K&N Air Filters - Oil or Not?

[goldgunner]

I've read all of the threads on K&N air filters - most seem to repudiate their value...but none the less I've ended up with one on my 3.2 carrera EFI Intake.

My question is regarding Oiling the filter. The K&N website doesn't say anywhere - per se - that the filter should be oiled. But their 'cleaning accessories' pages details their 'Filtercharger Oil'.

> Should K&N air filters for street use always be oiled?
> If yes - the K&N oil or?
> How much oil - how saturated - should the filter be?

thanks in advance,
Jim

[Wil Ferch]

K&N is *specifically* designed to use oil...and it improves the filtration capability as it gets dirtier...up to a point of course.

No oil would leave the "open" media too open and would allow too much dirst to pass through.

The trick is not to over-oil...as you know.

- Wil

[goldgunner]

OK Wil - Thanks for the info.

Although it seems to me that K&N should either on the filter box or their website say specifically that their filters are to be / must be / should be oiled for 'proper use' - they don't.

So, what is the trick to not over-oil?

Should I just order their spray oil rather than figuring out other oil and application processes?

- Jim

[chuckr]

Any good performance shop has the "Cleaning Kit" for
your K&N filter. The instructions are on the box how to
clean and re-oil the filter. I usually clean mine once a year.
Chuck

[MattAlpha]

goldgunner,

K&N sells a "re-charge" kit for their filters. The kit contains a the K&N cleaner solution and the K&N oil. It has very specific directions on how to clean and then oil your filter. The process is very simple if you follow the directions.

I made the mistake a few months ago, after about seven hours of work to the car, I decided the filter needed to be oiled. So I oiled it once, looked at it and thought I missed some spots. So I oiled it a few more times and walla I had a completely saturated filter, not good. So after a pretty long period of drying off the filter it is finally oiled to the proper level. I was very lucky that my conical filter is at the end of an elbow which allowed the extra oil to drain into my engine compartment and not into my intake or I would have caused some major problems. Avoid my mistake and follow the directions, I didn't because I had done it several times before in the past and thought I knew what I was doing

The kit costs about $10 at Walmart, else where its around $20.

-Matt

[tonythetarga]

Found the following in a few minutes worth of Google searching.
.................................................. .................................................. ...

Cleaning/Servicing K & N Air Filters
Items required:-
K & N Air Filter Cleaner - normally 1 liter bottle.
K & N Air Filter Oil - 200ml aerosol is best.
Shallow Tray

Tap the element to dislodge any large embedded dirt, then gently brush it with a soft bristle brush. Add cleaning solution to the shallow tray, 3/4 the depth of the pleats. Roll the filter in the tray, trying to prevent dirty solution run inside the filter. Wait for up to 5 minutes, rinse filter from inside with water from the tap. Do not use high pressure. Shake of excess water & allow to dry naturally, best overnight.

Caution:
Use only K & N air filter cleaner!
Do Not use petrol, thinners paraffin etc.
Do Not use detergents.
Do Not steam clean!
Do Not use compressed air.
Do Not use hot air guns for drying.

The use of any of the above can cause harm to the COTTON filter media,
plus shrink and harden the rubber end caps.
Excess heat will shrink the cotton filter media. While compressed air will blow holes in the element.



After air filter is completely dry, always re-oil before using. If using K&N aerosol - hold the can 3ins away & spray oil down into each pleat with one pass per pleat. Do Not go "round & around" WAIT 20 minutes for oil to spread. The white gauze should appear red, have no "white spots" and be drip less.




If using K&N squeeze bottle - squeeze K&N air filter oil down into the bottom and along each pleat - only one pass per pleat. Let oil wick into cotton for 20 minutes. Re-oil any white spots still showing.
Caution:

Never use any oil other than RED K&N AIR FILTER OIL.
Never use a K&N air filter without oil. (The filter will not stop the dirt without the oil.)
K&N air filter oil is a compound of mineral and animal oil blended with special polymers to form a very efficient tack barrier. Red dye is added to show just where you have applied the oil. Eventually the red color will fade but the oil will remain and will filter the air.

[john walker's workshop]

and finally, clean the dirt that passed through the filter from the airflow meter, air cleaner housing, etc, then reinstall the filter.

[Emission]

Originally posted by john walker's workshop
and finally, clean the dirt that passed through the filter from the airflow meter, air cleaner housing, etc, then reinstall the filter.

[SCWDP911]

subscribed

[shbop]

I've always dropped mine in a bath of simple green and water. The sg does a great job of breaking down the previous oil and dirt. Rinse, dry, and re-oil with the K&N spray can.

[SCWDP911]

Is there some other oil that can be used safely that is not the K&N brand. Not sure what magic stuff they have in theirs?

[charleskieffner]

the ONLY people that repudiate their value are desk drivers that have NEVER BEEN INVOLVED IN OFF ROAD RACING!

bet you my paycheck this years baja 1000 starting grid of 400+ vehicles............not one had a paper element! and theres a damn good reason for it!

dont buy spray if you have choice btwn oil or spray. lot of it wasted overspraying surrounding items. just run oil down each pleat ONCE! until you have oiled every pleat. let sit for awhile. wipe off EXCESS!(this is the secret to not allowing EXCESS OIL INTO INTAKE!) go back 15-20 minutes, re-oil white areas that are not red. do not over oil.(wipe off EXCESS!) they will work better when dirty! tough to believe, but i doubt many on here have 1/2 million to 1 million dollar p-cars.

and if its good enough for a 1/2 million-1 million dollar trophy truck or a "1" car its good enough for my piss ant 3.2 motor!

sho worked good on all my husqvarnas/honda XR's/SCORE 1/2-1600 car! NEVER ANY EVIDENCE OF SANDING MOTOR due to any particles getting by!


since this has been such a hotly contested subject in the past, im going to make it my mission this march in san felipe baja to take pics OF ANY PAPER ELEMENT I FIND ON ANY ENTRY at tech inspection in san felipe,baja for the 250 race!

now i know the naysayers will give me all sorts of crap, but i live in arizona...........and you know what? its dusty here! real damn dusty all the time............including firebird raceway with all its dirt aprons. so why is it my pissant 3.2 ,fat as hell showroomstock cab pull much faster/lighter cars by 4-5 car lengths on the straight at firebird????

because i have a very clean K & N FILTER! hahahahahahaha!


top tip.........if out of k and n cleaner............409 will work perfect to clean it!

another tip..........after following instructions.............walk away from it and find something else to wet your pants over! i doubt also unless your rally racing or driving 50,000 miles down a dirt road that you should worry about it not being 110% efficient!

how do i know all of this??? can you say MINT 400's, PARKER 400's, gold coast 350's, baja 250-500-1000's etc. actually if i didnt know my age as a timeline i would have forgotten how many off road races i have been in or attended pitting!

USE ONLY K & N OIL! you can be cheap by buying 409 cleaner!

[Emission]

Originally posted by charleskieffner
the ONLY people that repudiate their value are desk drivers that have NEVER BEEN INVOLVED IN OFF ROAD RACING!

bet you my paycheck this years baja 1000 starting grid of 400+ vehicles............not one had a paper element! and theres a damn good reason for it!

dont buy spray if you have choice btwn oil or spray. lot of it wasted overspraying surrounding items. just run oil down each pleat ONCE! until you have oiled every pleat. let sit for awhile. wipe off EXCESS!(this is the secret to not allowing EXCESS OIL INTO INTAKE!) go back 15-20 minutes, re-oil white areas that are not red. do not over oil.(wipe off EXCESS!) they will work better when dirty! tough to believe, but i doubt many on here have 1/2 million to 1 million dollar p-cars.

and if its good enough for a 1/2 million-1 million dollar trophy truck or a "1" car its good enough for my piss ant 3.2 motor!

sho worked good on all my husqvarnas/honda XR's/SCORE 1/2-1600 car! NEVER ANY EVIDENCE OF SANDING MOTOR due to any particles getting by!


since this has been such a hotly contested subject in the past, im going to make it my mission this march in san felipe baja to take pics OF ANY PAPER ELEMENT I FIND ON ANY ENTRY at tech inspection in san felipe,baja for the 250 race!

now i know the naysayers will give me all sorts of crap, but i live in arizona...........and you know what? its dusty here! real damn dusty all the time............including firebird raceway with all its dirt aprons. so why is it my pissant 3.2 ,fat as hell showroomstock cab pull much faster/lighter cars by 4-5 car lengths on the straight at firebird????

because i have a very clean K & N FILTER! hahahahahahaha!


top tip.........if out of k and n cleaner............409 will work perfect to clean it!

another tip..........after following instructions.............walk away from it and find something else to wet your pants over! i doubt also unless your rally racing or driving 50,000 miles down a dirt road that you should worry about it not being 110% efficient!

how do i know all of this??? can you say MINT 400's, PARKER 400's, gold coast 350's, baja 250-500-1000's etc. actually if i didnt know my age as a timeline i would have forgotten how many off road races i have been in or attended pitting!

USE ONLY K & N OIL! you can be cheap by buying 409 cleaner!

I have yet to see a single OEM manufacturer switch to re-cleanable foam filters from the factory. None.

Why? Because they have to warranty the engines for 50,000 miles and foam filters don't trap particulates as small as paper filters. Period.

It's a proven fact. You can argue until you are blue in the face (or knuckles from typing) but paper filters just work better.

[Matt-Man]

goldrunner, couldn't tell for sure on your original post, but if that is a brand new filter it will be oiled already.

[ljowdy]

and if its good enough for a 1/2 million-1 million dollar trophy truck or a "1" car its good enough for my piss ant 3.2 motor!

I have to concur. I've been using K&N filters for 25+ years on my sand rails. The worst possible environment is sand, it gets everywhere except in the engine. Every one of my engines that I've disassembled had absolutely no evidence that sand had entered the engine when I used a K&N.

Also, a friend that works at K&N told me that Simple Green or diluted 409 works absolutely great. He didn't know the chemical compound of their oil and suggested that I continue using K&N oil. It's cheap and readily available.

Someone said to squirt the oil in the valley of the folds and that's incorrect. Either spary or run a tiny bead of oil along the ridges. One at time and don't overlap. It takes about 1 hour for the oil to properly wick throughout the entire filter element and done right, you don't have to go back and touch up "white" area's of the cloth filter

[the]

I e-mailed K&N about this once, many years ago.

They sent me back information, which said in their laboratory particulate testing, using a new OEM paper air filter and a properly oiled K&N, the paper filter stopped 98% of the particulates, while the K&N stopped 97% of the particulates.

Which sounds great, like there is only a 1% difference between the two.

But that's not really true, I think even using those numbers (their own numbers), the K&N lets in something like 50% more particulates than paper. The paper lets in 2 out of every 100 particulates. The K&N lets in 3 out of every 100. By my math, going from 2 to 3 is a 50% increase.

And that's using their own testing numbers that THEY provided to me.

[charleskieffner]

Originally posted by Emission
I have yet to see a single OEM manufacturer switch to re-cleanable foam filters from the factory. None.

Why? Because they have to warranty the engines for 50,000 miles and foam filters don't trap particulates as small as paper filters. Period.

It's a proven fact. You can argue until you are blue in the face (or knuckles from typing) but paper filters just work better.

since WHEN HAS K & N been making foam filters???? please clue me in" oh great stuck in a cave filter meister"

do you even have a clue what most unlimited class engines cost in SCORE?????? a hell of alot more than a 3.2 engine rebuild!

once again for the auto mag writer/desk driver.................you place foam on OUTSIDE of K & N filter as a prefilter. the k & n filter itself is not foam, never has been foam, and never will be foam! totally different filter, which falls apart when exposed to gasoline.

since you worry so much about a paper filter living in your sterile atmosphere i shiver at how much money you would spend on k & n oil and cleaner products each month cleaning it.

oil the damn thing as per instructions...........wipe off excess and slap the filter in and dont worry about it! man are you having a hard time understanding what the dynamics of a SILT BED are on an engine???? or back to the apache helicopter using k & n's????


if your so damn smart why dont you e-mail all 34 trophy truck teams that just ran baja 1000 last week and see what filter they ran! better yet e-mail steve wilkinsons wife who rode with rod hall and see what filters they run on their hummers. better yet plan on going to san felipe and like myself count how many paper filters are used! theres a reason they dont use paper filters and you still havent figured this one out!

do they run the entire race on one filter ? hell no! if a pit is long vehicle will get new filter. if short pit, pre filter sock removed and either new one installed or not. next pit either new filter and sock installed and so forth.

i ran an entire off road season and at the end, we tore down german nels dutton built 1600 motor and not one bit of evidence of sanding on internals top or bottom end! put motor back together and ran until fire made short work of car!

[the]

Originally posted by charleskieffner


if your so damn smart why dont you e-mail all 34 trophy truck teams that just ran baja 1000 last week and see what filter they ran! better yet e-mail steve wilkinsons wife who rode with rod hall and see what filters they run on their hummers. better yet plan on going to san felipe and like myself count how many paper filters are used! theres a reason they dont use paper filters and you still havent figured this one out!

do they run the entire race on one filter ? hell no! if a pit is long vehicle will get new filter. if short pit, pre filter sock removed and either new one installed or not. next pit either new filter and sock installed and so forth.

i ran an entire off road season and at the end, we tore down german nels dutton built 1600 motor and not one bit of evidence of sanding on internals top or bottom end! put motor back together and ran until fire made short work of car!

Seems to me the filter requirements of a dedictated off road racing truck may not be exactly the same as those of a street car.

[charleskieffner]

dirt is dirt................silt is silt! give me a break! just this weekend at firebird numerous cars went off track in a cloud of dust! different requirements?????????? get real!

oh thats right! calif has dirtier dirt and siltier silt than baja or arizona or iraq/afghanistan!

[the]

A dragster is a finely tuned machine, costs $250,000, makes 5,000 hp . . . and uses no air filter at all.

If it's good enough for a $250,000 finely tuned race car, it's good enough for your puny 3.2. You should run no filter at all.