Air cleaner Valve

Littleredrig

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I have a 7.3 IDI STOCK Air Cleaner…can anyone tell me exactly what that little valve on the top of the Air cleaner lid is for ? Looks like the same valve used on a tire rim.
 

aggiediesel01

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Picture?
I don’t remember anything about a tire valve but there is a connection on the lid to attach the Ford diagnostic gauge for measuring vacuum behind the filter on the intake. Look on page 3 of the attachment to see the test gauge and how it connects.
 

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Littleredrig

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Hey thanks so much… that’s exactly what I was talking about didn’t know how to describe it… I just had a couple more questions… The restrictor plate was that only designed to cut down the noise of the intake? I have a naturally aspirated diesel and it only draws so much air, I believe removing it won’t make a difference ?
The other thing was on the bottom of the air cleaner there’s like a hose is that for dumping out any water or dirt ?
 

aggiediesel01

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If you’re talking about the big metal bowl shap on the bottom of the lid, people on here have posted mixed results with cutting it off. I did it on mine years ago before I put the first turbo on. I’m sure it didn’t hurt anything but I can’t say it really helped much. If I had been using the truck to tow heavy loads at the time or running the truck above 3k rpm often then maybe I would have noticed a difference but making sure your injection pump is working correctly and timed properly and the injectors cracking at the correct pressure is way more effective at making sure the engine is performing at its peak. That and a clean air filter and good high flowing exhaust but I think you’ve got that covered already.
As for the drain tube, yes that’s to drain any water that may come into the intake when driving in the rain if the complete intake snorkel is installed. Along that line, make sure your cowl seal is in good shape and not letting water puddle on the lid of your air cleaner. The wing bolt in the middle doesn’t seal well and water will leak past and run down into the back cylinders causing hydro lock and significant damage.
 

Littleredrig

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If you’re talking about the big metal bowl shap on the bottom of the lid, people on here have posted mixed results with cutting it off. I did it on mine years ago before I put the first turbo on. I’m sure it didn’t hurt anything but I can’t say it really helped much. If I had been using the truck to tow heavy loads at the time or running the truck above 3k rpm often then maybe I would have noticed a difference but making sure your injection pump is working correctly and timed properly and the injectors cracking at the correct pressure is way more effective at making sure the engine is performing at its peak. That and a clean air filter and good high flowing exhaust but I think you’ve got that covered already.
As for the drain tube, yes that’s to drain any water that may come into the intake when driving in the rain if the complete intake snorkel is installed. Along that line, make sure your cowl seal is in good shape and not letting water puddle on the lid of your air cleaner. The wing bolt in the middle doesn’t seal well and water will leak past and run down into the back cylinders causing hydro lock and significant damage.
Wow I learned more from you in a couple of days then I have in a few years… thank you so much for all the information… It all makes sense… I’ve been taking notes lol….I do understand about the Soup Bowl… but what I was talking about was this restrictor plate on the left part of the inner air cleaner, it sits right in front of where the Air comes in… I heard that Ford made it as well for a noise dampener… And I’m not sure just to leave it alone or cut it off ?
 

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aggiediesel01

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I never removed mine and I can't see how removing that would help much. You could measure the cross sectional area of intake tube and then measure the cross sectional area of the opening between the edge of the plate and the outer housing and see if it's significantly different. If you do remove it, that area of your air cleaner will get wetter and clogged faster than the rest of the air cleaner but probably not to a detrimental extent. Maybe a wasp or cicada or rock or other foreign object could possibly come hurdling through the intake and poke a hole in the filter if that's not there?? Seems unlikely but maybe. Try removing it, but only after you've scrounged up another one just in case.
 

Littleredrig

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I never removed mine and I can't see how removing that would help much. You could measure the cross sectional area of intake tube and then measure the cross sectional area of the opening between the edge of the plate and the outer housing and see if it's significantly different. If you do remove it, that area of your air cleaner will get wetter and clogged faster than the rest of the air cleaner but probably not to a detrimental extent. Maybe a wasp or cicada or rock or other foreign object could possibly come hurdling through the intake and poke a hole in the filter if that's not there?? Seems unlikely but maybe. Try removing it, but only after you've scrounged up another one just in case.
That’s very smart… I do have my cold air return running to the front just behind the front light assembley…If anything did get in there it would hit that plate first….Never even thought of that….Thanks again for your help… This has been quite helpful, there has been quite a few blogs I have seen… and a lot of people don’t know what they’re talking about.
 

aggiediesel01

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Everything I offer is from what I’ve learned here and from my own experiences. I wouldn’t have much to offer if it wasn’t for this community because I would have gotten frustrated and lost interest years ago if this group hadn’t been around to help me through the issues I’ve come across. Stick with us oil burners and you’ll get the best life and most enjoyment possible from your truck. This place is pretty much the most reliable source for information and knowledge about these trucks that’s still available. Amongst this group, we’ve pretty much seen, discussed and tried everything possible bad and good for this platform and we’re always willing to share what we’ve experienced and learned. We don’t always agree but we’re respectful when we don’t and I’ve only rarely seen information that’s actually wrong on here and it almost always gets quickly corrected. There are also several vendors on here that have “grown up” in this community and started their business based on support from this community. They offer excellent quality products when they are needed. I would encourage you to seek them out and consider supporting them if and when you ever need the things they offer. Their products are what continue to drive the enthusiasm, innovation and support for keeping these old trucks on the road and making them fun to keep driving. Good luck with yours and hope to see you contribute your experiences around here as well.
 

Littleredrig

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Do you know where I could get a picture of the inside of the air cleaner and the different functions, kind of like the picture you sent me of the restriction test ?
 

aggiediesel01

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I don't know of any picture or diagram like that but there are lots of factory service manuals available for download on this site, both Ford and International. The International/Navistar manual is pretty comprehensive and has a lot of theory stuff in it like a text book maybe that might have what you're looking for? Take a look in the tech article section and search for manuals. There's one on the first page of threads but I'm pretty sure there's more in there too.

 

Littleredrig

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I was talking to a Ford Mechanic today who worked on these Air cleaners for years…He was saying that, since the engine is Naturally Aspirated….The challenge was to get air per unit volume to be evenly distributed throughout the engine IH & ford designed the restrictor plate for that very reason…that when outside air was drawn in from the motor…it would hit the plate and would go to the Left and to the right of the Air cleaner and circle around the soup bowl, which purpose was to create a Vortex and Air velocity, so that the Air entering the Intake manifold would be distributed to the left side and right side cylinders properly to get “ consistent” Air flow to each cylinder…
 
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Littleredrig

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I need to ask for your help again…. What is the Ford technical name for the drainage tube on the bottom of the air cleaner ? Its a plastic piece with a rubber fitting…that sits on the very back of the air cleaner…Im trying to find where I can find this big U shaped clip that holds the piece in place…I lost mine and not even sure where to begin to look ?
 

aggiediesel01

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What is the Ford technical name for the drainage tube on the bottom of the air cleaner ? .....Im trying to find where I can find this big U shaped clip that holds the piece in place…I lost mine and not even sure where to begin to look ?
To be honest I don't know what it might be called. It's unlikely that you will find it by it's technical name after all these years unless it was a ford serviceable part by itself. Maybe one of the old timers here has an idea but not me. The best place to start is a local wrecking yard. Often, if you don't know of yards near by you can use car-part.com to find yards in your area that have similar year truck that may still have parts you need on them. You can try posting a want ad here on OB in the parts for sale section. If anyone still has one floating around I doubt it would cost you much more than the postal cost.

I was talking to a Ford Mechanic today who worked on these Air cleaners for years…He was saying that, since the engine is Naturally Aspirated….The challenge was to get air per unit volume to be evenly distributed throughout the engine IH & ford designed the restrictor plate for that very reason…that when outside air was drawn in from the motor…it would hit the plate and would go to the Left and to the right of the Air cleaner and circle around the soup bowl, which purpose was to create a Vortex and Air velocity, so that the Air entering the Intake manifold would be distributed to the left side and right side cylinders properly to get “ consistent” Air flow to each cylinder…
This doesn't surprise me in the least. These engines were designed back when International was a premier engine builder that didn't have much competition in the marketplace and they used old school engineers to really pay attention and design solutions to such things. Of course IMHO the best solution to get air into the engine is a turbo. I bet they spent as much engineering effort on that soup bowl and deflector plate as they could have on the turbo system that the aftermarket created and they later adopted.


"....The small nozzle on top of the Air cleaner which is a small black cap on it… I have recently learned, thanks to you… that it was used for an air cleaner restriction test with a pressure test kit ?
I am just curious why would they do an air restriction test on this particular air cleaner ?
What was the purpose of doing this?
Can anyone explain in detail the process and why?
Appreciate all your help."

I don't know for sure but I can say that the early diesel engines in cars and trucks in the US got a really bad wrap from some poor design choices and service techs weren't trained well enough at the time to know much about diesels and how they are supposed to behave. I suspect that Ford was anticipating lots of warranty work on these engines whether actually needed or not so they decided that the engines needed to be quickly and accurately tested in a number of empirical ways so that the shop technicians (who weren't always trained on diesels) could quickly identify real problems and resolve issues to keep warranty costs low and to get these trucks back to their customers to keep them happy. The only reference I've found to using that port on the lid is part of a test to diagnose dark smoke from the exhaust. First part of the test describes a check of the exhaust to make sure it's clear and the second step describes using the gauge bar and the test sheet posted earlier to check to see if the air cleaner was excessively dirty.

Also some general forum notes. This thread has gotten too technical for the Intro forum and most of the people that can answer the questions aren't seeing it. It's generally better for you if the technical questions are asked where you'll get the most views and answers. I don't check here much which is why I didn't see your responses and additional questions above until the PM. As the Thread Originator you will almost always be notified of a reply to your thread but the participants in the thread don't know of additional responses or questions in the thread unless they "follow" the thread or unless someone else in the thread quotes them as part of a response. If you are looking to get a response from a particular person, you can just put their user name with the @ in front of it and that will send them an alert that they have been mentioned in a thread and usually they'll come check it out. Example: @username
 

gnathv

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Is this the type clip you’re looking for?
 

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