About 3,000 miles ago I read on this forum about finding dust in the air intake tube on a K&N FIPK II set up. When I read this I checked mine...and there was a dusty coating inside the tube.

I removed the entire K&N air intake and gave it a thorough cleaning, reinstalling it "dust-free". I also cleaned the filter per K&N instructions using K&N servicing products. Now, here I am 4,000 miles later and I found the same dusty coating inside the tube again.

It's not a comforting feeling that I get when I see the condition of the interior of the tube. I did save my stock air intake and am considering reinstalling it.

My question is this...will that dusty coating develop even in a stock air intake, with an OEM filter? Am I asking too much when I expect to find the inside of the air intake clean?

I know that no filter stops everything. If the dust develops like this even with a totally stock set up then I suppose I'll keep the K&N.

 

Mine, with the paper and stock housing, was always spotless.

With the K&N style filter, the tube got that fine layer of dust..

Try to install the paper filter on the K&N tube, if you can. And see what develops.

 

I just yesterday took the k&n that was on my truck when I bought it out and threw it away. Many of the guys in the 7.3 diesel forum will tell you you should not put a k&n on a turbo diesel. You don't mention what motor your truck has but if that's the case I wouldn't put one on anything I own. That's my personal opinion.

In fact they say Cummins specifically mentions them by name as something not to use on their motors due to lack of filtration.

 

Mine is the gas 5.4, but still... I'm pretty easily spooked with this sort of thing...so the original set up will be going back into place this weekend.

 

Hey Brian, do you do a lot of off road or drive in real dusty conditions?? I have just the K+N filter on my 5.4 but have not had any dust problems in over 20k. Then again my truck rarely sees any dirt under the tires... KP

 

Mine had fine dust inside the stock housing with a K&N in it. That was enough to get it out of there. I've heard on the psd's that it's a problem with the filter housing not sealing really well so the paper is an interim stopgap that I hope will help until I can get a whole aftermarket setup for it.

 

I've used a K&N in two vehicles, never had a problem with dirt getting past it.

One thing to note: cleaning a K&N is just plain wrong. The more dirt gets into it, the more it filters. It may pass some dust up front, but once you use it for a few thousand miles, it should filter better and better and better.

Sad to hear that so many people are seeing dust after the filter though... are you sure it sealed correctly?

 

I'm mainly a pavement pounder too, probably 85% of my driving is on pavement...no real hardcore off-roading to speak of. You could call this town dusty...but not exceptionally dusty.

I don't know what to think. I'm gonna install the original set up and check it in about 3,000 to see if there is less dust in there.

The bizarre thing is that the K&N upgrade seems as common as putting gas in the gas tank...everyone seems to do it. And with that many customers if there was some sort of problem I think we would know about it by now...but most people seem pretty happy with their K&N. But there are a vocal minority of those who are not happy...I'm interested in what they have to say.

 

I'm confident mine is sealed correctly...they are very simple installs after all. I check the clamps regularly too. Everything has always seemed in order.

 

Brian if you do decide to bail on the FIPK I may be interested... E me if you want. KP

 

I have the K&N filter on all my gassers and my PSD, no problems. K&N claim that their filter does better when it is dirty. They recomend you dont clean it before 25 to 30k miles, unless used in extreme-extreme conditions. It is also worth to mention that the K&N is the only filter recommened by Gale Banks Engineering for diesels.

 

I found that you have to let it dry completely before applying the oil after cleanin, Just use a blow gun on the air compresser, but be careful not to put any holes in it.

 

had a K&N for 2 weeks, noticed no power gains, and had a thin layer of dust on inspecection... took it out, never to be used again...

 

Just found this thread on an unrelated search, but wanted to put my .02 in.

The more filtration you have, the more restriction you have to air flow. The reason the K&N has such good flow numbers is because it isn't worth a dime at filtering out extremely fine airborne partculates.

If all you ever do with your rig is hit the blacktop in areas with very little airborne dust, then a K&N should be fine. On the other hand, if you work or live in a area where dusty conditions are the norm, chances are you will see significant effects from the poor filtration of the K&N. Our area is relatively dusty, and I have helped tear down several engines (Ford and Chevy alike) that were K&N filtered. There was noticeable scoring on the valve mating surfaces and cylinder walls that I can only attributed to the poorly filtered intake air.

While the K&N may have more flow CAPACITY than a comprably sized paper element filter, few stock applications require enough air to need the K&N. Unless you are doing other mods it's unlikely that the K&N will have any impact on your power numbers. It MIGHT open up a HP or two on the top end, but even that is optimistic if the engine is otherwise stock. Often there is increased intake noise which is mistaked for more power (like the drone on a carbureted engine with the air cleaner lid flipped over).

Finally, I stopped counting the number of dead-or-dying MAF sensors I have helped diagnose because they were going out-of-range (or had failed completely) as a result of oil migrating from the filter to the the sensing wire in the MAF unit. Most of the filters had been correctly maintained and had not been over-oiled, so I can only expect that the oil migration is unavoidable.

If you've got a carburated, air-sucking monster of an engine in a rig you only drive on nice days, then the K&N is probably something that would free up a couple of reliable HP for you. In a stock work truck, I think it's a waste of money.

Brad

 

Thanks for the feedback. I've installed my OEM air intake with a new OEM filter. I guess I'm just too much of a nervous ninny when I see the dust that the K&N apparently let through.

I took a close look at the MAF too, the fine wire coil thing-a-ma-jig, and it's tan colored. Dust build up maybe?

Any word on cleaning those? I thought I read here once that a q-tip with alcohol will do the trick.

McCrusty aka "just_brian"