in the April issue of Import Tunner, they did a little research with maxi 2k SE and showed several component that will improve the perfomance. Luckly K&N drop-in filter is one of them.

with K&N filter = 4 hp increase
without ANY filter = 4.4 hp increase

amazing, eh? but one thing brought my attention is about K&N's filtering ability and filtered air quality.

It seems that the air flow of K&N filter is relatively high compare with NO FILTER. with the 0.4 hp difference, the air flow of K&N is very close to that of no filter. And in order for air to flow faster...the filter needs larger pores to process the air faster. Will K&N's fast filtering technology affect its clean air quality to the engine?

If it does affect it, I would rather to have stock filter with low performance than some particles grinding my engine.

wat do u guys think?
maybe the ppl from import tuner forgot to drop filter oil after they clean it? =)

 

I too am concerned about the filtering a K&N provides. I recieved a JWT with its generic filter and when I put a flashlight to the inside, I could easily see large areas of straight through holes. So, I returned it and bought the K&N figuring it would be better. I did the same test with the K&N and there are still holes, but the filter material is more evenly distributed. After this crude test, in my opinion the K&N is slightly better than the JWT filter.

I'm not sure how much dirt makes it through the K&N and I doubt the oil does much. So, you have to decide if the 3-4 hp is worth possible long term damage.

 

Does the maxima have an MAF? If it does, then I do not recomend using an oil filter, because if it is inproperly oiled, the oil can get on the MAF and prevent it from functioning properly.

 

I wrote an e-mail to K&N see wat they gonna say about this issue.....doubt they will say anything negative about their filter....but I hope they can provide me some statistic data about the filtering ability.

 

I thought it was all about the oil that you put in the filter, the oil traps the dirt.

 

But if you got large holes between the oil droplets, what can the oil traps do? My personal experience with the K&N filter is that the engine oil gets dirty (dark) quickly and possibly dirtier than with the paper filter.

The ultimate test would be getting an engine oil sample to a lab for evaluation. Logically, if an air filter (e.g., K&N) is so superior without any tradeoff, wouldn't you think all the manufacturers would have aready adopted the technology? Use your brain not just your emotion or worse wishful thinking....

 

I read on a car website (can't remember which one, maybe Vortex) about the possibility of the oil based filters causing problems with MAF sensors. Apparently there is that concern about the oil coating the MAF sensor. Someone had to have their MAF replaced due to this. What I do is to use a stock filter and use the K & N panel filter when I want to race.

 

What's the maf sensor?

 

Mass Air Flow. I think all modern cars have it.

 

Are there any other high-perf filters than the oil based k&n kind.


I check my oil next time I change it to se if it is especially dirty.

 

I've heard the K&N filter is pose to be real good but id stay with fram i woulnt risk a dirty engine for a whoppin 4 hp

 

I dunno... i got the OSCAI and it i feel some good results with both... I check my filter once in a while... i just changed my oil this weekend and it didnt seem to dirty to me.. the guy at the shop said that its too dirty and he wanted me to flush my engine.. hehe only 11000 miles... but whatever i saw the oil myself and it didnt look dirty... the filter on the other hand is black on one side and clean on the other... so i can see that it is working... I gotta clean it soon... anyone know the proper technique in cleaning it? i got the kit... but i didnt open it yet to see if there are instructions or something...

 

Full instructions can be found in the kit. It's pretty simple, just be sure you aren't gonna be driving for a while so it can dry.

 

The replies in this thread are killing me. Let me clear some things up here.

1) I have not heard of ONE MAF failure due to a PROPERLY oil K&N/JWT oil filter on this board. I have been using panel/cone oil type filters for the last 4-5 years. No problems whatsoever.

2) I don't know how you guys are judging the filtering abilty of the air filter by looking at the oil's color. Why? Because it is IMPOSSIBLE to judge the oil's condition by looking at it. There is only ONE way to judge the oil's condition. That is by having a sample analyzed. PERIOD. Now my last oil's analysis showed no significant amounts of silicone(dirt getting past the air filter) to indicate that the oiled filter was NOT doing it's job.

 

Hmmm, a little logic problem with your "one side is black and clean on the other....". Think it this way, assume some undesirable dirt passes through from the black side, will you see it on the other side? Nope, since it passes through the black side it must be able to pass through the other (clean) side.

So you will never see anything that did pass through. The only thing you see is the stuff that got retained by the filter. Also, I guess the guy at the shop is probably not asking everyone to flush their engine.

BTW, I am not against using K&N. Just want to educate people a little so that there is less ignorance.

 

A friend of mine has had a K&N on his 1995 4th Gen GXE and he has 175,000 on the dial with no problems. I have a K&N in my max, mostly for the cost efficiency. If I truly don't have to replace the filter for at least 100K miles then it pays for itself.

 

Don't worry. The K&N filter has been used by enthusiasts for more than a decade without problem. Formula One engines use them exclusively. I've had them on my previous gen 300ZX and now on my current TT for 10 years now- first the OEM style drop ins and then the cone style. I had the same concerns you guys did, so I sent an oil sample to be analzyed (easy to do, costs about $20 I think it was). The levels of silicon, which indicate dirt in the oil, was VERY low, as wall all particulate matter.

 

The Amsoil filter is supposedly similar in performance and supposedly a little better at cleaning the air. I never had a problem with K&N on other cars but having seen filtration concerns voiced on forums here and there I opted for the Amsoil this time - same price, what's to lose?

Dave

 

I have had a cone K&N on my thunderbird for 80,000 miles, cleaned it 4 tims, with no problems.
I just picked up a drop in K&N for my max.
The amsoil filter is made of foam and does not have nearly the airflow of the K&N. Some believe the foam can break apart and cause damage. Also I have heard of wrapping the K&N cone with AMSOIL foam to stop dirt particles but this defeats the purpose of maximizing flow.

 

i heard that the dirtier the K/N gets, the better it flows and filters at the same time! so maybe you don't have to go crazy about cleaning it all the time. we had a K/N drop in panel for our '90 4 runner. there must have been a couple mm of caked dirt and the inside was clean as new. just shake it out and its still good. my oil/cleaning kit is in the box waiting still. so far, my JWT filter is holding up to the same standards. i figure as long as you don't drive extensively under high dust conditions you should be fine.

 

I don't get that impression. I think the claims are "the dirtier it gets, the better it filters". Not flows better. Clean it once and you will notice that a clean K&N has much better pick-up and sound.

 

It is true though....my friend observed the same situation on his 91 integra....the dirtier it gets...the fast it goes. seems not logical, but what am I thinking is that since it is an oil filter and too much dirt will trap all the filter oil and then turned out it lost its oil filtering ability which resulted in air pass straight thru the pore without any oil filtering.

just a thought

 

When Should I clean my K $ N filter? I can't remember if it was 10k, 15k, or more?

Thanks

 

it says servicing on 50k to 100k on the back on the box..but I would do it earlier...dunno whether frequent cleaning will damage the filter...

anybody?

 

Thanks

 

well i bought the amsoil filter and put it in and drove to work and it really cut the airflow down alot..the car had a noticeable stumble trying to get the revs up....so i pulled that baby and sent it back...you could'nt even see thru that amsoil filter...can't believe how amsoil lies right on the box about better air flow...so i went out an got the K&N and the airflow is greatly improved!!!The revs just fly up there. Now i think i'll try the OSCAI mod. I'm just wondering if that box is for water to drain down into when its raining??

 

what box? Dont' worry about problems with sucking up water. I have the OSCAI tubing going through the splash guard and I drove it in the rain yesterday....no problems....

 

sorry but that is a worry for me because water is a bad thing. check your filter after a rain and let me know

 

I checked my filter yesterday and there was no sign of water or water spots.... It would take a lot to get water all the way up the 20" worth of tubing, past the scoop, past the stock tubing, and through the filter. There has been a lot of discussion about this here and others have the same setup with no problems. If you are worried though, just keep the tubing inside the splash guard....

 

Not to mention I'm sure rain gets into the scoop especially during a downpour. No one has ever mentioned problems with that...

 

alright then...i'll have to do this mod....I don't drive it in rain anyway's unless i have too.

 

Cool, you will like the mod.....Mine is setup in kind of an adjustable way. Usually, the tubing is pointing out of the splash guard through a small rectangular slit. If it is really going to get wet, I shove the tubing back up through the hole and close the flap I cut in the splash guard. You can do the same if you leave some slack in the tubing.

 

You can be the first to rig a pulley system so that you can do this from inside your car.

 

I have thought of putting a switch in the car that raises and lowers the tubing using a something like that....space is tight under the splash guard so it would be kinda tough.....you can get really creative with ideas tho