Performance improvement-remove intake muffler?

bluedog225 · 03-14-2010, 11:05 PM

Has anyone tried removing the intake muffler (I believe it is the part between the airbox and the front grill). I have read on other forums, dramatic, or at least significant improvement.

Any know anything about this? I'm not finding a lot about it but I always feel like I am missing lots of smaller group discussions when I use google.

Any other (don't laugh) easy performance mods for an e250 v8?

Thanks

Tom

carringb · 03-14-2010, 11:27 PM

Which V8? I use to have a '94 E350 5.8L. I got some pretty good power out of it.

bluedog225 · 03-15-2010, 05:37 AM

That's the one. Just looking to optimize.

bettyford · 03-15-2010, 07:19 AM

I have the same motor. I will ask my motor guy today.

Ron

bettyford · 03-15-2010, 11:51 AM

I spoke with my motor dude and he said, "nope" it will allow hot air from the motor to be sucked in and will make things worse. of course you can spend the money to get a whole new intake system that will help. He did say that the 5.8 had an issue with the timing chain streching which will throw the timing off. He said you can get a pully set up from napa that will help that of course you would have to pull the front of the motor off. Im putting an RV cam in mine qand am going to change the timing belt as well.
I hope that helped.

Ron

carringb · 03-15-2010, 12:16 PM

Ok...

Within the air intake duct, there may be a large restrictor cone present. This cone takes up most of the cross section, and is only for noise. You can remove the cone from the duct, and reinstall the duct.

Another improvement is the air cleaner housing. If you look at your filter, you will notice only half the filter is dirty. The duct the enters the filter box blocks half the filter. You can trim away the duct section that blocks the filter.

The next thing is exhaust. It think '95 got the high-flow cat from Ford... but the muffler is still restricive. A straight through muffler and a large single tailpipe will really help. I went with Magnaflow, and a 3" single mandrel bent exhaust pipe.

After doing the intake and exhaust, my van would easily out-pull the stock 460 vans.

I never had a but of trouble with the timing chain. Also, I would keep the Camshaft stock, unless you are able to find a shop that can re-program the ECU, or if you can find chip design for use with the particular cam you want. Using a different cam without changing the software is likely counterproductive. This is true on any engine with sequential fuel injection.

If you haven't replaced the fuel pump yet, you will eventually need too. Ford has an adapter harness so you can use the updated fuel pump from the '97-'03 vans.

Also, if you ever have any drivability problems, like running rich or the torque converter not locking, it's probably the Coolant Temp Sensor.

bettyford · 03-15-2010, 01:01 PM

Im going to look into all of that for sure. I dont want to do a cam i just need more power. Thanks so much for the great Ideas. mine is a 1993 and I need a shift kit that will fix my speedo and shifting points. Jet chip has one but it is on back order. I already got there power chip and I cant tell any differance.

Ron

floorguy_724 · 03-15-2010, 01:36 PM

Ya I would do a K&N intake and an exhaust system of some kind with 3" pipe after the muffler. I did this to my 95' 7.5l and it has helped out a lot. I now have 190k and everything is still going strong!

I plan on doing this to my 10' soon also.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Davelength · 03-17-2010, 08:47 PM

I just did some head work and added a performance cam, long tube headers and full mandrel 3" exhaust on my 1992 351 and it made a significant difference. I had the body off the chassis at the time, which certainly made the work much easier

Long tube headers will boost any other exhaust modifications, though it takes a bit of modification to the driver's side header to clear the driveshaft/u-joint. They will also need custom work to be attached to the rest of the exhaust. Shorty headers are better than the stock manifolds and allow you to use the stock (but restrictive) y-pipe, but do not give as much of a torque increase.

I added a TransGo shift kit which does make the shifts quicker and more firm. The instructions are crap, but the install is not that bad. When putting it back together, use a new filter and the transmission pan from a 4R100. It is a direct replacement for the E4OD pan but has a drain plug and uses the re-usable rubber gasket.

The PCM controls the shift points, so there is not much you can do about that. To re-program the speedo for different sized tires (which can have an affect on shift points), check out:
http://www.ford-trucks.com/article/i...ND_BRONCO.html

If you want any additional info, pictures or part numbers, just let me know.

Dave

Davelength · 03-17-2010, 09:06 PM

Hmm, I am not aware of an issue with the timing chain on the 351. I am pretty sure they have always used a double roller set, which I can't see ever stretching. Underdrive pulleys can be a bonus in some applications, but I would not recommend them for vehicles like these. They add power by decreasing the speed of the alternator and waterpump, which will also decrease output and effectiveness.

There really is no way to add a "chip" or reprogram the PCM for these engines, though the computer can adapt for mild modifications like I have described. Some performance cams are compatible, but if you get too radical you exceed the capabilities of the speed density fuel system and run into problems getting it to run properly. At that point you would need better flowing heads, convert to mas air flow, add a piggy-back tuner, etc. but that quickly gets complicated and expensive.

HTH,
Dave