Hole in the intake filter

[arthur92710]

So lets say that your car sat for 4 years, and a small animal decided to make its home in your car. What if it crawled into the intake, chewed a hole in the filer and hung out between the filter and the mesh? Lets then say you drove the car for 50 miles(not all at once), of coures without the little devil in there. Whats could happen?

[x2percentmilk]

pour guy probably isnt doing so hot :/

EDIT: just saw you said without.

[Mr Faust]

I would imagine that dirt and debris that could fit through the mesh would get into your engine, have you noticed a change your vehicles performance or something?

You should definitely replace the filter.

[arthur92710]

Well there's no smoke and I haven't driven it much. I will change the filter, pull and check the turbos, change the plugs. Are their any filters after the turbos?
IFAIK its(was running, before I started to disassemble it) running ok, it idles a bit high, about 1k.

[VR4]

50 miles is nothing to be worried about. what little that may have gotten thru the mesh would hit the the compressor blades but if you have no visible damage then you have nothing to worry about.



FWIW i drove my old VR4 with DR650s with no air filter for 2 years and ended up with VERY minimal damage to the blades. im actually using them on my 10:1 97 VR4 now and it pulls like a raped ape at 16 psi.

[arthur92710]

Oh, thats great, I might not have to do to much work. Ill test compression, change the plugs and oil of course, and while im there all the other fluids. Do you recommend that I use the stock or get an after market air filter?

[VR4]

nothing wrong with stock air filter until you start modding. its up to you if you want to get a cone, panel drop in upgrade, or stock.

[arthur92710]

Well the drop in is if 50 bucks from 3sx, I might as well get a washable. Are there any that you could recommend?
Also is this a good compression tester? http://www.harborfreight.com/flex-drive-compression-tester-92697.html
NAPA/AAP/AZ all want at least 40.

[VR4]

personally i wouldnt reccomend any precision tools from HF (even though i do have the compression tester and it seems to work ok)


search around for the K&N. youll find it cheaper. shipping on it from 3$x is likely $28

[92EuroDiamante]

as long as you didnt drive it up a dusty unpaved road or through a cloud of crap it should be fine. Its one of those things where 99% of the time under normal driving conditions it will be fine.

[arthur92710]

Thanks guys, also any good filters?

[MaxClass]

I would also check to see if any debris is caught against the MAS that would block part of it. Also, K&N makes a really nice stock size flat replacement filter.

When I did the 180k on my fiancés '93 TT I found a nest, probably mice, underneath the intake manifold and knock sensor. I must have pulled a ton of nest out of there. Previous owner must have had it setting for some time. My four pronged retriever tool worked great for getting that stuff out.

[Hannibalzero]

They honeycomb would have stopped the animal from getting too far, so that's a plus. I'd say check the turbos fins for any sign of damage. If you haven't noticed a problem yet, you are probably fine.

[arthur92710]

Got my plates today and bought a new air filter. Drove the car around and it runs great! Ill do an oil change this week as well, the local shop only had the small bottles of 10w30. Any recommended oil brand? Regular or synthetic?

[Hannibalzero]

If you save an oil sample to send in for analysis, they can check the amount of silicone in the sample. Silicone is associated with bad air filtration.

[arthur92710]

Well, were sure that having a 3in hole in you air filter is bad filtration. "Silicone is associated with bad air filtration. " I never know that, cool.

[Atrosity]

I have always gone with K&N Air Filters. I am now running 2 of them on my car with duel intakes.

[MaxClass]

I'll do an oil change this week as well, the local shop only had the small bottles of 10w30. Any recommended oil brand? Regular or synthetic?

I recommend "Red Line" synthetic oils. They are just plain hard to beat. Here in Vegas where it gets really hot [118 at times] I run a 5W40. If you live in a cooler climate maybe a 5W or 10W30. Their gear oils also come highly recommended. Jeff Lucius also has additional information on oils that is worth reading.

Check out their site at: http://www.redlineoil.com/

That should answer any questions about their oil. It is not cheap. Nothing really good is. Flip side is that their product is so good they even recommend the oil change interval at 12,000 miles. It just holds up better.

I also like the K & N Filters for our cars. Part# HP-1004. They have a 1" molded nut on the bottom that makes them really easy to remove from under the car. Once again, not cheap but the good stuff never is.

Their "Water Wetter" produce is also worth adding to the coolant system and is a must for any system that runs in hotter climates or just wants to protect their system from overheating. You can read about it on their site.

There is always someone out there that makes an inferior product at a lower price. The man that buys by price alone is that persons pry.