K&N air filters......yay or nay ?

[Mc Tool]

I have put them on a lot of motors over the years ....believing they were a good thing but I just read on google that they mess up mass airflow sensors , dont filter as well as a paper filter and dont add hp ( I knew that they dont add hp).
I just bought another one and was googling to make sure its pre-oiled ( it is ) cos the last one wasnt but this one looks like it is

 

[Scott Danforth]

It's a fine line on them for too little oil and they do not filter properly, or too much oil and they foul the MAF

 

[Mc Tool]

It's a fine line on them for too little oil and they do not filter properly, or too much oil and they foul the MAF

Yeah ,thats it , this is the 1st car I have intended to fit one to with a MAF ....everything else was carbed. And , to oil them properly takes a while for the oil to wick over the whole filter if you dont drench it . The last paper ( Ryco ) filter has lasted 60,000kms and still looks ok ....once I got all the bugs and leaves out of it

 

[redneck joe]

**** maybe that was the issue all along with Betsy

 

[Bob_VT]

I use a "disposable" K&N in my older Tacoma - no issues. It actually depends on your area, driving and amount of use..

 

[Jeff J]

I like K&N filters but feel 2 are needed because the cleaning and oiling process takes a considerable amount of time. It’s nice to have one ready to go in when the time comes.

 

[alldodge]

Nay

 

[Bondo]

I have put them on a lot of motors over the years ....believing they were a good thing but I just read on google that they mess up mass airflow sensors , dont filter as well as a paper filter and dont add hp ( I knew that they dont add hp).
I just bought another one and was googling to make sure its pre-oiled ( it is ) cos the last one wasnt but this one looks like it is
View attachment 419447

Ayuh,..... My current pickup had one in it when I bought it,...
1st thing I did was a full service on the truck,...
When I inspected the air filter by shining my droplight through it, It was like shining a light through a screen door,....
A Napa paper filter replaced it that day,...

 

[flashback]

Those things got popular when we were putting glass packs on our old cars. Less restriction of exhaust and intake added a few ponys. It sounds good anyways.

 

[jimmbo]

I want my engines to last, so no bloody way would I ever use one of those pieces of cr**

 

[jlh3rd]

part of the problem was oiling the wrong side. Then too much.
Cost vs alleged performance gain.

Project Farms did air filter tests. So I use Purolator .
Took the K&N out of the Camaro years ago.

 

[Jeff J]

Yep, a person must follow the instructions if they want a shot at stuff working anywhere near what is advertised. Cleaning and oiling a K&N filter is not a 10 minute job.

 

[Pmt133]

I have one in the corvette not by choice... no one makes a paper filter for it anymore. For the couple thousand it gets driven a year it's fine. I wouldn't use one on a daily.

 

[jlh3rd]

Yep, a person must follow the instructions if they want a shot at stuff working anywhere near what is advertised. Cleaning and oiling a K&N filter is not a 10 minute job.

I have one in the corvette not by choice... no one makes a paper filter for it anymore. For the couple thousand it gets driven a year it's fine. I wouldn't use one on a daily.

It's an ok filter, it's just that people over oiled it or oiled the wrong side and then blamed it when the MAF failed.
And if you don't have a MAF, no worries at all.

 

[Pmt133]

It's an ok filter, it's just that people over oiled it or oiled the wrong side and then blamed it when the MAF failed.
And if you don't have a MAF, no worries at all.

They actually replaced mine a few times. Apparently they have a tendency to shrivel up in some applications. Mine shrank to the point that it wouldn't fit in the holder. Kind of annoying. Also kind of bad for filtration.

 

[Mc Tool]

It's an ok filter, it's just that people over oiled it or oiled the wrong side and then blamed it when the MAF failed.
And if you don't have a MAF, no worries at all.

I thought that the oil should be fairly evenly soaked into the filter ....like it wicks itself all over , and gotta admit I have previously been guilty of over oiling but only on a carbed motor .
I also have some Bel ray water soluble filter oil that I have been using on foam filters ....mostly because I can run it under a warm tap to clean in a continual flow of clean water as opposed to washing in a bowl of fuel coz you eventually start to filter the dirt out of the fuel and the filter never get really clean ....unless you use a few bowls of clean fuel . I havnt used it on a K&N but Im thinkin about it ....just that I have 2 lots of K&N filter cleaning kits . I have been using water soluble aerosol degreaser to clean the old oil out of my other K&N filters , then run the filter under the tap , let it dry and then re-oil .....takes a couple of days so a bit of a pita , but this is the first K&N I have planned on fitting to a daily driver with a MAF . Im thinking I wont actually use it and just stick with the Ryco disposable filters .