K&N Filter Cleaning
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Staging Lane
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 87
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K&N Filter Cleaning Hi I have a 1998 z28 with the SLP Cold Air Induction. How often should I clean my K&N Filter? And how do you go about cleaning it? Soap and Water? Is it true you never have to replace them? Thanks in advance
wash it out and re-oil it with the cleaning kit. they say you dont have to wash them but every 50k miles or so but I would do it whenever it gets dirty. if you dont over oil the filtre or anything it really will last you a lifetime
yeah make sure you use the good spray on oil, the other kind makes it easy to put too much on it, did that once right before goin to the track and i ran like a 14, got to pits and the MAF was coated with oil, major league suckage!!
I had the K&N but I have switched back to a paper filter. I dont want my MAF coated with oil and I feel more comfortable throwing a new filter in than a reusable one.
Only coat the side that faces down with oil when spraying it, coat the top side and you will get an oil MAF sensor. Just to let you know though, many prefer the paper ones with these cars.
Only coat the side that faces down with oil when spraying it, coat the top side and you will get an oil MAF sensor. Just to let you know though, many prefer the paper ones with these cars.
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,231
Likes: 1
From: Just This Side of Damnation
I cleaned mine just this last weekend. The car was down anyway while I was waiting for the water pump so I thought it was a good time to port the TB and clean the MAF & air filter.
The cleaning kit comes with new oil and cleaner. The oil is in a spray can and the cleaner is in a pump bottle.
Liberally spray the cleaner on the filter element and wait as per the instructions. I waited longer than it said, it won't hurt.
To clean out the element, spray water from the inside of the filter to the outside. Don't use too much water pressure as it may damage the filter.
Shake off as much water as you can and place the element to dry. I place mine on some microfiber towels to wick out the water more quickly. Change the towels after an hour or so and place new, dry towels under it. Let the filter dry completely. I let mine sit overnight and had a small fan on in the garage to circulate the air. Perhaps a little much, but no big deal.
When spraying on new oil you don't want to over-oil it. Too much oil can draw it into the airstream and get it on the resistors in the MAF. This is bad. They can be cleaned with electrical contact cleaner/MAF cleaner. I did that, too, while I was at it.
I just happened to have an old SuperChevy magazine and was reading the article on cleaning these type filters. It suggested spraying a line of new oil on the outside of the filter on both sides, then spraying (lightly) each ridge on the rest of the element. This was also stated on the instructions with the kit.
Wait about 20-30 minutes and respray any light spots that didn't get covered. The oil will wick into the gauze and you should see pink on the inside of the filter.
You will get more confident as you do this several times. I clean the filter when it's visibly dirty, or when I feel like I don't have enough to do.
Have fun, and good luck.
The cleaning kit comes with new oil and cleaner. The oil is in a spray can and the cleaner is in a pump bottle.
Liberally spray the cleaner on the filter element and wait as per the instructions. I waited longer than it said, it won't hurt.
To clean out the element, spray water from the inside of the filter to the outside. Don't use too much water pressure as it may damage the filter.
Shake off as much water as you can and place the element to dry. I place mine on some microfiber towels to wick out the water more quickly. Change the towels after an hour or so and place new, dry towels under it. Let the filter dry completely. I let mine sit overnight and had a small fan on in the garage to circulate the air. Perhaps a little much, but no big deal.
When spraying on new oil you don't want to over-oil it. Too much oil can draw it into the airstream and get it on the resistors in the MAF. This is bad. They can be cleaned with electrical contact cleaner/MAF cleaner. I did that, too, while I was at it.
I just happened to have an old SuperChevy magazine and was reading the article on cleaning these type filters. It suggested spraying a line of new oil on the outside of the filter on both sides, then spraying (lightly) each ridge on the rest of the element. This was also stated on the instructions with the kit.
Wait about 20-30 minutes and respray any light spots that didn't get covered. The oil will wick into the gauze and you should see pink on the inside of the filter.
You will get more confident as you do this several times. I clean the filter when it's visibly dirty, or when I feel like I don't have enough to do.
Have fun, and good luck.
