Here at Power Curve Performance we service, tune and modify multiple diesels 4wd daily.
A very common occurrence with these is regular filter maintenance not being carried out.
This can be due to many reasons including cap price servicing centres, price, unknown the damage and consistency that these are required to be maintained.
What we have here in our image is a Ford Ranger that came to us for an ECU tune, Legendex exhaust and snorkel.
We as per usual dyno the vehicle prior to our modifications and went to work on fitting the snorkel.
What we discovered through this process was a well and truly mud blocked air filter and air flow metre.
We contacted the owner with this information and his response is why we believe this is important for everyone driving a 4wd.
The new owner had good reason to believe the car had never been off road for all intensive purposes I can’t see any reason why this would not be the case given the quality of the vehicle and the grade of care that appears to be taken of it.
The current owner has been through one minimal creek crossing with this result. “I only drove through one muddy puddle..”
Snorkel
Firstly the snorkel is a great option for the customer to allow him to continue on with 4wing ventures minimising the mud, dirt and debris entering the air system.
It is also a great reason why we now offer servicing here at Power Curve Performance. A blocked air system is fundamentally as restrictive as you walking around choking your self.
If its only light well your going to be ok… but are you going to be very comfortable and happy about the situation? Im guessing not. The theory is fundamentally the same more restriction more problems less power out put.
There are many situations not just off road where you will find the filters block up, highway driving, farm work, beach driving.
Checking your air filter is a must do and paying a little more for a regular filter change in a service can save you more in the long run.
Dyno result of blocked filter
They dyno graph you can see here is from an event day-not great quality taken on site.
Our team found it hard to see why the car was having so much trouble to put out more power and seemed to be struggling so much given the components on the engine. By quickly inspecting and cleaning out to our best ability the dirt filled filter the car made an impressive gain just from this one component.
The proof is in the sheet, we didn’t do anything else to the vehicle than the filter.
We don’t expect you to remember to change your filter all of the time, that’s a service we provide within our performance services for our customers.
What we would suggest is if your car is not running correctly maybe take into account the effect that items such as your filter have on your engine.
Check your last service invoice, has it been regularly checked and replaced. Is it worth bringing it into a professional service such as our own to have it looked over and checked.
Some of the additional extras such as a quality exhaust, snorkel, catch can and tune are well worth the time and expense to give you an all round better long term reliable vehicle.