AMSOIL/Donaldson AIS 7.3 Air intake

[johns4dor]

Hi everybody. I am johns4dor and I am new to the forum. I don't have my profile in yet, but it will be there soon. I am an AMSOIL Dealer, and I own a 2002 7.3 truck.

This one is for 2002BigRed, or anyone else with experience with an AIS Intake. In your profile, you state that you have the AIS Intake. I also have a modified 2002 7.3. I put an AIS on it about 18 months ago, with the thought that it was absolutely the best filter available to keep dirt out of my engine. As soon as I finished installing it, I hit the road for a test. I drove about 1/2 mile away from home where I could get on an uphill on-ramp to the local freeway and hammered the throttle to the wall. When I got back to the house, I popped the hood. The vacuum minder was inthe red, if it had been any farther up the scale it would have triggered the dash light. I am talking ONE full throttle pass on a brand new filter. I immediately called Donaldson Tech to ask questions. They informed me that Ford had required them to put a different gauge than stock on the filter and suggested that I might try the stock one if I still had it, so I put the stock Ford gauge back on. That one only went 1/2 way up the scale, but that is still too much. I took a 3,500-mile vacation from California thru Idaho, Montana, and Oregon mountains with my 10,000 pound trailer in tow 3 months later in July. Every pound of boost on my boost gauge resulted in 100 degress EGT, 10 pounds/1,000 degrees, 15 pounds/1,500 degrees; kept it under 13 pounds the whole trip. Shortly after getting back from the trip, I saw a Ford Tech-Bulletin that stated the AIS system was not recommended for modified engines, DUH. Obviously way too much air-restriction in the filter element. I took the AIS off the truck a couple of months ago and replace it with an Air-Raid with an AMSOIL Universal Element. Problem gone, 15 to 25 pounds of boost with 1,000 to 1,300 degrees EGT to Santa Fe, New Mexico and back, and it never moved the vacuum minder at all. Sorry, I know this has been a long explanation, but I didn't know how to say it shorter.

What has your experience been with the AIS? Maybe I had a bad filter element and nobody at Donaldson or Amsoil wanted to suggest that and replace it for me. It was not a very nice $250 lesson. I now have $600 in air intake systems, and that is at dealer cost since I sell diesel parts also.

Thanks for listening and for any replies,
John

[Diesel Engineer]

John, the Donaldson Severe Duty unit is not recommended for modified or high performance engines; it is a severe duty unit for sever duty operating environments such as extreme dirt and dust that can enter the intake system and cause internal damage. It is highly effective at stopping dirt particulate ingestion, flows air well, but there is some nominal trade off between the extreme dirt stopping ability vs. maximum airflow for modified engines, thus the Donaldon recommendation "not recommended for modified engines". The new AMSOIL/Injen Diesel Power Boxes will be available starting in December 2007 and will provide maximum airflow for both stock and modified engines as well as utilize the Nanofiber technology filter media for dirt stopping ability without restricting airflow. Here is the press release info. I will post more information once the units are officially released:



AMSOIL announces the launch of a new Ea air filter specifically designed for newer diesel engines. To get that product to market in a complete assembled kit, AMSOIL has partnered with Injen Technology. The product will be marketed as the Injen/AMSOIL Power-Flow Diesel Air Intake System distributed by both AMSOIL Dealers and traditional Injen channels.


The new series of intakes features the innovative patent pending Variable Induction Technology, Diesel Power-Box and the dry media Ea nanofiber technology air filter from AMSOIL.


Key benefits include:

Regulated increased airflow into the air chamber for quiet operation and more power on demand. Nanofiber technology is 99.53% efficient. The 360° accordion style AMSOIL Ea filter element provides 500% more surface area. AMSOIL Ea filters are cleanable with a shop vac.
Stainless steel pre-filter deflects larger on or off road debris, preventing premature build up of dirt.
A highly polished or wrinkled black cast aluminum air intake tube and Diesel Power-Box adds a “custom” look to any engine bay.
Glass filled nylon/polypropylene composite mix will not distort under extreme temperatures.
Power-Box designed to suppress unwanted sound while controlling airflow.
Tapered plenum reduces turbo lag. Ea Air Filters use a proprietary composition incorporating special grade cellulose media and nanofiber technology. Benefits include:
• Superior efficiency because dust remains on filter surface
• Higher capacity of fine dusts
• Cleanable media for extended service life
• Reduced engine wear

[johns4dor]

Hi Dave, whoops, Diesel Engineer,

Thanks for the response, and congratulations on the introduction of the forum. It looks like it is going to be outstanding. Also, congratulations are in order for your new status in AMSOIL.

As to the AIS, unfortunately the "Not Recommended for Modified Engines" wasn't decided until sometime after I purchased one and installed it on my truck. I spoke with at least two gentlemen at Donaldson Technical, before buying it, regarding the air flow of the filter and was led to believe by them that it would flow more than enough air. In fact one of them gave me figures that rivaled the gauze filters. All of this turned out to not be very accurate. There is definitely nothing else on the market that will stop more dirt though.

I went to the Las Vegas Regional Sales Meeting last month, lots of good information. The Ingen/Amsoil intakes and filter element are indeed excellent, as you have stated, and are sharper looking than anything else on the market. Only problem, none for the 7.3L, and they told me that there would not be one in the future. They do not believe there is a large enough market for the older trucks. They stated that they had done, or acquired, a market survey and it showed that most truck owners will buy an intake for their truck within the first two years. My response to them was that I thought they were going to miss out on a major market, that many of the 7.3 owners that I know did indeed purchase an intake, as well as other items during the first two years. However, many of those same owners purchased less expensive parts initially and are now upgrading and buying higher quality or better performing parts now. In fact, many are constanly upgrading their trucks, and there are a lot of people out there buying stock used trucks and modifying them.

I have one customer with a 2001 F250 that has steadily made changes to his truck after buying it used in '02. I got him to at least pull the gauze filter element off his intake system and replace it with an EaAU in October of '06. In fact, his was the first diesel I installed an EaAU on. We made a big discovery on that unit; the filter elements get dirty in a hurry. You cannot put them on a diesel, or maybe any engine, and expect to clean them every 25,000 miles like the EaA OEM replacement elements. At approximately 5,000 highway miles, and 6 miles on a dirt road, he collapsed the element in the center while towing his 5th wheel toy hauler to the dunes. I sent it to Amsoil tech and they said it was the first one they had seen do that. They tested it and it was definitely clogged, and that was after I had personally blown it out lightly before I sent it in. They told me that they again blew it out more thoroughly, which improved the flow somewhat; and that they then took the filter home where they could vacuum it with a shop-vac. That brought the flow almost back down to specs. This was an EaAU-4090 element. This taught us that vacuuming works better than blowing when cleaning the filters. At first he didn't like the idea that he was going to have to clean his filter so much more often, especially when he had only cleaned his gauze filter once or twice, but then he realized how much more dirt he was going to keep out of his engine by using the EaAU.

I removed the AIS from my truck the first week of April this year. I replaced it with an Air-Raid intake system and an AMSOIL EaAU-6080. On Oct. 7, before leaving on a trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico, I checked the filter element and Vacuum-Minder gauge. The gauge was at half scale with approximately 6,700 miles on the filter. I vacuum cleaned the element and reset the gauge. The gauge moved up-scale just slightly during the trip, and I was pushing it pretty hard (probably harder than I should have been), sucking a lot of air, with my 10,000 pound trailer in tow . Maybe the new Ingen filter element will fit on my system. It has a lot more surface area than the EaAU-6080. I guess I will just have to wait until the specs come out to get the answer to that.

I have had diesels for about 8 years now, and selling fluids and parts for them for nearly 5, and I learn more about them every day. But then, I have been doing gas powered vehicles for nearly 50 years and am always learning more about them too. It is just impossible to know everything, that is why it is wise to continue searching and listening to every source available.

John