Air cleaner

[djhartley2003]

Hi my name is David and i live in Chino Ca. I just found the site and it seams really cool. i have a question that might seam a little stupid but i am going to ask it any way. I just bought a new Tahoe 222 deck boat by Tracker and i wandering if changing the air cleaner on it would mess with the engine at all. I have a K&N air cleaner that is bran new and i would like to put it on because the one that is on there looks like it is so small. It is on a 5.0L merc cruser. Thanks alot and have a great day.

[BDMar]

Hi David, you know the drill... no question is stupid. It actually is a good question as Mercruiser engines do not have a mass airflow sensor to sense increases in air flow and adjust the fuel map accordingly.
You didn't say what year it was so I am assuming it is an MPI engine? (injectors at each cylinder) Increasing the flow of the air cleaner has always been a good improvement for Mercruiser engines as they tend to be on the rich side. I would do it and keep an eye on the spark plugs for the first few hours to make sure it is not running lean. There is very little chance it will cause a problem and will probably increase the performance.

Brian Fetherolf

[Phebus]

Make sure it is Coast Guard approved.

[djhartley2003]

Thanks Brian

Sorry about not putting the year down. it is a 2005. i bought it new from the Anglers Marine in Anaheim Ca. Someone had out money down on it and then strung them along and finally backed out and i got a smoking deal. I think that i will try to change the air cleaner and keep an eye on it. what do i watch for with the plugs to see if it is running rich. i am going to keep the old air cleaner in the boat so that i could change it back if i had to. The boat that i had before this was a 18 foot Eliminator with a 460 ford and the motor on that was built for me by a friend and i never had to do much to it. I am trying to learn. thanks for the help.

[BDMar]

Phebus is correct, to be legal it must be Coast Guard approved. There are a few well known companies that are selling K & N filters that are not approved. That is not smart liability wise. The elements are the same material. K & N only had certain elements approved so there is not a blanket approval.
My concern is that it may be too lean not rich. Reading spark plugs with unleaded fuel is not as easy as it used to be and if you are not familiar experienced at it you might want to take a friend along that is. The ground strap needs to be read as the porcelain will give you false readings.

[djhartley2003]

thanks for the good info. i have a friend that can go out with me and help me keep an eye on the plugs. i just dont want to do any thing that will screw up performance. thanks again. this is a great site.