pro dry s vs amsoil ea
- Thread starter kilgore
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What is wrong with the oem?
Without objective testing, who an say which is better. Do you mean for filtration or airflow? I'm getting the hint you may need to read the test linked below, in which fuel economy was tested. Airflow will have little effect on fuel economy, but it may on power (if the filter can't deliver enough. Generally, if you want more power from a drop in, you have to sacrifice some filtering ability. Plus, the restriction in a stock system are not usually the element but more often the plumbing. E.g. little or now power gain from a drop in. IMO, they can be worth the price if they filter better than stock... plus they are forever.
You might be interested to hear that I personally observed a flowbench test of a AEM Dryflow drop in element vs the factory Motorcraft element (an '05 F-150 5.4L engine). The factory filter outflowed the AEM by a little bit. When contacted, AEM said, "Why sure!" and said it's because their element gains several percentage points in filtration ability over the stock filter and is cleanable to boot. Their performance filters have more filter area that accommodates the increased airflow needs. I don't know the ProDry filtration specs but the AEM is 99.4 % cumulative efficiency, plus it retains the same ability after cleaning. They even deliberately abused one during cleaning and it still filtered at about 96 percent (which was more than a new oiled cotton gauze they tested).
Air Filters vs Fuel Economy
You might be interested to hear that I personally observed a flowbench test of a AEM Dryflow drop in element vs the factory Motorcraft element (an '05 F-150 5.4L engine). The factory filter outflowed the AEM by a little bit. When contacted, AEM said, "Why sure!" and said it's because their element gains several percentage points in filtration ability over the stock filter and is cleanable to boot. Their performance filters have more filter area that accommodates the increased airflow needs. I don't know the ProDry filtration specs but the AEM is 99.4 % cumulative efficiency, plus it retains the same ability after cleaning. They even deliberately abused one during cleaning and it still filtered at about 96 percent (which was more than a new oiled cotton gauze they tested).
Air Filters vs Fuel Economy
Just for the record - the EaA's are cleanable via vacuuming or LIGHT blowing at a 45° angle from the clean side:
Quote:
Cleaning
Ea Air Filters should be cleaned every year or 25,000 miles, whichever comes first. Carefully remove the filter from the housing. Clean the housing with a shop towel, being careful not to knock contaminants into the air inlet. Filters can be cleaned by carefully vacuuming the filter media on the dirty side, or by holding the filter with one hand and carefully blowing the filter media at a 45-degree angle on the clean side using low-pressure shop air (15-20 lbs. psi).
Amsoil EaA
Quote:
Cleaning
Ea Air Filters should be cleaned every year or 25,000 miles, whichever comes first. Carefully remove the filter from the housing. Clean the housing with a shop towel, being careful not to knock contaminants into the air inlet. Filters can be cleaned by carefully vacuuming the filter media on the dirty side, or by holding the filter with one hand and carefully blowing the filter media at a 45-degree angle on the clean side using low-pressure shop air (15-20 lbs. psi).
Amsoil EaA
Originally Posted By: kilgore
If its safe to assume that none of the three filters will be overly restricted to my unmodified engine then the one i would pick would 1 have the best effieciency and 2 need to be cleaned the least often.
I'd agree with that. Go back to that attached test and note how much restriction it took to a) cut into the power and b) cut into fuel economy. My point being that air filters generally need less attention than we have generally been encouraged to give them. Install a restriction gauge and don't touch the filter until it's necessary, as indicated by restriction. Do a search for Widman's posts on this topic. He's done a fair bit of research on it
If its safe to assume that none of the three filters will be overly restricted to my unmodified engine then the one i would pick would 1 have the best effieciency and 2 need to be cleaned the least often.
I'd agree with that. Go back to that attached test and note how much restriction it took to a) cut into the power and b) cut into fuel economy. My point being that air filters generally need less attention than we have generally been encouraged to give them. Install a restriction gauge and don't touch the filter until it's necessary, as indicated by restriction. Do a search for Widman's posts on this topic. He's done a fair bit of research on it
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I love my ProDry. I had their 7 layer media filter for awhile. Over oiled it and the rest is history.
IMO the pro dry is the best filter available for a drop in for both its fitering and airlow capablilities.
Originally Posted By: kilgore
How often would i have to clean the pro dry vs the ea filter?
I just bought a wix filter monitor on amazon.
In the few tests that I've seen the pro dry will need to be cleaned more. The AEM dryflow if available for your vehicle is IMO the best one as tests showed it had a higher efficiency and capacity than the pro dry. As for the amsoil I've read they don't last as long as they should even w/ proper care. I recommend the AEM dryflow first, pro dry second, and paper before spending extra cash on the amsoil drop in, JMO.
How often would i have to clean the pro dry vs the ea filter?
I just bought a wix filter monitor on amazon.
In the few tests that I've seen the pro dry will need to be cleaned more. The AEM dryflow if available for your vehicle is IMO the best one as tests showed it had a higher efficiency and capacity than the pro dry. As for the amsoil I've read they don't last as long as they should even w/ proper care. I recommend the AEM dryflow first, pro dry second, and paper before spending extra cash on the amsoil drop in, JMO.
Originally Posted By: kilgore
How often would i have to clean the pro dry vs the ea filter?
I just bought a wix filter monitor on amazon.
Each engine and filter manufacturer have slightly different specs, but generally, the filter minders will have a red zone that starts around 22 inches of water to 25 (5.5 to 6.2 kPa), so you'd address the filter at that point.
The other generic advice is to start with a fresh filter, drive normally and note the indication on the gauge (I believe the Wix records the restriction). Note that reading. When the restriction increases 10 inches of water (2.5 kPa) over that, it's time to look at the filter.
Also, go out a make a few hard accelerations, letting the engine really wind up into the higher rpms (max power rpm). Compare that reading to to the "normal" one. As the filter starts to get a bit dirty, if you are a lead foot and drive that way often, you may see the restriction gauge go into the red sooner, where it won't in normal driving. If you are into power more than anything, that would be the time to clean the filter to maintain max power but, as you learned from the EPA test, mpg isn't effected (and then only slightly) until the filter gets nasty. I would think that the restriction gauge will be in the red long before you get to that point. How long it takes will vary on how much filter area is available vs the amount of dirt encountered. Again, I refer you to posts by Widman (aka Butch Cassidy), who operates a lubrication/filtration business in a very rural part of Bolivia and has to deal with a lot of dirt.
How often would i have to clean the pro dry vs the ea filter?
I just bought a wix filter monitor on amazon.
Each engine and filter manufacturer have slightly different specs, but generally, the filter minders will have a red zone that starts around 22 inches of water to 25 (5.5 to 6.2 kPa), so you'd address the filter at that point.
The other generic advice is to start with a fresh filter, drive normally and note the indication on the gauge (I believe the Wix records the restriction). Note that reading. When the restriction increases 10 inches of water (2.5 kPa) over that, it's time to look at the filter.
Also, go out a make a few hard accelerations, letting the engine really wind up into the higher rpms (max power rpm). Compare that reading to to the "normal" one. As the filter starts to get a bit dirty, if you are a lead foot and drive that way often, you may see the restriction gauge go into the red sooner, where it won't in normal driving. If you are into power more than anything, that would be the time to clean the filter to maintain max power but, as you learned from the EPA test, mpg isn't effected (and then only slightly) until the filter gets nasty. I would think that the restriction gauge will be in the red long before you get to that point. How long it takes will vary on how much filter area is available vs the amount of dirt encountered. Again, I refer you to posts by Widman (aka Butch Cassidy), who operates a lubrication/filtration business in a very rural part of Bolivia and has to deal with a lot of dirt.
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