Rebuilt Turbo & New Air Intake - Pics! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

TomJ · #1 01-23-2004, 01:02 AM

Well, finally got the parts for the triple K turbo and got it back together and installed.

After lingering thoughts about the worthless air intake on these 123 cars and seeing the various experiments along these same lines on the part of others here, here's what I can up with.

The K&N style filter on the turbo seems like a good idea, but too much hot air intake (not that the stock filter has anywhere NEAR cold air after going through the convoluted mess it has to transverse before seeing the compressor intake!), so here's what I did:

Bought one cone-style cotton-mesh filter and one of the Honda angled intake tubes that you buy at the chain stores. At home, I did a mock-up and wrangled things for fit, cutting the intake tube just after the bend (so the only thing I used was the bend with the vac nipple). The filter is made to have through-flow and they sell an adapter to hook a hose to the intake end. That adapter didn't work, BUT...., the stock MB air hose from the snorkle to the air cleaner snaps into the end of the filter nice and tight, couldn't ask for a better fit if you designed it that way. Just cut it down to about 1/3 of its orig length so it can make a gentle bend and stick tight to the intake snorkle, but not get too cramped up on it.

(Lost all images but one to a D/C'd web host - see the only pics I have below!)

Yes, it will draw most of the air from the OD of the filter, but it will ALSO have cold air intake directly into the compressor plenum, UNLIKE the stock filter housing which makes sure the tortuous route the air makes after coming in from the snorkle is well heated.

Only hitch is that I had to machine an adapter out of alum bar stock (7075-T6 was the only thing I had) and have an old swede who's a cert aircraft welder weld it onto the turbo plenum (while it was apart) to adapt to the rubber fitting for the intake pipe.

(Lost all images but one to a D/C'd web host - see the only pics I have below!)

Here's a better look at the end of the filter, you can see that quite a bit of air will flow through the end with the intake pipe hooked up:

(Lost all images but one to a D/C'd web host - see the only pics I have below!)

Here's a look with it pretty much buttoned up on the engine:

(Lost all images but one to a D/C'd web host - see the only pics I have below!)

Will finish hooking everything up tomorrow and post pics of my oil separator arrangement. Am thinking of pulling the whole unit off (Triple K screw-adjustable turbo and complete air intake) and selling it as an upgrade once I get it debugged. Might extend my having to sell the car by a month or so and give me enough time to get back to making an income so I can keep it.

Still need to figure a clean way to pre-screen the intake air to keep from clogging the end of the filter with bugs and cr*p, but that's a minor detail.

#2 01-23-2004, 03:51 AM

Looks darn good to me. Is your turbo/manifold polished or painted?

Have you felt any change in performance from this? I know you can hear the turbo spooling now

bodyart27 · #3 01-23-2004, 08:59 AM

I like the mini ram air, but you are still going to be pulling hot air in from under the engine bay. You could box the filter up in an inclosure to isolate it from the heat and try to pull air in from outside the engine compartment....

this is a cold air setup that I have on my nissan:

http://www.se-r.net/engine/cool_air_intake.html

Also, is the cone cotton (like K&N) or paper? If it is Cotton, it needs to be oil to trap dirt...

Nice setup though!

TomJ · #4 01-23-2004, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bodyart27
I like the mini ram air, but you are still going to be pulling hot air in from under the engine bay. You could box the filter up in an inclosure to isolate it from the heat and try to pull air in from outside the engine compartment....

this is a cold air setup that I have on my nissan:

http://www.se-r.net/engine/cool_air_intake.html

Also, is the cone cotton (like K&N) or paper? If it is Cotton, it needs to be oil to trap dirt...

Nice setup though!

As far as pulling in hot air, that's what the stock setup does with ALL of it's air. It may come in cold, but by the time it's gone its route, guaranteed it's not "cold" anymore. I have a portable temp monitor that I can run a thermocouple into the intake at the turbo and will see what the temp actually is, THEN do the same thing with a stock setup, would be interesting to note the differences.

I did buy one of those half-shields that match contour of these filters, but found out it was plastic and didn't think it would hold up well, so I took it back. Besides, with a direct shot of cold ram air, my gut feeling is that it will be colder overall air than the stock, but I guess I'll have to temp probe this, then remove everything and install the stock setup and see how it does with a probe.

The filter is cotton and will get a dose of K&N filter oil before it heads out on the road. Of course, it needs tires all-around to be road worthy and I won't be able to afford those at any foreseeable point in the future.

autozen · #5 01-23-2004, 11:34 AM

What did you do with the crankcase breather? You know that part of that complicated stock air cleaner is the oil seperator. The blow by oil condenses and drips back into the pan. I'm curious as to how that side of the engine will look in a month or so. Keep us posted.

Peter

psfred · #6 01-23-2004, 01:33 PM

You should install the factory one with the new turbo first, then the new one to compare. I don't believe you will get enough difference to notice.

You are going to have to do something for an oil separator, or you will be loosing considerable oil. It's illegal to run an open draft tube, and you don't want to smell it, either. You must at least run a hose from the valve cover to the intake, probably behind the air filter is best.

Peter

TomJ · #7 01-23-2004, 03:17 PM

OK, ok, here's the info on the oil separator.

Looked into just buying a 240D separator, but they are $127 now and that's not within the scope of this test (or within my budget for that matter, thanks to bigbabboon).

Here's the stock separator removed from the housing and filled with 3m polishing pad (the fine mesh stuff, one piece is hose-clamped to the vacuum side pipe in the plastic top). The drain tube to the case was cut off and flared so I could use a hose with clamps for the drain. I had to glue-in a fitting that reduces down to 1/4" barb for the vac line hose. The rest is pretty much stock except I cut the radius off the hard plastic tube from the VC to the separator.

Here's top view:

And here's front view:

And here's where the intake pulls from (stock nipple on the air tube in R side of pic):

#8 01-23-2004, 03:18 PM

I tried that. It left a nasty black oil soaked filter. Bought a K&N recharger and routed the crankcase vent t the ground with the "updated" breather hose and a rubber hose routing the gasses to the ground. I get a few drips of oil, but not enough to make me buy a $$$ 240D oil seperater.

It's not much right now, but I've relocated some things, polished the valve cover and intake manifold since I've taken this picture.

EDIT: Wow, Tom. Your's put's mine to shame. I have not been able to use my stock oil seperator because the PO, for some stupid reason, CUT off the oil drain fitting on the filter housing and cracked the plastic top.

TomJ · #9 01-23-2004, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dieseldiehard
......I'd suggest getting rid of the paper looking cone filter you are using presently.......

It isn't paper, it's cotton with screen reinforcing like the K&N, only it is a LOT stiffer than the K&N filters with their soft rubber support. It just hasn't been oiled yet or run on the road so it looks new (well..., it is). Also, the tube that I used for the bend has a welded-in air nipple just for breathers, that's why I used this instead of making the tubing myself. For the time to get bent tubing and then weld a nipple to it, it was worth hacking this thing apart. Since the tubing has a fitting in it, there's no need to try to mount a breather line into the end of a filter.

TomJ · #10 01-23-2004, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 82-300td
....... I have not been able to use my stock oil seperator because the PO, for some stupid reason, CUT off the oil drain fitting on the filter housing and cracked the plastic top.

Air filter assy's are cheap at the yards, if you want I can find you one with a good separator in it. Am thinking we need to come up with a better alternative though? The 240d one works, but for the expense, not sure it's worth it, should be something out there that works and "looks" right and clean?

JerryBro · #11 01-23-2004, 03:37 PM

Maybe I'm missing something, but it looks to me like the hose from the filter to the outside world will have all the cool are going directly to the turbo, unfiltered. What am I missing?

I'd thought of doing the same thing using the stock airbox from a 5 litre Ford V8.

Jerry

#12 01-23-2004, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JerryBro
Maybe I'm missing something, but it looks to me like the hose from the filter to the outside world will have all the cool are going directly to the turbo, unfiltered. What am I missing?

Yes, the blow-by goes straight from the valve cover, oil seperater, to the turbo un filtered. It's clean air from getting past the piston rings with some oil vapor in it.

JerryBro · #13 01-23-2004, 04:05 PM

Not the crankcase breather hose, but the hose that goes from the top of the air filter to the top of the radiator.

Jerry

psfred · #14 01-23-2004, 07:05 PM

The stock oil separator is a centrifugal one (the blowby spins round in the can, throwing the oil onto the sides). I suppose you could put mesh in it, but I would suggest a stainless steel scrubbing pad instead of a 3M scrub pad. It will remove as much oil, but the oil will drain out much better, and it will be cleanable. The scrub pad may not tolerate oil very well. If it gets packed down, it will go solid with oil and you risk pressurizing the crankcase. Won't cause any trouble, but the blowby will all go out the dipstick instead. You probably aren't going to increase the efficiency much by putting mesh in there anyway.

Send the blowby in behind the air filter, or it will fill up with oil pretty quick, and once oily, will prevent air flow.

Peter

engatwork · #15 01-23-2004, 07:16 PM

TomJ - you got a dyno? How in the world do you read that gauge at 13 psi

? Good looking set up using the separator out of stock air cleaner.

I imagine you will get alot more air flow through the section of the air cleaner underneath the hood. This is probably a good thing because the arrangement where it is blowing into the end of the air cleaner would probably allow water into it.