Accidentally found some extra power...

Over the weekend I decided to change oil and poke around under the hood a bit.

After the oil change, (Mobil1 - 10w-30) I decided to put a piece of polished aluminum intake tubing between the throttle body and air cleaner top... eliminating the plastic tube/intake muffler assy.
Two rubber hoses connected to the factory tube. One was just a crankcase breather from the valve covers, the other was a vacuum hose going to the fuel pressure regulator.

Instead of T-ing those hoses back into the new intake pipe... I decided to just put a breather in the valve cover hose and left the fuel pressure regulator hose off completely. There should NEVER be a source of pressure OR vacuum on the filter side of the throttle body... so I saw now reason for the vacuum hose unless the air filter clogs... it might pull fuel pressure down a little. Other than that, I dont know why it's there. A vacuum referenced fuel pressure regulator should be on the vacuum side of the throttle body.

Also... with respect to the breather hose... any air sucking into the throttle body from that 1/2" hose is not going past the MAF sensor. It is also contaminated with crankcase/oil vapors. Oil into the intake = detonation.

What I have noticed is... the engine feels more responsive, revs cleaner and has much less hesitation/lean bog on long uphill grades. Less downshifting and less pedal needed to climb hills. Feels like I picked up a bunch of torque.
To be fair.... I had previously done the stock airbox mod, removed the charcoal pre-filter and installed a high flow paper AFE filter... so Im sure that contributes to the improvement.

No check engine lights and no change in fuel economy sofar.

I don't think Im crazy. Ive been turning wrenches for 30+ years and can definitely feel it runs better.

There may be something to this...

Just wondered if anyone else has tried it.

 

I'd be inclined to leave any hosed, especially fuel related, attached to at least something but you do you! There's vacuum anywhere from the engine to open atmosphere, that includes from the throttle body all the way to the fender. If air is flowing through that section then there's a pressure difference.

 

I think the biggest improvement was eliminating the crankcase breather hose from the intake tract. That is unmetered air... not passing by the MAF sensor.

The fuel pressure regulator is currently only exposed to ambient air. No vac leaks with this mod.

And I can say without a doubt... the engine is running stronger right now.

 

The valve cover breather hose is providing filtered fresh air to the crankcase to replace the vapors being drawn out by the PCV system. If you're not concerned about drawing unfiltered air into your crankcase, then maybe you've found a pony or two.

 

I have a filtered K&N breather on the end of the hose right now so thats a non-issue. It's just not pulling it from the intake tract.

Whatever the case may be... somehow the engine is running significantly better than before the changes were made.

And... dont get me wrong... it didnt run "bad" before. It only runs better now.

After going to the 35" tires, I could feel it laboring a bit more on hills to the point it almost felt like a lean condition and slight bog... which would cause a downshift.
The same hills are now effortless to climb... and it's really not dropping gears as much as before.

I'm not suggesting this is a 50hp upgrade... only saying I can feel a noticeable improvement in drivability.

 

X2 !

 

I'll get pics after work today.

Its nothing to look at honestly. Basically just like a poor-mans cold air intake.

 

I mean, I'd slap a My Little Pony figurine in there if I thought it could get me a few extra HP/TQ with no bad side effects. *shrug*

 

Honestly... I expected it to do nothing but make more noise... like flipping the air cleaner lid on an old quadrajet 4bbl... but to my surprise, it actually sounds quieter than before.
I'm sure the stock airbox mod has something to do with that.

 

Pics as promised.

 

Did you disconnect battery when you did this?

 

nope.

 

Did you void the powertrain warranty

 

I can only hope so. No mod is worth a crap unless it voids the warranty.

 

Right on !

 

Nice! Where did you buy this "Beast Mode" pipe? I kind of want one - but would like to see a few more people install it.

 

Its just a random piece of 3.5" /22 degree elbow i had laying around. Same with the couplers and hose clamps. (2 are OEM /re-used)

Its easy enough to source this stuff cheap on Amazon/ebay and cut to fit.
I dont recall specific sizes/diameters. I think the rubber couplers are offset sizes. (3 to 3.5) or something like that.
Honestly I would need to measure everything to be sure... and im not pulling it apart to do that. lol

 

I did something similar with an aluminum pipe and silicone couplers on my V8 4runner. Getting rid of all the elephant ears made it have a nice growl! I'd like to do this to the Tundra too but also to lazy too measure lol

 

Uhh, did they change the oil type for 2020? I thought 0w-20 is what we use.

 

Agreed. The tolerances on this motor are super tight. Hence the requirement for a 0 weight oil.

 

I'm not running a zero weight oil in Atlanta GA. It's too hot down here. 10w-30 goes in over the Summer months.
0w-20 will go back in over the Winter months.

Somehow I knew this would turn into a "thing" here. lol

 

Just looking out for ya.

 

Good luck. Hopefully you have no issues that warrant any repairs. I live in southeast Louisiana, which is hotter, and for longer than Georgia and there have been zero issues running the correct 0w20

 

He is fine running 10W30. The clearances/tolerances in these engines are not too tight for thicker oil. If you look in TIS the bearing clearances have not changed since 2007 and they don't change them just to ship the truck to Mexico or anywhere else. 0W20 is for the EPA and nothing else.

 

There are some aftermarket intakes in the ISF scene that eliminate the breathers from the intake tube as well. In doing so, it does allow unmetered air to enter the valve cover, travel into the crankcase, and back in to the vacuum side of the intake via the PCV valve. This does introduce "unmetered" air into the system and potentially a leaner ratio (which could pick up a few hp) until the ECU adjusts the fuel trims to richen it back up. But if for some reason its beyond the ECU fuel trim compensation, you could potentially get a CEL for a lean condition (as unlikely as that is).

 

Certainly sounds plausible... whatever the case may be. Either way, the truck seems to run a little better and Im sure it's not just in my head.

And... the ISF is definitely on my radar.
Once the wife's 4runner is paid off... we may buy one as a weekend toy or for roadtrips. I'd rather a C6 Z06, but thats harder sell for the wife. I think the ISF will be more practical and she will be OK with it.