I have a K&N filter in my 1995 Ford F-150 4.9L and have put about 20,000 miles on the filter. I decided to take it out the other day to clean it and found to my surprise a couple spots in the mesh that look like something has melted it. The cotton gauze has not been damaged too much yet, but the screen on one side has been melted in a couple of spots. The crankcase breather enters the airbox right below the air filter. I called Area Diesel Service up, which is where I purchased the filter, and the guy I talked to said that he had never heard of this happening either. He had me send the filter over to him, and he sent it on to K&N. A couple weeks went by, and he called me back, and said that he got the filter back, and they hadn't seen anything like it before either. Then he asked me if it had come in contact with the battery posts, which it has not. I have never set this filter down anywhere except in the airbox. He sent me back my filter along with a brand new K&N filter at no charge. Great customer service in my opinion!!


Has anybody ever heard of this type of problem happening with a K&N??? I wouldn't think that crankcase gases vented right below the filter would melt the mesh on a K&N!!

Click on the link below to look at a picture of the problem spots on my filter.



http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/ahkmn98/v...c=ph%26.view=t

 

Now this is a long shot but the only thing I can think of that would or could do that is a cigerette that was tossed out someones window and by pure chance blew/got sucked up into your air cleaner . I assume you have the stock filter box? Thats strange , you didnt see a burnt out cigg butt did you ?
Jon

 

The mesh is metal, like old window screen, so a cig butt couldn't melt it either. It'd take and acid or a base to eat the screen without damaging the gauze. Do you ever drive near where chemicals might be sprayed?

 

Yeah, I live on a farm, but my truck does not come in contact enough with chemicals to do that. It would take a lot more contact to do the kind of damage that has been done. Like I said before, my crankcase breather exits right below my air filter in the box, and it contacts my air filter, so I am wondering if maybe the combination of the crankcase vapors and the crankcase breather rubbing on the bottom of the filter has caused this.

 

I doubt it - mine is a '95 also (the engine & air filter housing ) and I have nothing like your damage.

 

Steve, how many miles do you have on your '95?

 

Good question! The truck it came out of was SMASHED, so I couldn't power up the PSOM, but the salvage title estimated 80Kmi which seemed about right considering the condition of the truck. Since I put it in, I've changed my speedometer (& odo of course) twice, so I've sorta lost track. I estimate 150-250Kmi, though. I drive a LOT: ~600mi/wk plus several LONG road trips (SW Louisiana - NE Texas - Memphis - Eastern N Carolina - Alabama - E Tenn).

 

Sounds like you do quite a bit of driving! I have 202,900 original miles on my '95. It's a 4x4 with the Mazda 5-speed. I would have to say that this has been the most dependable truck that I have ever owned. I need to check my clutch and tranny out sometime soon. It seems like it is getting harder and harder to shift especially starting off from a stand still. Also, if you drive for a long distance without having to clutch to slow down or stop, and when you go to hit the clutch, it is kinda hard to shove the pedal down. Almost like something is binding.

 

would the blowby from my high-mileage engine cause the screen to melt???

 

It shouldn't, unless you're putting some freaky stuff in your oil!

The M5OD is known to need plenty of fluid maintenance, so check/change yours. The concentric slave cylinder is also a know problem - some even crack the front of the transmission...

 

The only thing that I am running in my oil is Lucas engine oil additive. This stuff seems to work great!! It's really tacky and is supposed to help eliminate dry starts. It does not contain any teflon, so I don't have to worry about that plugging up my oil filter or oil passages. It's the same stuff a lot of big rigs use in their oil. I had the oil changed in my tranny, transfer case, and differentials about 2 years ago. How often should I change it???

 

Gear oil should last almost indefinitely assuming it stays uncontaminated and doesn't leak out. I don't think there's a published service interval on it, but I guess every 150-200Kmi wouldn't hurt or break the bank.

I think the recommended interval on the M5OD is ~50Kmi, or about 1/2 the original (when it was new) recommended interval.

 

I know this is off the subject of the K&N filter, but has anybody swapped in a NV4500 tranny in their F-150??? I am possibly looking at this choice if my tranny takes a crap.

 

Post to the transmission/axle forum.

 

ive seen this kind of damage on these filters when they rub against something-air borne grit gets trapped between the filter and whatevers rubbing it and wears it away. seen it a lot. not much to be done but assure clearance. way cool customer service, though-keep giving those guys your business. -good luck!