First few drives with the AF1 … noticed a power difference! That’s a good thing! The bad thing was it had an awful moan just before going open loop. Was like blowing air over a large bottle or drum. A deep nasty note that hurt the ears and was an uncomfortable tone.

Slid the air filter farther out on the end of the tube … Ah… much better! Most of that really awful sick moan gone … but still hits some of that deep bottle note at times. The bad tone was certainly less but would still hit the ears with just the right throttle … a little more or less and it would go away. The real problem was when that was the throttle position I needed to hold a given speed, usually just before the TQ would unlock … most noticeable when pulling a load and starting to throttle into and up a hill.

So, my thinking is that the end of the tube where the filter mounts is still catching the incoming air. The filter has a rounded funnel type flow as it tapers in to the mount flange. The tube is tapered in like a spinner pipe cut-off was run around to cut the tube off causing a slight edge bend inward on both sides. The slight taper in of the tube made it impossible to mount the filter right on the end because when the clamp tightened it would squeeze right off the rounded end. This means that the tube end sort of hangs an edge out/in inside the filter and catches air flow just right causing that blowing over a bottle tone.

To make this long story short … after many weeks of thinking about the sound and possibly trying a different setup etc… I borrowed a pipe expander and made the filter end of the tube flare just slightly out. While I was at it … I smoothed out both end edges and removed the other ding that I didn’t take out when I first installed. Now the filter mounts tightly on the tube end.

Also I took the rubber elbow off and cleaned up all the flappers and rough blobs it had inside. The rubber on the outside is sooo smooth and finished but the inside was rough and had a pretty good ridge where the two molds were put together. I trimmed stuff down to help make a smoother feel. While I did this with a razor blade and x-acto knife … it might be easier to use the end of a soldering iron to carefully melt the seams smooth? Didn’t think of that then!

Anyway, after all of this … I’ve been driving for a few days and cannot get that bad tone to happen anymore! It sounds SOOO much better! The BhaaaaWaa bottle effect is gone! Yes you can still hear some airflow but it just sounds all good now!


My Truck Info Page
More AF1 pics

 

Great write-up,your gallery is awsome!

 

BTW ... you know how many talk about it sounding like old 4 barrel carbs opening up ... well, much of that sound is now gone. In my case ... the AF1 was louder than my exhaust and now it is a nice smooth matched balance.

 

Nice job Tycreek and great website. I just ordered my Stage 1 kit today and will probably make all the modifications you mentioned to the AF1 when I put mine on.

 

tycreek,
thanks for the picture gallery! Very well done, with just the right amount of everything. Just one question regarding your scangauge though, what types of readouts are you actually able to obtain? The website claims a bit more than I think most Ford Engines log, such as transmission temp, etc. I guess what I'm asking is aside from looks--because your right, they aren't much--is it worth the money? Also, how did it affect your xCal tune, if any?

 

For the ScanGauge ... I don't remember any claim of trans temp?

Currently I watch LOD, MPG, fWT, and cycle through whatever on the forth button. Of the readout options I only remember one that doesn't work ... can't remember what it is humm, ... just looked it up and it's FPR ... not sure about MAP as it might not work either as it seems to me that it reads 0 all the time?

All the other selectables get data and would say it's worth it! Should have gotten it 1st ...

Just like the Predator in diagnostics or datalog mode ... they don't effect your loaded tune. Unlike the Predator ... it is all automatic and remembers the chosen settings ... even after unplug for PCM loads etc...

It has some trip, or you might say "session", tracking features but I've only glanced at them. Not what I got it for...

I might hook up a tranny gauge sometime ... but I'm not in a real hurry yet

 

Got a question for you tycreek? Is you power-stack filter still deep blue or is the color beginning to fade? Mines fading that’s why I ask.

 

Mine has faded as well... Actually more than yours jp.

 

I was just wondering if fading is a normal occurrence with all oiled filters (red / blue / etc) or is the filter deficiently oiled from the factory? This is my first aftermarket-oiled filter, so I have no clue

 

We're in the same boat man. I'm not sure either as this is my first oiled cone too.

Secondly, I'm a bit worried about using the K&N filter cleaning kit since the oil is tinted red so that you can tell where you have oiled and where you haven't oiled... any thoughts on that?

 

Found this on a web site that sells Air Force One products. They had it listed for $16.50.

S & B Filter Cleaning Kit 12oz. (SB6005)

This kit contains the blue oil needed to clean your Airforce One Intake's filter.

 

I remember reading a post where Mike said using the K&N oil and cleaner was OK the only difference being the oil is red, not blue. He also said do it about every 30,000 miles or so.

 

But if AF1 only needs cleaning and oiling every 30,000 miles...which is identical to my old K&N (which I cleaned and oiled every 10,000 miles for grins). Then my question is why is the AF1 fading so quickly? I doubt RP and everyone else has put 30,000 miles on it, much less 10,000 miles. Usually with my K&N, if it was fading from red then it was drying out and needing more oil and a cleaning...which didn't happen at my 10,000 mile cleanings and oilings, but rather when my friend cleaned and oiled his at 30,000 miles. So why is the AF1 drying up so fast? If the blue oil is color is fading then the oil is drying up quickly. This is not good at all b/c then the filter is useless when dry. Engine troubles would kick in on a dry filter....thats like running it without a filter at all.

 

Don’t know the answer but I plan on calling Mike and running it by him, because he uses AF-1’s on all his vehicles and should know

 

if its a color preferece, it dont matter to me.. like duke said, if its drying out , thats a problem.. my old gmc, i had the k&n, and i never experenced that.. if its happing on the AF1, i'll use the red oil if it lasts longer

chris