dirty K&N affect power??

Foxfan88

My Grandpa has great wood.

Sep 13, 2004

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Miami, Ok

Aug 20, 2005

#1

• Aug 20, 2005

• #1

I havent really thought of this but does a dirty air filter rob power ALOT?
My car has a K&N filter on it. Its the cone style with the airbox removed and some kid in suto class commented on how dirty it was. I am not big on filter but its not pinkish red like the pictures i see. Its darker like brown. Could this be affecting my power output??

Doesnt k&n make a cleaning kit or should i just get a new filter??? it looks old, like some of the wire is cracked and can poke you....

i just want to know if it could drastically effect power and can i test by taking it off and taking a short drive to see??

 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?

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Nov 29, 1999

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#2

• Aug 20, 2005

• #2

10 bucks for a cleaning kit. A Local parts store that sells K&N filters should have it.

The filter 'filters' better when a little dirty. I would rather have a dirtier one than a clean one. But if yours is nasty, I would clean it. Dont use too much oil or it can contaminate your MAF wire.

Good luck.

 

stang22

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Jan 29, 2003

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Aug 20, 2005

#3

• Aug 20, 2005

• #3

Can you breathe well with a stuffy nose?

K&N sells a cleaning kit that comes with the red oil as well. Sometime those filters stain and always look dirty. The red oil is what makes it look new, but if it is stained, it really won't help.

Tim

 

8

87'GTstang

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Feb 16, 2004

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#4

• Aug 20, 2005

• #4

stang22 said:

Can you breathe well with a stuffy nose?

Click to expand...

God that's exactly what I was going to say.

Seriously, the filter is the source from where the engine draws it's intake charge from. A dirty filter = a restriction.

 

Foxfan88

My Grandpa has great wood.

Sep 13, 2004

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Aug 20, 2005

#5

• Aug 20, 2005

• #5

this is probably stupid and i probably shouldnt have done it. But i took the filter off and took a small drive. The car felt and sounded like it was breathing better and had a bit more power. not like much but it had better throttle response i could tell. The car started acting funny and was a little unstable so i stopped.

I think i will buy a ebay CAI or something, cheap, look better and might actually draw some colder air from the fender. I wont buy it expecting a gain. Just something new and gives me something to do...

 

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87'GTstang

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#6

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Foxfan88 said:

I think i will buy a ebay CAI or something, cheap, look better and might actually draw some colder air from the fender. I wont buy it expecting a gain. Just something new and gives me something to do...

Click to expand...

There's another thing to go reserch before you go get it - the infamous ebay CAI.

 

Foxfan88

My Grandpa has great wood.

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#7

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huh??? you confused me

 

Euphoric306

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#8

• Aug 21, 2005

• #8

ebay CAI not worth the 50 bucks from what i got from that

yea dude... ur k&n shouldn't be brown... i just cleaned mine today and felt one hell of a difference

i would stall when coming to a stopsign (letting the rpm's drop from ~3k to idle, it would die, but if i let them slowly come back down to idle it would be fine)
first i cleaned IAC solenoid and TB and noticed a big difference in drag on the engie and idle quality, but for some reason like 20 mins later it went back to the same thing so i decided to clean the filter and noticed such a difference in performance and... hopefully, gas mileage hehe

driving without the filter on for a few mins won't really hurt anything, the maf has a screen on it to keep any BIG particles out of the engine but i wouldnt recommend any extended driving with no filter lol

u might be into the 15's now with a clean filter........... lol jk dude sorry but had to throw that in there

 

giddyup306

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Oct 22, 2002

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Aug 21, 2005

#9

• Aug 21, 2005

• #9

K&N recomends cleaning there filters ever 50,000 miles. The dirt that collects on the filter helps filter the air and does NOT affect performance. Look in the owners manual if you do not believe me. Plus it is an open element filter..... If you do decide to clean it make sure that you do not over oil it. It will gum up your MAF.

 

huRACEmentPSR

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Aug 21, 2005

#10

• Aug 21, 2005

• #10

i just cleaned my dads and in the filtercharger instructions it actually says something along the lines of the dirt the filter collects actually helps filter the air better, but obviously a filthy filter is not good at all.

 

Foxfan88

My Grandpa has great wood.

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#11

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• #11

so should i clean mine, buy a new one or ebay CAI??

 

giddyup306

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#12

• Aug 21, 2005

• #12

Foxfan88 said:

so should i clean mine, buy a new one or ebay CAI??

Click to expand...

Don't buy and Ebay CAI. Did you even read my post?

 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?

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#13

• Aug 21, 2005

• #13

giddyup306 said:

Did you even read my post?

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I implied the same sentiments Mike. I guess someone does not like that line of thinking.

 

giddyup306

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#14

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When did you get 12K posts? I'm slackin

 

Foxfan88

My Grandpa has great wood.

Sep 13, 2004

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Miami, Ok

Aug 21, 2005

#15

• Aug 21, 2005

• #15

giddyup306 said:

Don't buy and Ebay CAI. Did you even read my post?

Click to expand...

Yes i read your post i am just getting more opinions.
What would be wrong with a cheap ebay CAI??? i mean a tube is a tube and a filter is a filter.

Also the filter looks old and crappy, I mean some of that wire material is split and pokes you ( really bad actually.)


but how does the cleaning kit work exactly???

 

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40th 2004Stang

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Aug 21, 2005

#16

• Aug 21, 2005

• #16

I got the cheap $35 CAI for the 04 and it picked up .3 sec in ET just with that one change. Granted, the K&N filter is a better product but the ebay cheapy is not a bad deal at all. The filter I got looks just like the Cool Blue from Accel.

 

Dean85GT

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Aug 21, 2005

#17

• Aug 21, 2005

• #17

40th 2004Stang said:

I got the cheap $35 CAI for the 04 and it picked up .3 sec in ET just with that one change. Granted, the K&N filter is a better product but the ebay cheapy is not a bad deal at all. The filter I got looks just like the Cool Blue from Accel.

Click to expand...

On your 04........not your 5.0