Simple: I don't want to buy the kit to clean the filter on my old cycle. How can I do this? Cleaning should be strait-forward, I have a garden hose with warm water to boot. How about oiling it? Can I just mist it with veggie or motor oil?
Clean & oil K&N without the kit?
- Thread starter Audi Junkie
- Start date
- Status
After some searching, I'm going try Simple Green and Trans fluid.
Hard to believe I get zero matches for "K&N" on the air filter forum.
Hard to believe I get zero matches for "K&N" on the air filter forum.
I used Fantastic or 409 to clean mine, but I used the K&N oil.
It's done.
Apparently plugs can stay wet > 24 hours, because my bike would not start over a day after my flodding incident. I could not get a hit with starting fluid either, so I dug out the plugs, man it was tough and the wires were coming apart from the connectors. It took a special 18mm sparkpug socket that I had to buy in a set because Sears was outta stock on the single ones.
I took all 4 out and they were wet. I did not know if it was from this day's attempts at starting, but it was basicly the same result the last few days. Anyway, I dried cleaned and regapped the (dual electrode....grr) plugs and it fired right up. 4hrs total. I had to clean the K&Ns with Simple Green and oil with trans fluid. I don't want to buy the kit. Since it is apart, I also wanted to do a quick shot of Gumout and put the body back together and the tank on but I quit for the day after the air crew from LifeFlight expressed annoyance with me revving the bike in the hangar. Kinda ironic since they take-off in a residential area all hours of night.
I took all 4 out and they were wet. I did not know if it was from this day's attempts at starting, but it was basicly the same result the last few days. Anyway, I dried cleaned and regapped the (dual electrode....grr) plugs and it fired right up. 4hrs total. I had to clean the K&Ns with Simple Green and oil with trans fluid. I don't want to buy the kit. Since it is apart, I also wanted to do a quick shot of Gumout and put the body back together and the tank on but I quit for the day after the air crew from LifeFlight expressed annoyance with me revving the bike in the hangar. Kinda ironic since they take-off in a residential area all hours of night.
K&N used to have instructions to clean their filters with kerosene or something very similar, but then they figured out they could sell special cleaners to you if they stopped telling you that anything else was okay.
I think any common petroleum-based solvent will work very well. Mineral spirits, kerosene, etc. Simple Green would probably work, too.
The main thing is to dry it out a bit and oil it before use. And, not to clean it too often! Unless you have many many miles on it, it's working better than it will after you clean it.
I think any common petroleum-based solvent will work very well. Mineral spirits, kerosene, etc. Simple Green would probably work, too.
The main thing is to dry it out a bit and oil it before use. And, not to clean it too often! Unless you have many many miles on it, it's working better than it will after you clean it.
How often should K&N filters be cleaned and oiled? We have two and one of them has about 40-45k miles and the other has about 50k miles. I oiled one of them once and neither has been cleaned. Isn't it better at trapping dirt when it's dirty?
I've got a Fram AirHog in the Buick that's been in there for 2 years or so. All I've ever done to it is use the brush attachment on the household vacuum cleaner and vacuum it off; it still looks like new. There's something about that filter that doesn't allow dirt to stick to it; it's like a non stick Teflon frying pan.
It's an orange filter, so the black particulates are easy to see and they just vacuum right off. So yeah, I'm not ever going to wash and re-oil it; it always looks new.
It's an orange filter, so the black particulates are easy to see and they just vacuum right off. So yeah, I'm not ever going to wash and re-oil it; it always looks new.
Merkava,
Any gain in gas mileage with the Fram AirHog ?
Any gain in gas mileage with the Fram AirHog ?
K&N recommends every 50k I believe.
I think the most important thing is to just not damage the gauze when cleaning.
I think the most important thing is to just not damage the gauze when cleaning.
I don't think the K&N capacity is anywhere near a deeply pleated paper filter.
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I've got a Fram AirHog in the Buick that's been in there for 2 years or so. All I've ever done to it is use the brush attachment on the household vacuum cleaner and vacuum it off; it still looks like new. There's something about that filter that doesn't allow dirt to stick to it; it's like a non stick Teflon frying pan.
It's an orange filter, so the black particulates are easy to see and they just vacuum right off. So yeah, I'm not ever going to wash and re-oil it; it always looks new.
I just swapped out my 18 mo/20k old AirHog today for a normal paper Fram filter. The filter is just too expensive maintain; it requires servicing every twelve to eighteen months. Mine wasn't holding very much dirt, so I wasn't sure if it was doing a good job.
I've got a Fram AirHog in the Buick that's been in there for 2 years or so. All I've ever done to it is use the brush attachment on the household vacuum cleaner and vacuum it off; it still looks like new. There's something about that filter that doesn't allow dirt to stick to it; it's like a non stick Teflon frying pan.
It's an orange filter, so the black particulates are easy to see and they just vacuum right off. So yeah, I'm not ever going to wash and re-oil it; it always looks new.
I just swapped out my 18 mo/20k old AirHog today for a normal paper Fram filter. The filter is just too expensive maintain; it requires servicing every twelve to eighteen months. Mine wasn't holding very much dirt, so I wasn't sure if it was doing a good job.
Originally Posted By: The Critic
I just swapped out my 18 mo/20k old AirHog today for a normal paper Fram filter. The filter is just too expensive maintain; it requires servicing every twelve to eighteen months. Mine wasn't holding very much dirt, so I wasn't sure if it was doing a good job.
I don't know why you're saying it's too expensive to maintain; like I said before, I haven't done anything to mine except vacuum it. As far as whether it's doing its job, I forgot to mention that I also see some particultes gathering at the base of the air cleaner box; I assume some of the particulates just fall off; that would explain the reason why the filter stays so clean.
I just swapped out my 18 mo/20k old AirHog today for a normal paper Fram filter. The filter is just too expensive maintain; it requires servicing every twelve to eighteen months. Mine wasn't holding very much dirt, so I wasn't sure if it was doing a good job.
I don't know why you're saying it's too expensive to maintain; like I said before, I haven't done anything to mine except vacuum it. As far as whether it's doing its job, I forgot to mention that I also see some particultes gathering at the base of the air cleaner box; I assume some of the particulates just fall off; that would explain the reason why the filter stays so clean.
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I don't know why you're saying it's too expensive to maintain; like I said before, I haven't done anything to mine except vacuum it. As far as whether it's doing its job, I forgot to mention that I also see some particultes gathering at the base of the air cleaner box; I assume some of the particulates just fall off; that would explain the reason why the filter stays so clean.
Fram recommends that the filter be serviced every 12 to 18 months. A cleaning kit runs $15, and I'm not sure how many times it can be used. Even if the filter looks okay, I would service it anyway as the manufacturer says to do so. Many of these filters rely on the oil for good filtration performance, and there's must be a reason why they recommend every 12 to 18 months. The last thing that I would want to do is have no filter as the oil was dried out.
I don't know why you're saying it's too expensive to maintain; like I said before, I haven't done anything to mine except vacuum it. As far as whether it's doing its job, I forgot to mention that I also see some particultes gathering at the base of the air cleaner box; I assume some of the particulates just fall off; that would explain the reason why the filter stays so clean.
Fram recommends that the filter be serviced every 12 to 18 months. A cleaning kit runs $15, and I'm not sure how many times it can be used. Even if the filter looks okay, I would service it anyway as the manufacturer says to do so. Many of these filters rely on the oil for good filtration performance, and there's must be a reason why they recommend every 12 to 18 months. The last thing that I would want to do is have no filter as the oil was dried out.
- Status
