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Old 28th September 2012, 23:25   #1
denis
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Default Air Intake Modification Issue.

I decided to make a new thread of this so it gets read. This is to do with being wary about cutting the corrugated bellows section off the air intake on the diesel 75 & ZT.

Following comments made by Marinabrian in an earlier post regarding possible MAF problems by doing the intake mod I decided to investigate further.

A tech bulletin to be found on line (MGR TB0090), and referred to by Marinabrian, is very informative and it shows a thin metal plate fixed to the centre of the underside of the slam panel and sitting over the electric fan housing. The plate is fitted to avoid water ingestion into the pre modded air intake. I checked my car and it is fitted with the plate. Some earlier cars did not have the plate fitted and was the reason for the issue of the bulletin.

The position of the plate would stop water that enters the grill on the 75 or ZT from blowing upwards into the intake area at the top of the engine. The original intake position sits forward of the back edge (engine edge) of the plate so water ingestion into the intake would have been avoided or prevented.

Those of us (including me) who have cut back the intake and removed the bellows section, have inadvertantly now placed the air intake mouth to the rear of the plate so it would appear that we have, afterall, made it easier for possible water ingress if water was to come off the back edge of the plate and blow upwards in to the engine compartment between the plate and the front of the radiator core.(It could be argued that this would be a good reason for removing the plate!!)

As I said, the plate is thin and you can get to the rear edge with your hands so, as the intake mod is already done, to avoid any water problem I have bent the rear edge of the plate downwards where it sits over the electric fan housing. Whilst not ideal this may help to avoid an issue with water turning up into the engine area.
I may look at this further and, if needed, improve or extend the plate towards the engine to complete the job. The only problem with this is that the modified intake mouth is now offset from the original along the line of the car which may mean that any alteration to the plate may have little effect. If I decide to pursue alteration of the plate (if I can be bothered) to fit in with this change I'll let you know.

I suggest that anybody contemplating the air intake mod finds and reads this bulletin before they proceed if only for peace of mind and to find out whether or not they have the plate fitted.

Last edited by denis; 28th September 2012 at 23:39..
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Old 28th September 2012, 23:44   #2
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to be honest i have modded all 3 of the 75s i have owned and had no MAF issues , in fact when i ploughed into deep water in the dark in my 2nd 75 it was the air mod that saved my engine as i have no doubt it would have drowned otherwise .
Not doubting your findings i'm only stating my experiences .
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Old 28th September 2012, 23:49   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FLYER View Post
to be honest i have modded all 3 of the 75s i have owned and had no MAF issues , in fact when i ploughed into deep water in the dark in my 2nd 75 it was the air mod that saved my engine as i have no doubt it would have drowned otherwise .
Not doubting your findings i'm only stating my experiences .
Good stuff though Flyer. I still believe that the mod is worth doing but I have to admit I didn't know about the plate and water ingress issues so the bulletin was a line to follow and made interesting reading. Until I looked at my ZT tonight I hadn't even noticed that plate and I've had the car 4 years!!! Something new every day!!!
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Old 28th September 2012, 23:53   #4
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The bellows fit into the recess on the slam panel as shown here below which plate are you refering to i do not know if water ingress will happen to much if the bellows are cut off, but i do not intend to do mine as these where made for a reason.


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Old 29th September 2012, 08:35   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Arctic View Post
The bellows fit into the recess on the slam panel as shown here below which palte are you refering to i do not know if water ingress will happen if the bellows are cut off but i do not intend to do mine.


Arctic - The plate is fitted (probably pop rivetted as that's how the bulletin describes the fixing unless something different in the factory) underneath the centre of the slam panel directly under where the troublesome three screws go to fix the original intake mouth. If you look at your first picture, dead centre but under the slam panel (view by leaning into the engine compartment and looking back under the rear edge of the slam panel- torch would be handy).
Looking at your second picture, I see that there isn't really an offset between the original intake mouth and what becomes the intake mouth after the mod,so my statement about offset in my original post is not correct. What it does mean is that the plate could still contribute to preventing water turning up into the path of the modded intake mouth if it ever happened.

Last edited by denis; 29th September 2012 at 08:47..
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Old 29th September 2012, 15:04   #6
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My three (well two, the centre bolt was missing) fixing have been seized since I got the car and sorting them out has been something I've been intending to do for a while.

What I noticed on mine once I had eventually removed it, which no one has mentioned, is that there is a water trap in the duct just to the rear of the bellowed section. There is a full width 'sump', with a drain hole in the bottom.

Anyway, today I got a roundtuit....

Centre bolt was missing, but the two outer ones were completely seized and the brass nuts just turning in their rubber surrounds. My only option was to drill the two bolts off, but I managed to snap my pilot drill in one of them so I had to carefully grind the head off. The grinding wrecked the flange of the rubber, which left me one short.

I managed to clean up the threads of the brass inserts with tap, to reuse the damaged rubber unit, I fitted it in the centre hole, but made it stay put with some hot glue. Three new bolts, a good coating of copper grease and it is all back in place.

Idea was, to make it quickly removable should I need to and get my first good look around the front of the engine since I got it. Once off, it make access between the rad and the engine much better.
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Old 29th September 2012, 16:44   #7
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In the original mod carried out by Rover Ron all those years ago, he did in fact mention that the plate found in front of the air intake should not be removed or bent out of the way, in this way there should be very little chance of water injuring the MAF sensor, mine has been like this for 6 years.
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Old 29th September 2012, 16:51   #8
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In the original mod carried out by Rover Ron all those years ago, he did in fact mention that the plate found in front of the air intake should not be removed or bent out of the way, in this way there should be very little chance of water injuring the MAF sensor, mine has been like this for 6 years.
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Old 29th September 2012, 16:58   #9
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OK, so end result of this mod is what??

I haven't seen anything other than peoples opinions on this topic, anyone got any definitive information? Any tests been done to verify anything?

Oh and logically, the fluted section of the air intake (the bit people are proposing to remove) should, in itself, help reduce water ingress...
...
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Old 29th September 2012, 19:53   #10
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one of the main benefits noticed by some members doing the mod. was that it was a bit 'easier' for the car to breathe, which some how resulted in the car being able to 'pick-up'better in second gear in particular (I know, it sounds like rubbish but it certainly helped mine ) If you want to see if it will have that effect before doing the mod ,then you can temporary remove the inlet trunking from front to as far as air filter housing - if no change then simply replace trunking .
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