Air Filter element sucked into intake??

[48230m5]

Hey guys,

You may have seen my introduction post about my '76 911. In troubleshooting the hard starting and rough low RPM performance I discovered the air filter element was "jammed" in upside down with the paper facing the intake. About 2/3rd of it is gone. I have to assume it was sucked into the motor. It looks like someone ripped it off but I'm not sure. I've asked the previous owner for help with this mystery, but he is pissed at me for my reaction to the condition of the car when it arrived.

If it did suck into the engine and make it to the combustion chamber I would assume it would just burn up and not cause much issue. If it is stuck somewhere in the throttle body or plenum it needs to come out. Any thoughts or insite is appreciated. I'll attach a pic of what't left of it.

[gazzerr]

Are you running CIS? I'd pull the big rubber CIS "hat" on top of the throttle body and air plenum and see if anything is jammed up in there. It's not hard to remove the intake runners and see if any made it into the intake ports on the left side. On the right side you would have to remove the air box to pull the runners.

You could pull the plugs and take a look into the cylinders with a boroscope. I think you can get one relatively cheap these days.

[Bob Kontak]

Why in God's green earth would the element break down in a linear fashion to feed the intake.

[juanbenae]

does the remaining part of the filter seem very brittle like it may be really really old?

[jungspike]

Wow. That is messed up.

[pmax]

OK, now we need a good pic of the engine.

My guess is the PO ripped out the other half due to some damage to the filter. I doubt it has been sucked into the engine !

[timmy2]

Is there a pop off installed?
Installed like that to clear it?
Just thinking of dumb reasons to do that. Guessing if the person that installed it upside down couldn't get the cover on, so they trimmed it???

[Reiver]

That is an ancient looking filter.....mine are still white when used up/older....that actually looks like something was chewing on it....mouse.

[Cairo94507]

Just a reminder when buying a previously owned car from anyone that it is always better to do or have done a full maintenance of all fluids/ filters, belts, etc., as some owners are not as dedicated and attentive to detail as we are. That air filter element does not look like that happened without help form someone. Good luck and cheers.

[universeman]

Agree with Bob Kontak. This smacks of human intervention.

[48230m5]

To answer a few questions:

It does look like someone did it on purpose. I just can't understand why. I got my new filter element and it is impossible to install in upside down without ripping it apart first. Regardless of the pop off valve. The car did deliver to me via a shipping company. And the shipper had some issues starting it when he needed to juggle cars around as well. Maybe they opened it up to spray starting fluid in and put it upside down? But I would guess the paper was already removed at that point.

I will know assume the paper was ripped off manually. And not in the motor. Still leaves me wondering why??

The new Filter is a Mann. And the element is a little yellow to start with but certainly not as brown as the old one. Not really brittle but more so than the new one.

The car does have CIS. I was planning to remove the boot as a starting point. I'll see what I find.

[boyt911sc]

Originally Posted by 48230m5

To answer a few questions:

It does look like someone did it on purpose. I just can't understand why. I got my new filter element and it is impossible to install in upside down without ripping it apart first. Regardless of the pop off valve. The car did deliver to me via a shipping company. And the shipper had some issues starting it when he needed to juggle cars around as well. Maybe they opened it up to spray starting fluid in and put it upside down? But I would guess the paper was already removed at that point.

I will know assume the paper was ripped off manually. And not in the motor. Still leaves me wondering why??

The new Filter is a Mann. And the element is a little yellow to start with but certainly not as brown as the old one. Not really brittle but more so than the new one.

The car does have CIS. I was planning to remove the boot as a starting point. I'll see what I find.

Steve,

Just replace the torn air filter and move on. You are trying to solve a problem that does not exist. It is a figment of your imagination. There is not enough suction force on top of the CIS airbox where the air filter sits to tear the filter paper. Someone just sold you a car with bad air filter.

Tony

[pmax]

Originally Posted by 48230m5

To answer a few questions:

It does look like someone did it on purpose. I just can't understand why. I got my new filter element and it is impossible to install in upside down without ripping it apart first. Regardless of the pop off valve.

Another possibility is the toilet seat aka pop off valve blew up, burnt the filter and the PO simply removed the damaged half and flipped it.

How does the rest of the intake look ?

[proporsche]

HI Steve
as Tony said....
i would really not worry about it.It looks like the previous owner remove this side of the air filter-maybe for better flow?.There is no way for the filter material to be shucked into the engine..basically forget about it.



Ivan

[48230m5]

Originally Posted by proporsche

HI Steve
as Tony said....
i would really not worry about it.It looks like the previous owner remove this side of the air filter-maybe for better flow?.There is no way for the filter material to be shucked into the engine..basically forget about it.



Ivan

Agreed! I'm over it. New filter installed. Moving on to other issues. Thanks for the feedback!

[sugarwood]

Hilarious. Did you verify that ripping off the paper helps in installing the filter backwards?

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

Hilarious. Did you verify that ripping off the paper helps in installing the filter backwards?

Respect your Bros, oh one of humble beginnings. I'll bring Ronnie in. Go ahead. Try and hit me.

[gazzerr]

Ha Ha.

Yeah now that I think about it the wire would have to be broken for any of it to have gotten into the intake unless some clown installed it upside down but that would be impossible?

Geez the things we find in these cars ... not like they are old Datsuns.

[Rawknees'Turbo]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

Respect your Bros, oh one of humble beginnings. I'll bring Ronnie in. Go ahead. Try and hit me.

Fixed - yer welcome!

PS - Woody is the dog, buttofcourse!

[Goth]

I'm thinking "track day desperation". Then forgot about it.