New guy trying to sort this out...

[82DMC12]

Hello Group,

I am new here and very interested in what you have to say. It's so hard to find real emperical evidence on things automotive, but I think I may have found just the place.

Let me get this straight...

1. Paper air filters filter out the smallest particles but generally are short life.
2. Gauze filters (I think i know what kind you are talking about, they kind of look like big thick cotton pleats and are soft) last a little longer but allow more dirt through.
3. K&N and similar filters last more or less forever with proper maintenence but overall let the most dirt through, at least for the first few thousand miles.

The question that I have, is are these increasingly greater amounts of dirt really all that detrimental to the motor? Sure it can be proven (and apparently has been) that a K&N filter allows more dirt into the intake manifold, BUT is it a big deal? Is the increased throttle response (no matter how much may be placebo) not worth the extra bit of dust?

Great site - I hope to learn a great deal here!

Andy

 

[82DMC12]

Very interesting, thanks for the comments Drew. Is there a link to a place where I can see results for myself from any big air filter round up tests? I always see references to tests being done but have yet to see that data myself.

Andy

 

[Drew99GT]

I think more dirt will increase wear. If fine dust gets into a cylinder and between the rings etc., it'll for sure scratch the cylinder surfaces. Dirt can probably wreak havoc on valve seats/valves as well. Now, if that means you only get 200,000 miles out of an engine rather than 250,000 miles, then it's a tough call. I just as soon not use the gauze type filters, as paper filters have been proven time and again to flow WAY more air than most engines will ever need. And all the stuff you read/hear about needing to change air filters every year/12,000 miles is baloney. All filters become more efficient after they've been used, same with paper air filters. Leave um in until they truely need to be changed, and you'll save money and not let as much dirt in!

 

[Drew99GT]

If you do a search for "test", you'll come up with several. Some guys from a diesel message board found that the K&N was letting in upwards of 35 times more dirt than a paper AC Delco

 

[SPICER]

Here is the link. This is the final presentation of the data. The raw data is included. We did this on dieselplace.com this summer. SPICER

http://home.usadatanet.net/~jbplock/ISO5011/SPICER.htm

 

[labman]

Wish everybody brought such a nice study when they joined.