I want to like K&N ...

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While they may let fine particulates thru, I can say from my own personal experience that I have driven nearly a million miles on K&N air filters and have never experienced a single problem. Some of them went 180,000 miles on an individual vehicle with no issues. The rest of the vehicle wore out before any engine issues. There are far more important things to focus on that will have greater impact on longevity, in my opinion.

I don't doubt the claims and tests showing more fines get thru, I just have not experienced any ill effects from the fines.

Plus there is an Eco side to putting more regular air filters in the landfills.

Just my .02
 
I think the oil that is put on K & N Air Filters can hard the MASS AIR FLOW SENSOR.

Thats why PUROLATOR PUREONE AIR FILTER AND FRAM TOUGH GAURD FILTERS that are pre Oiled are not made for some cars.

b.c they do not want them to harm the Mass Air Flow Sensor

So I just use OEM... Regular FRAM or Drive Works or regular Purolator Plus
 
Originally Posted By: David1
I think the oil that is put on K & N Air Filters can hard the MASS AIR FLOW SENSOR.

Thats why PUROLATOR PUREONE AIR FILTER AND FRAM TOUGH GAURD FILTERS that are pre Oiled are not made for some cars.

b.c they do not want them to harm the Mass Air Flow Sensor

So I just use OEM... Regular FRAM or Drive Works or regular Purolator Plus


It's a myth that K&N harms MAF... at least in the way most people think of it.

Look here: MAF

But I agree that an OEM style filter is better because it's more efficient at filtering the air. There are some highly efficient aftermarket filters too. The air filter is the number one place that dirt gets into your engine oil (the prime source of outside contamination) so it really pays to install the most efficient air filter you can buy. Especially id you live in a dusty environment.
 
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Originally Posted By: TackleBox
While they may let fine particulates thru, I can say from my own personal experience that I have driven nearly a million miles on K&N air filters and have never experienced a single problem. Some of them went 180,000 miles on an individual vehicle with no issues. The rest of the vehicle wore out before any engine issues. There are far more important things to focus on that will have greater impact on longevity, in my opinion.

I don't doubt the claims and tests showing more fines get thru, I just have not experienced any ill effects from the fines.

Plus there is an Eco side to putting more regular air filters in the landfills.

Just my .02


1) You might not be so sanguine if you lived in a more dusty place.

2) Most people replace their regular air filters way, WAY to often. Read some of the posts here about air filter restriction gauges (FilterMinder, etc.). Many of us have doubled or tripled the factory FCI by replacing the filter when the restriction gauge indicates it's sufficiently loaded to replace.

3) The air filter is the primary source of contaminants inside the engine. How can that not be at, or near, the top of the list in considering things to do for engine longevity. Your anecdotal claims nothwithstanding.

4) But anyway all you are saying is something like a lucky smoker with particularly good genes says, "Heck, I've smoked for 60 years and I'm still alive." All that says is you are lucky, not wise
 
I used to off road race a lot and when everyone was wrapping their filter we quit using K&N. I swear you could feel a bit of lost hp!

But I really and truly believe after extensive reading that the overwhelming majority of their complaints are from folks not knowing how to properly clean and oil them.

In most cars they work just fine, there's a lot of daylight visible though...
 
Originally Posted By: Jim Allen
Originally Posted By: TackleBox
While they may let fine particulates thru, I can say from my own personal experience that I have driven nearly a million miles on K&N air filters and have never experienced a single problem. Some of them went 180,000 miles on an individual vehicle with no issues. The rest of the vehicle wore out before any engine issues. There are far more important things to focus on that will have greater impact on longevity, in my opinion.

I don't doubt the claims and tests showing more fines get thru, I just have not experienced any ill effects from the fines.

Plus there is an Eco side to putting more regular air filters in the landfills.

Just my .02


1) You might not be so sanguine if you lived in a more dusty place.

2) Most people replace their regular air filters way, WAY to often. Read some of the posts here about air filter restriction gauges (FilterMinder, etc.). Many of us have doubled or tripled the factory FCI by replacing the filter when the restriction gauge indicates it's sufficiently loaded to replace.

3) The air filter is the primary source of contaminants inside the engine. How can that not be at, or near, the top of the list in considering things to do for engine longevity. Your anecdotal claims nothwithstanding.

4) But anyway all you are saying is something like a lucky smoker with particularly good genes says, "Heck, I've smoked for 60 years and I'm still alive." All that says is you are lucky, not wise


1) Apparently you assumed all those miles were in my current locale. Not the case at all. Nearly half were in Phoenix and a good deal spent off road.

2) I concur with this statement and would add K&N to the list of filters changed/cleaned way too frequently.

3) OCI, oil quality, oil filter quality, oil levels, initial cold weather warm ups, driving habits, type of miles, quality gas, etc. are all on my list prior to whether or not a K&N or a paper filter is better.

4) Hardly lucky, I just have not seen the data to support yours and others anecdotal assertions, nor have I, or anyone I have known experienced an engine failure which could be definitively blamed on the choice of air filter.

5) if you have the data or can reference the data, please share, I truly would be interested an open to change.
 
"2) Most people replace their regular air filters way, WAY to often. Read some of the posts here about air filter restriction gauges (FilterMinder, etc.). Many of us have doubled or tripled the factory FCI by replacing the filter when the restriction gauge indicates it's sufficiently loaded to replace."

My 2003 Silverado has just passed 28K miles and the filter looks like it could go to 50K just fine. I have two filters in stock for my truck, so at the factory interval I think is 30K, I have supplies for at least 90K miles. At the current rate of accruing miles on my truck, I'll need to buy another filter in 2035.
 
Originally Posted By: TackleBox
TackleBox said:
5) if you have the data or can reference the data, please share, I truly would be interested an open to change.


Most of the non-copyrighted stuff has been posted here before... within the past year or two. Happy searching ( : < ). For the most part, you're best off going to SAE.org for the white papers with details on engine contamination. I have paid out about $1000 over the past few years to purchase some of these papers... which are copyrighted and can't be reproduced here legally. I urge you to do as I did and start looking thru them. You can find a fair bit of info from just the synopses but if you are questing for detailed knowledge like I was, you wont be able to resist shelling out the $23 for the full paper.
 
Originally Posted By: Jim Allen

1) You might not be so sanguine if you lived in a more dusty place.

2) Most people replace their regular air filters way, WAY to often. Read some of the posts here about air filter restriction gauges (FilterMinder, etc.). Many of us have doubled or tripled the factory FCI by replacing the filter when the restriction gauge indicates it's sufficiently loaded to replace.

3) The air filter is the primary source of contaminants inside the engine. How can that not be at, or near, the top of the list in considering things to do for engine longevity. Your anecdotal claims nothwithstanding.

4) But anyway all you are saying is something like a lucky smoker with particularly good genes says, "Heck, I've smoked for 60 years and I'm still alive." All that says is you are lucky, not wise

I agree.

I buy the best air filters for my cars and I use pantyhose prefilter to catch larger debris before it enter the filter box, this way I extend the filter life usually twice as long as recommended or longer, until the seal is harden to the point it doesn't seal well.

While I spend more on air filters, I spend less on oil filters because I think in a clean engine there isn't much to filter.
 
Originally Posted By: CHARLIEBRONSON21
I'm glad I just stick with my lifetime filter on the fusion... The mustang has a BBK intake but i haven't needed to clean that filter in years.


Really? The S&B filter I had on my Mustang with a K&N intake pipe would look like crud after just 6 months of use.
 
About 15 years ago I tried them. One in my wifes truck and one in a Honda quad. Evidence of dirt getting through in the quad was enough for me to go back to oiled foam on it. A couple of years ago I removed the one on the truck and replaced it with paper. The truck has 150K on it now and has not blown up. I think I only serviced the K&N once while it was in there. After I read in K&N's literature that the filter does a better job of filtering as it gets dirtier, I stretched out the interval.
1.) They may not be suitable for all applications / environments.
2.) People may be servicing them incorrectly and too frequently.

I still have 4 K&N pod filters, with outer wraps on my old Suzuki that have not been srviced since 2007 when they were new, but I don't ride it much.
 
I had a K&N filter long ago but ditched it for an AFE ProDry. I like that it's oil-free, requires nothing special and is reusable. All the cars that I have and my family's cars have all got ProDrys in them.
 
Originally Posted By: InvalidUserID
I had a K&N filter long ago but ditched it for an AFE ProDry. I like that it's oil-free, requires nothing special and is reusable. All the cars that I have and my family's cars have all got ProDrys in them.


Going to go with one of them myself,Just to see if the filtering is any better than this K&N . Have to have the full airflow for forced induction but I also want the best protection .
 
I always used kn air filters in my dirt bikes years ago so I figured id give it a go in my veloster. Im sure it performed better then the oe filter from Hyundai but when I decided to clean it I did lo0k at it up to the light and said, wow that's a lot of daylight. I used it for 25,000 miles and last week replaced it with a napa gold air filter. Ps I did run my fingers down the pipe to maf but there wasn't any dust nor dirt so idk if I believe kn is all that bad. BuT everyone hear got me scared so I just changed it.
 
I'm surprised that there is no real competitor to K&N in the performance filter market. S&B kind of, but they only do filters fro a few select vehicles.
 
There was a couple of independent studies done and the K&N let in more dirt,, The best dry oem type filters tested were the ACDelco followed but the Baldwin..
 
I ran k&n in my old truck. Uoa showed below average silicon. I have posted this fact many times.it always gets lost in the opinions.
 
Does the opinion of K&N change if you use one of their precharger wraps on the filter? Will that help improve the filtering efficiency?
 
I've had a cai on my dakota since '07 and the main reason I run a precharger on mine is I was sick of seeing all the bugs caught in the filter. IMO I doubt it filters any better other than keeping the really big stuff off the filter itself and cleaner looking. Plus I don't believe for most application a precharger is even available. I've had good luck with my mine but there's better filters for most cars/trucks. I do like K&N but I'm in the minority.
 
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