Focus Fanatics Forum banner

Snorkel Delete

2M views 2K replies 358 participants last post by  BKmk3 
#1 · (Edited)
Edit: This thread started based on other dyno work I was doing at the time. Let me clarify the fact that this will not increase power if you have the OEM filter installed. You MUST have an aftermarket filter in order to see power gains! Also, if you have a closed-end filter then you need to do this for power gains as well!

Edit: In the following posts/pages you will see how to cut and/or remove the shroud that directs air to the radiator. There is no data to confirm or deny possible gains by doing that work. It is something that I had initially done on my vehicle prior to having created this thread. You do NOT have to do this to achieve the gains from the snorkel delete/drop-in filter!

Edit: Added dyno charts at the bottom.

A few people have asked for a quick how-to for this, so I'll try to post up something visual. I don't have my snorkel anymore to show you, but when you pull back the black plastic you will see the difference between my pics and stock.

First you must pull the four push-pins out of the plastic where it attaches to the radiator support (just forward of the two intake runners) Also, I would slide the hood release out of it's holder where it makes the 90° bend. This will help you pull back the shroud.


After you pull back the shroud, you will see the snorkel on your car that is not in this pic. There are two push-pins on the drivers side and another push-pin on the passenger side. They are a little difficult if it's just you, fyi.


After you remove the snorkel you will see the plastic piece that keeps air directed to the radiator from under the whiskers. I only cut my drivers side (evidenced by the fingers), though others have cut both sides and some have even cut the whole top section. The only way I know to remove this (so far) without cutting is to remove the entire bumper cover.


Hopefully this helps. I would've set my snorkel in to show, but it went the way of the circular file. This is a mod that would never need to be reversed because incoming water would have to travel vertically 1-2" to get in the plenum, and dealerships won't be popping the top cover to verify it is installed. At a minimum, the snorkel must be removed for the additional hp/tq of an aftermarket drop-in air filter.

Edit: All of these pics are with the front of the car on the bottom. Sorry, that's just how it came out.

OEM-


Snorkel Delete/Drop-in-


Same car, same dyno, same day.


Sent from my stupid phone.

Edit: Add 2016 video by ChalupaJones

As promised, here's my snorkel delete video filmed by my lovely wife.
https://vimeo.com/164179828

I hope this helps you guys out! If you have any questions hit me up!
 
See less See more
5
#79 ·
Did this yesterday. Noticed some very minor gain. With the FSWerks intake no sound difference however I can definitely tell much more cold air is reaching the intake and this mod would shine in the summer during hotter months.

Just an fyi, this is a bitch to do alone without a. breaking pieces or b. cutting the shit out of your hands or both. I unfortunately did both.
 
#80 ·
Wow, sorry to hear you had a difficult time with it. Mine went pretty easily, though it was a tight fit to get my hands in there.

I wonder how the FSWerks intake would do if you had a version of the Newmission mod, with the outlet directed toward the filter...

Sent from my stupid phone.
 
#95 ·
Similar to driving conditions? No, not if the hood was up. The filter element in an aftermarket intake would be more open to ambient air if the hood was up, and thus the results wouldn't reflect real-world operation.
 
#97 · (Edited)
No rain can access the intake runners if you do not have the flap cut. Even when the flap is cut, water would have to travel vertically a couple inches to reach the opening. On the hypothetical scenario that water did actually get into the tube, it would flow into the box and be relieved by the drains built into the bottom.

I understand your concern and want to add that I take my car to auto-washes usually 3 out of every 4 weeks (I know, but I'm busy and time is at a premium) and have never had an issue. I always leave the car running, and even with the pressure nozzles aimed directly at the opening and about a foot from the car. I haven't opened the airbox after a wash to verify, but I could probably do that this weekend[thumb]
 
#105 ·
I believe my results are fairly typical but I figured I'd share them none the less.

I current have the 'snorkel' pulled off the airbox but nothing cut. I have also removed the resonator at the bottom of the box and left it open. I made both of these modifications prior to changing the air filter. I immediately noticed a slight decrease in mpg (34mpg to 32mpg) and I noticed the car seemed to hesitate/bog more off idle, between shifts and during moderate acceleration.

I finally got around to picking up the K&N drop in filter. Immediately, I haven't noticed any increase in power (by the butt dyno) and I have not put enough miles on it to comment on fuel economy.

I have however witnessed a very noticeable change in the driveability of the car. The bog off idle, between shifts and moderate acceleration is completely gone and the car is driving smooth as silk. I would say it's much smoother than the car was before I made any modification to the airbox.

IMO these changes alone make the $50 investment worth while.
 
#106 ·
I have to ask, but when you say the snorkel off the airbox, you aren't talking about the intake runners, are you? The two tubes that go from the airbox up to the radiator support (with the rubber strap that goes over the end) should remain in place. Those are the intake runners, and if they are removed then your engine would be consuming hot under-hood air. Hot air leads to bogging.

Just asking to make sure.
 
#116 ·
I wish I could say I knew, but unfortunately I don't. I only have two thoughts on it-

A. The direction of the forced airflow causing turbulence in/at the filter. By this I mean that, at low speeds, the air is causing turbulence directly in front of the MAF sensor, causing confusing inputs for fuel injection. I have contemplated building a shroud to divert the air around the filter as opposed to directly at it to see if this is it/helps, but haven't because BUSY/LAZY. I think that this is only causing the low speed issues because at some unknown (by me) speed there is enough air being forced into the intake to overcome the engines air intake requirement, in turn creating a mild boosted (in the box) condition in which the air is readily introduced past the MAF sensor smoothly. In my head, this explains the loss at lower speed and increase at higher speed.

B. It isn't uncommon for vehicles to see an mpg reduction after the installation of an aftermarket intake due to the car being programmed based on a stock intake. The additional fuel has difficulty exiting a stock exhaust, and all of the dynos on OEM exhaust have shown that the exhaust is very near max flow capacity straight from the factory. This is why the majority of mpg seekers go straight to the exhaust, as gains are almost always seen immediately on them, even with a stock intake.

This is really all I can think of based on my knowledge/experience base...[dunno]
 
#119 ·
Ok, so here's a video I took. Just for the sound really. I'm accelerating down an on ramp to get on the interstate. I have a K&N air filter in the stock housing with the cover left off. I also did the snorkel delete. Took maybe 5-10 minutes with a flat head screwdriver. I was holding the camera just in front of the steering wheel and all of the windows were rolled up. Sounds pretty good to me. Once I get my tax returns for this year I think I'm going to get the FSWERKS stealth exhaust. Let me know what you think. Thanks.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4JP_IJCPE4&feature=plcp
 
#121 ·
This is incorrect. Look in my dyno thread for all of the pertinent info. I have nearly 30 dyno pulls (total, not all listed) on my car and carefully outlined each change and the respective pulls associated with them.
 
#125 ·
Does the drop in mileage come from the active grill shutters no longer being able to close off the front lowering the areodynamics of the car?
 
#126 ·
I've thought about that. I have the bottom portion of both triangle grills opened up as well. But, I did pull a hand calculated 38mpg tank last month while on a road trip. My Fuelly still has me above 32mpg for 13K+ miles, so it's still the best mpg vehicle I've ever owned.

I might close off the triangles again. The newmission tube will still have access to non-engine compartment air, it just won't be impact air. I'll run a test like that over the winter, but winter gas might skew my results.
 
#127 ·
Today I installed the K&N drop in and I did not yet removed anything else. I may say that the car is acting a bit better and is a little bit quieter now than before (saw this at WOT). For those who might ask, yes, I kept the lid on.

There is still the little "shake" while the car is "idle-ing" but not as much as it was before. As far as I read here, it seems that if I do the snorkel delete, the "shaking" would be 99.999% gone and I'll have some sound increase. I'll test it for two tanks without the snorkel delete, I will then do the snorkel delete and post my thoughts about.
 
#128 ·
Ok, after 2 tanks I can say there is definetly no loss on mpg using the drop-in. In fact, I'd say it is very possible to see some gains in mpg's. The throtle response is better and the car is breathing better. And yes, it is more silent with the drop-in than when with the stock filter.
 
#130 ·
In what is for the vibration, you should go to your dealer shop and ask for a PCM/TCM reprograming. It should help. For what is a SRI or CAI, I had one (K&N), found it too loud for my liking and I sold it. I like the drop in and the car is smoother and breath better, IMO.
 
#131 ·
I have a question, i really want the FSWerks intake but to me it looks nothing like the Steeda "enclosure wise" and no more beneficial then popin' the top off the stocker and dropping in a K&N, i mean it looks like the same idea!

And pt.2, i bought an Outerwear for my K&N which i also ordered! Does it reduce flow a lot? I probably will only put it on when it rains or is in the snow but if it does not restrict a ton of air i would like to just leave it on and save the hassle of worrying if my filter is getting wet, which with the top off and the paper filter in the recent snow storm did get a little wet! Kinda freaked me out!! Lol just for reference i do have the snorkel delete with the flaps still in place! Idk about removing that piece in the rain and winter!
 
#132 ·
I have a question, i really want the FSWerks intake but to me it looks nothing like the Steeda "enclosure wise" and no more beneficial then popin' the top off the stocker and dropping in a K&N, i mean it looks like the same idea!

And pt.2, i bought an Outerwear for my K&N which i also ordered! Does it reduce flow a lot? I probably will only put it on when it rains or is in the snow but if it does not restrict a ton of air i would like to just leave it on and save the hassle of worrying if my filter is getting wet, which with the top off and the paper filter in the recent snow storm did get a little wet! Kinda freaked me out!! Lol just for reference i do have the snorkel delete with the flaps still in place! Idk about removing that piece in the rain and winter!
I leave my Outerwears on fulltime. I'm certain it still greatly outflows the OE filter.
 
#133 ·
Do you mind posting where you bought the outwear ? [thankyou]
 
#146 ·
You probably are, I and others have noticed this as well.

My belief is that it is breathing better, but also getting more fuel added by the ECU to maintain a typical factory pig-rich condition.

If we ever get tuning support for this motor, we should be able to optimize the fuel trims to airflow and see better mileage then an untuned stock motor. If we ever get tuning[facepalm]
 
#149 ·
Yeah if ever, but right now I am kinda frustrated because I was averaging atleast 29 now Im getting a flat 27...but the car is so much more responsive.


I did the delete of the snorkel and shroud at 1000mi. My mileage has either risen or stayed the same but has not dropped. Obviously new engine break in comes into play.

But I wonder what deleting it so soon into the cars life did to the ECU as far as learning. I also haven't run anything less than 91 octane from first tank. I average, even in the winter, 29 mpg with 50/50 hwy/city and in the fall was getting 31mpg a tank. I'm happy.
I have NEVER run 91, I honestly do not see the point since our car is meant for 87. And from what I understand higher octanes are used purposefully to prevent engine knock at higher compression ratios which I understand our car has a 12:1. Is it really worth buying more expensive gas?
 
#161 ·
I was anxious all the time about pulling out the big part that has the two rubber flaps! I was thinking that even tho, nothing will (most likely) go wrong I didn't wanna take my chances! and to me i did not feel any noticeable throttle response changes which made it pointless to me! so I decided to pop it back in. walking to the car with my the part all I was thinking was " how the hell am I going to get this back in there! A minute and a half later it was in! I always thought that instead of cutting it! Why not just hold the flap back so that is when I "Ghetto" rigged this up until I can find beefier brackets! I'm going get three metal clips two meal bars weld the bars to the clips then clamp down on the flap like in the picture

CURRENT:


BAR NAPKIN IDEA:
 
#163 ·
I took out my snorkel and am thinking about cutting the flaps. I was initially going to take out that whole assembly with the flaps, but am thinking that you could potentially be decreasing air flow by taking it out.

That is, that assembly blocks off three sides and has the flaps at the top, so air can get into the intake. When the grille shutters close, that forces air to go up through the flaps. Without the assembly in place and the other three sides being blocked, air will just go all around the shutters instead of being redirected to the top flaps and into the intake.

So I was looking at how much a replacement assembly would cost if I ever had to replace mine when I cut the flaps. Tried looking around Ford parts, but couldn't find it. Can anyone find it on Ford Parts and let us know how much it costs?
 
#168 ·
this is my set up along with the flap bending! I feel much more throttle response and i get that amazing sound that turns heads! And the flap bending may only be 60% irreversible but flap cutting is 100% irreversible and I did take the whole flap unit out but found no difference and only increased amounts of anxiety with warranty!
 
#169 ·
You know, another thing I was thinking about is insulating the intake lines and box. Let me know if I'm wrong, but the CAIs have these fancy heat shields to keep the engine heat away from the intake air. Wouldn't putting some sort of insulation around the stock intake system achieve the same thing (maybe not as effectively, but the same principle)?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top