First of all, I'm kind of new to this forum thing and I hope that I post this in the right area. Second of all, I wish I had found FTE along time ago. Reading all of yalls threads or posts has been so very helpful and I cant thank you guys enough for the info. Now for the task at hand. I own a 1999 F-250 w/ the 7.3L PSD. I bought the truck about 3 years ago from the original owner. The truck is equipped with the dreaded "drop in" factory replacement K&N filter. I know from reading that this filter is crap and I am in the process of buying a "6637" or kwik filter. My question is... since the K&N seems to let alot of dirt and debris pass through and could possibly damage my turbo (if it hasnt already), even if I change to the 6637 right now, the K&N has been in the truck since the original owner (233,000 miles ago). Is there any way that I can reverse the damage that has already been done as far as the dirt that is in my turbo??? sorry if i sound like an idiot but im only 23 and dont know sh#t about sh#t... Thank you in advance and happy stroking

 

Never thought I'd be able to welcome the same fellow twice in the day <smile at your double post>, but here it goes.

Sorry to jump in here without any helpfull info for you CBCRF250R, but I just wanted to be the first to welcome you here.

By any chance did you find the site by googling "auto hub heating elements"?

Only a bad joke CBCRF250R.


Welcome. This is a great site. You will find loads of helpfull info around here.

Rick...

 

It's not as bad some would have you believe. K&N is not as poor a filter either. If debris has made it to the turbo, there isn't any magick pill that can fix it. However it's its running fine now, it will probably continue to for a while.

 

You may want to read this if you haven't already.

Filtration Testing for Amsoil, K&N, Napa, Jackson Racing, Baldwin, and Mazda air filters on a Miata

There are a few more sites whose testers did pretty close to the same experiments with close to the same results, most of the time Amsoil filters were at the bottom and k&n was about the same.

 

I read those test many years ago. Perhaps the turbo diesels have much tighter tolerances these days, but the debris than can bypass the K&N is most of the time not big enough to worry about.

Filtration Testing for Amsoil, K&N, Napa, Jackson Racing, Baldwin, and Mazda air filters on a Miata

Real world vs Scientific tolerances have a place in end user testing. Micron filtering shouldn't be necessary. Granted my knowledge of air systems is mostly in SCUBA where the air has to be breathing safe, so I don't get excited about the filtration differences in much simpler air pumps.

 

I understand where you are coming from but, dirt has no place in an engine and it has been proven that the k&n lets in more than a paper filter.

 

233,000 miles on the engine and no turbo failure... hum, it sounds like the K&N is working fine. If it makes you feel better, replace the K&N filter with one of your choice. However, I don't believe that your engine is damaged.

 

He's only owned it for 3 years though. The entire engine could have been replaced an unknown number of times without him or us knowing. I agree that the engine isn't damaged though.

 

We only know that he hasn't had a turbo failure, the PO may have had several. I don't like dirt in my engine, so I pulled the K&N out right after I bought the truck. All you gasser boys always stick up for the K&N and I still can't figure out why... on an old carb engine they probably do OK but on anything with sensors the dirt they let in causes all kinds of problems- I've seen it several times.

 

Also Chase, the diesel needs more air to run. With the volumn of air needed more dirt will come through the filter then with a gas engine. I have run the K&N filter on gas engines, but will not run one on a diesel.

 

It is all dependent on how well it is applied and how well it is serviced. A K&N filter is designed to function comparitively with a paper filter if it is properly serviced meaning correct and properly oiling and cleaning. Yes the K&N may exhibit less filtering than a quality paper filter and yes the oil factor has known to cause some minor problems with MAF sensors but in my experience i have had no problems or issues with my K&N (Gas engine).

There have been many topic debates regarding which is better. Again it depends on your application, service techniques and wheather you take your coffee black or with cream.

Keep the K&N regulary cleaned and oiled (maybe more often than K&N suggests) clean the MAF (with MAF cleaner) at the same intervals and keep your oil changes on schedule and you will be fine. If you don't feel comfortable with it switch to the Paper.

 

I know that Rick, and I have run a K&N on a gasser too (old carby motor, not EFI). However, why would you want to run a filter knowing that it's going to leak dust through? One of my uncles put one in his 98 Chevy 3500 w/a Vortech 454 and lost about 5-6 mpg because it was dusting his MAF sensor. Another uncle put one in his 87 F350 w/a 351 and also lost 1-2 mpg because of MAF dusting. I've read a lot about K&N filters dusting dirt bike motors also. For a city rig that sees only light dust conditions a K&N might be fine, but for those of us who go camping and spend time in some really dusty conditions they just flat don't work IMO.

 

Another thing, you guys that have used the K&N filter may can answer my question. The question: If I remember right, the paperwork with the K&N filter stated that the dirtier the filter gets, the better it filters. I wish I could remember in my old age,lol.

 

Rick that is true. K&N used to advertise that years ago, unknown if they still do. The premise was as dirt stuck to the filter it also acted as a filter media to help catch the next piece of dirt, so on and so on, you get the picture.

I worked as an auto machinist in a speed shoop back in the 80's and built lots of motors and the best I can say is poor maintenance will wreak havoc on an engine faster than anything, that being said I run K&N on my cars and my diesel. My truck came with a cold air kit and after reading all the horror stories on here I pulled my intake tube and checked my turbo and intake for dusting. That was at 135k and I can say there was none. The previous owner(original) was **** about the the truck as far as service is concerned so he kept the filter serviced with K&N supplys as do I. I have seen several people go cheap and use tranny oil, engine oil etc.. and that is not going to work right. As with any filter if it don't fit right don't use it, you are only asking for a failure down the road.

That being said my v-twin 1100 jumped from 31 to 43 mpg after replacing the used(obviously) factory paper filter to the K&N. No other changes for that increase, and yes the filter was dirty and needed replacing.

Sorry about the long post.

 

Thanks Dave, I thought I remembered that right. Maintenance is the key, I agree.