Intake cleanup

[CCO]

Doing some general maintenance today I discovered that my VaraRam filter was absolutely filthy. The rest of the intake all the way up to the throttle plate was ok with just a light dusting needed.

I vacuumed the filter before hosing out the rest of the gunk. Be sure to hose from the clean side to the dirty side to push the dirt back out instead of thru the filter.

A quick shake out and a little while in the sun and the filter was ready for install.

I also sprayed the air flow sensor with MAF cleaner to be sure it was clean.

I'm guessing that the open front of the intake will contribute to the filter getting dirty quicker needing more regular maintenance. The car has 7650 kilometers on it.

Just a little heads up for those with the VaraRam intake system. I was really surprised at the dirt that came out of there.

Don't know if this was hurting gas mileage or not -- I'll soon see but at least I'll have a little peace of mind.

C.

 

[Crusher]

Interesting..Thanks for the info

If I ever do get a Vararam down the road I will keep an eye on it

 

[Woodstock Car Guy]

Nice to see it is doing its' job.

 

[CCO]

Nice to see it is doing its' job.

for sure Terry......tho I've never had so much dirt and crap build up so fast b4.
Probably due to the open/ram front of the intake.

I've never had one like that so I'm expecting it's the nature of the beast.

You're welcome Crusher.

C.

 

[Woodstock Car Guy]

I think I should clean mine too.

 

[CCO]

I think I should clean mine too.

hahaha, Terry, it may be a little dirty too, so maybe that'll net you a few more ponies to put you on top of the hp race. You never know.

C.

 

[Woodstock Car Guy]

Yeah. I had my car back to Manny's for a tune and managed to pull 486 hp w/ 436 ft lbs of torque (an increase of 37 hp). On the initial drive home afterwards, I could immediately feel the increased lower rpm hp and the engine is much smoother through the mid rpm band. I'm sure it would shave several tenths off of a quarter mile time.
I have ordered a new pulley to increase the boost of the supercharger and will be back for a retune upon its arrival.
Looking forward to joinging the 500 + club.

 

[CCO]

Yeah. I had my car back to Manny's for a tune and managed to pull 486 hp w/ 436 ft lbs of torque (an increase of 37 hp). On the initial drive home afterwards, I could immediately feel the increased lower rpm hp and the engine is much smoother through the mid rpm band. I'm sure it would shave several tenths off of a quarter mile time.
I have ordered a new pulley to increase the boost of the supercharger and will be back for a retune upon its arrival.
Looking forward to joinging the 500 + club.

As Riley would say: "WOOHOO" -- I like the sound of all that. Congrats on one stout runner.

I've been thinking FI lately too -- It's awful tempting and an easy bolt-on 200 ponies. but damn, what does one do with all that giddyup????

C.

 

[Woodstock Car Guy]

Thanks Colin. With the extra pones the options are all yours ...

 

[tony]

Who says you have to "do" anything with the extra horses.
I'm led to believe its all in the bragging rights.[g].
As my wife says...why do you want more power...you can well exceed the
the speed limit just in 2nd !!
But what fun !

Tony, welland [ with a mere 430 horses ! ]

 

[CCO]

Who says you have to "do" anything with the extra horses.
I'm led to believe its all in the bragging rights.[g].
As my wife says...why do you want more power...you can well exceed the
the speed limit just in 2nd !!
But what fun !

Tony, welland [ with a mere 430 horses ! ]

handy to have, tho, if someone calls your bluff right tony.

........and don't believe everything you're told, tony, Some of us are adventuresome. (or at least thinking/dreaming about it)

Have some real fun, lad-- have some real fun.

C.

 

[xlr8r]

Colin.

Would us stock air filter guys clean the same way? The system is still a ram-air system, so wondering if I should give it a whirl, or just replace the filter altogether.

 

[CCO]

Colin.

Would us stock air filter guys clean the same way? The system is still a ram-air system, so wondering if I should give it a whirl, or just replace the filter altogether.

Good question. I'd check the filter first and see how bad it is. Not hard to remove from the housing,
If not polluted too bad then just vacuum up and replace. (again I'll say vacuum back out the dirty side and not thru to the clean side.)

No don't get it wet. Only reusable units can be cleaned with water/cleaner.
Investing in a cleanable filter will save over the long haul especially if it dirties up quickly.

I'm not sure how expensive replacements are but I can't imagine that much so I'd recommend a replacement to be sure of good air supply.

If you've not serviced the filter for a while you might be surprised at what you find.
Check downstream too when you do go in to see if the filter is doing its job.

Please tell us when you do that. I'd be interested to hear if others are just as bad (and effective) as mine was.

Colin.

 

[Riley P]

As Riley would say: "WOOHOO" -- I like the sound of all that. Congrats on one stout runner.

I've been thinking FI lately too -- It's awful tempting and an easy bolt-on 200 ponies. but damn, what does one do with all that giddyup????

C.

You read my mind! Definitely a WOOHOO! It sounds like you guys are having a great summer out east!

As for the filter, I clean my Vararam once a year and found that to be sufficient. I have the Z06 screens on the front of my car and believe that keeps a lot of the big stuff from getting to the filter. I always shake mine out then submerge it in hot water with dish detergent to clean everything out. After a lot of rinsing, I give it a spray with the ol' WD-40 as recommended by Vararam. However, this year I found an insane amount of dirt downstream of the filter. I mean a lot for the little amount I drove since it's last cleaning!!! Anyway, pictures were sent to Manny and he said not to sweat it. It all got cleaned up with the new intake and I triple check how the filter seats. Worse case scenario, I heard there was an LS7 for sale on this forum.

 

[CCO]

You read my mind! Definitely a WOOHOO! It sounds like you guys are having a great summer out east!

As for the filter, I clean my Vararam once a year and found that to be sufficient. I have the Z06 screens on the front of my car and believe that keeps a lot of the big stuff from getting to the filter. I always shake mine out then submerge it in hot water with dish detergent to clean everything out. After a lot of rinsing, I give it a spray with the ol' WD-40 as recommended by Vararam. However, this year I found an insane amount of dirt downstream of the filter. I mean a lot for the little amount I drove since it's last cleaning!!! Anyway, pictures were sent to Manny and he said not to sweat it. It all got cleaned up with the new intake and I triple check how the filter seats. Worse case scenario, I heard there was an LS7 for sale on this forum.

OOOOOOYEAHHHHHHH -- three magic digits: LS7 .. Yeah baby. What a replacement motor that would be for you. If only money was no object.

When you said excess dirt downstream, the first thing that came to mind was poor seating. I must admit the seating isn't the easiest on the VaraRam and found that extra care was needed to git-er-done right.
Would pay to check a little more often to be sure it's ok.

Seems there's much more dust and dirt in the air these days probably due to more traffic and construction etc -- and with our VaraRam's open front end, they're picking a lot of it up.

I put mine back in dry -- I wonder if WD is the way to go. I didn't know that V-Ram suggested it. I know it was dry when I got it.

Maybe I'll have to take it back out again soon to oil up.

Thanks for the tip Riley.

C.

 

[Riley P]

Not a problem. The filter should have a thin oil film on it as that is what picks up the really small stuff. Don't douse it in WD, just coat it. Double check on the WD though. I remember that Vararam suggested it...which is weird because WD dries up over time unlike an oil product. They also state that you can use other filter cleaning kits such as K&N which is what I may use the next time.

 

[CCO]

Not a problem. The filter should have a thin oil film on it as that is what picks up the really small stuff. Don't douse it in WD, just coat it. Double check on the WD though. I remember that Vararam suggested it...which is weird because WD dries up over time unlike an oil product. They also state that you can use other filter cleaning kits such as K&N which is what I may use the next time.

I see your point on future cleanups: with the WD's fine film (it must leave a little oil residue) then just hosing with water won't work. One would have to at least soak in warm soapy water to clean properly or go to a cleanup kit like the K&N one.

C.