cold air intake modifications DIY

[fordsarefun]

Curious if anyone has done any DIY cold air intake modifications to their Ford E350, (my modification shown) similar to the K&N cold air kit? Hoping to get some fuel economy improvements. Any feed back on my modification would be greatly appreciated.

[Oogs]

See my post below. I added a K&N CAI a few years ago. I had to have the metal box modified to fit because of the rear AC lines that run across the top of the fan shroud. At the right RPM and load it'll drone like crazy but that doesn't happen often.

https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/fo...d.php?p=228370

[fordsarefun]

Oogs, did you notice any improvement in engine performance or fuel economy after the install?

[Oogs]

Fuel economy? Ha! We average 8.5 on the highway all day long as long as I keep it 65 or below. I could feel a little seat of the pants on hills but adding a 5 Star Tune last year made the most difference in driveability....not huge but better.

[86Scotty]

Save your money @fordsarefun. Just get a 5 star tune and call it done. CarringB can explain to you the reality of CAI's on the different motors but my experience is they do little. The best one I know of is AFE and I'm not sure you can get them anymore for E-series. I had one on my V10 motorhome. Did it help? No, but the tune helped greatly. The CAI just made my MAF more finicky.

[1der]

Yep, I cannot understand where any improvement is going to come from by changing the E Series intake geometry. The coldest and highest pressure location is going to be just behind the grill. The actual intake air being drawn in is from that location via the plastic housing that brings air into the intake manifold.

As stated, the 5 Star tune for the gassers and the Hydra for the 7.3 is the way to go for performance improvements. Fuel economy - air pressure, check for dragging brakes, air filter, oil changes, and sub-65 mph speeds.

[TheLetterJ]

If only those of us in California could actually buy a 5 star tune! I tried, they refunded my money. That triggered many more $$$ being spent on mechanical things like a John Wood valve body (along with a Mag-hytec pan and many gallons of Mobil 1 ATF), 5.13 gears (from 4.56), and quite a few headaches trying to get my speedometer correct (it's ~8% off instead of 25% previously) all in the name of better pulling power. The tuner could have handled the tranny shift schedule and speedo correction without the mess. I'd pay good money to actually gain some horsepower out of my 5.4, but without a proper tune, I can't even consider swapping heads/cams. I've heard many people say that even with a stock 5.4, adding a 5 star tune made it feel like the V10. I'd love to be able to start there.

Fordsarefun: I did similar with the airbox on my old Dodge 3500 with a 5.7 Hemi, only I cut out the bottom of the box (dirty side) so I could fit a shock tower for a 3" reservoir shock. In that instance, it was open to the wheel well, not the engine compartment, and I *swore* it made it peppier on the bottom end... it was definitely louder (not obnoxious) when under a heavy load. I'd have to agree with others on the van intake though, your mod may allow more cfm in (whether or not that provides any benefit remains to be proven) but it's also likely pulling in warmer/less dense air. If you sealed it to the hood and put an opening above it (scoop, louvers, etc) THEN I think there might be some benefit. A friend of mine has the K&N CAI on his 5.4 van and it looks neat, but I think the perceived power gain mostly comes from increased noise. If I saw some dyno proven results, I might be inclined to spend the money though... since I'm pretty desperate for more power, I might just buy it anyway to make my wallet lighter (lighter = faster, right?)

[carringb]

The stock intake isn’t a constraint on the 5.4L. Just leave it as is.

An AFE style intake on the V10 can help top end performance. But no intake changes will improve fuel economy on any modern vehicle. Most of them make things worse by sucking in hot air instead of cold air like the stock intake.

[fordsarefun]

Wow Thanks Everyone for the input. I'm quite happy with my engines pulling performance
I'm also hauling a 28 ft Airstream and could use a little mor power on long hill pulls, so I'll probably swap the Cold air mod back to the stock and l'll be looking into the 5 star tune for my 5.4 . for performance and milage improvements.

[Twoxentrix]

Good looking Van Fordsarefun. Believe you'll only realize noticeable performance & fuel economy improvements by swapping the Airstream for a tent.