K&N Oil Filter, worth the x-tra money or not?

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Figured I better use a real good oil filter since I'm switching over to Schaeffer's Supreme 7000 motor oil, was looking into the K&N oil filters, are they worth the extra money or not? I was using the Fram brand, I guess they are real junk according to you guys. Any other brands you guys would recommend? Thankyou for your input!
 
K&N claims extra flow capacity which is important on a modified engine with a large capacity oil pump.

We just had a posting today which showed the particle count for a Mobil 1 filter (which some folks thought was too restrictive and frequently bypassing), and it filtered excellently and just as it's specs said it should.

Moderately priced good filters---OEM, WIX & NAPA-Gold, Baldwin & Hastings, Bosch Premium, Purolator Pure One (probably the best of this bunch), Purolator Premium, many like the Wal*Mart SuperTech (doesn't filter as well as Bosch, but probably good enough)...what else?


Ken
 
K&N oil filter worth the price? Not for me & my Schaeffer, your opinion may vary. Just avoid Fram, & you should be OK. I've pretty well decided on Wix as having a good balance of flow, filtration, solid mechanical construction, & a reasonably thick shell, all for ~$5 retail. The bang-for-the-buck champ just may be the Supertech filters at WalMart, $2 all the time. If there's a choice, get the black ones, they're better filters than the older blue ones. AC's are pretty good too, some house brands are made by Champion, Wix, Hastings, & others. Purolator has begun to use cardboard endcaps of a few models lately, like Fram. The short version is ABF- Anything But Fram. Until a couple of years ago, I sometimes used 'em myself.
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Live & learn.
 
I've been using the K&N up here since I feel it offers probably the best flow of the commonly available filters. But now that the place I buy them seems to be phasing them out, I will be switching to the Wix clones (Carquest Premium) instead. These appear to flow extremely well also, and as an added bonus they are not only cheaper but also have a better silicone antidrainback, vs nitrile for the K&N.

Once and for all I wish we had a low cost way to find out how all of these filters flow! Although with either the K&N or the Wix I think they'll both flow more than enough. Certainly better than the Mobil 1 or PureONE, neither of which I will ever use again.
 
To me they are worth the money. As Patman said - we can't be sure though. I like the high flow concept even though this means some loss of filtering. The other thing is that it is built like a tank. Wall thickness is double the PureOne. I have been known to waste money though and would never get into an argument about the virtues of this filter
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I think it depends on how long you are going to keep your car, how much is your car worth, etc.

If I just bought a used car say a 1990 toyota corolla with oh 150,000mi on it, I wouldn't spend a penny on a K@n filter, probably whatever discount oil and filter there is, I'll take.

If I had a luxury car (brand new) $50K-60K, I would definately get the best, assuming I'm keeping it forever, but if I'm leasing it for 3-5yrs, having a regular filter won't matter too much.
 
I don't think the K@N is worth it unless burst strength is of concern, and if that nut on the bottom of it is of big importance. I tried a K@N on my 4.3 S10 I used to have, overall oil pressure dropped slightly throughout all rpms and temperatures from where it was even with a PureOne. I did try it in my Jeep, and had similar results, but the Jeep motor was badly sludged, so I'm not totally sure how good they really are.

Jason
 
Patman...Why didn't you like the Mobil 1 filter?I've taken a few filters apart in my day and found the Mobil to be the best constructed oil filter out of the bunch.I have to drive to Detroit to an Autozone to get them...only 25 minutes from where I live across the border in Canada.Actually the kids and I have fun doing a "oil filter run" every 4 months or so.I even pick up a few extra Mobil's to send out west, to a guy in Calgary..he can't get any in Canada.
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quote:

Originally posted by Greaser:
Patman...Why didn't you like the Mobil 1 filter?I've taken a few filters apart in my day and found the Mobil to be the best constructed oil filter out of the bunch.I have to drive to Detroit to an Autozone to get them...only 25 minutes from where I live across the border in Canada.Actually the kids and I have fun doing a "oil filter run" every 4 months or so.I even pick up a few extra Mobil's to send out west, to a guy in Calgary..he can't get any in Canada.
canada.gif


I used to use the Mobil 1 filter, but have been a bit less impressed with them ever since Bob's oil analysis showed that this filter could be a pretty big restriction to oil flow. I think it would work well in a gently driven highway car, but for those that drive agressively I believe it's not the best choice. I put the PureONE in this same category too.
 
Do we really have proof that a huge corporation like Exxon/Mobil would put themselves in a liable position by marketing oil filters that cause engine damage by not flowing to API standards?Wasn't there a post a few days ago where a poster did some tests on his own,and the findings were that the lower micron removal filters did their jobs .I don't mind paying a couple of dollars more for a well put to-gether product.From experiance those products are worth the money in the long run.When I talked to a rep at Champ Labs he told me that the K&N and the Mobil filters were almost exactly alike,the Mobil getting the edge due to to the media quality.

[ February 15, 2003, 07:00 AM: Message edited by: Greaser ]
 
Patman,

All an oil filter can do is remove particles from the oil. Engine wear can be more or less for a handful of reasons, with abrasive particles being just one reason.

I don't think that the oil analysis you referred to showing one case of lower wear particles from a run with a Fram filter vs. a run with a M1 filter to the the end of the discussion. I do like the idea of a particle count of the oil with different brands of filter...after all, that's all a filter can do.


Ken
 
quote:

Originally posted by Patman:
I'm not saying Mobil 1 filters would cause engine damage. I'm just saying you may see higher engine wear. We're talking about the difference between maybe a few ppm of wear metals. Something only us oil analysis addicts would notice.

Keep in mind, all of this is merely speculation, I'm not saying I'm 100% sure on any of this oil filter stuff. I'm just merely giving an educated opinion based on what we've observed on here.

There is also a comfort level as far as $$$ too. Why spend $12 on an oil filter if a $5 Wix is going to provide the same or possibly better results?


What we all need are some real data on all filters,done by a respected lab.We don't, so are taking the test factors of the SAE J806 testing as the benchmark and fumbling around in the dark with speculation..With this taken into consideration..can we say a $5 filter is as good as ,or better than a $12 filter
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quote:

Originally posted by Ken2:
Patman,

All an oil filter can do is remove particles from the oil. Engine wear can be more or less for a handful of reasons, with abrasive particles being just one reason.

I don't think that the oil analysis you referred to showing one case of lower wear particles from a run with a Fram filter vs. a run with a M1 filter to the the end of the discussion. I do like the idea of a particle count of the oil with different brands of filter...after all, that's all a filter can do.


Ken


There were too many variables in that test to get an accurate PPM count for those two filters...suggesting that the filter was the main concern of increased wear.Could have been a bad batch of oil,gas station problem,minor leak,driving habits were not the same...who knows?Testing has to be done under controlled conditions, on a bench,then we have a starting point to go afield with..to get real world numbers.
 
I realize the one sample is not the final word, however the theory behind it is very true. Terry Dyson has been telling us for a long time now that we should be choosing a filter that flows better, and to concentrate on having good air filtration (to keep the silicon out) and a good oil (to keep wear metals down) With those two things in place, I doubt there will be very much "junk" in the oil for a super low micron filter to catch anyways, so you're better off making sure you have higher flow.
 
quote:

Originally posted by 2K2AcuraTL:
Patman..
Do you use the Pureone or the Wix filter ??
And if so where do you purchase them..??
Thanks
Jean


I was running the PureONE on my mom's car, but not anymore, I changed it out last week with a NAPA Professional for the Auto-rx treatment.

I currently run the K&N filters on my wife's Honda and my Firebird, and I have a Purolator Premium plus on my sister's car.

I will be switching to Carquest premium/NAPA Gold (same as Wix) on everything since the K&Ns seem to be getting phased out anyways, and these other filters are cheaper and appear to be just as good.

There are tons of Carquest and NAPA stores in Canada, I recommend Carquest since their prices are better.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Patman:
I realize the one sample is not the final word, however the theory behind it is very true. Terry Dyson has been telling us for a long time now that we should be choosing a filter that flows better, and to concentrate on having good air filtration (to keep the silicon out) and a good oil (to keep wear metals down) With those two things in place, I doubt there will be very much "junk" in the oil for a super low micron filter to catch anyways, so you're better off making sure you have higher flow.

But we don't have any real data on total flow across the media...everyone says it's secret stuff.. the oil filter manufacturers are very hesitant in revealing the numbers.As for "junk' in the oil not being there...do you want to take that chance with your engine...not me...I just changed my oil to-day and looked at my SuperPlug magnetic oil drain plug...there seemed to be some grey/black slime on it along with a few pieces of very fine millimeter or so long hair like "wires" is the best I can describe them...my diopter lens helped find these...and thats just the ferrous "junk".

[ February 15, 2003, 10:37 PM: Message edited by: Greaser ]
 
I'm not saying Mobil 1 filters would cause engine damage. I'm just saying you may see higher engine wear. We're talking about the difference between maybe a few ppm of wear metals. Something only us oil analysis addicts would notice.

Keep in mind, all of this is merely speculation, I'm not saying I'm 100% sure on any of this oil filter stuff. I'm just merely giving an educated opinion based on what we've observed on here.

There is also a comfort level as far as $$$ too. Why spend $12 on an oil filter if a $5 Wix is going to provide the same or possibly better results?
 
quote:

Originally posted by Patman:
Originally posted by 2K2AcuraTL:
[qb]

I will be switching to Carquest premium/NAPA Gold (same as Wix) on everything since the K&Ns seem to be getting phased out anyways, and these other filters are cheaper and appear to be just as good.

There are tons of Carquest and NAPA stores in Canada, I recommend Carquest since their prices are better.
Thanks Patman,
It's just I have read a lot on this Pureone filter, and cant seem to get my mittens on one..
and about K&N.. are you saying CDNTire is ditching the line..?? If so, we'll have to take a closer look at those NapaGold..
Jean
 
I'm not 100% sure CT is ditching it, I'll have to check out a few other stores today (I've got the day off) But my local store no longer even has a spot for my Firebird one (HP3002) and they haven't replenished the stock on the other ones. Plus they used to go on sale every 4-6 weeks, but haven't in a while (and I wouldn't pay full price, they want $16.99!)

But if the Wix/NAPA/Carquest filters are close in flow and quality to the K&Ns, I'm comfortable using them, especially with their lower price.
 
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