hi i have been reading the forums and wanted to know about puting a k&n filter in my 06 f 250 i do a lot of towing and daily driving with the truck is it gona damage the motor or am i safe to use it?

adam

 

The Donaldson filter in your F250 is one of the best factory intakes made. It will hold 6 lbs of dirt before its ready to change. It flows enough air to run 500 hp. I would never change mine for a aftermarket filter. I have a 04 F250.

 

That's great information on the stock intake but I am still wanting to know if it will damage the motor if I swap it out

 

Only problem I have seen mentioned, is that after cleaning and reoiling filter, if too much oil is applied it can damage the MAF sensor.

 

Here is the deal on K&N filters. A few years ago there was an oiling problem at the factory. This problem has been long since corrected. But the old fables still exist mostly fueled by competition.

I have 64980 on my 06. I tow my 10000 + lb race trailer. I have no issue's. I use a K&N. When I clean it, I also lightly oil it, the after letting the oil wick, I then pat it with a paper towel to get any excess off. I will continue to use K&N. I keep the stock one around for when my K& N is serviced, and I also notice when I switch back and forth, my engine runs a little weird till the computer adjusts it self.

 

If you do an online search for “air filter test” there is a lot of very good information. IMHO, the CAI units are NOT WORTH THE $$! Unless you are talking about a system that was specifically designed for a specific application there are very little hp/tq gains actually achieved in a street use vehicle and there are very few docs that these mfg’s can produce that actually show an increase in hp/tq in the power-band range of a relatively stock street vehicle.

I would avoid oil impregnated filters. While they have their purpose in off-road applications, Ford/GM/Dodge all have “watch-out” bulletins where the oil has contaminated intake sensors. - they even have a training video for the techs on this (flatratetech.com) .

If you look at the flow data, WIX HP filters have a much smoother flow post filter plus excellent filtering, for a fraction of the price! The OE’s have an excellent air intake system. What many view as an issue (is the plastic intake tube with its noise canceling design) actually increases air pressure. It is the same hydraulic concept used by fire fighters creating water supply where psi is low. By having the air cross the path at a 90 degree angle, the pressure is increased proportionally. Fire fighters use what is called a “4-way valve” or “Blake Valve” at the hydrant where the water is cycled through the fire engine (pump) and sent back into the valve crossing the water flow at a 90 degree angle. In this case it also acts as a sound canceling device! At low speeds, this can reduce the flow a tad (which is what most “feel”), but in terms of peak hp/tq, a good high flow filter is all that is needed. You can use a WIX OEM HP replacement filter in the OEM plastic manifold box and either remove the plastic tube and replace it with a piece of pipe/hose, etc or remove the tube completely and replace the tube by building an air ram type intake into the air box manifold (where the pipe use to attach)- make sure ti terminates above the fan shroud to avoid water intake or fan induced pulsations.

Recently Tesand Corp conducted ISO testing on numerous filters including K&N. The full thread can be seen at:

http://www.dieselbombers.com/chevrol...r-testing.html

To quote (Arlen) SPICER,

“The reason I started this crusade was that I was seeing people spend a lot of money on aftermarket filters based on the word of a salesperson or based on the misleading, incomplete or outright deceiving information printed on boxes and in sales literature. Gentlemen and Ladies, Marketing and the lure of profit is VERY POWERFUL! It is amazing how many people believe that better airflow = more power! Unless you have modifications out the wazoo, a more porous filter will just dirty your oil! Some will say " I have used aftermarket brand X for XXX # years with no problems. The PROBLEM is you spent a chunk of ching on a product that not only DID NOT increase your horsepower, but also let in a lot of dirt while doing it! Now how much is a lot? ANY MORE THAN NECESSARY is TOO MUCH!

Others are persuaded by the claims of aftermarket manufacturers that their filters filter dirt "better than any other filter on the market." Sounds very enticing. To small timers like you and me, spending $1500 to test a filter sounds like a lot. But if you were a filter manufacturer and you believed your filter could filter dirt better than any other media on the market, wouldn't you want to prove it? Guess what. Test your filter vs. the OE paper. It will cost you $3000 and for that price you will have the data that you can use in your advertisements. Your investment will be returned a thousand fold! EASIER than shooting fish in a barrel! So why don't these manufacturers do this? Hmmm? Probably not because they would feel guilty about taking more market share.



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. Now how many of our trucks collapse their filters from mud and water? However, if a filter is using "better airflow" as their marketing tool, remember this....Does it flow better? At very high airflow volumes, probably. BUT, Our trucks CAN'T flow that much air unless super-modified, so what is the point? The stock filter will flow MORE THAN ENOUGH AIR to give you ALL THE HORSEPOWER the engine has to give. And this remains true until the filter is dirty enough to trip the air filter life indicator. At that point performance will decline somewhat. Replace the filter and get on with it.

Hopefully the results of this test will do 2 things. Shed some light on the misleading marketing claims of some aftermarket manufacturers and/or give us new insight on products already on the market that are superior to our OE filter. I stand for truth and will eat my words publicly if my statements prove wrong. I appreciate all of the help and support that you members have offered in this project. It would simply be impossible without your help. A huge thanks to Ken at Testand for his willingness to take on this project. I would be spinning my wheels from here to eternity without his help… SPICER”

 

i just read all of bob is the oil guy about filter testing and by the pics a k and n is as good as napa gold and it depends on the indevidual i want a little more power to pull trailers so i am concidering a k and n cold air intake kit it wont have that pressure effect but it sucks in all cold air not warm

 

hay mustang6147 like your pic of the truck and trailer

 

The oem unit does just that...the air inlet tube runs through the fender to the outside. Where as the K&N sits right next to the engine inside the engine compartment. While the vehicle is in motion, this makes little difference in the air intake temp, but in hevay traffic, it does play a fcator (of reduced performance) so slight its not really noticable. If you read the extensive testing done at Recently Tesand Corp at http://www.dieselbombers.com/chevrol...r-testing.html, unless you are an-off roader you would not want to stick a K&N on anything (nothing most of us ol timers did alreeady know), plus the issu of K&N not honoring their 1 mill mile warranty- which I personally experienced.

 

So what you are saying is it dose not do anything and get a large paper or non oiled filter right. That way there is no oil issue and it dresses the motor up a little and if it dosent help performance at least will look nice and not hinder my current performance

 

Yes...............

 

Your motor & turbo hate dust. Both cost a lot of money. Why use a filter nit designed for your motor. I would never swap my stock intake or filter for a K&N filter.

 

I don't have a turbo and I do all paved roads

 

I understand......

K&N has many, many design and performance related drawbacks that for a (predominent) street type use vehicle the negatives clearly out way the positives even if you have a heavily modified vehicle (let alone a mostly stock unit).

Their advertising is such that they very meticulously deduce that through some miracle beyond the laws of physics, you will gain HP/TQ- which has been tested and demonstrated to be, well, less than ethical.

 

Don't do it !! Talked to a guy at the car wash today. He put one on his f250 and it threw his check engine light on. Along with several problem codes. FYI