I am thinking about getting the whole replacement K&N Air filter, and before I spend the money for you that have but one in...does it really help???? And another I have a 3.0 and am also looking at a bamachip programmer...and before I spend the money on that for those of you has the programmer from bamachip helped out enough that you can see a difference...I really dont care about gas milage just more torque and power...Let me know what yall think of stuff if I should spend the money or not...thanks...Just for info...I drive like a bat our of hell and do quite abit of off roading when I go home...but dont make coments of my driving...am fast but also know when to slow down...am safe...LOL HAHAHAHAHA

 

K&N's have two problems:

1. The oil they use is thin and sometimes gets on the MAF sensor and causes problems. Usually can be cleaned off, but some have had ruined MAF's. Not real common though.

2. They really don't filter all that well. They flow the best really, followed closely by oiled foam and nanofiber. You get more large dirt particles in your engine with oiled gauze than the other two technologies.

I recently posted this on nanofiber air filters, which will be the next kind I get:

https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...ad.php?t=12962

I'm currently using oiled foam -- but I'll be glad to be away from the silly oil. The oiled foam ones from Amsoil have a thicker oil that doesn't get on the MAF -- but they're still a mess!!!

 

I think you mean a K&N Intake, the K&N airfilter is just a drop in lifelong airfilter.

 

Yea thats what I mean the Air-Intake...My dad has used to have one on his 2001 F-350 but could tell some difference but diseals are way different fromo gas...so I had no clue is they really help...if AMsoil has better oil that is no problem cause my family farms and that is all we use is Amsoil...that what we run in all of our vechiles and tractors...it seems to be better than anyother oil and we only change every 5000miles so???? just woundering...did it help any on performance???

 

We also tried just the airfilter in our Suburban and Expedtion but they did not help any...so that why I was woundering if the intake helped at all...

 

Ha ha! I change my oil once a year, about every 20,000 miles...

The K&N intake helps very much with performance, particularly if you have a more free-flowing exhaust and so forth. It's a good intake. I just gave up on gauze filters. I don't know if there are any better filter elements to put on the K&N intake or not.

I only have a 3.0 so I just have a modified airbox to go along with my modified MAF, and throttle body (also an exhaust). I have no headers or anything, though.

Also, a more "open" filter helps ONLY if the filter is restricting performance. In some cars the restrictions that "dominate" are elsewhere, and a filter without other mods won't help.

 

The most common misperception with a K&N is that you have to oil it until is pink or red. The most common mistake is that you soak the filter with the oil and that is where the problems begin. If you spray it with one light coat then there are no problems. I ran one on my focus for 30k with no problems and cleaned it twice, oiled it and off you go.

I cannot stress enough that it is usually user error when it messes the MAF up. Working for GM there is actually a TSB we have on the affects of using to much oil.

 

Actually some of them come from the factory over oiled -- but you're right about the user error on re-oiling them.

 

Yea on my dads he just lighlty sprayed when whenever he cleaned it and that was it...thanks for the info...so yall think that it will help out some...i dont want to spend the money on it if I cant even tell a difference...thanks for they info....

 

Good deal on being focused on real performance -- however, many folks find them attractive because they look and sound really good as well. An intake CAN help -- but how much depends on your other modifications. With these trucks, you'll eventually be making SOME kind of intake modification anyway -- so if a cone filter type intake system is what you're heading for, you can buy it sooner or later but chances are you'll be getting one.

I get enough out of mine just modifying what I've got.

 

Then I can blame it on the guy who had my truck before me. He must have over oiled it becuase I just recently had to replace my MAF completly becuase of the oil, and I haven't oiled it yet.

 

An oiled gauze filter, like the K&N, can hit you from both directions. If you oil it regularly, it can contaminate the MAF hot wire and get oil in the IAC which attracts dirt particles.

On the other hand, since a K&N relies on trapped filter oil to catch the dirt, neglecting to clean and oil it regularly allows more dirt to enter the engine.

I think K&N's recommendation to clean their filter every 50,000 miles is absolutely ludicrous, even if the vehicle is used exclusively on pavement. http://www.knfilters.com/facts.htm#WASHABLE

Here's a chart comparing the characteristics of different classes of air filters which were tested using a standard Society of Automotive Engineers procedure. Note that the K&N has good flow characteristics but does not stop dirt/dust particles as well as paper or oiled foam filters.
http://www.roadkill.com/~davet/moto/air.filters.html

And a more extensive report showing similar results:
http://home.usadatanet.net/~jbplock/ISO5011/SPICER.htm

The link above has a lot of data and charts. The one titled "Dirt Passed Versus Total Test Time" is particularly revealing. Notice the small bars at the bottom that represent the total grams of contaminants that passed the filter element. The stock GM/Delco paper filter allowed 0.40 grams to pass where the K&N allowed 7.0 grams, about 17 times as much dirt. And, not only that, the K&N reached the test's resriction limit in less than half the time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

K&N's were introduced many years ago for race vehicles where short term power is more important than engine longevity. Their introduction preceded the common use of hot wire mass airflow (MAF) measurement devices in production engines.

Many people on this forum use and endorse K&N filters. I myself have used K&N’s in dirt bikes where the filter was cleaned and oiled often and there was no MAF or IAC to contaminate.

If you have had good results with an oiled gauze air filter, that's great but I won't use one in my truck.

 

This quote from Bob's second link, and ones like it from other sources, are the reason I like foam for my offroad truck.

"Now I am not saying that ALL aftermarket filters are useless. A paper filter does not do well if directly wetted or muddy. It may collapse. This is why many off-road filters are foam. It is a compromise between filtering efficiency and protection from a collapsed filter."

I'm still leaning towards a nanofiber filter -- but I wonder how it does do when wet? My filter gets wet all the time.

 

So other than K&N Air intake...(I dont know much about airintakes and filters) What other brands are out there that are better that yall might know of that I need to check into...cause I am very catious of what I do to my truck. I dont want anything that I put on it to hurt it...so If the K&N Intake might cause problems down the road I sure dont want to spend money in it if it is goin to do that...

 

Theres not only K&N, you can also get a Volant...same thing just different company. Honestly, if you want te TRUE power from an intake...your gonna hafta get dirty. Port and Polish your upper AND lower intake ... it frees up A LOT of that air thats coming in and if you add an exhaust...expect more rumble and power just because you enlarged those holes to match! But with just an intake, you wont notice that much (except a lot more noise from the engine) until you P&P, and get an exhaust. Also helps a lot if you get a 60mm throttle body as well.

 

What u mean by Port and Polish???

 

You make the opening bigger and smoo.ther

 

ohhh okay

 

And that applies mainly to the intake and exhaust manifolds, but porting and polishing heads is not unheard of as well.

 

what type of oil is used for the filters?

 

how much do those nano ones cost n3elz?

 

i have researched this topic considerably. aside from the basic knowledge of oil contaminating the maf/iac and letting more dirt in the engine...i have some more info.

an open element air filter allows more heat into the engine because its sucking in warm air. to attaint a true cold air intake u need to run it to an outside source like in the grill or inner fender. this isnt always feasible so i have a better recommendation.

go out to ur local hardware store and pick up some heat relfective tape. its a silver alm tape that'll keep heat outta the intake and keep the air cooler. wrap the ENTIRE air box and plumbing with it. removing the stock silencer is optional but i recommened it. then i would opt for a good air filter, which i like the nano-fiber from amisol.

this set up will yeld the best mpg gain and torque increase. true a KN open intake system will yield a tad more hp, it will decrease torque and mpg. it will also retain the best filtering and keep the intake system closed. keeping it closed and sealed is the best way to keep dirt out of the engine. an open filter, espeically on a truck that sees regular use off-road, is asking for truble. even the trendy filter wrap cant compete with a sealed air intake system.

im still undecided bout mandrel bends in the intake tract over the stock couregated tubing.

here is a link that really caught my eyes:

 

I use the volant intake with a green filters filter, a water repelant outerwares and a metal heatshield I got off ebay to deflect any water away from the filter. I have tried just about all the filters out there and oils and have found that the fram airhog oil stays on the filter best, regardless of the brand of filter. I cannot compare it to the greenfilters yet because it was brand new and I have not serviced it yet.

I have this intake on my 2003 with a 2.3L and was not really concerned about performance gains, only clean air. My stock airbox and every other one that I have seen was flexing in the warmer summer months. I bought a amsoil foam filter and installed it the day I brought the truck home from the dealer. When I went to service the filter, I noticed dust in the intake tube. After looking a little closer into the problem I noticed that the stock air box and lid were not square, they had flexed from the heat and were allowing unfiltered air to go right past the filter. That made my mind up to purchase the aftermarket intake. I do believe the amsoil filter would filter much better, and now they offer a new filter that is supposed to be even better, but in my case and every other ranger I have looked at, the airbox just isn't up to the task. The best filter in the world simply cannot do it's job if a slight amount of air is going right around it due to the box it is in flexing/warping with heat.

Since installing the volant intake, regardless of the filter I am using, I have had not dust/dirt whatsoever in the intake tube. I only recommend the fram airhog oil because it doesn't make a mess below the filter from the oil comming off the filter.

 

Does anyone know what type of oil is used for the filters. I know K&N makes some and fram but I just wanted to know what kind of oil it is so I could possibly use something I have?

 

all i know is that K&N sell a recharge kit. check autozone and it should say on the box.

andrew