K&N filters

FishOnOne wrote:

ShinerBock wrote:

RedRocket204 wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

Flashman wrote:
I took a sales man advice and switched from the paper OEM to a foam uni filter on my Polaris RZR. I dusted the engine in just one ride.

Reading a story like this from anyone else would be hard to believe, but coming from you makes perfect sense.

Reports that Polaris has also had OEM paper air filter problems too from not sealing well. Seems typical for Polaris products. I wouldn't use Polaris to gauge OHV quality engineering. Just take a look at the immense amount of recent recalls they have going on, some of them for machine fires where people have been killed.

I would say about 99% of dusted engines today is from improper seal or containment in the intake and NOT due to filter efficiency. I think people severely underestimate how much dirt you have to get into an engine to cause immediate catastrophic failure. The small amount of dust from even a poor quality filter with a lower efficiency will filter enough that there will not be any immediate effect, but rather have long term effects like increased oil consumption over time due to the cylinder walls being scared.

If someone's engine locked up immediately after a filter change and got dusted then it was either improper installation, a defect in the filter, or a defect in the air intake box/piping. I seriously doubt it was due to the filter media not filtering enough.

Bingo.... fmans failure was from a incompetent installation and conclusion

Not how it was on our 2001 8.1 engine using the K&N filter for a while before seeing the dirt in the throttle body intake.

chevman

ShinerBock wrote:

RedRocket204 wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

Flashman wrote:
I took a sales man advice and switched from the paper OEM to a foam uni filter on my Polaris RZR. I dusted the engine in just one ride.

Reading a story like this from anyone else would be hard to believe, but coming from you makes perfect sense.

Reports that Polaris has also had OEM paper air filter problems too from not sealing well. Seems typical for Polaris products. I wouldn't use Polaris to gauge OHV quality engineering. Just take a look at the immense amount of recent recalls they have going on, some of them for machine fires where people have been killed.

I would say about 99% of dusted engines today is from improper seal or containment in the intake and NOT due to filter efficiency. I think people severely underestimate how much dirt you have to get into an engine to cause immediate catastrophic failure. The small amount of dust from even a poor quality filter with a lower efficiency will filter enough that there will not be any immediate effect, but rather have long term effects like increased oil consumption over time due to the cylinder walls being scared.

If someone's engine locked up immediately after a filter change and got dusted then it was either improper installation, a defect in the filter, or a defect in the air intake box/piping. I seriously doubt it was due to the filter media not filtering enough.

Bingo.... fmans failure was from a incompetent installation and conclusion

fla-gypsy wrote:
No

If this was in response to my post, care to explain beyond just "no"?
Another warning after two more people die in off-road vehicle fire.


If it was just "no" to K&N air filters, which I agree with, then carry-on.

RedRocket204 wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

Flashman wrote:
I took a sales man advice and switched from the paper OEM to a foam uni filter on my Polaris RZR. I dusted the engine in just one ride.

Reading a story like this from anyone else would be hard to believe, but coming from you makes perfect sense.

Reports that Polaris has also had OEM paper air filter problems too from not sealing well. Seems typical for Polaris products. I wouldn't use Polaris to gauge OHV quality engineering. Just take a look at the immense amount of recent recalls they have going on, some of them for machine fires where people have been killed.

I would say about 99% of dusted engines today is from improper seal or containment in the intake and NOT due to filter efficiency. I think people severely underestimate how much dirt you have to get into an engine to cause immediate catastrophic failure. The small amount of dust from even a poor quality filter with a lower efficiency will filter enough that there will not be any immediate effect, but rather have long term effects like increased oil consumption over time due to the cylinder walls being scared.

If someone's engine locked up immediately after a filter change and got dusted then it was either improper installation, a defect in the filter, or a defect in the air intake box/piping. I seriously doubt it was due to the filter media not filtering enough.

No

FishOnOne wrote:

Flashman wrote:
I took a sales man advice and switched from the paper OEM to a foam uni filter on my Polaris RZR. I dusted the engine in just one ride.

Reading a story like this from anyone else would be hard to believe, but coming from you makes perfect sense.

Reports that Polaris has also had OEM paper air filter problems too from not sealing well. Seems typical for Polaris products. I wouldn't use Polaris to gauge OHV quality engineering. Just take a look at the immense amount of recent recalls they have going on, some of them for machine fires where people have been killed.

time2roll wrote:
Maybe they would get more than 10k with a paper filter.
Planned obsolescence?

when I said 10K miles, what I meant was most people don't end up using the OHV enought to ever put 10K miles on them. Myself I've put 15K on one bike and have 17K on another both with the factory foam and sticky oil air filters. Still running fine, and will probably go for a lot longer. But the filter typically get cleaned and re oiled every 250-500 miles at the most. And I can guarantee I'll never get to 50K or likely even 25K miles, let alone 250K on the bike.

Flashman wrote:
I took a sales man advice and switched from the paper OEM to a foam uni filter on my Polaris RZR. I dusted the engine in just one ride.

Reading a story like this from anyone else would be hard to believe, but coming from you makes perfect sense.

I run an aftermarket intake with open K&N cone filter in my van. I've seen no evidence of dirt passing through, but it's only street driven. I like it because it sounds cool at WOT. Lol.

But on my dirt bikes I run No-Toil oiled foam filters. Super easy to clean, and keep out dirt better.

Me Again wrote:
If you want to dust your engine, then drink the K&N koolaid.

While I agree whole heartedly, the statement should read "potentially" dust your engine. Proper maintenance will prevent that.
I think they're a waste. Tried them, didn't see the value.
BUT, pretty much every dirtbike and dirt toy out there has an oiled KN type filter and they work fine as long as you maintain them.