how bad does a Dirty airfilter hurt performance?
Thread Starter
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 701
Likes: 0
From: crossett, Arkansas
how bad does a Dirty airfilter hurt performance? i have had my K&N on for about a year probly 20k miles. havent cleaned it. its looks pretty black and dirty now. esp in the hotspots where most of the air flows. just curious peformance wise 1/4 and trap how much this could effect me on average? ill try to get a pick of it. im just not 100% sure what is considered actually clogged and just dirty.
filter i have had my K&N on for about a year probly 20k miles. havent cleaned it. its looks pretty black and dirty now. esp in the hotspots where most of the air flows. just curious peformance wise 1/4 and trap how much this could effect me on average? ill try to get a pick of it. im just not 100% sure what is considered actually clogged and just dirty.
run the car w/ the filter off. that should give you a hint.
Why not just clean it? Go to autozone or walmart and get the K&N re-usable filter cleaner and oil. Easy to do.
Remove filter. Brush off dirt and crud with a soft brush and shake off as much crap as possible. Spray cleaner (or any good detergent) on dirty side of filter (outside). Let it soak for 10-20 min. Then rinse out with low pressure water from reverse side. Shake it off and let it air dry (another 20-30 min). Then spray it generously with the K&N oil (that red oil...) Let it dry and respray any spots that the oil didn't stick to. Should be red again now and clean. Good to go!
Do this every oil change or whenever you see it looks dirty. You'll help you MPG and throttle response.
Remove filter. Brush off dirt and crud with a soft brush and shake off as much crap as possible. Spray cleaner (or any good detergent) on dirty side of filter (outside). Let it soak for 10-20 min. Then rinse out with low pressure water from reverse side. Shake it off and let it air dry (another 20-30 min). Then spray it generously with the K&N oil (that red oil...) Let it dry and respray any spots that the oil didn't stick to. Should be red again now and clean. Good to go!
Do this every oil change or whenever you see it looks dirty. You'll help you MPG and throttle response.
Thread Starter
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 701
Likes: 0
From: crossett, Arkansas
Why not just clean it? Go to autozone or walmart and get the K&N re-usable filter cleaner and oil. Easy to do.
Remove filter. Brush off dirt and crud with a soft brush and shake off as much crap as possible. Spray cleaner (or any good detergent) on dirty side of filter (outside). Let it soak for 10-20 min. Then rinse out with low pressure water from reverse side. Shake it off and let it air dry (another 20-30 min). Then spray it generously with the K&N oil (that red oil...) Let it dry and respray any spots that the oil didn't stick to. Should be red again now and clean. Good to go!
Do this every oil change or whenever you see it looks dirty. You'll help you MPG and throttle response.
Remove filter. Brush off dirt and crud with a soft brush and shake off as much crap as possible. Spray cleaner (or any good detergent) on dirty side of filter (outside). Let it soak for 10-20 min. Then rinse out with low pressure water from reverse side. Shake it off and let it air dry (another 20-30 min). Then spray it generously with the K&N oil (that red oil...) Let it dry and respray any spots that the oil didn't stick to. Should be red again now and clean. Good to go!
Do this every oil change or whenever you see it looks dirty. You'll help you MPG and throttle response.
tight for money untill next week. or i would. i just kinda remembered today i havent cleaned it in a while and its as black as the rubber seal around it lol.
Honestly, it is cheap to get the K&N oil spray. Regular laundry detergent mixed with water will be fine to clean it with. I don't think you will spend more than $10 if that...
Plus, with gas so $$$, every MPG is worth it.
Do it! lol
Plus, with gas so $$$, every MPG is worth it.
Do it! lol
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Heres a warning guys!
Watch out on the filter oil, I Work in a Chevrolet dealership where i've seen quite a few k&n filters with filter oil getting on to the MAF sensor causing driveability concerns. There are also Gm service bullitins describeing this same concern.
Heres the bigger concern, once a MAF sensor has been contaminated (with anything) cleaning them does not seem to work very well.
So my advice is use the filter oil "lightly"
Just trying to help everyone out
Watch out on the filter oil, I Work in a Chevrolet dealership where i've seen quite a few k&n filters with filter oil getting on to the MAF sensor causing driveability concerns. There are also Gm service bullitins describeing this same concern.
Heres the bigger concern, once a MAF sensor has been contaminated (with anything) cleaning them does not seem to work very well.
So my advice is use the filter oil "lightly"
Just trying to help everyone out
I never run a K&N filter on anything that has a MAF for the reason stated above. They always get over oiled even from the factory and cause too many issues with the ecu feedback from the MAF. The GM maf take to cleaning better than any other maf but still hurt the overall life. Just my experience
hmmm never had a problem on a k&n on anything.....
anyway ive proven this on 2 differnt cars mine and my buddies both gained 1 tenth and 1mph by removing the air filter at the track....
anyway ive proven this on 2 differnt cars mine and my buddies both gained 1 tenth and 1mph by removing the air filter at the track....
