Thread: Aircleaner mod for turbo

Originally Posted by yt110

Did you enlarge the hole that was the drain hole?Mine only had about 1" square hole

Yes, you need to enlarge the hole using a die grinder, sawzall, or similar, and make the transition as smooth as possible.


I did mine much the same as Offender90, except I brazed the cover plate on.

When you buy a new element you can get one with the pre cleaner on the other way.

Originally Posted by yt110

Did you enlarge the hole that was the drain hole?Mine only had about 1" square hole

Yes, I drilled it out with a 2.5" holesaw from memory and finished off with a Dremel so that its flush with the inlet tube. You can kind of see it (if you're looking for it that is) in the "Filter shroud in housing" photo.

Originally Posted by rar110

My filter canister was modified by rotating the inlet further around the barrel but at the same end. This was to ensure the inlet hit the plastic cover on the filter. I don't know if this is the same setup as the 6x6 version. Maybe the 6x6 used a different filter.

That's a great point, for those contemplating a turbo conversion this confused me a bit, so I thought I'd explain...

On a N/A engine, the filtered air outlet is on the intake side of the engine. When turbocharged, the filtered air outlet needs to be on the exhaust side (i.e. it needs to plumb up to the turbocharger, which is on the exhaust side). In order to achieve this, the air cleaner must be flipped by 180 degrees so that the filtered air outlet points to the passenger side. When flipped, the filter intake is also on the engine exhaust side (which is OK if you don't already have a snorkel). When flipped, the water drain outlet points horizontally (to the front of the engine bay) & has to be repositioned (rotated by approximately 90 degrees) so that it points downwards again.

If you already have a snorkel installed on the driver's side wing (or are a purist and don't want your fresh air temperature to marginally increase by routing it through the hot side of the engine ) you can drill out the drain and use it as the intake. This way the air is still drawn from the same (intake) side of the engine. If you use the drain as the intake, you'll have to modify the air filter by relocating the plastic shroud on the other end of the filter... hopefully that makes sense.

Cheers

Bojan

Originally Posted by rar110

...

IMHO the water drain with the duck bill attachment doesn't work that well. My duck bill attachment falls apart very quickly. A lot of engine noise comes from this opening even with the turbo. Another option is to put a tap type arrangement at a low point in the canister or the inlet hose.

Water should be removed at the snorkel head, well before the air filter.

What you are calling a water drain, is actually for expelling dust that is pre-cleaned from the air before the filter element.

The inlet air is caused to rotate by the vanes on the outside of the element. The cyclonic motion that this creates, causes the dust particles (being heavier) to go to the outside of the casing, while the air proceeds to bend and pass through the filter element.

Gravity causes the pre-cleaned dust particles to accumulate in the low part and the pressure opens the duck bill so the dust is ejected. If you are going slow during a water crossing, the pressure is supposed to not be high enough to open the duck bill and allow water to enter.

If the duck bill is blocked off, or is prevented from opening, you will have to manually remove the dust from the casing. This will be quite often if conditions are dusty.

If the duck bill is damaged and not closing at low pressure it can allow water to enter.

John,
in your opinion is it worth while having this dust expelling opening? Particularly if:

• a snorkel will reduce dust intake (espec with pre-cleaner);
• the opening will contribute to cabin noise;
• water can get in the opening if the duck bill becomes perished like mine.

I had intended on covering this opening with rivets and plate. thanks. Col I hope you don't mind me hijacking this thread a bit.

Originally Posted by rar110

John,
in your opinion is it worth while having this dust expelling opening? Particularly if:

• a snorkel will reduce dust intake (espec with pre-cleaner);
• the opening will contribute to cabin noise;
• water can get in the opening if the duck bill becomes perished like mine.

I had intended on covering this opening with rivets and plate. thanks. Col I hope you don't mind me hijacking this thread a bit.

IMHO, if you have a snorkel with a cyclonic pre-cleaner head (N.B. Permanently fitted), then you can seal up the duck bill (and even remove the plastic sleeve - aka integral pre-cleaner).

A ram type head won't reduce the large particles getting to the filter at all though.

NB - I would only do the above if you permanently ran a cyclonic pre-cleaner.

Originally Posted by rar110

John,
in your opinion is it worth while having this dust expelling opening? Particularly if:

• a snorkel will reduce dust intake (espec with pre-cleaner);
• the opening will contribute to cabin noise;
• water can get in the opening if the duck bill becomes perished like mine.

I had intended on covering this opening with rivets and plate. thanks. Col I hope you don't mind me hijacking this thread a bit.

Peter,

IMHO, the opening would nave no impact on cabin noise. That said, I'd also prefer not to modify my housing, if I don't have to.

Cheers

Bojan

Further to what Ben said.

If water ingress is a frequent hazard, or the noise is hard to bear, you should run some trials with the duck bill removed and duct tape over the opening. Then regularly clean the accumulated dust manually and adjust the period as you get a better feel for how various dusty excursions affect it.

I don't know how difficult/easy it is to clean the housing on your vehicle and if it is simple enough for a morning vehicle check while touring.

Originally Posted by Offender90

Peter,

IMHO, the opening would nave no impact on cabin noise. That said, I'd also prefer not to modify my housing, if I don't have to.

Cheers

Bojan

Mate it did on mine. I sealed it up with cotton re-enforced tape.