hey all, i have a 94 6.5TD, and was going to install a K&N air filter in place of the original air box, but then was suggested i use another route due to engine heat in summer under a closed hood.

the question is, after looking up several ways of doing this, and seeing the stock air ducts built into the fender, i was leaning towards the side of keeping the original air box, and installing a K&N in that location. THEN..... installing an intercooler between the turbo and the intake.

the concern i have is this: if i leave the stock air box in, i get a decent amout of air flow, that is somewhat cool, and then it gets cooler by the intercooler before the intake uses it.

the other side is this: if i use the aftermarket air filter, and do away with the stock air box, and then also use the intercooler, would i be better off doing this?

i hope the make sence, kinda kickin around both ideas. you experts let me know! LOL :help:

go to www.kennedydiesel.com and click tech tips then 6.5 then intake mods and hook up that stock air box. the intercoolers for these things that you can buy put the IC where the skid plate is on your 4x4 not good for a trail use vehicle. myself and others here are working on radiator and a/c coil relocations to be able to run IC's inside the grille where it should be. feel free to get creative or sit back and wait for someone here to figure out the best solution.

Lupey, I've often considered if I were to really trail mine I'd come up with an armor routine much like a tranny skid shield on stand offs tied to the frame to protect the IC under the bumper, that should work for most off road adventures, thought being install the guard before getting down & dirty and remove it when rolling back home, IC either grille or under bumper mounted don't do much work until you get 10 mph or so air across them.

I don't know what your factory "skid plate" is made of mine was made of plastic, more of a mud shield than a skid plate, from a protection standpoint the IC would be stronger than the plate/shield I removed for the IC install it's pretty robust but I would not want to try to support the front of the truck with it. Taller tires would help as will body lift which I would assume a serious off road truck would be equipped with. I also would consider that if off road were my main interest that WMI might be the best/easiest route to go, IMO if frequent towing or mostly hiway driving is your goal nothing better than IC, as adverts go set & forget it.

my factory skid is 1/4" aluminum and can acctually take some abuse. if it were in the grille then some air will flow through it just from the fan.

IC goes after the turbo prior to the engine, what it does is lower charge air temp after compressor squeezes it & prior to feeding it to the engine, keep your stock air box with the lid on it go to JKs site ands see what can be done to enhance feed to the filter, as for ICs go with biggest one you can fit, bad part of that there isn't a lot of real estate to give it a home, under bumper like mine or lot of cutting fitting like Lupey & his pals are doing are about only IC options, Some have played with water to air coolers, & freon to air but that also requires some creativity.

. THEN..... installing an intercooler between the turbo and the intake.


! LOL :help:

Lupey out of curiosity any of your buddies offroad Diesels if so what is their experience, I just wonder if while 4 wheelin whether one actually gets a turbo spooled up enough to even need charge air cooling, most of my off road experience has been crawling and occasional mud hole or 2 in & out as quick as I can get through it. My truck as configured now isn't set up for much off road duty, I always thought it to be too nose heavy to be effective for real 4 wheelin in stock suspension trim..

I'm the only diesel in my group of wheeling friends. i find that the radiator and cooling system are much more important to the off roader but it couldn't hurt for getting there. the beach is another story IC would definitely help there.

i see both points of on or off road. my Suburban is a tow vehicle, and it is ON ROAD only!

thanks for all the input fellas. i'll go check out KD

hey turbine doc, you know i was talking about the turbo, and the intake on the engine correct? not the turbo and the air intake box! LOL maybe i should have cleared that up.

Yes I suspected that but was adding clarification for benefit of those that might have gotten a different impression as I did on my 1st read of your question, we get all experience levels here, so clearer the better for all who might stumble across on this thread later

You really want to know what kinda EGT's you will have being chipped/re-flashed with mods similiar to mine. WOT from a dead stop at the bottom of a +/- 6% grade hill pulling nothing but the trucks own weight of 7200 lbs. EGT's were at 400 F to start, EGT's climbing as fast as the speedo was, i hit 900 F just when it decided to shift to 4th (120 Km/Hr), ambient temps were around +4C. Remember my pyro is post turbo. Boost of course was dependent on rpms but ranged from 12 - 18 psi.

I thought i should post this so you guy's running without gauges will think twice before holding it on the floor for to long when ambient temps are even higher. Prior runs on flat ground would produce EGT's of 1000 F when i run out of fuel at near 100 MPH with similiar ambient temps.

CanadianRigger (http://dieselplace.com/forum/member.php?u=5870), talk english here!! LOL

english translation:
if someone doesn't have gauges to tell them what is going on with their truck they shouldn't do any mods that would add heat(boost and/or fuel delivery)

agreed!

i just got off the phone with John from www.intercoolers.net (http://www.intercoolers.net) and he has a "water to air" kit for $575. it provides 20% more cooling, he tells me

it requires a 12v water pump, resivor, and a oil cooler/heat exchanger.

any of you fellas ever mess with this? it really has my attention!

Lot of extra plumbing for my purposes, plus you need something to cool the water after it has cooled the air charge, some parasitic loss with power for pumps, probably negligible ammount, but anything that robs power even fractional is a negative for me.

You towing, racing, or cruising, I'm a firm believer in KISS principle Keeep It Simple Silly,
IC fits this category best IMO, but has it's detractions as well.

Gather all facts for each, and make best guess, remember to include installation considerations, long term maintainability, where are you going to put tanks of water, how long to next refill, weight of water to be hauling around those intangibles often get over looked.

good points Doc! i will keep them in mind.

i use my suburban in the summer for towing a large trailor to swap meets we attend. other than that, it is awesome for long hauls on the highway, even for several hundred miles per trip!
i will be doing more insight for both ways, but i definatly want a IC

You could put your own WTA together for ~$100.

I hit the dirt quite bit and need some ideas on cooling the air. I'm in Arizona so my ambients are reaching the 110-120 deg marks. Not sure if an IC would be my thing since speeds don't reach more than a couple mph on a step hill. Occasionally i'll see 15-20 mph on a good sandy wash or dirt road. I plan on upgrading my cooling system this year and installing a new exhaust system. Any ideas?????

JMK,

IC is for lowering charge air temp to the engine post turbo, what kind of boost you seeing, < 7 sustained 10 intermittent you probably don't need charge air cooling for off road, we can run 100-110 summers South MS 90-100% humidity so I sympathize with your heat problem. Towing or high boost conditions is were post turbo cooling is required, sounds like you could benefit by opening up pipes to 3.5" freelow muff or no muffler if you don't mind some louder noise, install freeflowing down pipe, get rid of the cat if you have one, and look into 97+ cooling mods, and fan clutch. Key to making power & lowering temps for a Diesel is air flow, adding anything else before that you are cheating yourself of free power lying in wait to be untapped.