Hi all, I have an 1985 Monte Carlo CL 4.3 w/fuel injection. I was thinking of swapping the original closed, snorkel style air cleaner with a chrome open filter style. If I do, will this mess up any of the sensors? For example, throw off the air fuel mixture and result in my check engine light being always on.

Any suggestions on how to do it correctly as to not cause any issues? What to do with vacuum hoses, heat hoses that attach to the old air cleaner. Thanks in advance

 

On the 1985 Thunderbird I used to have (5.0 with throttle-body fuel injection), a Moroso air cleaner was a good fit. Not only that, I believe Moroso's bumped-up dome shape really did help improve the airflow. Matched with a K&N filter, it just felt better.

On their base plate, some aftermarket air cleaners will have a short connector pipe for the PCV hose (which comes out of one of the valve covers, if I remember right), so that's something to consider. I think the intake air heater hose (which comes up from one of the exhaust manifolds) can be tossed without a problem. I can't think of any sensors that would be attached to the original air cleaner, so your engine computer shouldn't be any wiser.

Hopefully you don't live in a state or locality that does emissions checks; or even if you do, a 1985 model might be old enough to be exempt.

(Keep in mind, though, I'm not an expert in any of this.)

 

Thank you for the reply Sidestreet, I will check out the Moroso air cleaner.