Kuhan

I've had K&N filters on almost all my present and past cars. I understand if you live in the dusty area, then you should reconsider. If their filters do cause engine damages, then shouldn't they be out of business by now? When you read stories with these people making all these claims, you really don't know the real stories behind them.

roadfrog

They won't go out of business because they are heavy into the racing crowd, where engines are torn down between races and used for short periods. Motocross, etc. If you haven't already, you should get an oil analysis done. There are actual tests done on these filters, and those tests will open your eyes. They are the cause of things such as MAF failures due to oil from the filter (the red stuff), and in my case, excess silicate (sand) in my oil as well as other contaminants. These filters allow more air to the engine, that alone should tell you that there's less filtration going on.

satiger

iTrader: (1)

All I can say is I have been using K&N engine filters on ES for more than 200k miles and on GX for more than 70k miles with absolutely no issues. In fact I did an oil analysis on ES at 250K. That report is available at ES forum. BTW, both are still with original K&N filter, I just clean and re-oil them at about every 45k miles or when it turns into light dark.

Did lots of reading before jumping into K&N filter. I personally couldn't find one documented engine failure case that was proved in courts. Trick is when re-oiling those filter, shouldn't be over saturating them. I leave them dry over night and next day morning they are dry and ready.

As I once said earlier, one of the unfortunate outcome of internet is, birth of pseudo engineers....!!!

roadfrog

I don't believe a K&N filter will cause an engine to explode. I just know that from personal experience and those from others that there are "issues". I want good filtering of my air to my engine. The silicate found in my oil was enough to tell me it wasn't worth the risk. Even K&N has found the need to release information and "bulletins" to address concerns. Here's one of COUNTLESS tests and reviews that were done:

http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/kn-vs-oem-filter.html

satiger

iTrader: (1)

Can you please elaborate and be specific on those "issues" you and others had when using K&N engine filter than making a generic statement,?. Also, please share why silicate concerns you?.

Thanks.....

roadfrog

Silica. A lot of it. Silica is sand, so that should not only concern me, but anyone who has an internal combustion engine. These were found in my oil samples as well as those of other members at Dieselstop - a forum similar to CL, comprised of pickup truck owners. Also found in my mustang.....which is why I stopped using them. I don't live in a dusty region, so I often wondered what those who do, would experience from their oil samples. When I went back to a paper media, my samples returned to normal.

satiger

iTrader: (1)

I still don't know what was elevated silica number which 'went away' after using paper filter.

'High' silica could be from over oiling the filter. Or it could also come from breaking oil seals.,

My extensive use of K&N didnt result in any elevated silica in engine oil. Few of those oil analysis including the one done at 250k is in ES forum. Not sure it matters, I have been using K&N with M1 HM synthetic oil.

As I have said earlier, I am not aware of any court cases proving K&N engine filters causes "issues".

roadfrog

We're going in circles. Perhaps I'm not explaining adequately, why sand in an oil sample is a bad thing. If the K&N air filter is serving you well, that's all that matters! In parting, if a filter is allowing more air because it's "less restrictive", then that means it's "less restrictive" to preventing particulates/contaminants as well. You can't have it both ways. When Blackstone returned my report, it mentioned that silica levels were high and "alarming". They indicated that filtration was not adequate. That returned to normal after replacing with a paper filter.