K&n open element

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Apr 17, 2012
Messages
3,551
Location
West Michigan
I have a k&n fipk that I installed on my Mustang years ago before I knew better. Been about a decade since it was cleaned/serviced. Based on mpg and sotp I doubt it's restrictive...but it sure looks fuzzy.

1. Leave it alone
2. Buy the kn service kit
3. Find a diy filter oil
4. Find a direct fit dry replacement element (suggestions?)
 
Last edited:
Get an AEM DryFlow replacement.

My factory air filters on my Cummins 6.7's showed about half on the restriction gauge when brand new. I switched to AEM Dryflow. I'm going 21k on one and 15k on the other, and restriction gauge shows nothing.

My UOA's show 3ppm Si on 11k miles.
 
I throw mine in a bucket with tide and hot water. Swirl, rinse repeat, dry . Reach for the blahWwhatever oil on the shelf. Smother, drain, throw it in. My silicon is lower than that of some paper elements looking at UOA, so I'm not in a hurry to ditch the rock catcher.
 
Buy the kit. $10.39 at Advanced Auto when you buy online and use coupon code:RETMENOT20
01.gif
 
Buy the service kit. I've also been using K&N (panel filters) since the 90s, with exceptional UOA Silicon readings. I wash/re-oil every two years. But I've only ever used the K&N oil.

Recently i posted my first disappointment with K&N, but it had nothing to do with the filter's funtion. Instead, when i received the filter designated for the Corolla, it arrived with a sliced silicon edge. I called and they promptly mailed me a new one. Great customer service.
 
Unless you exceed mother natures 14.7 PSI, the volume of oxygen in each cylinder is set. A CAI can't exceed that no matter how much you rev the engine, so it is useless other than sound.. So I pick #5. Headers and a less restrictive exhaust. Better scavenging, less combustion gas left behind. Which means more fresh air in. Maybe after that you get your moneys worth with #4.
 
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Unless you exceed mother natures 14.7 PSI, the volume of oxygen in each cylinder is set. A CAI can't exceed that no matter how much you rev the engine, so it is useless other than sound.. So I pick #5. Headers and a less restrictive exhaust. Better scavenging, less combustion gas left behind. Which means more fresh air in. Maybe after that you get your moneys worth with #4.

That's simply not true. A less restrictive intake performs the exact same functions as a less restrictive exhaust.

Aftermarket intakes are proven time and time again to make additional power over factory setups.
 
Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Unless you exceed mother natures 14.7 PSI, the volume of oxygen in each cylinder is set. A CAI can't exceed that no matter how much you rev the engine, so it is useless other than sound.. So I pick #5. Headers and a less restrictive exhaust. Better scavenging, less combustion gas left behind. Which means more fresh air in. Maybe after that you get your moneys worth with #4.

That's simply not true. A less restrictive intake performs the exact same functions as a less restrictive exhaust.

Aftermarket intakes are proven time and time again to make additional power over factory setups.


01.gif
 
I personally prefer the AEM dryflow style filters. I just mix some dish soap or degreaser in a little water and shake it around to clean it off once a year. If I go more than 30k miles without cleaning it, I tend to get a MAF low voltage CEL so I even know when it NEEDS cleaned! However, I imagine the K&N is fine and since you already have it, it is hard to argue for a change.
 
I use cotton gauze filters with oil i all my cars and bike, and never saw a drop of oil mist on the internals of the intake. Map clean and dry. That's a myth for me.
 
Considering AEM and K&N are the same company why don't you contact their tech dept and see what they think is the way to go.
 
Originally Posted By: Ohle_Manezzini
I use cotton gauze filters with oil i all my cars and bike, and never saw a drop of oil mist on the internals of the intake. Map clean and dry. That's a myth for me.


Maybe only if properly serviced.

I just replaced the MAF on a friend's 4.2 V6 F-150 that had hot wire contamination from the K&N.
The filter looked pretty dry.

Over-oiling AND under-oiling are the two reasons this filter gets a bad rap.
 
The oiled filters do a good job of keeping the intake air clean. A $2 spray bottle and some oil of the correct viscosity is all you REALLY need, but the K&N kit isn't terribly expensive either, and if you bother to read them, the instructions will help you do it correctly.

Note that with any intake filter, they work best when slightly dirty ... the [censored] embedded on the outside reduces the particle size that will pass through (so, cleaner air) and the pleats are what generates the CFM capacity (a pleated filter flows more than no filter; proven about fifty thousand times in about fifty thousand dyno runs).

The increase in flow claim is dubious, but certainly they are not BAD filters and I'd be shocked to learn they reduce flow below any effective value. No reason to throw it away.
 
Been using oiled gauze for many years with zero issues. I put them in a bucket with Pine-Sol DIRTY SIDE DOWN and gently flush up and down letting the solvent drag the contaminants away. Dry in sun and apply gauze oil of your choice. There are many different makers of that stuff. and it is a tacky stuff and not just oil. The K&N kit is fine too.
 
Last edited:
My Nissan filter was oild to high heaven from the factory and it fouled the MAF. I have it in a fram replacement box and the box is now completely saturated with oil.

I guess Nissan doesn't know what the filter OEM are up to.
Cost me a 8 dollar can of maf cleaner and a 1/2 way melted primary cat converter.
engine that was a healthy, startling, 170 hp runner is now, maybe 145 semi-slug.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top