I have a 2002 f-250 with a 5.4l in it. I've been looking at a K&N intake for a long time, but I need to know will I notice a power increase and is it worth the money. I'm looking for simple mods to get the 5.4 moving.

Thanks.

 

Won't do anything for power, if you drive enough you'll save money by not buying paper filters all the time.

 

not worth 10 bucks if you ask me...

 

K & N is a great filter... comes with many awards, and the coveted SEMA seal. Keep in mind, it will flow more air, but, as soon as your computer realizes its getting more air, it quikly adjusts the ratio. If you are buying it for HP gains forget it. If you are buying it, cuz you are sick of buying filters, with the continuous price increases, then do it.

I have them on everything, 4 wheelers, Z28, SuperDuty. They flow great, I would be shocked if you picked up 1 tenth of a mpg, or 2 hp, but if you are going to get a tuner, well, I would reccomend it...

Alot of hogwash about the oil, messing with sensors, I say it is false, and if you go to Ford Motor Sport website. They use them, and sell them as part of there drag pack, or HP upgrade. I bought mine from Ford MotorSport, Lumberton NC. IT was bad info put out by the competition..

I do think it helps when I am towing heavy though, but have no real tests to proove it. There is a difference between the paper and K&N then for me...

 

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 tech's on this (flatratetech.com) .

If you look at the flow data, WIX HP filters flow 98+% of K&N and 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 the only issue that really exists is the plastic intake tube with it’s noise canceling design- that does reduce the intake efficiency a little but makes it very quiet!. 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.

 

I would like to restate my earlier post... Tonight, I was with a couple guys, at the dyno. running Mustangs...4.6 liters... We tested a couple different power configurations.

We also tested Wix. Fram. and K&N filters...

The wix and Fram, showed modest losses in both torque and HP, starting most noticably at 15oo rpms, and continued the loss curve threw 7500 rpms. It was an alomst identical loss of power...

We then on the fifth pull, used the K&N, which both guys run anyways. The power gains, were back... noticably over 5500 rpms.

In closing, my actual finding, in there aplications, were, with cold air intakes. plumbed to the lower front, not in the engine compartment... Showing 15 HP gain under 5500 rpms and 27 ftlbs of torque also at those rpms.

I doubt you will go over that 5500 rpms mark, I am not a fan of turning an engine any faster if it is stock. But there you have it.

The gains may have been more, but the engines had been threw 4 hard pulls, or groups of 2 prior to the K&N being removed, and reinstalled... The actual losses form the Fram and wix where astonishing, when first installed...

These are High compression engines, with no power adders... Stock engines may not acheive those numbers, but this test signifies, that I guess there are actual gains, and how much is determined by the engine it is installed in, and the cfm,s it draws...