Are K&N's OK for aerostars MAF? Does oil get into the MAF and cause misreadings?
What's the advantage of using a K&N?

 

There are mixed opinions about K&N air filters on FTE.

Here is my personal opinion on K&N air filters:

I believe that K&N air filters are way over priced! There is NO performance increase in most applications, and there is only a
slight performance increase, if any, with large displacement engines (>400CI) at WOT!!!

The problem with K&N air filters is with the amount of dirt that they pass into the engine. K&N air filters were originally developed for very dusty races like Baja, where the OEM paper
filters would plug up!! The K&Ns would not plug up, same amount
of dirt going into the filter, guess where the dirt goes? You can
verify this with a simple test of holding a K&N up to a light source, and look at the size of the holes in the filter media, compared to a
paper filter. The dirt that an engine ingests with a K&N air filter has been confirmed with UOA tests, showing high levels of silicon
which comes from dirt!! Cummins has issued a statement, and are explicit in saying engine damage can result from the dirt that the K&N air filter passes into the engine.

And last, you bring up a good point, about the possibility of MAF sensor contamination from oil with the K&N air filter.

So, after all of that, I recommend you stay with the OEM paper filter, and change it regularly!!!

 

I have changed to K&N in two of my cars including my '97 Aerostar 3.0. I've seen mixed remarks about the performance aspect of the K&N's but with the Cummins statement and the passage of all that dirt, I'm switching back to paper.
I recently owned a Taurus Sho which I had installed a cone type K&N filter charger that picked up air inside the covering of the fender well. The car sounded great and was very fast. But when I changed the oil after 6-7000 miles I could not believe how BLACK it was! Now I have reason to doubt the K&N.
Thanks Bob,
Beaned

 

You change the oil every 6000 or 7000 and wonder why it is black. Sounds like you have solved the problem, not the filter but the lack of oil change. You must be crazy to wait that long. Must like replacing engines more than I do.

 

You are right, that is a long span. I usually change every 3-4000 miles. I just remember on that particular time the oil was blacker than any time, on any of the 30 or so cars i have owned the past 40 years. Maybe it means nothing. This kind of thing is a gray [not black] area when you have so many pros and cons going on.
Thanks, Beaned

 

Check out this thread from awhile back. It looks like the
"dirty oil" syndrome has been experienced by several people
using K&N air filters:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...hreadid=198260

 

Gee, I thought for sure there would be other opinions on K&N air filters!!!!!

 

K&N filters will only provide a benefit if that is your engine bottleneck. If you aren't outflowing a clean stocker, than you won't need it. If you are, then it will net you a gain. I have one on my other car, but it's blown and sucking immense amounts of air in, far too much for a normal paper filter.