Thread: K&N air filter

They're a race only filter, not for off road use if you want long engine life.
Check these threads
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/showthread...ght=air+filter
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/showthread...ght=air+filter
Plus this one on Outerlimits. A few of you know Ben/ISUZUROVER. For those that don't he is a filtration engineer. I first asked him several years ago if the results on the independent filtration test linked to in the above threads tallied with what he knew and he said the theory and results were sound. He's since looked into oiled cotton filters pretty well and has formed some pretty firm opinions after testing them and seeing other test results.
http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/PHP_Mo...hp't=65854

Rick130 has it nailed, race filters only. or clean the buggers very offen. I use one only on a race engine. All my other engines use paper filters. It's the dust you don't see that does the long term damage.

glen

Hey Dawg,

if you decide to keep the K&N I have a cleaning/oiling kit (2 spray cans) that you can have next time we meet up. Left over from the Disco I used to own.

(That was a 200Tdi and seemed to cope with the foam filter ok, main hassle was cleaning it when out in the bush, messy business).

i don't know why people bother to use oil impregnated filters,
generally they are more messy and clog up far too soon.
in my game we have many aircraft owners choose to use this type air filtration, because it is cheaper than the manufacturers genuine filter, its ok for the aircraft that do not visit dirt strips, but those that do, suffer, the filtration media is just not good enough for that, over the same time period.
i read someone say that you just wash the filter out and re oil it - yep good idea, it just moves the dirt trapped in the filter closer to the engine.
you might get all the dirt out if you really spend a lot of time and waste a lot of solvent/petrol etc. it also reduces the filter medium to wash it out, but the factory filter is getting cheaper the more time and money you spend cleaning the oil impregnated filter .
for my money use the factory recommended filter.
some vehicles also require the correct filter to allow the right airflow to pass for a given throttle opening to get the correct fuel mixture - the airflow metering body senses this, so wrong filter, wrong fuel flow -translates to fuel usage/performance/economy.
and also if you splash your filter full of mud, you can wash it out too
a paper type air filter can be washed out[ although not recommended ] in a bucket of water or a creek and allowed to dry, the oil impreg filter cannot, if you need to clean it in the bush you will have to use the vehicles fuel, and engine oil to re preg it. all very messy in a remote situation.
at the end of the day change the filter regularly.
if you go to an oil type then change it at the same intervals or more often than factory ones.
or if you go to an oil type go to a bigger than original.
just my thoughts.
did i say i didn't like messy oil type airfilters?

Originally Posted by rick130

They're a race only filter, not for off road use if you want long engine life.
Check these threads
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/showthread...ght=air+filter
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/showthread...ght=air+filter
Plus this one on Outerlimits. A few of you know Ben/ISUZUROVER. For those that don't he is a filtration engineer. I first asked him several years ago if the results on the independent filtration test linked to in the above threads tallied with what he knew and he said the theory and results were sound. He's since looked into oiled cotton filters pretty well and has formed some pretty firm opinions after testing them and seeing other test results.
http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/PHP_Mo...hp't=65854

Thanks Rick.

Even for race applications you should be wary of using K&N-type filters. Not so long back 2 F1 engines failed during a race due to sand particles getting past the K&N filters. This was a very extreme application, but if you have a small pod filter on a high-revving 4x4 engine, the same could happen.

The Finer Filter (el-cheapo cousin to the K&N) I had on my SIII caught fire when the car back fired.

Laugh it up boys - everyone else there did. I wasn't amused. Especially since I was somewhere out near Woomera and didn't have a spare filter, just the filter cleaning kit.

It's funny after you forget how much it costs.

Well Thanks for your input guys, being a diesel I dont have to worry about back fires or messing with a computer ..YAY! As for dust well it looks no dirter than the other 300's and I also have a fine mess stainless steel filter on the Snorkel head, So in saying that at my next service I will replace it with a factory one to compare.But I will clean it and keep it in case 50% of you are full of ****e

We have a customer with a 300 Tdi Disco that has a K& N filter fitted. This vehicle goes on very little dirt roads but every time we see it the filter is covered in a thick layer of sludge, how the engine breathes through it is a mystery. We just put a correct apaper one in and pop the KN into the box and put it in the back of his Disco.
Okay for race vehicles and not much else.

Alan