K&N air filter

Craig,

Lots of information on the K&N website. Probably a good place to start.
I have used a K&N on my TV for 13 years. In my case has functioned
as described. No complaints here, but I am not a farmer. Good luck, these
postings seem to bring out the passionistas on both extremes. :)
I am not one of them.

Charles

Marketing ...maybe.

I have one for my Ford Superduty. I now use it occasionally if my paper filter is dirty, until I can buy a new paper filter. It is a large hassle to clean and reoil for use. I haven't seen any performance upticks but it does a fair job of cleaning air. I have a bit more than 180,000 on the OD.

midnightsadie wrote:
yes had one put on my 2001 born free ,three k later had the rv in the ford shop the oil on the k@n clogged up my mass air flo sensor , threw it away .

Too much oil on the filter will effect the MAFS. You don't need to soak it on the filter , just a light coat.

Craig A wrote:
I've got a K&N on both my 2002 diesel and my 2005 6 cylinder. The 02 has 237,000 miles on it and the 05 has 256,000. Never had any problems. I clean the filters about every 6 months. It sure beats buying new air filters every 6 months. The K&N's have more than paid for themselves.

Unless you're driving through the desert every day, why on earth would you change a filter every 6 months?:h

fj12ryder wrote:
Makes a person wonder how such a horrible product has been in production for over 50 years. :)

Ignorant people, I suppose, the kind of folks where a fool and his money are soon parted, based on marketing hype? A K&N filter decal will add 10 HP to you engine output. Platinum plug decals are good for another 15 HP.

Read the LAB report, by a neutral third party, which catches the most dirt, and then tell me where the dirt went that wasn't caught? Through your bore, heads, valve train, some by the rings as blow by, and into your motor oil too.

fj12ryder wrote:
Makes a person wonder how such a horrible product has been in production for over 50 years. :)

Marketing!!! :R

Makes a person wonder how such a horrible product has been in production for over 50 years. :)

fj12ryder wrote:
I don't think you can use the fact that no factory installs them as a reason for not using them. The factories use the most cost effective items to maximize their profits, so putting a high dollar filter makes no sense. And they make money by selling parts like air filters, oil filters, brake pads, etc.

OTOH many aftermarket performance parts use K&N, and other similar, filters as the supplied item.

K&N doesn't warranty your motor... and you'll never see a K&N filter on any mining or farming equipment, the most severe operating elements and conditions. Your argument is false about "being the cheapest", not when it could come down to warranty repair work, or replacing mass air flow sensors under warranty.

Wipe the inside of the intake tube that sits behind your K&N air filter, with a white glove, after riding down dirt roads in farm country, and you'll see the dirt that got into your motor. Fine if you tear down your motor after every race, but RV'ing isn't racing. Wrecks MAF's and doesn't filter much better than a sieve.

K&N never spends the money on a professional, by peer review Labratory test on their air filters? Why don't they, if their filters are so good?

Spicer lab report, amount of dirt filtered out and caught, by brand.

Paper air filters are cheap insurance compared to the cost to replace a motor. Saying you got 180,000 miles on a motor with a K&N filter is inconclusive... test two motors, side by side, with paper and K&N filters, and keep running them until one of them starts having compression problems or oil consumption problems. Tear down the motors, measure the bore, measure the ridge at the top of the bore, measure the ring gap on each piston. Present what you find to a Failure Analysis Engineer for a better understanding.

Then compare the K&N to the paper air filter motor, and you'll have something conclusive, as to which fails first.

Oooooo bring those K&N wonders down here to dust country and get an automatic cylinder bore job inside 10,000 miles. One camper who braaaaaged about just how good the filter was had nods all around the campfire - next best thing to sex...

So I challenged them. Next morning remove the filters then wipe their finger across the throttle body or choke plate. All three fingers came away lumped with cigar ash grade desert tan "valve grinding compound". In places that aren't dusty the filters may not do the same miserable job. But this is sorta like a resident of Nome Alaska bragging how well his gas refigerator works "Gawrsh it lasted 23-years and kept ice-cream hardder n a rock".

Dry foam filters stretched over pleated paper filters do keep the paper filters cleaner. Saves replacing the element every 2000 miles. Simply pry off the dry foam filter and whack it against your bumper to clean.

Proponents of oil soaked foam filters live in clean air - sort of like a gaggle of penguins discussing heat waves.

got one on my F-150 no real mileage gains. did over oil it had to clean the mass air flow sensor. sounds cool though....