07-12 Intake mod - Like Gotts mod but easier & cheaper

Dunno if this is old news at this point or not, if so just ignore me

I found that the snorkel on the airbox has approximately 2" inner diameter, and seems really restrictive to me. So I replaced the snorkel with another Ford Snorkel with approximately 3.25" inner diameter. It was a direct swap, 15 minute job, and best of all.... Cost less than $5

Here's the old airbox snorkel next to the new one



After you pop out the old snorkel using a screwdriver and a little brute force, you have this



Pop in the new snorkel with a little more brute force



Ford P/N 7C3Z-9F721-A cost $4.58 + tax at my local dealer



In my opinion, this setup combined with a high flow drop in filter will flow as much as any $200+ CAI on the market. There's really no restriction between the airbox and engine, being that it's all 3.5" although I imagine the airflow is really turbulent, so that's my next mod on the list. Parts ordered, so hopefully next week I'll be posting my $75 Polished intake on a budget build.

Humm interesting. Props for finding a ford part number that worked. Mind me asking how you managed to find it?

Anyways, I haven't looked at the CAI kits out for the truck yet, since I just got it back in late September, but do any of them try to redirect air to the box? As of right now, this cone that you modified with a larger one sits in the fender, which from what I saw while doing the brakes the other day didn't have any free flowing air piped to.

Now if you run a hose from that tube to the front somewhere, I would think that would help out a bit more.

Have you driven it yet to see if throttle response is better. I am tuned but have not done an intake yet. I know members on here say they are ineffective - but it made a difference on my F150. Interested to hear some results. Thanks, Mike

mtondreo said:

Have you driven it yet to see if throttle response is better. I am tuned but have not done an intake yet. I know members on here say they are ineffective - but it made a difference on my F150. Interested to hear some results. Thanks, Mike

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It's hard for me to compare because I've been driving with no snorkel at all for the last month. The throttle response is noticeably better, but I'm used to it already, from having removed the old snorkel a few weeks back. Also there is a little more engine noise when your foot is heavy on the pedal (which I like), but under light throttle you can't tell a difference. There is less engine noise than having the snorkel completely removed. What I didn't like about having no snorkel was there were occasionally "burps" or whooshes of air (for lack of a better term) that sounded nasty. I have not heard those noises at all since putting this bigger snorkel on. I think HP gains are minimal, maybe 1~2 hp if anything at all, although I could see it helping on MPG since the engine is not having to work as hard to get the same amount of air into it.

CJ0920 said:

Humm interesting. Props for finding a ford part number that worked. Mind me asking how you managed to find it?

Anyways, I haven't looked at the CAI kits out for the truck yet, since I just got it back in late September, but do any of them try to redirect air to the box? As of right now, this cone that you modified with a larger one sits in the fender, which from what I saw while doing the brakes the other day didn't have any free flowing air piped to.

Now if you run a hose from that tube to the front somewhere, I would think that would help out a bit more.

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I was doing a lot of research and found somewhere that someone said they thought late model F250 gas trucks had the same airbox with a bigger snorkel. So I got my hands on an F250 and confirmed that, then bought the part. Even if it didn't work, I would have only been out $5 so not a big risk. I was worried at first because it looks like the shape was different when holding it up to the old snorkel, but once I got the airbox out, that snorkel slid right in with no issues at all.

On the ram air ducting, I'm conflicted on that... this is my opinion, so take with a grain of salt. I've never been a fan of ducted ram air setups that pull air from down close to the ground, although I'm a big fan of direct ram air that is coming in through a scoop in the hood. In terms of the ducted ram air setup, my opinion is that it's not getting any cooler air than what is inside your fender area, so the only real benefit I see is pressurizing the airbox. But they are more prone to pick up trash, rocks, dirt, etc, and god forbid you hit some deep water... And finally, unless you're moving forward all of the time, there's no pressure in that tube. So from a stop, your engine has to suck air up that long tube until you are moving forward fast enough to pressurize the tube. In a lot of stop and go traffic, I see that as a HP & MPG killer.

Good info. I popped the air filter out the other day to check it and did a quick look to see what I could change. I've thought about opening the bottom up with a dremel and using a drop in filter. But Summit has Spectre kits for $150 right now. And it's chrome. Decisions, decisions.

01yellerCobra said:

Good info. I popped the air filter out the other day to check it and did a quick look to see what I could change. I've thought about opening the bottom up with a dremel and using a drop in filter. But Summit has Spectre kits for $150 right now. And it's chrome. Decisions, decisions.

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The intake I'm working on should be around $75 (not including the filter, I'm just running an STP paper filter for now), and it retains the stock airbox. I should have pics and info up by Tuesday/Wednesday of next week if you are interested.

I'm always interested in people's projects. At the very least it's cool to see what other people are doing. I might just end up going with a CAI because it gets rid of the air box altogether. I would be interested if you have any difference in mileage with your mods though. I imagine all the silencers on the intake tube can't be good for smooth air flow.

Now that I think about it I might grab that snorkle. There's a dealership right down the street from my work. It would be interesting to if it makes any difference going to Disneyland tomorrow.

Good luck with them having it in stock. My dealer had to order it for me.

Too bad I just missed your post. I just got back and they didn't have them in stock.

Good info

Great mod, can't hurt that's for sure.

FYI, skillful use of a 5lb deadblow hammer takes care of the old snorkel in about 10 seconds.

jasonlmarsh said:

The intake I'm working on should be around $75 (not including the filter, I'm just running an STP paper filter for now), and it retains the stock airbox. I should have pics and info up by Tuesday/Wednesday of next week if you are interested.

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Did you get to finish your project? Im interested in any pics you can post of the finished product.

Also, thanks for the great snorkel idea & part number! im still trying to find a nice cai. the S&B one didnt fit, because of a hood sensor by the readiator overflow tank. But this snorkel keeps everything looking clean and not jimmy rigged like the typical gotts mod.

I hit a snag on a silicone elbow, so I'm waiting for another elbow to be shipped. Hopefully it will be here by the end of the week.

Well here's my $75 intake. If I were going to keep this, I would get some nicer hose clamps and clean up the cut I had to make on the silicone elbow. I feel like it lost a little power from this mod, so I might go back to stock, or go with an aftermarket kit.

I wonder why it would cause a loss of power? It's a smoother path for the air to travel. And the MAF is still in the stock housing. Might be worth it to run a full tank of gas with it on there and see if there's any change in mileage.

I'd clean the MAF and throttle body, then do a reset (disconnect the battery and turn on the headlights). Give it try then and let the computer relearn.

Yea it didn't make sense to me either, and it may just be my imagination. I did clean the MAF while I had it open, but didn't think about cleaning the TB. I went back to stock since I'm getting ready to drive to CO for the Holidays. I'll play with it more after New Years.

Any updates on this, Jason?

Nah, I haven't messed with it much after I felt like it lost power. I might mess with it again in the spring.