6.8 V10 Breather "Moaning" Fix

[jd-ford-hd]

This is probably the best mod I’ve made to our Georgetown. (if someone has done this, my apologies for not finding it) The air breather inlet for the 6.8 is located right in front of your wife's left knee.! Who remembers that Quadrajet carb on a big block Chevy "moaning" when stabbed wide open?! Got the 4” flexible downspout tube with 90 degree fitting from Home Depot. The flex 90 fits perfectly over the "bugle mouth" inlet of the breather box. Then cut a short piece from the 10ft hose to curve down towards roadway and zip tied in place. The black tube blends well with the chassis black. HUGE difference in noise when that ultra sensitive Ford cruise control downshifts on hills. ❤️

[NXR]

That's an interesting mod. We don't have any "moaning" but it sure is loud inside at WOT.

Do you know how many CFM's the V10 sucks at wide open throttle? That bend, the ribbing, and the additional length will add restriction and turbulence and I'm wondering if a fabricated pipe of smooth solid piping as is used on a car would help with the air flow.

I take it you have not seen any drop-off in MPG or power? About how many miles ago did you do this?

Ray

[bubbles]

Where you have routed it to is where previous GT's had it routed. The issue was that driving through a rain storm water would be sucked up through the intake, soaking the filter and being ingested into the engine under high RPM's. My 2000 GT had this issue and Ford came out with a "jerry rigged" application that did not work. Might want to research and maybe rethink your install. Just a suggestion.

[Dodge Guy]

Nice mod but has the potential to suck up some water.

And don't even get me started on the poorly programmed Ford cruise control!

[2011George.360]

JD - Great idea ! I'll steal it but will most likely have a shorter "down tube" to prevent any water intake issue.

Thanks for sharing. Much appreciate the clever thoughts you gave to lessen the noise.

Take care.

Don and Nancy
Huntley, Il
2011 Georgetown XL DS 360

[cariboo camper]

Definitely noisy, I covered the inside of air box with Dynamat noise dampening material which cut the noise down considerably. Very thin mat and should not make a difference to air flow. Amazon has lots of different products. Definitely made a difference in noise.

I do like your idea and intend on using it. How about wrapping the tubing in some kind of noise dampening material?. I could see a definite advantage to shortening it and maybe facing toward the grill with some sort of bugle shape on the end. Think I may head over to junk yard and see if there is some kind of air inlet system I can adapt.

Thanks for the post, any way we can cut down the noise on these machines is helpful.

[Bytesponge]

Originally Posted by jd-ford-hd

This is probably the best mod I’ve made to our Georgetown. (if someone has done this, my apologies for not finding it) The air breather inlet for the 6.8 is located right in front of your wife's left knee.! Who remembers that Quadrajet carb on a big block Chevy "moaning" when stabbed wide open?! Got the 4” flexible downspout tube with 90 degree fitting from Home Depot. The flex 90 fits perfectly over the "bugle mouth" inlet of the breather box. Then cut a short piece from the 10ft hose to curve down towards roadway and zip tied in place. The black tube blends well with the chassis black. HUGE difference in noise when that ultra sensitive Ford cruise control downshifts on hills. ❤️

You might consider where animals like squirrels can come to roost. We had a squirrel storing seeds and food in my wifes car intake hose while it was not being used in the Winter. Didn't find it until I went to change air filter in the Spring. We also had a bird nest near my v-10 engine in the MH. Luckily I found it as well while servicing the battery. This kind of thing can happen if we are not aware! I covered the intake hose on my wife's car with a non-restrictive cloth and kept the squirrel out so far.
Good luck keeping the water out.

[Grdumond]

Would this item solve some of the mod issues some of you are worried about? https://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-Engin....c100008.m2219

[jd-ford-hd]

Sorry, I am not a frequent visitor here. So updating. Gotta say again this is the BEST mod yet to our coach. The decibel reduction inside is HUGE.! Let’s take the critique points one at a time.! (About me:former NASCAR crew member, engine builder, pulling tractors, industrial installation of pneumatic material transfer systems. I understand air flow and induction.! Note my signature, used it since I joined here.!)

*Water?: Original design has the air breather directly in line or slightly above the grille opening with absolutely nothing to stop rain water from entering the breather. This is not the round breather that was on the first F53. On this newer square box, Ford has water ejection designed in it. See the little drain boss/hole in the bottom and lower right corner? The tube I used is ribbed with small slits/holes in it for its intended purpose of drain water dissipation. The column of intake air moving thru this ribbed tube will initiate circumferential, reverse flow, air "eddy’s" (like smoke rings are created). Predictively, this should assist in ejecting, thru the slits/holes, any minute amount of moisture that may have found its way inside the tube. I purposely terminated the open end of the tube behind a point on the fiberglass nose that should prevent the tube from "seeing" any water at all.

*Restriction?: A 4” tube feeding atmospheric pressure to a 2.75” inlet hole in the air box, well, let’s just say that the induction system has no idea the tube is there.! We’ve all seen the wanna-be off-roaders riding around town in their Jeeps with the 3-4ft. tall snorkel attachments added to their air breathers.!

*Turbulence?: Think about it. Air moving in a straight line from the grill opening has to turn an immediate 90 degrees to enter a square box, then turn another 90 degrees to enter a square filter, go thru wire mesh & zigzag pleated paper, then turn another 90 degrees to exit the air box, then turn another 90 degrees on its way to the throttle body.!! I’m not thinking my tube install did much to mess up this utopia of air flow.! LOL.!

*Birds/squirrels?: I cannot guarantee you will not have squirrel problems, but we have a dog that will guarantee we won’t.! Birds are another story. I actually found grass/straw in the air box where a Wren wanted to build a nest. That is the day I started thinking seriously about doing this mod. I’m betting that the little Wren will not be climbing up this tube to build a nest. Time will tell.!

*Performance?: Since installing we’ve had two (2) trips to the Smokies with lots of hills to climb each way. Power is exactly where it was since we purchased it new in '09. Every mile and every gallon of fuel used since new is in my log book. There is no change whatsoever in fuel mileage.

Just like any mod or idea you see in this forum or others, if you don’t think it’s for you, don’t do it.! 😃😃 My wife just wanted to know why I didn’t think of it sooner.!

[Mooney 78865]

Originally Posted by jd-ford-hd

Sorry, I am not a frequent visitor here. So updating. Gotta say again this is the BEST mod yet to our coach. The decibel reduction inside is HUGE.! Let’s take the critique points one at a time.! (About me:former NASCAR crew member, engine builder, pulling tractors, industrial installation of pneumatic material transfer systems. I understand air flow and induction.! Note my signature, used it since I joined here.!)

*Water?: Original design has the air breather directly in line or slightly above the grille opening with absolutely nothing to stop rain water from entering the breather. This is not the round breather that was on the first F53. On this newer square box, Ford has water ejection designed in it. See the little drain boss/hole in the bottom and lower right corner? The tube I used is ribbed with small slits/holes in it for its intended purpose of drain water dissipation. The column of intake air moving thru this ribbed tube will initiate circumferential, reverse flow, air "eddy’s" (like smoke rings are created). Predictively, this should assist in ejecting, thru the slits/holes, any minute amount of moisture that may have found its way inside the tube. I purposely terminated the open end of the tube behind a point on the fiberglass nose that should prevent the tube from "seeing" any water at all.

*Restriction?: A 4” tube feeding atmospheric pressure to a 2.75” inlet hole in the air box, well, let’s just say that the induction system has no idea the tube is there.! We’ve all seen the wanna-be off-roaders riding around town in their Jeeps with the 3-4ft. tall snorkel attachments added to their air breathers.!

*Turbulence?: Think about it. Air moving in a straight line from the grill opening has to turn an immediate 90 degrees to enter a square box, then turn another 90 degrees to enter a square filter, go thru wire mesh & zigzag pleated paper, then turn another 90 degrees to exit the air box, then turn another 90 degrees on its way to the throttle body.!! I’m not thinking my tube install did much to mess up this utopia of air flow.! LOL.!

*Birds/squirrels?: I cannot guarantee you will not have squirrel problems, but we have a dog that will guarantee we won’t.! Birds are another story. I actually found grass/straw in the air box where a Wren wanted to build a nest. That is the day I started thinking seriously about doing this mod. I’m betting that the little Wren will not be climbing up this tube to build a nest. Time will tell.!

*Performance?: Since installing we’ve had two (2) trips to the Smokies with lots of hills to climb each way. Power is exactly where it was since we purchased it new in '09. Every mile and every gallon of fuel used since new is in my log book. There is no change whatsoever in fuel mileage.

Just like any mod or idea you see in this forum or others, if you don’t think it’s for you, don’t do it.! 😃😃 My wife just wanted to know why I didn’t think of it sooner.!

I'm in! Heading to Lowes in the morning to pick up the needed items. My rig lives under a cover in a paved storage yard. There are a lot of motorhomes, boats, and other assorted POS for the rodents and birds to infest. And besides, I retired last month and don't plan on sitting around much longer. This will be a nice easy mod, with noticeable improvement! Thanks for sharing. (I live in California's Central Valley. Pretty sure it don't rain here either)

[Mooney 78865]

Done! Easy install, noticeable improvement in intake noise reduction. Took the wife on the test drive without telling her what I had done. She noticed a difference straight away.
$12 well spent.

[jd-ford-hd]

Originally Posted by Mooney 78865

Done! Easy install, noticeable improvement in intake noise reduction. Took the wife on the test drive without telling her what I had done. She noticed a difference straight away.
$12 well spent.

That is great Mooney.!! Thank you for reporting back with your results.!

[RELHUB]

Originally Posted by jd-ford-hd

This is probably the best mod I’ve made to our Georgetown. (if someone has done this, my apologies for not finding it) The air breather inlet for the 6.8 is located right in front of your wife's left knee.! Who remembers that Quadrajet carb on a big block Chevy "moaning" when stabbed wide open?! Got the 4” flexible downspout tube with 90 degree fitting from Home Depot. The flex 90 fits perfectly over the "bugle mouth" inlet of the breather box. Then cut a short piece from the 10ft hose to curve down towards roadway and zip tied in place. The black tube blends well with the chassis black. HUGE difference in noise when that ultra sensitive Ford cruise control downshifts on hills. ❤️

Good to know but I love the sound of the engine and even like it better with good set of Headers for the better exhaust note.

[cfo111]

Ford had in the past some like this suck up water shutting down engine in heavy rain. thats why they are shorten I will leave my were it is LOL.

[IDguy]

Thanks for the idea. I’ll look to see if it is doable on my 2019. Mine doesn’t moan but it is noisy.

While I am happy with the cruise driven shifting on my 2019 in the future I plan to shut cruise off on the ups to delay shifting in hope of helping mpg. Experimenting with my jeep, which displays real time mpg, it might help a lot. I’ll slow down on the ups and speed up on the downs.

I live and mostly travel east of the west coastal mountains so rain is a rare event.

[Bytesponge]

Originally Posted by IDguy

Thanks for the idea. I’ll look to see if it is doable on my 2019. Mine doesn’t moan but it is noisy.

While I am happy with the cruise driven shifting on my 2019 in the future I plan to shut cruise off on the ups to delay shifting in hope of helping mpg. Experimenting with my jeep, which displays real time mpg, it might help a lot. I’ll slow down on the ups and speed up on the downs.

I live and mostly travel east of the west coastal mountains so rain is a rare event.

I insulated my engine cover and don't hear engine noises like I did in the past.
Ford V-10 2017

[Georgetown377]

Me too, I’m old school and love the sound of air being sucked into my carburetor. But nonetheless this is a nice Mod, and it can be tweaked by those who wish. Hats off!