Anyone else is running K&N filter in GenIII?

When I was heavy into home audio people would often ask why a mfr. would use 2c capacitors in a 500 dollar cd player when a 1 dollar cap would do a 100x better job. I was told that if you took a single component you would have to multiply its cost by 5x to account for all the overhead and whatnot built into retail. So those 100 2c caps that originally cost 2 dollars now cost 100 dollars and your 500 dollar cd player is now a 600 dollar cd player.

I imagine the overhead of a small qty. audio manufacturer is much smaller than Toyota. The 15 dollar filter vice 6 dollar filter would probably be magnified 20x instead of 5x. Would you pay $300 for a "filter upgrade"?

This is why people scoff at options prices, it is the same scenario.

 

OK.
I'll buy that.
I didn't consider the cost of one K&N versus 8-10 OEM filters...(I change air filters about every 8-10K) although I'm still not wild about the oil and gauze thing. That's why I went with an Amsoil Ea filter.

My V-Rod's MPG slid from 45 to somewhere in the 30's with my mods. I don't believe in dynos (they lie) but according to my tabulations and dyno runs from other identically equipped VRSCDs I should be getting about a buck and a quarter at the rear tire.
Nothing to brag about in the import community---but loads of fun for an old geezer like me on American iron.

Be careful out there.
ATGATT!~

 

I went to go and buy a OEM paper filter and the dealer wanted 20 bucks. I drive a lot and change these often. I then went online and with a coupon picked up a K&N from Advance for 30 bucks. I will give it a try. I have a lot of friends who swear by them and others who say they are dangerous. I think trying a resuable filter is without doubt the most economically and environmentally sound choice.

 

hey geeter better check that the warrenty is not effected, when i picked up our prius we were told it voided it,i would check if i was you !!

 

Was that a turbo diesel? You don't want to use a K&N on a turbo since the fine particles can etch the leading edge of the compressor blades.

 

They will affect the mass air sensor in that it will eliminate a whole range of air flow profiles (on the low end) so it might conceivably cause the ICE to spin up a little faster. However, over time the oil used in the filter can adhere to the MAS filament, and adversely affect it in the other direction (makes it numb.) So probably not a good idea to use these on cars with MAS-type devices. Now if you were running a carb...

 

Here's a test of alternative filters (including K&N) done a few years ago. In there AC Delco was OEM.

http://home.roadrunner.com/~jbplock/ISO5011/SPICER.htm

At most, you gain about 2 inches of water less pressure drop. One atmosphere is about 407 inches of water, so you'd gain 0.5% in air density / power. In a 3000 lb car, that's equivalent to removing 15 lbs. If I put two gallons of milk in your trunk, would you notice the performance hit?

For that gain, you pay with 20X more dirt getting into your engine.

Not worth it to me.

 

K&N used to have some data on their website that showed that K&N filters passed several times as much dirt as a paper filter. They have since taken that off and substituted some gobbldygook about how the level of filtration isn't important.

 

You could probably feel 2 gallons of milk in a Prius.

 

I had trouble with an over-oiled K&N filter on my highly modified Trans Am. The MAF sensor was coated with oil and causing my transmission to slip and created a large delay in the time it took to shift into the next gear. This was easy to observe because I had been playing with shift delay times via LS1 Edit ECU programing. I finally took the MAF off and observed the oil. I cleaned the MAF then went back out to continue programming and without making any changes to the ECU I noticed the trans was shifting hard and fast like it was supposed to. The slipping/delay had been occurring for over a month and after cleaning the MAF with no other changes the trans started acting like it should.

The moral of the story is, the K&N won't cause any MAF-related problems as long as you don't over oil it.

 

Most K&Ns I have seen in action have been over-oiled It's a real common error.

 

One in which I was guilty of on many occasions.

 

you should never reoil the filter.
Buy new one, if you care about the car.
I didt once and never do it again.
C

 

Those cars/trucks are long gone mate.

 

Economically...maybe.
Probably.
I'm not wild about the oil and gauze filters out there, and I don't think that they save all that much $$ in the long run, depending on how often you clean your filter, and what you use to re-oil it with etc... They certainly aren't going to turn your G3 into a fire-breathing, tire smoking monster (air polution, anyone?) They also won't save any fuel, solve the National Debt problem, or help with world hunger.
Still....I don't think that the extra dirt will hurt the engine, and it will NOT void the warranty---even for a Prius.
Environmentally speaking...that's more of a religious argument. I’m not going to get into the daffy “blue on blue” fur-balls on GHGs and landfill utilization. Paper and metal are pretty benign landfill fodder, but there is no doubt that you'll save a little in whatever eco-category is your personal favorite, as long as you don't go wild with the oil that you use to "recharge" your filter with.
Most people that buy these filters don't maintain them, and their cars get traded in at the 4.something year mark that's the average for late model car owners....so the Gucci filters often wind up getting replaced by the next owner anyway.
All in all....it just doesn't matter that much.

 

I just installed a new K & N air filter. It seems to have helped me with the MPG to the tune of 2 to 3 miles per gallon. My Brother-in-law did the same thing and got the same results. Has anyone else gotten these results by replacing the air filter?