Will hardware cloth over the engine air intake hurt anything?

[belfert]

The air intake to my engine is completely plugged right now with an animal nest.  Dina placed the air intake at the very top of the passenger side of the bus with no screen on the opening.  If I put 1/2" hardware cloth over the opening will it reduce airflow enough to cause any problems?  Slightly reduced air flow has got to be better than basically no airflow now.

The bus is at a repair place right now.  They have no idea how to clean the air intake and I have no desire to pay them $85 an hour to learn how.  I'm just going to drive it home with the elbow between the intake and the filter removed.  The air will still go through the filter.

Brian Elfert

[NJT5047]

You could install a guage that shows the condition of your filter by monitoring the back side of the filter vacuum. 
Install your hardware cloth over the area and see if the sensor jumps up from additional restriction.  I doubt it will .  Not that much air flows through the area.   These little guages are cheap, easy to install and will tell you when the air filter should be replaced or cleaned. 

[Busted Knuckle]

Brian if I remember correctly Bobby used a jigsaw and cut the side of the intake open so he could get in there and clean it then he used a strip of tin and pop rivets to close it back up and also riveted the wire mesh stuff in also (I'm not familar with the term hardware screen I guess it's the same as what Bobby used) and as far as I know he hasn't had anymore problems with it.     
Knuckle

[Dallas]

I think I'd check the screen between the blower and the intake too. No matter how good your filters are, crud might have gottn through and will plug up the fine mesh, and since the air intake is already plugged, it has been drawing air from somewhere, probably around any clamps or fittings.
Dallas

[belfert]

Brian if I remember correctly Bobby used a jigsaw and cut the side of the intake open so he could get in there and clean it then he used a strip of tin and pop rivets to close it back up and also riveted the wire mesh stuff in also (I'm not familar with the term hardware screen I guess it's the same as what Bobby used) and as far as I know he hasn't had anymore problems with it.     

Does this mean he removed the bars across the air intake on the outside of the bus?  How did he get the crud out?  With a vacuum maybe as the screen in the intake is well below the top of the bus?

I'm wondering if there isn't a better way if I'm removing the bathroom and stripping the bus anyhow.  I'll have to check the manuals.

Brian Elfert

[Dallas]

Does the Dina have an air intake plenum like the GMC's? or does the intake go through a pipe directly to the filters? If there is a plenum, it would behoove you to clean it out.
When I did my GM, I pulled mouse houses, crud, dust, more crud, dried mud, etc out.
I also removed the air intake to blower housing and cleaned that screen out. It was amazing the things that had gotten in it over the years. There was even a whole moth, of unknown origin, well preserved with Delo's finest.
Dallas

Brian if I remember correctly Bobby used a jigsaw and cut the side of the intake open so he could get in there and clean it then he used a strip of tin and pop rivets to close it back up and also riveted the wire mesh stuff in also (I'm not familar with the term hardware screen I guess it's the same as what Bobby used) and as far as I know he hasn't had anymore problems with it.     

Does this mean he removed the bars across the air intake on the outside of the bus?  How did he get the crud out?  With a vacuum maybe as the screen in the intake is well below the top of the bus?

I'm wondering if there isn't a better way if I'm removing the bathroom and stripping the bus anyhow.  I'll have to check the manuals.

Brian Elfert

[LUKE at US COACH]

Hi Brian and Folks:

A couple of years back we had a customer's Dina in our shop with the same problem.

Complaint was lack of power and black smoke.

We found several bird nests on top of each other in the air intake.

The customer had already gutted the coach so that we were able to access the tubing from air intake to the engine and remove all of the offending material.  Put it back together, no black smoke and bus had all the power it should have!!! Customer was going to install a screen when he got home.

I Hope this HELPS!!!

Happy & SAFE!!! Bussin' to ALL.

LUKE at US COACH

[belfert]

The customer had already gutted the coach so that we were able to access the tubing from air intake to the engine and remove all of the offending material.  Put it back together, no black smoke and bus had all the power it should have!!! Customer was going to install a screen when he got home.

Good to know that I should be able to get to the pipe once the bathroom is removed.

Brian Elfert

[belfert]

Does the Dina have an air intake plenum like the GMC's? or does the intake go through a pipe directly to the filters? If there is a plenum, it would behoove you to clean it out.

I have never seen a GMC up close, so I'm not sure on the plenum thing.  On the Dina, a pipe comes straight up from the engine compartment to the roof line on the passenger side.  At the engine compartment, a rubber 90 degree elbow pipes the air into the filter.  The engineers who designed the air intake put a screen about a foot or two above the engine compartment inside the pipe where it is impossible to get to!  The screen should have been at the top of the air intake so nothing could get into the intake.

My plan is to cut a piece of hardware cloth same size as the exterior air intake and then screw it on with stainless screws and fender washers.  It won't look really pretty, but better than a $15k new engine.

Brian Elfert

[mred]

GMC coaches have hardware cloth at the air intakes in the radiator fill door and same location on opposite of coach. Works for them!

[belfert]

The customer had already gutted the coach so that we were able to access the tubing from air intake to the engine and remove all of the offending material.  Put it back together, no black smoke and bus had all the power it should have!!! Customer was going to install a screen when he got home.

I got the top half of the bathroom out.  (Molded fiberglass top and bottom halves)  I can see the intake pipe now, but they spray foamed over a good part of it. 

I can see why there is no easy way to get at any bird's nests in the pipe if it is a seated coach.  The repair manual only has a picture of the pipe behind the bathroom and no procedure to clean it.  I want to get the rest of the bathroom out before tackling the intake pipe.

Brian Elfert