6.9 & 7.3 Air Fliters - Paper or Cloth?

[mankypro]

Ok, I'm hoping to try to get the most objective viewpoints possible on this controversial subject from IDI folks. Please reply based on the questions I'm asking, not the ones you'd wish I'd asked

1. Have YOU personally, physically seen, with your own eyes an engine failure in a Ford IDI that was CONCLUSIVELY the fault of a K&N air filter?

a) what other modifications where made to the vehicle in addition to the K&N?
b) was the vehicle used as a daily driver or work truck doing normal truck duty and was it regularly maintained in a proper fashion.
c) what was the truck doing when the failure occurred?
d) what part of the engine failed?

No hearsay please. First hand experiences only please.

I'm trying to decide whether or not to spend $60.00 on a filter for my truck once or $20.00 4 times a year.

 

[redneckaggie]

my personal experiance with k&n's has been 100% positive besides i have noticed that my oil seems to be a little dirtier while using one but not enough to hurt the truck. the good things i noticed:
mileage up
pyro temps down
smoke down
even seems like the engine temps like to ride a little lower

 

[dakotajeep]

Requardless of application the biggest factor in a K&N is proper upkeep. The post should included a section that says: Do you know how to properly perform maintenance on a K&N, since that would aid in filtering out obsurd claims.

Not trying to be Debbie Downer, just trying to be helpful in your research process......

Thad

 

[69dieselfreak]

this has nothing to do with if i know whats the best filter out there or not but i found from fleetgaurd a paper element filter similar dimentions to the k&n rd 1460 or what ever the P/N
the filter is for a marine b-series ***-apart the sad thing was that its like $102 and thats with my great pricing through freightshaker so i was forced to buy the k&n for like 50 i couldnt justify spending that kinda moeny on a paper element mind you fleetgaurd is not a FN-fram filter
by the way my intake set up is similar to mels set up on his truck with only slite differences

 

[RKOCH]

I use K&N on all my rigs and never seen a problem from one.

 

[mankypro]

I've also spoken to a few mechanics that put the k&n's in some sort of "sock" prefilter that is machine washable - anyone use anything like that?

 

[RKOCH]

Yes it is just like the foam wrapping of the stock filter.

 

[RLDSL]

I lost the compressor wheel for my turbo to a K&N. Pretty funny, the guy at the Turbo shop knew that I had a K&N just by looking at the compressor wheel. He didn't even have to ask.

Even K&N admits that their filters trap 1 % less dirt than a stock type filter. That 1 % adds up.

I still run a K&N on my fun car, but I am fully aware of the possible damage to it, I just like the fast throttle response on that critter and I look at it like any performance item, there will be a trade off. However, I'm not willing to risk my freshly rebuilt IDI to one.

 

[Diezel_Cowboy]

Ok, I'm hoping to try to get the most objective viewpoints possible on this controversial subject from IDI folks. Please reply based on the questions I'm asking, not the ones you'd wish I'd asked

1. Have YOU personally, physically seen, with your own eyes an engine failure in a Ford IDI that was CONCLUSIVELY the fault of a K&N air filter?

a) what other modifications where made to the vehicle in addition to the K&N?
b) was the vehicle used as a daily driver or work truck doing normal truck duty and was it regularly maintained in a proper fashion.
c) what was the truck doing when the failure occurred?
d) what part of the engine failed?

No hearsay please. First hand experiences only please.

I'm trying to decide whether or not to spend $60.00 on a filter for my truck once or $20.00 4 times a year.

1.Answer: No

 

[Agnem]

All my trucks use one. My Blackstone reports look good. Speaking of which, it's probably time for me to service at least 2 of the 4 that I have.

 

[mankypro]

Blackstone? Oil analysis?

All my trucks use one. My Blackstone reports look good. Speaking of which, it's probably time for me to service at least 2 of the 4 that I have.

 

[subway]

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

good stuff, i have used them, they can give a real good look at things in your engine and sometimes see a problem coming long before you can tell the usual way (like oil in the water)

 

[mankypro]

I remember pulling oil samples all the time on my track in the military - I hated it...

But I just ordered a kit to take a looksee at my engine.