Okay, so I decided to clean my K&N engine air filter today. I purchased the K&N Cleaning Kit and sprayed it down with the cleanser, rinsed it, and it is now sitting in the sun, drying, as I type this.

However, as I was searching the CL forums on proper oiling techniques for this thing, I came across several posts that gave me an uneasy feeling about oiling this thing back up, possibly doing it wrong, and screwing up my MAF sensors.

I guess my question is, how EXACTLY should I oil this thing? I couldn't find a definite and clear answer, but it seemed the verdict is a very light coat of oil on the dirty side and allow plenty of time to dry. BUT, do I oil just the top of the ridges, or just between the ridges, or both?

I guess another question is: Do I really have to oil this thing? Has anybody ever had a K&N filter where they just washed it and skipped the oil part?

 

i hope some one comes up with an answer from you because i have mine sitting at home waiting to be re oiled be im skeptic on how to do it

 

I have used K&N filter elements for years without incident. I have have had the one on my F for about 8k miles now with no ill effects. When cleaning, I do not use the reoil spray, but rather the reoil drip. I use the cleaning solution, and spray out the filter from the inside out with a garden hose. I do this on a sunny day, and let the filter dry in the sun, usually less that 2 hours. When completed, I carefully drip the oil down each pleat on the raised section. It will spread down to the pleat valleys, and meet up with the pleat beside it. When the whole filter is a nice pink with no missed spots that may need touch up, I place it on my workbench and let it sit overnite, before I reinstall it. I am enclosing a pict of the filter from my previous car, a G35 Coupe. I ran the K&N cone in that car for about 50K miles, and as I said I have used them for years in all my vehicles.

Lou

 

How about both of you stop using K&N and get a AEM dry filter like me

That way there is no need to oil, all you do is wash, shake, and dry!

 

haha that would be easier, but K&N is all i have ran, in my tacoma and now in my IS.

 

If K&N is all you've used then why are you skeptical on how to oil it? Go spend $50 for a filter you don't have to clean and never worry about oiling it again.

 

i was for this car because of what people are saying about the maf, i never worried about until i startedd reading about it for the IS and it kinda put me on the fence

 

it should be fine just dont over do it....

 

cool thanks guys!

 

so..yesterday...after i let it dry, i proceeded to oil it. i put a LIGHT stream of oil on top of each "ridge" of my filter. by the end of this first step, i had already used about 1 oz. of the oil. if you look here at the K&N spec page for our particular filter, it says that the re-oil amount is 1.13oz. i was not able to get an even pink color on the clean side. so, i proceeded to do the "touch-up" step and re-oil the areas on the dirty side that are not yet pink on the clean side. i have now used up almost 2 oz. of oil and the clean side is still not evenly pink. i even let it sit over night last night.

i just feel like i'm putting too much oil on this thing, so just to be safe, i went out to autozone today and bought an STP paper air filter. i might be doing it wrong...or i might be doing it right...who really knows for sure....so i have officially reverted back to paper filer. i feel so much better now. while the whole clean , re-oil and reuse aspect of the K&N filter sounds economical and logical, it's just too much of a hassle and a risk, for me at least. i need to know for sure that nothing is going to F up my IS350...but with that K&N filter in...there's always going to be that funny feeling in the back of my mind..

so, if you're interested, be on the lookout for a slightly used (15K miles) K&N air filter and a moderately used K&N air filter cleaning kit in the 2IS Classifieds.

 

Just dampen/dab the filter with a paper towel after oiling!

Koz

 

seriously its not that big of a deal, use the spray and do it like your painting it. Ive ran this from hondas to BMWs with no issues

 

I've put a VERY light spray on my washable filter before (less than 1 oz) and the entire car starting running incredibly rich and stuttered a few days later. I suspected the maf sensor was gunked up so I cleaned it with the spray, cleared the codes, and the problem never came back.

It may have been fine for you guys, it may not be for others. I changed to the dry filter and dont use the spray anymore.