BCM Community

I drove my bus yesterday for the first time since replacing my air filter.   Wow!   There's noticeably more power, I think there's less visible smoke (not that there was much previously), but most significantly the turbo is now MUCH louder.   Various internet forums I was reading say that low-resistance filters, such as the much-derided K&N oil-impregnated ones, make turbos sound louder, so I guess my old filter was more clogged than I realized.   The Filter Minder was also cracked, so I had no way of knowing how much restriction it had.   Now, with a brand-new Racor ECO-BC filter and a mended Filter Minder, I should be good for a long while.   I'll be curious if my fuel economy also improves (is economy quite the right word when talking about our buses?).

One other little project I did was to make the air inlet's interior cover easily removable.   Instead of fussing with innumerable screws and digging out 21-year-old caulk, I can now pull out two pins and slip the cover off in 5 seconds to allow an easy view down inside the filter itself.   I'll make a point of visually checking the filter to make sure it doesn't split or crack, like my old one had begun to do.   I also found that a 7" adjustable galvanized duct works perfectly on the inlet side, allowing me to position the inlet pipe to prevent rain getting in.   For good measure I also tightened all the outlet pipe's band clamps to make sure there's no air leaks between the filter and the turbo.

John, whistling to keep my spirits up   

And me? I cut a big hole in the side of our coach to let it breathe much better. :-) I think ours need replacement too come to think of it. Thanks for the reminder. Now I have an incentive.