Zathras
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
This is really just a rant, not a substantive post, but I just came in from a hot-ass day replacing my OEM air filter with an AEM Dryflow drop in. I'd like to extend a "very special thanks" to whatever engineer or designer put that metal tab thing on the front inner fender that sticks into the engine bay and makes it really hard to get the top airbox piece lifted up enough so you can swap filters. With crap in front of and behind the airbox, and the connections like the sound tube and the other tubes and connections on the intake tube, there's not enough free movement in any direction. It looks like you could, in theory, move the airbox lid back towards the firewall to clear that tab, but I couldn't get it to move enough in that direction. I had to push back hard in the direction of the engine/throttle body to compress the intake tube enough in that direction to clear the tab. (The owner's manual says absolutely nothing about how one is expected to get the lid to clear that tab.) I got it open, but there were some ominous cracking sounds so I hope nothing broke.
I also don't like Ford's three-tab system on the lower airbox lid, when putting it all back together you have to push down really hard on the top lid to get it down far enough to engage and slide over those tabs. It seems to me like there's a good chance that's going to put too much shearing force on the front edge of the air filter seal, closest to those tabs, and possibly damage the seal or deform it. IMHO the lid should be designed to drop straight down over the filter element and be secured with clamps on all sides, to prevent lateral forces from being applied to the top of the filter.
On my first car you could take off one wingnut and the air cleaner lid just lifted right off with practically no effort. This is why I don't have the patience to work on cars anymore, even with the simplest things there's always something that makes it annoying. It took me longer to type all this than it did to change the filter, but I'm still going to be grumpy the rest of the day.
I also don't like Ford's three-tab system on the lower airbox lid, when putting it all back together you have to push down really hard on the top lid to get it down far enough to engage and slide over those tabs. It seems to me like there's a good chance that's going to put too much shearing force on the front edge of the air filter seal, closest to those tabs, and possibly damage the seal or deform it. IMHO the lid should be designed to drop straight down over the filter element and be secured with clamps on all sides, to prevent lateral forces from being applied to the top of the filter.
On my first car you could take off one wingnut and the air cleaner lid just lifted right off with practically no effort. This is why I don't have the patience to work on cars anymore, even with the simplest things there's always something that makes it annoying. It took me longer to type all this than it did to change the filter, but I'm still going to be grumpy the rest of the day.
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