Should I go K&N?

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I've got 212k+ miles on my Mazda, I've run a cold air intake with a K&N knockoff since 82k miles. The few UOAs I've done showed low Si. MPG/HP difference is likely nil, but for convenience, a K&N can be great.





Ding, Ding, Ding. We have a winner.

Someone with what has to be considered longevity as far as a TEST. I have more miles total than this guy on multiple vehicles with K & N filters. They may help economy and power but they definetly save you money.

Those people seeing buildup behind the filter is due to the oil, yes some will get by it. Then the dust sticks to it.
Over oiling is another issue totally. Dust gets by the paper job as well you just don't see it because there is no oil for it to stick to.

Obviously both he and I have done long term tests and found no adverse affects that some nut jobs on here keep claiming.




The question was which filter actually FILTERS better, and that would not be the K&N, as evidenced by the tests performed here:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest3.htm

Has anyone smeared a little oil inside their intake running a paper element to see if any dust got through? I agree the K&N lasts longer, but the initial cost is high, the maintenance is inconvenient, you have to spray just the right amount of oil on the cleaned element, and just the wear and tear of washing the element is going to open up some holes.

You may be right about no adverse affects, even tho the K&N lets in more dust, but to pay more for less filtration and negligible air flow increase is foolish in my opinion. If you have a dragster where every cu. in. of air makes a difference, then a K&N may be beneficial, but for the street, especially with stock intakes, I think not.........
 
The Pureones sounded good, but I don't know who carries them. I went to the website, but no info on buying one, kinda weird. You'd think they would want you to know their retail outlets? Maybe my Mac doesn't read their pages correctly?

Lakeside is in SoCal, right? Do you know of any places up here (SF Bay) that might carry them?

Thanks,
-Bob




Bob, I get mine at Pep Boys locally. I have also ordered them online from Kragen auto parts. SHOP AROUND as prices for the Pureone air filters vary by a wide margin.
 
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Bob,
...I have determined that the Wix is superior to all others....

Harry





My 10K UOA on my truck supports that claim...very low silicon over the 10k interval...

steved
 
I'd stay paper and find something else to spend the $13 on over the the next 3 or 4 years on that Previa. I haven't found dust to be a big issue if you drive mostly in CA freeways or urban areas.
 
Someone have high silicon that was running a K & N ?
I'D LIKE TO SEE THAT.

IF YOU STAY PAPER YOU WILL SPEND more money not less.
What 13 dollars you referring to ?

You guys do kill me.
 
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I've got 212k+ miles on my Mazda, I've run a cold air intake with a K&N knockoff since 82k miles. The few UOAs I've done showed low Si. MPG/HP difference is likely nil, but for convenience, a K&N can be great.





Ding, Ding, Ding. We have a winner.

Someone with what has to be considered longevity as far as a TEST. I have more miles total than this guy on multiple vehicles with K & N filters. They may help economy and power but they definetly save you money.

Those people seeing buildup behind the filter is due to the oil, yes some will get by it. Then the dust sticks to it.
Over oiling is another issue totally. Dust gets by the paper job as well you just don't see it because there is no oil for it to stick to.

Obviously both he and I have done long term tests and found no adverse affects that some nut jobs on here keep claiming.




The question was which filter actually FILTERS better, and that would not be the K&N, as evidenced by the tests performed here:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest3.htm

Has anyone smeared a little oil inside their intake running a paper element to see if any dust got through? I agree the K&N lasts longer, but the initial cost is high, the maintenance is inconvenient, you have to spray just the right amount of oil on the cleaned element, and just the wear and tear of washing the element is going to open up some holes.

You may be right about no adverse affects, even tho the K&N lets in more dust, but to pay more for less filtration and negligible air flow increase is foolish in my opinion. If you have a dragster where every cu. in. of air makes a difference, then a K&N may be beneficial, but for the street, especially with stock intakes, I think not.........





Actually the original poster did NOT ask anything about the
which filters the best.

K&N saves you money over time and I haven't had one problem oiling mine over the years. It isn't rocket science. Cleaning can be as much as 50,000 mile intervals for some and takes only minutes with a hose. That slow moving water is real harsh on the filter, LOL. I clean mine more often.

Pay more for a negligible air flow increase, NOT. See any
display at many auto parts store where you exchange the paper element for the K&N then turn on the fan and watch how far the little ball goes up. Pretty simple little test that proves the concept. My several hundred thousand miles along with others on here prove that no ill affects comes from these filters.

So what is your point again ?
 
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K&N saves you money over time and I haven't had one problem oiling mine over the years. It isn't rocket science. Cleaning can be as much as 50,000 mile intervals for some and takes only minutes with a hose. That slow moving water is real harsh on the filter, LOL. I clean mine more often.

Pay more for a negligible air flow increase, NOT. See any
display at many auto parts store where you exchange the paper element for the K&N then turn on the fan and watch how far the little ball goes up. Pretty simple little test that proves the concept. My several hundred thousand miles along with others on here prove that no ill affects comes from these filters.

So what is your point again ?



Werd. We have a guy on SaturnFans with a CAI + K&N conical setup. He has a hair under 500k miles on his 95 SL2 and a good portion of those miles I believe were with the K&N setup. No problems that I know of.

As for filtration, I could care less. I live in a fairly low dust area. The van has a bit under 66k on her now, and I doubt that it'll last 200k simply due to age reasons.

Cost is really a moot point as a K&N runs $29 shipped for that size and a comparable Fram paper filter runs $14.99 + tax at Walmart.
 
I love my k&n filter. Just add a little oil from time to time. I got scared from reading here that it might suck. But after inspecting the air ducting and not seeing anything at all(which is how it's should be) I sleep great.
 
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Well, there's one at least, huh? Try that in a truck or a 4x4 that sees a lot of dirt. Or a turbo diesel.




what happens in a truck or 4X4? do the dust gnomes come out of hiding?

confused.gif
 
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K&N saves you money over time and I haven't had one problem oiling mine over the years. It isn't rocket science. Cleaning can be as much as 50,000 mile intervals for some and takes only minutes with a hose. That slow moving water is real harsh on the filter, LOL. I clean mine more often.

Pay more for a negligible air flow increase, NOT. See any
display at many auto parts store where you exchange the paper element for the K&N then turn on the fan and watch how far the little ball goes up. Pretty simple little test that proves the concept. My several hundred thousand miles along with others on here prove that no ill affects comes from these filters.

So what is your point again ?



Werd. We have a guy on SaturnFans with a CAI + K&N conical setup. He has a hair under 500k miles on his 95 SL2 and a good portion of those miles I believe were with the K&N setup. No problems that I know of.

As for filtration, I could care less. I live in a fairly low dust area. The van has a bit under 66k on her now, and I doubt that it'll last 200k simply due to age reasons.

Cost is really a moot point as a K&N runs $29 shipped for that size and a comparable Fram paper filter runs $14.99 + tax at Walmart.




Critic:

This was originally your thread, so i guess you are the one who should be answered. If you REALLY "could care less" about filtration, why not just run with no air filter? In fact, you can run your own little test. Go out to Folsom Blvd around Rancho (or any wide open area), take off your filter, and use a stopwatch to check your 0-60, or 0-80 (don't get a ticket) times. Put the filter back on (or a new one), and re-check. Best to do three passes, and get an average. This will determine any flow restriction issues.

As far as the "demonstration" Jet refers to, I would be skeptical of a "test" put on by a parts store that stands to gain from increased K&N sales. Even if the test is legitimate, does the engine in question really use the volume of air that fan is pushing through the filters? No, it's not rocket science, but if you follow K&N's instructions, you need to use their cleaner, their oil, and be careful NOT to over-oil. How much does the oil and cleaner cost?

If Critic lives in a dust-free area, his paper filter is probably still clean, in fact the metal grill inside is probably dirtier from rust than dirt. He says the van is 14 years old with 66K on it. Critic, do you know the history of this vehicle? If you don't expect to keep this for long, the long-term benefit of a K&N would probably not apply to you. Your 2.4L Previa is probably not pulling 600+ CFM through the intake, as that fan demonstration more than likely is. My experience with a low mileage-high age vehicle has been that the engine had a hard life through many short trips. I bought a 12 year old Beretta (2.8L V6) with 85K on it, the inside of the engine was covered with crud, and it was using oil. At 120K the timing chain went, and I junked it.
 
A good point was brought up...a anemic naturally aspirated 4-cylinder is not going to task an airfilter like a 5.9L turbo diesel that is fully capable of sucking a plugged filter inside out if it needs too (this has been done several times)...

The amount of air passing through a filter at any one time is going to be different for each type of vehicle/filter. And the volume of air/dirt and the force it is being "pulled" through the filter will vary too. Therefore, we can't really compare one design top the other...

I know I have seen reports of dusted Cummins because of K&Ns (I had a K&N that would make the intake tube dirty), I have seen UOAs showing what appeared to be a lot of silicon in the analysis because of a K&N, but I have also see UOAs that were just fine with K&Ns (different environment??).

And as I have said several times, the last I knew K&N had changed to a multiple layer filter that works better. Most of the "horror stories" we read are from the older filters...

steved
 
Jet,

I can honestly say that I had high silicon from running a K&N panel filter. And not once, but twice. I just recently posted the UOAs here: http://theoildrop.server101.com/forums/s...ge=1#Post827667

The two OCIs with higher silicon (18 and 26) were both with the K&N. That pretty much turned me off of K&N air filters. I now use a Purolator Pure One, and my silicon dropped to 11. I live in a dusty area (Louisiana), so others may have better luck. For my area, the "increased airflow" from a K&N apparently also comes with increased dirt ingestion. Interestingly, I couldn't tell I was getting all the extra horsepower from the K&N, either.

I'll stick with a quality paper filter, and change it about every 15-20,000 miles or so. The $17 for a PureOne or other quality air filter is money well spent for the better filtration. Besides, isn't filtration why we use air filters? The Wix and Amsoil Ea filters look promising, so those may be one of my next tries just for grins.

Dave
 
I have been running an ITG in my TDI for quite some time now, I have no basline to say Silicon went up or down but I can say it seems to work just as good as paper.

It is oiled as well but not like K&N, it is a tacky, sticky oil almost like honey. It does not like leaving the filter.

No oil or dirt beyond the filter but cleaning it might be an issue as I get conflicting ways to do it but they say it has a service life of up to 5 years. Then you can just toss it if you don't want to clean it. I am not about to test that theory though.

All in all, I would just stick with a good paper filter, K&N really offers nothing then just catch phrases especially for a Previa.
 
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Well, there's one at least, huh? Try that in a truck or a 4x4 that sees a lot of dirt. Or a turbo diesel.




I do NOT believe we were discussing OFFRAOD conditions, were we ?
 
Just put the K&N sticker under the hood.
That good for 5-6HP and a mile or so more a gallon.
crazy.gif
 
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