the turbo inlet that I thought was oil escaping the bearing, but it should have been sucked into the turbo!

I have had a BHAF on it since 07 and since I pull it off the turbo to change the oil I haven't seen the residue since.

You may be correct that the ultra fines are getting around the filter, especially at full draw when accelerating.

torquefan

I've kept a bit of an eye on mine, and never had a reason to doubt the seal on my airbox. If you are worried about yours, filling the gap with a bit of grease before you put the lid on may help to fill the little gaps. I've done that many times with other people's K&Ns because of their flimsy seal.

mstep3

thanks. that's what i was afraid of at first too & then I realized it was just dirt. The BHAF seems like a better setup to me as far as filtration....i think i may give it a try too....

rebal

the factory filter box is junk I have seen dirt sucking past a lot of them so in gos BHAFs

infidel

I've noticed this problem 16 years ago and have just run a small bead of silicone grease around the clean side filter seal before installing.
Problem solved.

Most of the aftermarket drop in filter manufacturers recommend doing this but Dodge must have forgot...

justme-

Infidel has it - you are supposed to put a silicone bead to seal the filter to the air box - seen it documented lots of places but now that I want to post it I can;t find it...

K&N and other oiled filters will loose the oil in the airflow in time leaving a coating on the impeller too.

Before switching from the stock box to a BHAF read the TDR articles on Gino's about air boxes and flow.

DIESELWRKS

IMO do not use grease, your introducing more chances for dirt to hit the grease and still pull in dirt with grease get a bhaf or a aftermarket filter... also the bhaf you can get the filter sock for the bhaf

SIXSLUG

After installing my BHAF I drilled a hole i the top and put the filterminder in. Its been in there going on four years now and still hasn't moved the filter minder.

There is a template for a sweet heatshield on here somewhere. I made mine out of aluminum and it fit pretty well with a few tweaks.

blackimpala

OEM filter vs BHAF.

http://www.dieselpowermag.com/tech/g...ers/index.html

Floyd

justme-

better reads http://www.genosgarage.com/GenosGara...irCleaners.pdf
http://www.genosgarage.com/GenosGara...R59_AirBox.pdf

"From the above tests we can conclude:
1) Removing the air snorkel between the air box and fender
or using an open conical type filter resulted in lower power
numbers because hot under hood air was allowed to enter the
intake. This is true whether the hood was open or closed.
2) The engine made more horsepower with hotter under hood
temperature and higher EGT. Hotter exhaust gases will drive
the turbocharger faster, allowing the turbo to make more
boost, resulting in increased engine power. Also, the Second
Generation truck’s ECM does not de-fuel the engine with a rise
in air intake temperature."

"The ideal air intake strikes a balance between reducing air flow
restriction and providing the coldest air to the engine. Part 1 showed
that improvements could be made to the OEM air box that would
equal the power gain from an aFe semi-opened box when tested
under ideal dyno conditions. Part 2 has shown that the OEM sealed
air box provides colder air to the engine for more power than a
semi-opened, heat-shield type air box.
The OEM air box is the best sealed air box available to date, but it
has one weakness: insufficient opening area in the side of the box
to feed the engine all the cold air it needs for maximum power and
lower EGT. The PSM cold air intake solves this shortcoming with a
flexible duct that picks up cold air from under the truck and delivers
this air to the OEM box. Further power improvement and lower EGT
can be made by the use of DPP silicone rubber Cool Hose intake
tube, which provides colder air to the turbocharger than any other
aftermarket intake tube tested. With the use of an aFe Pro-Guard
7 air filter, PSM calls this air intake their “proven combination” and
guarantees this system will provide more cold air to the engine than
any other air intake."


When you service the air filter you change the sealing grease- if it attracts dust/dirt said dirt is not getting by the filter....

I have had both the oem paper and K&N drop in in for years and have NEVER seen a filter minder move even when the OEM paper looked caked solid. Mind you I'm basically stock

SIXSLUG

Mine Filter minder seemed to work before I put it in the BHAF, plus it looks cool on there!

infidel

I've been told that the filter minder will only work accurately on the stock box, it was designed especially for it.
That doesn't make sense to me, I always figured it was just a simple vacuum gauge.

Here's a graph of the study justme posted.
Top red line is a shielded BHAF, other lines are a stock box with coolest intake temps coming from a stock box drawing it's air from a large hole cut in the firewall.
Instructions for this popular and cheap mod here> http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/ge...ck-airbox.html

supr

The problem with an air intake that sucks air from under the truck is high water. The stock location picks up the air through the top of the fender, a good 4' or so off the gound.
I chuckled one time when a BMW lost its motor in one of our Houston floods because its air intake was low to the ground in the front. Great for racing, not so good if you have to cross any water.
I have no issue with the stock box. I read somewhere that it is good for 400-500 HP.

justme-

True, if you ford rivers a low intake is a bad thing - I've been wondering how to set up a working scoop for ram air in the hood...

Point of this really is not only do you need to increase airflow for performance but you need to increase air density which means low intake air temps- the BHAF only increases air flow and decreases power from the relating increase in air temp - making your after cooler work harder. The guys who have BHAF in their comp trucks would get increased benefits on the dyno with a better airbox setup.

I read somewhere a long time ago that the filter minder would work on any filter when installed appropriatly- the thing is the oem filter and box has so much air flow unless you approach max flow (500 HP) the box/filter supplies it - stock trucks don;t tax the filter until it's WELL past when we would normally replace it.
The BHAF is the same to the extreme - filter minder only shows filter restriction - it is just a vacuum gage essentially as Infidel said.

It's funny how we spend thousands on upgrades on these trucks we "swear" will make a difference even when they don't and argue about upgrades that have to make a difference by engineering and physics and so many swear they have no effect.

The great thing is these engines are so well designed they will put out enormous power even with lots of inefficiencies and restrictions in the system - which lets us even have those situations.
Can you all imagine if Chrysler had been smart enough to put a transmission in these trucks stock back in 95/96 that could actually handle the power these engines made - they would have out powered and outsold everything!