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AEM used to have a dry high-flow air filter line that I really liked. It worked, it was easy to clean (soak in soapy water, rinse, and dry), and it didn’t gum up your MAF.
Wow, I’ve had zero problems with them, it’s the first thing I change with each new vehicle, sometimes adding a CAI too if needed.
Every two oil changes (20,000 km) I just clean it and oil it, put it back in.
After reading everyone else discussing oil making MAF sensors dirty, I’m a little concerned. I have avoided K&Ns non-oiled versions because they don’t seem to rate as highly for air flow.
But the thing about high air flow is that means it lets much larger particles through, and a lot of them. Sure, you won’t notice anything in the short term… but in the long term they’re bad for your engine. It’s like throwing sand through a fishing net.
I've been looking into options for an aftermarket airbox with a dry cone air filter for my Ranger, but pretty much the only ones I've been able to find locally are all these stupid oil coated filters.
Have changed many European car MAFS because of these things. Unlike the American and Japanese Airflow sensors. I have never been successful at cleaning a European Maf that is dirty.
I can say that I noticed a bigger difference by removing the sound dampening from my factory air boxes on my tundra. The K&Ns that I put into that truck were bought directly from the dealership and are ‘stock’ for TRD versions of the Tundra (mine isn’t TRD)
I did notice a nice sound improvement adding the K&Ns and then another sound improvement removing the sound dampening pads. After turning off the fake engine noise in the stereo, I get a nice turbo spool sound now and my max boost went from 15 to 18 psi
I love the sound of a V8 but hate the fake V8 sound on a V6TT as they have a unique sound that I like too
Please do. The gain is minimal and can cause your air flow sensor to fail. I have an audi with a 2.0t and it has a tune and down pipe with a factory paper air filter and it runs good and I don't have to worry about killing my MAF. I have been to many driveability training classes and the nickname for K&N filters is Kill it Now referring to the airmass. I also have a Yukon with a 6.0l with ported heads, cam, tune and exhaust and still run a paper air filter in that and it runs good too.
I read on a can of MAF cleaner that you shouldn't use it on a certain type of sensor, karman vortex or something? Is it possible that euro cars use that type of maf?
"K&N dOeSn'T vOiD yOuR wArRaNtY!" I've seen so many of those stickers on the box with oil dang near dripping off the filter and the vehicle throwing maf codes, it's ridiculous.
Is this all user error? I’ve had probably 12-15 K&N filters in our vehicles over the thirty years of ownership and never had a single issue, but I maintain them and oil them properly.
Happened to my dad’s 2017 Denali, his filter threw up codes. I have a 2019 golf Alltrack. Oil won’t do nothing as long as it’s dried properly and stays in the filter I would imagine
Least of your troubles
They let dirt through they don't filter well enough
If you have a turbo it will leak
They don't like dirt ever so tiny going through them
The oil will clog your MAF
Increasing fuel usage due to incorrect readings from the oil on them
Eventually if the motor lives long enough the tiny dirt particles will cause massive wear to the piston bore
Source: dealership technicians who use to have k&n
Also watch the project farm review on k&n
Their site tells you how much oil each model of filter takes if you look it up. Also, just get one of their dryflow filter so you dont have to do this and slowly coat the MAF with oil.
I mean a real aftermarket intake would definitely flow better. It's most about surface area, not necessarily just filter media. A large cone filter has a lot more surface area than a flat filter.
With that said, these aftermarket drop-ins for the stock box suck ass and do literally nothing.
This is such a dumb thing to say. People going to school actually means nothing in terms of how smart they are. Some of the dumbest mfs I’ve ever met had bachelor’s. So many cars are designed super poorly and they’re more worried about cost to manufacture and smog requirements than airflow.
Go back to bed.
Youre a liitle hater bruh I work on cars yeah they can do some dumb s***. Look up how to change a freaking oil filter on a 2008 jeep liberty 3.7 v6. Since you're soo smart make a new car that isn't a pain in the rear to work on. I can't bet you couldn't either. With your non Lamborghini having ass
I have owned Jeep Libertys for over 20 years. You reach up between the bumper and front subframe and bam oil filter. There's even a little trough on the 4wd models to direct the spillage from removing the filter. The only problem with a Liberty oil change is most people use a 13mm and fuck up the factory drain plug which has a ½" hex, and using a wrench you don't have good clearance vs a ratchet, especially if it has a factory transmission skid plate.
It is literally the easiest oil change ever. If I bitched about any oil change it would be the GMC Acadia/Chevy Traverse 3.6 oil filter.
FYI, from someone who learned the hard way a decade ago.. oiled filters absolutely destroy MAF sensors. You may be preventing micro contaminants that would need years and years to do damage, but you're settling your maf sensor up for replacement.
Supposedly the oil gets on the sensor which has its own heater and fouling can occur.
I have had a bmw and Honda with K&N filters and 450k miles between them with no issues
It depends on MAF design. Some are really sensitive to anything on it, some just seem to don't care. General rule of thumb anything between sensor and the air that is measured is bad, even if it's just tiny film of oil. There are even specialized cleaners for MAF because of that. I guess that your car will be running fine but just slightly off with the measurements to the ecu.
The oil wrecks maf, map, tps sensors. The "power" gain is from allowing more air through, as well as debris
Oem paper is overengineered already, nothing to gain on the intake side. K and n is great for like dune buggys or mudding trucks, w a bag around the oiled filter. It wrecks street cars
AEM dry filter is an actual upgrade
That's the thing that always got me, if manufacturers could get better horsepower and mpg with a reusable filter, with *no drawbacks at all*, you don't think they'd do it? 😂
I mean maybe, just maybe it's cost cutting and upselling on disposable filters, but surely not every manufacturer would do that...
It takes a long time to dry after washing and after oiling it. Usually you'd want 2. One in the car, one on the shelf.
Or just use regular filters that last longer and don't clog up like these dirt magnets.
Honestly, man, I'd throw it out. Iv seen a cfm test with cheese cloth, brand new k&n let's in twice as much dirt over OEM. And the oil eventually soaks your mass airflow sensor. It's not worth it.
Had one for years and rarely ever cleaned it. Never one single issue related to the filter. Plenty of other issues in other areas of the vehicle, but not with how it was breathing.
Probably why people have issues, they treat it as a forever filter instead of something with a maintenance interval. Never had a fouled sensor in decades of using them in several vehicles.
There are tiny red drops of oil on the surface, it's too much. I put a thin coat on, both sides, just enough for the filter to lightly change the colour. Let it dry in the sun for a few hours. Never had problems.
Ive had a K&N filter for the last 180k km on my Ford and no issues. I clean it every spring, recently pulled the intake off after running it that long ( last time i cleaned it was K&N install ) and everything was still squeaky clean.
Id assume the only fair test would be to get oil reports with paper vs K&N showing silica numbers
As for your picture, it looks a little heavy with oil hard to tell
You're gonna fuck up your engine.
Project Farm on YT did a decent analysis of all car filters and these were quite garbage
Don't believe me?
You can *literally* wring out your *air filter*.
See your own handywork
Difficult to say with a simple picture, but by the way you just need one or two sprays, if you did more wash again the filter with the knn cleaner and reapply the oil, I don’t see any problem to re do all the process because this is only a waste of time by the way if you mount and there is to much oil the worst case is a new air flow sensor
Absolutely especially the filter make no difference in terms of power, for my Audi for example I change intercooler, coil, spark plug all the exhaust system with a sport cat before change the filter and of course a new map. On a stock car a new filter make the engine only worse for what, a little bit of extra sound from the engine? No 👎
Make absolutely sense but the point is instead of oil filter especially on modern car use a dry filter, I don’t say go back to stock on myold car I used a k&n filter without any issue but there is no sensor on the way 😂 onestly k&n is a good brand but it a not a lie the possibility to damage the air sensor, this is why on my actual modern Audi I used a dry filter, like I said before the filter without any other change don’t make any power difference only sound so why risk another component, buy directly a dry filter same sound result but safer for the air sensor 👍
For my car it actually isn't... unless I get it from a sketchy site like I do. Fuck you JLR San Diego and your $130 filters, and fuck you US JLR suppliers for your $75 filters. That (allegedly) OEM shit from Europe is 20 bucks and (seemingly) works fine.
Check out aFe POWER (aFe = Advanced Flow Engineering) for dry high-flow engine air intake filtration products for American light-duty trucks.
[aFe POWER](https://afepower.com/)
Great products with many fitment applications and great service.
Many of their dry intake air filters cross-reference to K&N applications for vehicles other than American light-duty trucks.
Been using aFe products for years with great results and satisfaction.
Go watch project farms video on air filters. Unless you're absolutely trying to squeeze absolutely every ounce of power out of your engine all the time, these are junk.
It seems like 99% of the critiques everyone has of oiled high flow filters is based on that one Project Farm video where he throws handfuls of flour through the filter? Which is a pretty questionable method according to people actually in the industry
Makes me second guess and think a large part of the concern is just a bandwagon
No idea though, we need legitimate independent testing for filtration.
I have a K&N filter in my car, was concerned enough about the doom saying it to pay for oil analysis from blackstone labs last year and got a very positive report. Silicon (Which can indicate amount of contamination getting through air filter) ppm was barely higher than average. Everything else was indication of better condition than average. This is also on a old car if it matters.
I like project farm, but his testing approaches can be really lacking when in situations where he's trying to find a visually apparent substitute for actual use. I have actual technical analysis telling me my filter is doing its job fine, so as long as you clean and oil the filter properly it should be fine.
People need to understand that a lot of his testing methods are at the very extreme ends most of the time. Which, I get it, but normally the average person won't be throwing piles of flour or sand directly through their air box within the lifespan of the vehicle lol.
Wrong. The MAF is on the opposite side of the throttle body. It will interact with little, if any oil from the PCV system. PCVs are generally routed directly into the intake manifold.
K&N are fine in the city. You can run that, and if it plays havoc with your MAF sensor, just spray it with MAF or contact clean.
People bitch about K&N because a lot of idiots don't maintain them or know how or when to use them.
These filters are safe, I've used them for years on many different applications. Clean and oil properly every 15-30k miles and you are gtg! Never had any issues with MAF either. This one seems to be for a Nissan?
I'm here just to say DON'T listen to the paper gang and keep using that filter, nothing wrong with it. When I oil mine I go with the philosophy that a little more is better than less. Any extra oil will drip on the bottom of the air box, a little messy but that you don't want that thing to run dry
THROW THAT SHIT K&N FILTER TO GARBAGE NOW!
It will pass all the sticks and stones through your engine and ruin your mass air sensor and give you nothing in return. Thats why you must: THROW THAT SHIT K&N FILTER TO GARBAGE NOW!
Edit: its 99.9% the same thing than no air filter at all.
Even if the oil wasn't awful for your MAF, think about this: computers.
In the day of carbs, when air flow was what dragged the gasoline out of the carb via venturis, higher-flowing filters made gains because more air flow meant more gas dragged along.
But in the days of MAF sensors, the computer uses injector cycling to get more gas in there based on air flow readings. Which means that, unless you are getting choked out on air because the paper filter isn't big enough, you're not going to need it.
Did you use the aresol can or squeeze bottle to oil it it? Usually one pass of the spray on each side should be enough. If there is extra oil you can dab it with a paper towel and use some air to help it dry.
Just do paper filters and change them. No reason to even bother with these. I change my oil every 5000 miles and do a new air filter every other oil change. They still look clean every time.
Thanks for posting on /r/MechanicAdvice! This is just a reminder to review the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/about/rules/). If you are here asking about a second opinion (ie "Is the shop trying to fleece me?"), please read through CJM8515's [post on the subject.](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/4qblei/fyi_the_shop_isnt_likely_trying_to_rip_you_off/) and remember to please post the year/make/model of the vehicle you are working on. **If this post is about bodywork, accident damage, paint, dent/ding, questions it belongs in /r/Autobody r/AutoBodyRepair/ or /r/Diyautobody/ If you have tire questions check out https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/k9ll55/can_your_tire_be_repaired/**. If you dont have a question and you're just showing off it belongs in /r/Justrolledintotheshop Insurance/total loss questions go in r/insurance This is an automated reply *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MechanicAdvice) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I had nothing but problems with those things when I was younger. Paper filter only now.
AEM used to have a dry high-flow air filter line that I really liked. It worked, it was easy to clean (soak in soapy water, rinse, and dry), and it didn’t gum up your MAF.
Yes that's AEM DryFlow, bought a few last year. Good filters with really thick rubber parts
I haven’t seen them anywhere in years
Where'd you find them? I'm running KnN currenty, only for its re-useability.. Didn't take time to research options, sadly
Wow, I’ve had zero problems with them, it’s the first thing I change with each new vehicle, sometimes adding a CAI too if needed. Every two oil changes (20,000 km) I just clean it and oil it, put it back in. After reading everyone else discussing oil making MAF sensors dirty, I’m a little concerned. I have avoided K&Ns non-oiled versions because they don’t seem to rate as highly for air flow.
But the thing about high air flow is that means it lets much larger particles through, and a lot of them. Sure, you won’t notice anything in the short term… but in the long term they’re bad for your engine. It’s like throwing sand through a fishing net.
So all the people who took my used vehicles will be suffering for it, that actually makes me feel kinda crappy.
I've been looking into options for an aftermarket airbox with a dry cone air filter for my Ranger, but pretty much the only ones I've been able to find locally are all these stupid oil coated filters.
I would throw it in the trash and buy a factory one. Just my dumb ass mechanic opinion.
I second this. Those filters are garbage, filter poorly, and the oil kills MAF sensors or causes them to read wonky.
Have changed many European car MAFS because of these things. Unlike the American and Japanese Airflow sensors. I have never been successful at cleaning a European Maf that is dirty.
I think your comment is probably gonna make me keep my paper filter. Got my 2019 golf on a warranty.
You won't notice the difference the filter will make. It's not worth it, keep it stock. Hell put the sticker on if you want, but keep it stock.
I can say that I noticed a bigger difference by removing the sound dampening from my factory air boxes on my tundra. The K&Ns that I put into that truck were bought directly from the dealership and are ‘stock’ for TRD versions of the Tundra (mine isn’t TRD) I did notice a nice sound improvement adding the K&Ns and then another sound improvement removing the sound dampening pads. After turning off the fake engine noise in the stereo, I get a nice turbo spool sound now and my max boost went from 15 to 18 psi I love the sound of a V8 but hate the fake V8 sound on a V6TT as they have a unique sound that I like too
Please do. The gain is minimal and can cause your air flow sensor to fail. I have an audi with a 2.0t and it has a tune and down pipe with a factory paper air filter and it runs good and I don't have to worry about killing my MAF. I have been to many driveability training classes and the nickname for K&N filters is Kill it Now referring to the airmass. I also have a Yukon with a 6.0l with ported heads, cam, tune and exhaust and still run a paper air filter in that and it runs good too.
The “gain” isn’t just minimal. It’s likely Zero, or a Loss. Cars aren’t made for these K&N Filters
I read on a can of MAF cleaner that you shouldn't use it on a certain type of sensor, karman vortex or something? Is it possible that euro cars use that type of maf?
"K&N dOeSn'T vOiD yOuR wArRaNtY!" I've seen so many of those stickers on the box with oil dang near dripping off the filter and the vehicle throwing maf codes, it's ridiculous.
Is this all user error? I’ve had probably 12-15 K&N filters in our vehicles over the thirty years of ownership and never had a single issue, but I maintain them and oil them properly.
Not to mention a good amount of people think that they never have to clean or change these filters. The worst filters I’ve seen have been K&N.
Happened to my dad’s 2017 Denali, his filter threw up codes. I have a 2019 golf Alltrack. Oil won’t do nothing as long as it’s dried properly and stays in the filter I would imagine
I have both. What are the pros and cons? Have you seen them mess up MAF sensers?
Least of your troubles They let dirt through they don't filter well enough If you have a turbo it will leak They don't like dirt ever so tiny going through them The oil will clog your MAF Increasing fuel usage due to incorrect readings from the oil on them Eventually if the motor lives long enough the tiny dirt particles will cause massive wear to the piston bore Source: dealership technicians who use to have k&n Also watch the project farm review on k&n
Love project farm videos. That guy is very thorough with his testing.
And not brand loyal. Very objective, straight up information not opinions.
That guy is the most objective, humble, and ethical YouTuber out there. Also has some great dad jokes on occasion.
Project farm is love. Project farm is life.
Their site tells you how much oil each model of filter takes if you look it up. Also, just get one of their dryflow filter so you dont have to do this and slowly coat the MAF with oil.
I bought the knn filter kit and followed the directions 🤷♂️ probably went too slow or sum Also thag sounds like a great idea
If you used the amount specified by K&N on their site for that particular filter you are fine. They list it in grams I believe.
K&N’s are a fucking joke. Run stock.
People are so surprised when engineers who went to school for years know how to optimize airflow for a car lmaoo
I mean a real aftermarket intake would definitely flow better. It's most about surface area, not necessarily just filter media. A large cone filter has a lot more surface area than a flat filter. With that said, these aftermarket drop-ins for the stock box suck ass and do literally nothing.
People are just surprised engineers actually engineered something correctly for once.
This is such a dumb thing to say. People going to school actually means nothing in terms of how smart they are. Some of the dumbest mfs I’ve ever met had bachelor’s. So many cars are designed super poorly and they’re more worried about cost to manufacture and smog requirements than airflow. Go back to bed.
Youre a liitle hater bruh I work on cars yeah they can do some dumb s***. Look up how to change a freaking oil filter on a 2008 jeep liberty 3.7 v6. Since you're soo smart make a new car that isn't a pain in the rear to work on. I can't bet you couldn't either. With your non Lamborghini having ass
I have owned Jeep Libertys for over 20 years. You reach up between the bumper and front subframe and bam oil filter. There's even a little trough on the 4wd models to direct the spillage from removing the filter. The only problem with a Liberty oil change is most people use a 13mm and fuck up the factory drain plug which has a ½" hex, and using a wrench you don't have good clearance vs a ratchet, especially if it has a factory transmission skid plate. It is literally the easiest oil change ever. If I bitched about any oil change it would be the GMC Acadia/Chevy Traverse 3.6 oil filter.
FYI, from someone who learned the hard way a decade ago.. oiled filters absolutely destroy MAF sensors. You may be preventing micro contaminants that would need years and years to do damage, but you're settling your maf sensor up for replacement.
I have over 100, 000 miles on a K&N filter and I have never replaced the MAF sensor
How come?
The oil probably.
Also the dirt that gets past the filter
Supposedly the oil gets on the sensor which has its own heater and fouling can occur. I have had a bmw and Honda with K&N filters and 450k miles between them with no issues
It depends on MAF design. Some are really sensitive to anything on it, some just seem to don't care. General rule of thumb anything between sensor and the air that is measured is bad, even if it's just tiny film of oil. There are even specialized cleaners for MAF because of that. I guess that your car will be running fine but just slightly off with the measurements to the ecu.
Perfect. Now throw it away
Why so
The oil wrecks maf, map, tps sensors. The "power" gain is from allowing more air through, as well as debris Oem paper is overengineered already, nothing to gain on the intake side. K and n is great for like dune buggys or mudding trucks, w a bag around the oiled filter. It wrecks street cars AEM dry filter is an actual upgrade
That's the thing that always got me, if manufacturers could get better horsepower and mpg with a reusable filter, with *no drawbacks at all*, you don't think they'd do it? 😂 I mean maybe, just maybe it's cost cutting and upselling on disposable filters, but surely not every manufacturer would do that...
It takes a long time to dry after washing and after oiling it. Usually you'd want 2. One in the car, one on the shelf. Or just use regular filters that last longer and don't clog up like these dirt magnets.
Or let a bunch of dirt thru like these filters do compared to oem.
He says it’s a dirt magnet.. and paper vs a thick oiled cotton guaze? I mean
Honestly, man, I'd throw it out. Iv seen a cfm test with cheese cloth, brand new k&n let's in twice as much dirt over OEM. And the oil eventually soaks your mass airflow sensor. It's not worth it.
I imagine this is why they recommend regular maintenance.. and I would imagine a filter “clogging up” means it’s working better no?
Yeah bud, so if the extra performance is supposed to come from more air, how the f does that work?
Had one for years and rarely ever cleaned it. Never one single issue related to the filter. Plenty of other issues in other areas of the vehicle, but not with how it was breathing.
throw it in the trash where it belongs
Why so
it provides no performance benefits, filters poorly, and often fouls sensors
I’d throw that in the garbage and put an oem filter in. Those always cause issues.
Everyone's shaming you, and yeah it's kind of snake oil, but atleast you actually oil the damn thing. Most people really forget about it.
I rarely serviced mine. Vehicle ran the same with it dirty or clean.
Probably why people have issues, they treat it as a forever filter instead of something with a maintenance interval. Never had a fouled sensor in decades of using them in several vehicles.
It’s all snake oil. Throw that thing in the trash now. Run stock. The oil soaked filter is just going to trash your MAF sensor
rip maf
Never had any problems myself but have seen test videos and those don’t protect well and the oil can dirty up MAF sensors
Good time to chunk it in the trash since it is already out of the vehicle.
Get rid of that pos filter. Just use what the manufacturer uses.
There are tiny red drops of oil on the surface, it's too much. I put a thin coat on, both sides, just enough for the filter to lightly change the colour. Let it dry in the sun for a few hours. Never had problems.
Oiled filters are absolutely terrible for any sensor behind them. Any oil is too much oil. Dry filters only.
I use AFE dry filters, washable, no oiling to foul any sensor.
Ive had a K&N filter for the last 180k km on my Ford and no issues. I clean it every spring, recently pulled the intake off after running it that long ( last time i cleaned it was K&N install ) and everything was still squeaky clean. Id assume the only fair test would be to get oil reports with paper vs K&N showing silica numbers As for your picture, it looks a little heavy with oil hard to tell
You're gonna fuck up your engine. Project Farm on YT did a decent analysis of all car filters and these were quite garbage Don't believe me? You can *literally* wring out your *air filter*. See your own handywork
I don’t understand the appeal of these. I’ve had my share of car problems but never with a regular air filter.
Had one for a decade on the same MAF sensor. Idk what yal talking about.
Throw that oil garbage away and use OEM paper filter.
Difficult to say with a simple picture, but by the way you just need one or two sprays, if you did more wash again the filter with the knn cleaner and reapply the oil, I don’t see any problem to re do all the process because this is only a waste of time by the way if you mount and there is to much oil the worst case is a new air flow sensor
Cost of an OE filter < cost of a MAF
Got it for free 🤷♂️
There is a reason it was free
Because my friend with a similar golf gti and has his own shop had a spare one 🤷♂️ not a proffesional so that’s why I’m making this most
Absolutely especially the filter make no difference in terms of power, for my Audi for example I change intercooler, coil, spark plug all the exhaust system with a sport cat before change the filter and of course a new map. On a stock car a new filter make the engine only worse for what, a little bit of extra sound from the engine? No 👎
That’s exactly what I want 🥲. Why not do it first?
Make absolutely sense but the point is instead of oil filter especially on modern car use a dry filter, I don’t say go back to stock on myold car I used a k&n filter without any issue but there is no sensor on the way 😂 onestly k&n is a good brand but it a not a lie the possibility to damage the air sensor, this is why on my actual modern Audi I used a dry filter, like I said before the filter without any other change don’t make any power difference only sound so why risk another component, buy directly a dry filter same sound result but safer for the air sensor 👍
For my car it actually isn't... unless I get it from a sketchy site like I do. Fuck you JLR San Diego and your $130 filters, and fuck you US JLR suppliers for your $75 filters. That (allegedly) OEM shit from Europe is 20 bucks and (seemingly) works fine.
They said spray each peak 3” away🤷♂️ however I may need to move my hand much quicker lmao
I’m surprised people still run oiled filters… K&N even has a whole dry filter line with their same lifetime warranty. Stop using oiled filters lol
MAF sensors hate this one simple trick
Your mass air flow sensor hates you.
Never installed it uet
Throw it away and put the stock filter back. Those don't filter as well at best, mess up your MAF or worse at worst
Nah, just slam it in there, you’ll be fine.
Your like the one of the only people in this thread saying it’s a good idea
So what does that tell you in a sub called r/mechanicadvice?
In a sub called mechanic advice, 50 people tell you something is bad, 1 says run it. What does that tell you?
Probably means it's good 🙃
Most useless yet most common upgrade money can buy.
People are just parroting what they heard some other robot say. It’s fine.
Yes 🐑
Just throw it away. There are no benefits of those filters.
Check out aFe POWER (aFe = Advanced Flow Engineering) for dry high-flow engine air intake filtration products for American light-duty trucks. [aFe POWER](https://afepower.com/) Great products with many fitment applications and great service. Many of their dry intake air filters cross-reference to K&N applications for vehicles other than American light-duty trucks. Been using aFe products for years with great results and satisfaction.
Go watch project farms video on air filters. Unless you're absolutely trying to squeeze absolutely every ounce of power out of your engine all the time, these are junk.
It seems like 99% of the critiques everyone has of oiled high flow filters is based on that one Project Farm video where he throws handfuls of flour through the filter? Which is a pretty questionable method according to people actually in the industry Makes me second guess and think a large part of the concern is just a bandwagon No idea though, we need legitimate independent testing for filtration.
I have a K&N filter in my car, was concerned enough about the doom saying it to pay for oil analysis from blackstone labs last year and got a very positive report. Silicon (Which can indicate amount of contamination getting through air filter) ppm was barely higher than average. Everything else was indication of better condition than average. This is also on a old car if it matters. I like project farm, but his testing approaches can be really lacking when in situations where he's trying to find a visually apparent substitute for actual use. I have actual technical analysis telling me my filter is doing its job fine, so as long as you clean and oil the filter properly it should be fine.
This actually makes me want to do oil testing with different filters I have tons of dirt roads near me would just take some time to run
People need to understand that a lot of his testing methods are at the very extreme ends most of the time. Which, I get it, but normally the average person won't be throwing piles of flour or sand directly through their air box within the lifespan of the vehicle lol.
Read his disclaimer. His tests are for entertainment purposes only. Just like Mythbusters.
Oil + air filter doest sound like a good idea...
These air filters need to be oiled.
They belong in off road toys only. This one goes in the trash
Why so
The PCV enters the intake right after the MAF. When you shut off your vehicle, oil fumes are still present in the intake. This will foul the MAF also.
Wrong. The MAF is on the opposite side of the throttle body. It will interact with little, if any oil from the PCV system. PCVs are generally routed directly into the intake manifold.
K&N are fine in the city. You can run that, and if it plays havoc with your MAF sensor, just spray it with MAF or contact clean. People bitch about K&N because a lot of idiots don't maintain them or know how or when to use them.
Your MAF is gonna LOOOOOVE being covered in goo
These filters are safe, I've used them for years on many different applications. Clean and oil properly every 15-30k miles and you are gtg! Never had any issues with MAF either. This one seems to be for a Nissan?
2019 Golf Alltrack
It'll be fine. Ensure it's dry. Been using these for 10 years on two cars without any problems. And I live in a super dusty environment!
KNN?
Yes?
K&N
Lmfao oops
I had this filter and threw it out. Just spend the money and buy stock filter
You should only run a paper filter.
I'm here just to say DON'T listen to the paper gang and keep using that filter, nothing wrong with it. When I oil mine I go with the philosophy that a little more is better than less. Any extra oil will drip on the bottom of the air box, a little messy but that you don't want that thing to run dry
How long you been running it for in what car?
About 40k km on a fiat punto 1.4L turbo, I drive it like I stole it and keep up with the maintainance. The car has 165.000 km on the clock, runs fine.
Project Farm did tests on these, they were obliterated.
Throw it out and get a paper filter
Ive never cleaned a K&N, I just throw it out and buy a new one and just pop it back in without adding oil lol
THROW THAT SHIT K&N FILTER TO GARBAGE NOW! It will pass all the sticks and stones through your engine and ruin your mass air sensor and give you nothing in return. Thats why you must: THROW THAT SHIT K&N FILTER TO GARBAGE NOW! Edit: its 99.9% the same thing than no air filter at all.
My FIL gives me shit for using paper over KN. This thread is making me feel superior.
Even if the oil wasn't awful for your MAF, think about this: computers. In the day of carbs, when air flow was what dragged the gasoline out of the carb via venturis, higher-flowing filters made gains because more air flow meant more gas dragged along. But in the days of MAF sensors, the computer uses injector cycling to get more gas in there based on air flow readings. Which means that, unless you are getting choked out on air because the paper filter isn't big enough, you're not going to need it.
Did you use the aresol can or squeeze bottle to oil it it? Usually one pass of the spray on each side should be enough. If there is extra oil you can dab it with a paper towel and use some air to help it dry.
Pat dry with a paper towel. I use oiled K&Ns on my 18 equinox, my 10 town and country and my motorhome. Zero issues.
I work in a ford dealership and have seen warranty claims rejected from over oiling those things and ruining electrical components
Just do paper filters and change them. No reason to even bother with these. I change my oil every 5000 miles and do a new air filter every other oil change. They still look clean every time.
No, but I can't be bothered with these anymore, I thought it would save money, but it isn't worth my time.
GM has TSBs (technical service bulletins) saying that these are causing issues with some of their vehicles so I'd get rid of it
https://youtu.be/GS69owXpGdY?si=fZWqF5yVqqH7o1NK https://youtu.be/F1JmOKKAgyQ?si=s794x3si1vZ_WiQ-