K&N filters are Not for Me

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I used a K&N for about 6,000 miles. I don't hate them but I personall won't use them. More power to those who do...

After less than 2,000 miles of driving with a paper air filter I see visible particles of dust in the media that I can blow out. After 6,000 miles with the K&N (looked at it under a light) - I didn't see any dust. Got me a little worried so I switched back to paper air filters.

I don't doubt that K&N are good - I just won't use them in my vehicles. My RPMs are 2,600 and engine load @ 40% during my 220 mile work trips. So K&N probably won't benefit me much as someone with a high performance engine or in a dusty racing environment.

Never had problems with the MAF sensor though. My small 2.2L Ecotec probably doesn't suck as much air as your guys engines do.
 
quote:

Ruined the MAF in our '00 4runner.

Huh? How?

Probably over oiled. Operator error.

Oops.

I'm not a K&N fan either, but subjective, namecalling thread titles, make the poster look more foolish than the item he's trying to hack down.
 
Pablo is right... Most problems come from overoiling. K&N Filters out of the box are hardly oiled at all in my opinion. It almost looks like dry cotton - like the qtips that you see at Vons but red.
 
quote:

Never had problems with the MAF sensor though. My small 2.2L Ecotec probably doesn't suck as much air as your guys engines do.

Your Ecotec probably has a MAP sensor instead of a MAF sensor. (The manifold pressure reading on your Scangauge, if it shows up, comes from the MAP sensor).
 
Thanks for the correction/info. MAPYeah, I get mainfold pressure on scanguage. Cool to know
grin.gif
. Will wikipedia those to know the diff in a second
tongue.gif
 
I didn't have our KN in long enough to clean and re-oil it. I tried the electrical cleaner on the MAF and it still went bad. Maybe I was a bit harsh on the name calling... I appologize for that. I just wanted to see what you guys thought of them on here. no doubt they flow awsome, but I think they lack in the filtering department. that's all... dealer didn't take me for a ride. I ran my own scanner on it and it kept throwing the MAF code and I cleaned it, reset the PCM with my scanner and it still kept throwing MAF codes. I also had tons of Detonation b/c of the maf error. reason it went to the dealer was b/c it was supposed to be under "warranty".
 
Just like to post my experiences with K&N air filters in a few vehicles. K&N air filters are OILED foam elements. when air passes through the KN it picks up oil and then that oil ends up on the fine wire of a Mass Air flow sensor. the KN air filter Ruined the MAF in our '00 4runner. costing us like $300. A few guys on the Tacoma forum also had similar experiences. My brothers '00 Trans am has some kind of Aftermarket oiled cones on it and his MAF is nasty as ****. So to all that love K&N's... and have MAF's good luck. you're flowing more air at the sacrafise of FILTERING. I now run Paper air filters like Napa golds or Purolator regulars.

[ March 31, 2006, 07:32 PM: Message edited by: 59 Vetteman ]
 
quote:

Originally posted by Toy4x4runner:
Just like to post my experiences with K&N air filters in a few vehicles. K&N air filters are OILED foam elements.

Well...with such in-depth knowledge of K&N filters...as they are oiled gauze and not oiled foam...I'd be hard pressed not to heed your advice...as I've only got over 120,000 miles on my oiled gauze filters (aFe) and my car has 175,000 miles in total on it.

Ever think about using a little non-residue electrical parts cleaner to clean the MAF sensor once in a while? Oil on them won't destroy them, it just prevents them from accurately reading the incoming air, at which time the PCM goes into a default mode for the MAF. Clean the sensor...reset the PCM...and you're good as gold.

Sucks to be taken for a ride by the dealer huh? Maybe a little more searching on MAF operation would have led you to this valueable bit of data.
 
Hey! Women buy lipstick and argue over various shades of. Guys buy airfilters and oil filters and...Guy buys a set of fender skirts and he's happy at the increasde performance from the reduced drag. He's happy. Who's to argue? As for me, I got batter things to do and spend my money on.

My $0.02
 
I got a K&N drop in filter for my dakota. granted I dont have a maf sensor on my truck. but when I took my tb off. I was shocked at how much oil and grime as in dirt and sandy substance was in my intake manifold. before yo usay over oiled. if it was it came from the factory liek that. if K&N cant oil it right. then no one can.

have heard alot of people with maf sensor going bad from the oil in the filters.

sorry you can keep your K&N and I will stick with my napa gold and sleep better at night knowing my intake will not be oiled up. if I want more power I will add cams to my truck that already has the superchip programmer. or a supercharger.

more airlow = less filtration plain and simple.
 
Especially considering that in the stock cars the filter itself doesn't create a bottleneck.
The stock paper filter already outflows the induction track and your engine will never be able to take advantage of the supposedely better flowing but worse filtering K&N.

Loose, loose situation.
 
Exactly. Amen. I guess the reason I can get itchy is b/c I work part time at Advance Auto whil i'm in school and the K&N craze drives up the wall.
 
They're oiled and their media is very similar if not identical to the K&N's.
Depending on the construction of the air intake, your particular car might be susceptible or not to the possibility of oil contamination.
Add in worse than paper air filtration and hassles of cleaning and reoiling, that needs to be done just right...
There are so many variables in this setup that can and ultimately, will go wrong.
All of this for what?
A pretty K&N logo under your hood?
 
What about those Fram Toughguards? I think they are oiled - what are your guy's oppinion on those? I got that and my K&N for christmas. I don't know if I want to use that Fram Toughguard...
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Even though I've never seen the Toughguard, I wouldn't hesitate using it, since it utilizes a preoiled paper (much denser material) instead of loose cotton gauze.
Plus it's not reusable, so no reoiling mess and screwups associated with the process.
I would definately try it in my car, if it was available for my model.
 
Purolator has some kind of hype out at work now too in air filters. I think it's a oiled paper set up. I always reccomend regular paper filters.
 
Purolator offers its PureOne line of premium paper filters.
I read some conflicting reports mentioning that the media is slightly oiled. While others are saying that it is not.
I wanted to try it in my car but Purolator doesn't make one for my model.
Amsoil also offers a similarly looking (at least colorwise) Amsoil Ea line of the effecient paper filters.
I just installed it in my car. The Ea media is not oiled.
Here is a close up of the EA media:

 -
 
vad,

I am currently running a PureOne filter in my Grand Am GT. There is a SLIGHT oil coating on the filter. It's barely noticeable but it is there. I would not be worried about it like a K&N oiled filter.
 
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