I want to like K&N ...

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Originally Posted By: Realtech214
Ive got a k&n drop in filter for my silverado but everyone says they let too much dirt in. "I didnt buy the filter it was already in the truck when i got it". So for no reason at all, i got a k&n cleaning kit from az for 15$ to try it out. Needless to say i did not leave it in the truck. After i cleaned and oiled it, i let it dry for a while. Before i took it back out to the truck, i for some reason held it up to a light, bad idea. I saw how much [censored] it looked like it would let through. You could see right through the joker. I want to like k&n, but as the saying around here goes, " why would you pour sand into your engine", anyways-
Thats why I dont like K&N. I have been using fram air filters and probably will try a purator next round.
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I'll tell you what you do. Put a new paper air filter in, change the oil and oil filter and run the truck for a OCI then have a UOA done. Then install the K&N filter, change the oil and oil filter using the same exact brand/weight oil and brand/type oil filter as you used during the paper filter run. Run it for a OCI, then have another UOA done. See what the results tell you. Form your own opinion and either continue to run it or not. Simple as that. No debate needed. If the K&N sucks that bad, it will be immediately visible in the UOA.
 
Huh.

I've put a chunk of miles on K&N's between a 5.0, turbo Shadow, Avenger and our current Bonneville.

Generally speaking I run paper when possible now (Napa Golds, usually). Our SSEi came with an aftermarket Thrasher intake that has a K&N knock-off filter on it. Granted - it's been in use for some time. But it's still a "rock catcher".

Here's a 7,500 mile UOA:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubb...01_#Post3191348

Silicon below average.

*shrug* I won't blanket statement them and say your engine is going to blow up if you run one..
 
Originally Posted By: Olas
http://www.itgairfilters.com/

best air filters in the world in respect of filtering, load up capacity, flow, and lowest PSID.

Plus, they'll make any filter in any size for any application.

Guess which air filter EVERY F1 car on the grid uses?


OK, but pretty much every HD truck and piece of earthmoving equipment with a turbo, operating in the worst environments in the world run a Donaldson PowerCore
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The PowerCore filters aren't small (or light) though, so they likely don't lend themselves to applications like F1 very well.

http://www.donaldson.com/en/engine/support/datalibrary/059806.pdf

They are 99.97% efficient and I would assume, given the applications they are used in (like mining equipment) also have a much higher particulate capacity as well.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: Olas
http://www.itgairfilters.com/

best air filters in the world in respect of filtering, load up capacity, flow, and lowest PSID.

Plus, they'll make any filter in any size for any application.

Guess which air filter EVERY F1 car on the grid uses?


OK, but pretty much every HD truck and piece of earthmoving equipment with a turbo, operating in the worst environments in the world run a Donaldson PowerCore
wink.gif


The PowerCore filters aren't small (or light) though, so they likely don't lend themselves to applications like F1 very well.

http://www.donaldson.com/en/engine/support/datalibrary/059806.pdf

They are 99.97% efficient and I would assume, given the applications they are used in (like mining equipment) also have a much higher particulate capacity as well.




Funny you write that.
I had to take the breather tubing and filter out of our forklift to change the alternator and they were Donaldson filters,all of them,from air to oil to fuel.
Interesting.
 
So Donaldson might last longer down a coal mine or in a desert, but how many of us drive in those conditions? How dirty is your filter when you pull it out to change it?
If i ran my sirocco 16hrs a day in extremely dirty conditions I'd consider a more 'indusrtrial' type filter, but for 10-12k a year on tarmac, ITG offers more filtration efficiency and lower PSID over a longer term that the the factory paper filter.
 
Originally Posted By: Olas
So Donaldson might last longer down a coal mine or in a desert, but how many of us drive in those conditions? How dirty is your filter when you pull it out to change it?
If i ran my sirocco 16hrs a day in extremely dirty conditions I'd consider a more 'indusrtrial' type filter, but for 10-12k a year on tarmac, ITG offers more filtration efficiency and lower PSID over a longer term that the the factory paper filter.


And I'm fine with that. But you omitted those qualifiers in this statement:

Quote:
best air filters in the world in respect of filtering, load up capacity, flow, and lowest PSID.


Which I think the PowerCore handily beats them on all counts. But they are not small, nor are they generally designed for applications where the weight of the air filter assembly is an issue.

The Donaldson isn't going to just last longer down a coal mine or in a desert, it is going to last longer period because it has an obscene amount of filter area and dust/dirt holding capacity. It has to due to where it is used.

With respect to your last statement, do you have comparative data regarding the efficiency of the ITG to a standard MANN paper air filter? I couldn't find any filtration efficiency data on the ITG website, whilst companies like Donaldson, Purolator, WIX....etc all publish their efficiency figures where they are readily accessible.

I changed my OEM filters (it has two, one on each side of the engine bay) last year and the ones that were in it, which I have no idea how much mileage was on them, were not that bad. Probably wouldn't even have registered a restriction on a vacuum gauge.

Would I swap out my OEM filters for PowerCore filters? Yeah, if they made something that fit in my engine bay, LOL! But they don't. Their smallest unit can be made to fit on my Expedition and will work, in general, as Widman has demonstrated, in most truck engine bays with a bit of work. It would probably be difficult to fit one to your car without significant modification. They are also expensive.

As per my initial point, perhaps in your application, where your vehicle is operated, in the conditions it is operated in, pending the ITG actually verifiably has better filtration than the OEM offering for your application and considering space constraints, it is a better CHOICE than a PowerCore. That doesn't make it a better FILTER though
wink.gif
Going by the definition of a filter, the Donaldson, at 99.97%, is going to be nary impossible to beat.
 
Those Donaldson filters are impressive, great idea to increase filter area and the number of times the air goes through the media.
I'm sure it would be total overkill for almost all automotive applications, but it would be a true lifetime filter. I might get one for my tractor and I'm sure it would be a near lifetime filter there too as I rarely raise a lot of dust for hours at a time.
I ran the paper filter in the Tracker for 3-4 years, ~35k miles and it was only visibly dirty directly under the intake tube leading from the airbox, so even that area wasn't restricted enough to encourage air to flow through the rest of the filter.
 
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.


An EXCELLENT filter that is easily cleaned, darn near infinite life in our service. We like Pro Dry...
 
Originally Posted By: TwoTrackinFool
So am I incorrect in thinking that a oiled foam filter is the best air filtering media ?


Yes
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I am wondering if I should swap my drop in K&N for paper. I am not sure my TSX has a MAF I know there is a MAP sensor but whenever I serviced the filter I dried it for a while before reinstalling it.
 
Originally Posted By: Dohc98vteC
I am wondering if I should swap my drop in K&N for paper. I am not sure my TSX has a MAF I know there is a MAP sensor but whenever I serviced the filter I dried it for a while before reinstalling it.


The reason to change the K&N isn't the MAF, its the dirt it lets in your engine through lower than OEM efficiency. Air filtration is far more important than oil filtration.
 
I got my truck with a k and n in it. I joined bitog soon after that and checked the inside of the intake ducting. It was coated with dirt. put a paper one in and years later the intake is perfectly clean. I washed the whole intake out in the tub before the paper element went in. No k and n's for my engines.
 
Never had dirty insides on a airbox or ducting with a K&N or Airaid oiled filters.

I suspect the people who have them either have not installed them properly or they just did not fit properly.

To each their own, I just happen to like things I dont have to throw in to a landfill.
 
K&N allows more air in, then your engine needs more fuel = poor gas mileage.

As mentioned, it allows more dirt in as well.
 
Originally Posted By: Robb.
K&N allows more air in, then your engine needs more fuel = poor gas mileage.

As mentioned, it allows more dirt in as well.


The throttle blade controls how much air your engine ingests, not the air filter.
 
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