Ditching the OEM intake on a turbo diesel engine

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Apr 28, 2015
Messages
723
Location
Reunion Island
Hi,

the air filter on the Koleos is due for replacement (power cut in "high" revs (3000+)). Since we will not sell this car and I like custom things, I'm wondering if it could be an issue if I ditch the factory airbox and inlet tract to put some aftermarket washable filter in place. See the picture :



I recognize it's a fantasy but could it have negative effects that I'm not aware of ? boost threshold is as low as 1700rpm.

I'm leaning towards silicon or metal inlet tract, and a dual-stage foam filter.
 
Don't, just don't, especially on this engine. Well, it could work perfectly, but you won't gain much if anything
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
Your wasting time and money for no benefit.

I understand that there will be no performance benefit
wink.gif
personal aesthetics.

Originally Posted By: Olas
If there's black smoke look for a boost leak, if there's no smoke check fuel pump&filter.

The filter is just clogged. If I remove the filter, there's no cut. I do this test everytime to know if the filter is due for replacement (20000 km).

Originally Posted By: Trav
Total waste of time, money and effort IMHO.

I hear you.

Originally Posted By: Popsy
Don't, just don't, especially on this engine. Well, it could work perfectly, but you won't gain much if anything
smile.gif



What's the concern about this engine ?
 
Here they have a reputation for going through air sensor and turbo quickly, but my guess is poor maintenance (I think OEM recommendation have very long OCI). Some cracked head reports too, from time to time, but mostly on early engines.

(this is to be taken with a grain of salt, on forums or car magazines most of the time you only see the worst, and not the perfectly happy users with perfectly running engine haha)
 
That filter gets clogged quickly at 20k km
Do you live in that dirty of an environment?
My filters go a lot longer than that
 
Originally Posted By: toneydoc
Where is Reunion Island?


Réunion Island, a French department in the Indian Ocean, is known for its volcanic, rainforested interior, coral reefs and beaches. Its most iconic landmark is Piton de la Fournaise, a climbable active volcano standing 2,632m (8,635 ft.). Piton des Neiges, a massive extinct volcano, and Réunion’s 3 calderas (natural amphitheaters formed by collapsed volcanoes), are also climbing destinations.
 
Originally Posted By: Linctex
Originally Posted By: toneydoc
Where is Reunion Island?


Réunion Island, a French department in the Indian Ocean, is known for its volcanic, rainforested interior, coral reefs and beaches. Its most iconic landmark is Piton de la Fournaise, a climbable active volcano standing 2,632m (8,635 ft.). Piton des Neiges, a massive extinct volcano, and Réunion’s 3 calderas (natural amphitheaters formed by collapsed volcanoes), are also climbing destinations.


Have you been there ?

 
The majority of aftermarket filters are less efficient than factory paper filters so cause more damage to turbo, bores, rings etc.
If your filter is clogging too quickly then the best solution would be to use an air filter & housing with more surface area to allow greater life.

If you insist on an aftermarket intake look at ITG who make various different combinations of airflow/filtration in all of their products. http://itgairfilters.com/page/foam-specifications/
 
Last edited:
Put a washable pre-filter in front of the standard paper filter.
Sounds like a situation you just have to live with. What do other people on Reunion Island do for air filtration on their cars?
You don't want to run the risk of getting volcanic dust in your engine.

A similar situation that I recall is when the USA fought Desert Storm in Iraq. I was an engineer at Cummins at the time working on a diesel engine to replace the gas turbine in the M1 tank. We went to Ft Knox to display our engine a couple of months after the war, and I had the opportunity to talk to tank commanders. They told me that the air filters on the gas turbines were clogging all the time, so they put panty hose over the engine intakes, and that improved the time between filter cleanings. At least the panty hose would filter out the large sand particles.
 
Originally Posted By: A_Harman
Put a washable pre-filter in front of the standard paper filter.
Sounds like a situation you just have to live with. What do other people on Reunion Island do for air filtration on their cars?
You don't want to run the risk of getting volcanic dust in your engine.


People here usually won't care much for their car maintenance and leave this up to the dealer/garage. Dealers replace ALL filters at each OCI, so each service it's a 500 € bill. And some brands (Renault...) say that this is part of the regional service schedule to accomodate singular weather.

Even if I'm OK with changing air filter at each OCI, changing a fuel filter at each OCI seems really overrated (and pricey). Same goes with belts. And eeeeeeeeer... OCI itself. 30000 km interval in Europe, 15000 here. I stretched to 20000 on that car, but won't really go any farther (you can see at 20000 it starts to thin). Fuel filter ? Stock. I opened many, media were clean as new. In fact, I went to replace it at the last OCI, but the parts vendor gave me the wrong part number (missing hole for the water sensor, and height and width wasn't really the same). I'd change it on the next OCI, just to prevent media tearing and going to plug pump/injectors.
 
You won't gain anything by doing it, but if you just like the look, go for it.
 
Please check out my K&N "dusted" thread in the air filter section. Reusable filters on a diesel are a bad idea.

Keep your OEM filter and change it more frequently if necessary and for the love of God, don't drive it without a filter to "test". You are allowing it to ingest the filth the filter is keeping out!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top