dirty K&N affect power??

[Foxfan88]

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]

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]

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

 

[87'GTstang]

Can you breathe well with a stuffy nose?

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]

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...

 

[87'GTstang]

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...

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

 

[Foxfan88]

huh??? you confused me

 

[Euphoric306]

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]

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]

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]

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

 

[giddyup306]

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

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

 

[HISSIN50]

Did you even read my post?

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

 

[giddyup306]

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

 

[Foxfan88]

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

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???

 

[40th 2004Stang]

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]

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.

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