Thread: Air Filter Alternatives

Fine dirt will go straight through the genuine air filter. I am not aware of any easy fix, although others online may be able to help out.

I use a K& N and it even stops muddy water. I've been very impressed

Originally posted by Steinzy
I use a K& N and it even stops muddy water. I've been very impressed

noooooooo, not a K&N !!!!!!!!! 8O

pls check out this link...http://home.usadatanet.net/~jbplock/ISO5011/SPICER.htm
and look at it as comparing filtration types (cellulose-fibre vs oiled cotton vs oiled foam) than get caught up comparing the various brands (eg Wix vs AC Delco) as results will vary between the brands of a filter type depending on application, although it is a very good indicator of what you would expect between media types.
Ben (ISUZUROVER) on Outerlimits is a filtration engineer, currently doing R&D in Germany and he says this test concurs with any test he's seen or performed, and backs up basic filtration theory.
Where the oiled cotton and foam types beat paper is if the element gets wet (and really, if you are getting water in the air box you have bigger problems, particularly with a turbo diesel....)

Oh, and I used to use a K&N in the race cars I used to look after, they definately delivered more power on the dyno vs the foam types we tested, and I even used one on the Defender years ago until I started to get a little suss on its filtration ability and removed it after 20,000km. Jim Attrill on the old LRE forum attributed massive bore wear in his and a mates 300Tdi's in Africa after using K&N's for 80,000km. He hasn't had any probl;ems after a rebulid and going back to the OE paper filter.

As to Doug's original Q, I'd be doubly making sure the air box is properly sealed, as are all the hoses off it. I recently found one of the seals in SWMBO's Patrol air filter not sealing properly, and I wasn't impressed.

Hmmm.....

Very Interesting

forgot to mention that the next big leap in air filtration is the new nano-fibre technology developed by Mann-Hummel in Germany and Donaldson in the US. These two companies are in competition with each other and are the world leaders in air filtration. I reckon they'd probably spend more in R&D each year than K&N achieve in sales

Just as a comment on this thread - my County (Isuzu) has a safety element inside the main element - is this fitted to any other Landrovers?
Needed it on one occasion when the main element came loose, presumably because it was not tightened properly.

I share your suspicions about aftermarket filters, especially in a dusty environment like Australia.

Diesels are especially susceptible to poor filtration, because the throttle is always wide open, so a lot more air (and any dust that gets through) goes through the engine.

An interesting historical comment - motor cars started being used in large numbers before the first world war, but any form of air cleaner was almost unheard of until at least the mid twenties (For example the Ford T never had one as standard). They were actually introduced first in tractors, as early as just after the turn of the century (Imagine a tractor ploughing in dry ground with a following breeze and you can see why). What seems to have made them essential is the introduction of aluminium pistons. The dust embeds in the soft material and it acts as a lap to wear the bore.

Hi All
So far all i have used is genuine LR filters on the disco the air-box looks like it is sealing properly the amount of dust is very small but a filter should get it I think.
Regards
Doug

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>my County (Isuzu) has a safety element inside the main element - is this fitted to any other Landrovers? [/b][/quote]

unfortunately, no. The air cleaner box in my Tdi isn't big enough to take the safety element. In fact, according to the Donaldson catalogue, it is undersized. The Donaldson element I shoehorn in there is actually for a 2.5" outlet assembly, whereas the L/R outlet is 3". A 3" outlet Donalson assembly uses a much bigger OD air cleaner element. I'm using the Donalson over the OE element because it is less restrictive than the OE one, has deeper pleats and so slightly more surface area, and is less than 1/2 the price of an OE one. When I swapped out the K&N I couldn't feel any performance difference, either.
The TD5 uses a panel element.

On the Isuzu in the County, being enginered here in Oz by JRA a off the shelf Donaldson air cleaner assembly was used where the safety element can be used. Most nearly all the tractors I've worked on use this arrangement as well. It's mainly used in off road/heavy construction equipment.
My old Fiat 550 tractor uses an oil bath air cleaner, which one day will be replaced with a Donaldson or Nelson (Fleetguard). Oil baths are pretty poor, much worse than even a K&N !