In a message dated 7/31/2006 11:38:53 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
esierraadj@xxxxxxxxx writes:
Joe, why don't you give us youre opinion of
K&N oiled 'paper(?)' ?
I've got
a K&N in my car, now, & I don't really know how/when to
clean,
&/or re-oil it.
I "appears" to be, still, clean (maybe I
should DRIVE it, more (!) )
but, what does it look like (all
gunked-up, I presume) when it IS dirty,
& what do I DO, to clean it?
Wash it down "from inside-OUT" with
lacquer
thinner??
Neil,
I have no personal experience with the K&N line of filters. I was
quoting information I learned 40 years ago when I worked at Chrysler, regarding
test results gained at that time, on filter materials in use then.
There is one rule of thumb, though: In a given size of air cleaner,,
to increase airflow, you must reduce restriction. The only way I know to
do that is to increase the size of pores in the filter element, which reduces
the amount of dirt it will stop. I have noticed demonstrators in parts
stores showing that K&N flows more air, but I haven't seen any empirical
data showing filter efficiency.
As far as cleaning, I guess the best way would be to follow K&N's
instructions. I just went to their official web site and did a little
reading. They give rather specific methods to clean and re-oil their
cleaner elements, using their ($11.35) cleaning kits. It looked as though
it would take an hour or so to do.
They gave a complete description of the method they use to measure
RESTRICTION and AIRFLOW. They quote chapter and verse about how much
more air their filters will flow. They note that they test for filter
EFFICIENCY in accordance with ISO 5011 procedures. I don't see, however,
any actual efficiency test results on their site. I did "Google" The ISO
5011 procedure and found another web site which referenced tests done on K&N
filters for a Corvette . It said that K&N claimed 97% filter
efficiency, providing that you used K&N oil.
K&N also lists horsepower gains over stock air cleaners,
engine-by-engine. My 230 hp 5.4 liter Ford Triton would make 13 more
horsepower at around 4500 RPM using their $303 kit, and they list NO increase
using their drop-in direct replacement ($41) filter.
Since I'm not a drag racer, it just seems cheaper and simpler to buy an OEM
filter once in a while and go on down the road. I happened to notice,
yesterday, that my truck turns about 1700-1800 rpm at 60 mph, part
throttle. I think that K&M just isn't worth the trouble, to me!
Joe
Savard
Lake Orion, Michigan