210,000 miles with K&N air intake system

[1 SX]

I absolutely love my K&N DRYFLOW intake.. it makes some sounds. I don't buy into the "gain 7.9 HP" ect. I bought it strictly for sound and the 30 to 50,000 mile air filter cleanings.. The filter is not see through like some of the panel / oiled ones are. I plan to do a uoa just for piece of mind that the filter is filtering lol."If" results are not favorable to bad.. off it comes.

First hand experience with dry flow air intakes is I will not have any issues. in 2009 my buddy and I installed a cold air intake on a honda 3.5L... 13 plus years and 180,000 miles on said cold air intake later.. the engine has zero oil consumption and great compression..

 

[TiGeo]

That's what ol buddy is describing in the video. Said that steady state air will pass more particulate, but due to the vibrations in the intake tract, that's how the K&N was designed to work to catch more.



Linked at the specific spot he says it.

Following that logic, they would work great on a single-cylinder engine, and more and more crappy as the cylinder count increases.

I mean kinda makes sense haha

 

[TiGeo]

My overall anecdotal lifetime K&N use here in mid-atlantic suburbia "normal" use:

1) 2003 VW Passat W8 - ~2 years/10K miles
2) 2018 VW Atlas - ~5 years/45K miles
3) 2008 Lexus RX350 - ~3 years/20K miles
4) 2013 Ford Focus - ~10 years/125K
5) 2018 VW Golf Sportwagen - ~4 years/90K miles

On all of these vehicles, there have never been issues with 1) any UOAs showing elevated SiO2 related to filtration* 2) oil consumption issues 3) dirty intake hoses/tracts** or 4) fouled MAFs. I typically clean the filters at try recommended 50K here b/c we are in a low dust area but sometimes out of convenience at shorter intervals.

*On the Sportwagen I have had elevated SiO2 that corresponded to 1) repairs/sealers in ares where oil flows/touches and 2) HPL oil that has more SiO2 in it than other oils I've used accounting for the increase in the UOAs.

**On the Sportwagen, last year I switched intakes to one with a dry flow filter from one with an oiled filter. At this point I am not overly impressed as when I had things apart recently there was a fair bit of dust in the intake hose - it's the first time I've seen that so not sure there....I may see if K&N makes a filter in the correct size/dimensions and swap it out for the oiled media as my anecdotal evidence supports better filtration...could also just be that I need to disassemble the intake and make sure it's not come loose etc. Folks seem to really like the dry filters so not sure here as they have been shown to have higher filtering efficiency vs. K&N at the expense of a little flow.

 

[TiGeo]

I absolutely love my K&N DRYFLOW intake.. it makes some sounds. I don't buy into the "gain 7.9 HP" ect. I bought it strictly for sound and the 30 to 50,000 mile air filter cleanings.. The filter is not see through like some of the panel / oiled ones are. I plan to do a uoa just for piece of mind that the filter is filtering lol."If" results are not favorable to bad.. off it comes.

View attachment 136124


First hand experience with dry flow air intakes is I will not have any issues. in 2009 my buddy and I installed a cold air intake on a honda 3.5L... 13 plus years and 180,000 miles on said cold air intake later.. the engine has zero oil consumption and great compression..

That's the entire point of the oil....that's what handles the filtration while maintaining the high "see through" flow.

 

[Mazomopar]

Where does the "cold" portion come into play. To me the condition under the hood is much more extreme than the engine breathing in atmospheric air from outside. My kid had a beat up Jetta he picked up that was CAI. Filter would be wet after car wash.

 

[TiGeo]

Where does the "cold" portion come into play. To me the condition under the hood is much more extreme than the engine breathing in atmospheric air from outside. My kid had a beat up Jetta he picked up that was CAI. Filter would be wet after car wash.

It's not really a CAI - just an open-element intake is what I call it. I've run them and never had water issues with washing or driving in the rain...I'm sure it's just dependent on the car's setup w/r to it's stock intake track/pathway.

 

[ZeeOSix]

It's not really a CAI - just an open-element intake is what I call it.

The setup in post 61 looks more like a hot air intake setup. Especially at slow city driving and idling situations. At least the open elements located up close to the grill have a better chance of not sucking hot air.

 

[TiGeo]

The setup in post 61 looks more like a hot air intake setup. Especially at slow city driving and idling situations. At least the open elements located up close to the grill have a better chance of not sucking hot air.

They are that for sure depending on the setup. What testing on the VWs has shown is that...it really doesn't matter b/c any increase in temp to the turbo is negated fully by the intercooler. So take the flow basically over the warmer air to the turbo. It does however cause the turbo to have to spin *a little bit* faster to compress the slightly less dense air...that's about all.

 

[LostInTransit]

We keep one K&N in the van and one outside the van and rotate during cleanings.

 

[Georgiey22]

I'm actually more interested in why you'd pay someone to do a tire rotation - especially a dealer.

Easy…my floorjack took a dump after a long week. I was in the mood for sitting around and not doing it. I was the guy checking torque on the lug nuts before pulling away. I’m a DIY nightmare.

 

[PoorMans180SX]

I think the AEM Dryflo and the Injen Super Nano-web filters are better options without the cleaning pains. I'm pretty sure the Injen Nano-webs use the same tech as the air filters Amsoil was selling for a while did.

 

[Rod Knock]

"The best oil filter is a good air filter." - someone on BITOG

 

[ZeeOSix]

By someone on BITOG who doesn't really understand oil filtration. 😄

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

I think the AEM Dryflo and the Injen Super Nano-web filters are better options without the cleaning pain. I'm pretty sure the Injen Nano-webs use the same tech as the air filters Amsoil was selling for a while did.

I have them on 3 of my vehicles. 2 with over 150k. Still running. I change the filters after 100k miles with a new dryflow for piece of mind. The Injen was also replaced with a similar sized AEM. Injen redesigned the filter and the new version didn't fit correctly.

 

[ARB1977]

I like the dry flow filters. AFE in my 15 Tacoma and AEM in my wife’s 19 Pilot. Every 30K I lightly blow them out, nothing special. Got at least 90K on the AFE and 40K on the AEM.

 

[TiGeo]

Based on this post and recent oil change in my Atlas that I've had a drop-in K&N installed since ~4K...had a look today. ~44.5K on the vehicle so ~40K on K&N. Haven't ever cleaned it. Filter looked good/clean on downstream side and dirty (not terrible) on upstream side; didn't grab a pic unfortunately. But I did pop the MAF sensor connector and had a look inside the intake tube. Clean as can be and no oily film. I'll clean/re-oil at 55K so ~50K on filter. I've done a few UOAs on the Atlas and none showed elevated SiO2. No MAF issues. Basically same experience that I've had with all my K&N filters..."no drama".

 

[fusseli]

I agree with the OP. I've used K&N panel filters my whole life. Never had dust in the intake tract, oil on sensors or a high Si uoa.

Same. I’ve used K&N and AFE dry panel filters on all of my cars and never ever had silicone or particulate out of nominal in my UOAs. In fact they’re usually lower than the averages.

Let’s say UOAs don’t matter. Furthermore the K&N panel filter in my truck now actually was provided by Ford and came with their engine tune, which preserves factory warranty! Even Toyota offers a washable ungraded filter I thought. Two big OEMs are backing these air filters and that says a lot.

 

[TiGeo]

Same. I’ve used K&N and AFE dry panel filters on all of my cars and never ever had silicone or particulate out of nominal in my UOAs. In fact they’re usually lower than the averages.

Let’s say UOAs don’t matter. Furthermore the K&N panel filter in my truck now actually was provided by Ford and came with their engine tune, which preserves factory warranty! Even Toyota offers a washable ungraded filter I thought. Two big OEMs are backing these air filters and that says a lot.

For sure in a performance-oriented situation and either way, K&N drop-in filters should never impact a warranty or "void" it (hate that term w/r to this discussion). It rides a line/grey area really between "OE-equivalent" parts that should be within the scope of the Mag-Moss act and performance replacement parts which are not within the scope of MM. So easy to pop it out/replace with an OE filter if you have warranty concerns anyway. I still don't think I'ver seen a proper example of a K&N giving high SiO2 readings that wasn't related to improper care/maintenance or fit.

 

[OVERKILL]

I think the AEM Dryflo and the Injen Super Nano-web filters are better options without the cleaning pains. I'm pretty sure the Injen Nano-webs use the same tech as the air filters Amsoil was selling for a while did.

That'd be interesting if true, that was Donaldson media, same stuff as you see in the PowerCore filters sold through Volant, but in panel and cone form.