Why don't some members like K&N air filters?

1934 Views 12 Replies 10 Participants Last post by Dusty Rhodes, Aug 7, 2013

kawzak

Discussion Starter · Aug 5, 2013

I have never had any problems with them. They seem to trap lots of dirt/dust if cleaned/oiled correctly-and resusable for no telling how many years. I know my 4.0L jeep motor is a low air flow pump, but if filteration is as good or better than paper- whats not to like?

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Dextreme

· #2 · Aug 5, 2013

kawzak said:
I have never had any problems with them. They seem to trap lots of dirt/dust if cleaned/oiled correctly-and resusable for no telling how many years. I know my 4.0L jeep motor is a low air flow pump, but if filteration is as good or better than paper- whats not to like?

The problem is that a $8 paper filter works better at filtering the fine particles for our Jeeps. But I do love K&N on my sand toys where sand is clean and can't make it through.

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jeepwayoflife

· #3 · Aug 5, 2013

They cannot filter very fine dust and particles that high quality paper element filters can. Their tests showing better flow and good filtration are done with large sized particles. Amsoil EA filters are awesome filters with the filtration ability of paper filters but offer better flow and come in sizes that can fit on cold air intake systems. I run one and have had zero problems. My oil analysis after the amsoil filter was installed showed nearly 1/3 of the silica and other contaminants than my previous Airaid filter test.

Oiled filters have their place in high performance street cars and track cars but our jeeps simply don't need them. Stock air boxes provide more air than the engine could ever need and do a very good job at filtering the air.

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5spdftw

· #4 · Aug 5, 2013

They let in a lot of particles. I have to run an aftermarket filter because of my flat fenders but I just use a pre-filter to compensate.

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Black Magic Brakes

· #5 · Aug 6, 2013

kawzak said:
I have never had any problems with them. They seem to trap lots of dirt/dust if cleaned/oiled correctly-and resusable for no telling how many years. I know my 4.0L jeep motor is a low air flow pump, but if filteration is as good or better than paper- whats not to like?

A simple test to see if you live where K&N's don't work is to pull the air tube off the throttle body after running one and inspect the interior of it and the backside of the TB butterfly for dirt.

In our region, the inside of the tube is almost white with accumulated dirt and the backside of the butterfly will be caked with dirt. Neither of which happens with the paper filter.

So to answer your question, the filtration is not as good when it really needs to be. The rest of that is folks put a pre-filter on and I've yet to see anyone do a test to show the "high flow" ability of a K&N with a pre-filter on it. If you have to run a pre-filter on your filter, you ain't got much of a filter.

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Shelby427

· #6 · Aug 6, 2013

As stated. Plus if your low buck air filter gets dirty you pop it out and slap in a new one, and you're done.

The others? It's pull it out, clean your air box and such of the stuff missed by the filter.
Then scrub the filter, dry it, oil it and reinstall it. Plus then you have to think about all the stuff that got past it that you saw, and how much that you don't see that went through the rest of the engine.

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5spdftw

· #7 · Aug 6, 2013

Black Magic Brakes said:
A simple test to see if you live where K&N's don't work is to pull the air tube off the throttle body after running one and inspect the interior of it and the backside of the TB butterfly for dirt.

In our region, the inside of the tube is almost white with accumulated dirt and the backside of the butterfly will be caked with dirt. Neither of which happens with the paper filter.

So to answer your question, the filtration is not as good when it really needs to be. The rest of that is folks put a pre-filter on and I've yet to see anyone do a test to show the "high flow" ability of a K&N with a pre-filter on it. If you have to run a pre-filter on your filter, you ain't got much of a filter.

Well said. It's what my Jeep came to me with and I've been too busy buying CAs and tires to change it out.

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Dusty Rhodes

· #8 · Aug 6, 2013

All of the above, plus they are incredibly expensive. I can buy a dozen decent paper filters when they are on sale, for the price of one K&N, + their cleaning & treatment kit + their "pre-filter". Visualize how a stack of a dozen paper air filters will look in your garage and how long they will last.

When the pre-determined mileage rolls around, pop the snaps, snag the old filter and toss it, swipe out the box with a clean rag, drop in the new one, snap the box shut and you are done.

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SEAICE

· #9 · Aug 6, 2013

But you do get a cool sticker with the K&N :dance:

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Jerry Bransford

· #10 · Aug 7, 2013

kawzak said:
I have never had any problems with them. They seem to trap lots of dirt/dust if cleaned/oiled correctly-and resusable for no telling how many years. I know my 4.0L jeep motor is a low air flow pump, but if filteration is as good or better than paper- whats not to like?

Because of ISO lab test results like the below that show it's not even close to as good of an air filter as a paper element filter is.

The below is one of the ISO lab test's charts & their comments.

"In the chart above it’s important to note the different test durations for each filter. The AC Delco filter test ran for 60 minutes before exceeding the restriction limit while the AMSOIL and K&N tests each ran for 20 and 24 minutes respectively before reaching max restriction. In 60 minutes the AC Filter accumulated 574gms of dirt and passed only 0.4gms. After only 24 minutes the K&N had accumulated 221gms of dirt but passed 7.0gms. Compared to the AC, the K&N “plugged up” nearly 3 times faster, passed 18 times more dirt and captured 37% less dirt. "

The above lab test result chart & comments were copied verbatum from the overall test results

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jeepwayoflife

· #11 · Aug 7, 2013

Jerry Bransford said:
Because of ISO lab test results like the below that show it's not even close to as good of an air filter as a paper element filter is.

The below is one of the ISO lab test's charts & their comments.

"In the chart above its important to note the different test durations for each filter. The AC Delco filter test ran for 60 minutes before exceeding the restriction limit while the AMSOIL and K&N tests each ran for 20 and 24 minutes respectively before reaching max restriction. In 60 minutes the AC Filter accumulated 574gms of dirt and passed only 0.4gms. After only 24 minutes the K&N had accumulated 221gms of dirt but passed 7.0gms. Compared to the AC, the K&N plugged up nearly 3 times faster, passed 18 times more dirt and captured 37% less dirt. "

The above lab test result chart & comments were copied verbatum from the overall test results

Just wondering, what year was this tested in?

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TheDesertOutlaw

· #12 · Aug 7, 2013

Black Magic Brakes said:
In our region, the inside of the tube is almost white with accumulated dirt and the backside of the butterfly will be caked with dirt. Neither of which happens with the paper filter.

After noticing visible accumulation, I opted for the AEM filter which attached to my K&N CAI.

In case you are running the K&N FIPK and want to run the AEM and not the K&N Conical intake, here is the part number.

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Dusty Rhodes

· #13 · Aug 7, 2013

Bringing up the topic of K&N or a "cold air intakes" is a sure way to flog a dead horse, but it is always interesting.

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