K&N air filter?

[fields_mj]

Just curious, how much of a difference do you guys think a K&N air filter will make over the stock filter? I'm talking about mpg, not hp or torque. My 7.3 is N/A, and a couple people have suggested the K&N to increase my millage. Thought I would check with folks who've actually know stuff about my engine before I wasted $50

Thanks,
Mark

 

[funnyman06]

I am running an AFE drop in, paid less than 30 bucks for it, but i got a good discount. It made a big difference on my truck my then again my paper filter was really dirty. Its really a toss up. I am thinking about doing a moose air type thing on my truck even though its NA to help the flow out.

 

[FordGuy100]

Ok before others chime in about K&N's, I will

I've heard from many old timers about horror stories about them. Lots of logging guys, my grandfather (owner/operator), and many others go into detail about how a K&N flows so well, that it actually lets some dirt through, causing your turbo to pre-maturly wear out. As you dont have a turbo...who knows. I've heard from to many people not to use them, to use them personally. I will just stear clear. Thats just me though. And the Jury is out on weither or not those people are telling the truth, or if the K&N actually caused the problem.

 

[The Warden]

I've also heard of people running K&N's on turbo'ed trucks and removing the filter to find oil build-up on the compressor wheel. That alone is enough to make me shy away from ANY oil-coated reusable filter. Paper filters work quite well, and no chances taken. I just wish I could readily find a paper-element cone filter...

 

[funnyman06]

If there is any build up they did it wrong. I have been in meetings with K&N and their reps, the filters should not weep oil in anyway, there should only be enough oil on it to trap the dirt. People sometimes clean them too often, sure they might flow a lot more clean but the thing is the dirtier they get, the better they filter. Personally i would rather get a good foam filter. If foam and oil are good enough to keep a 450 spinning 9000 rpms across the desert, im pretty happy with it. On the same note, everyone agrees that paper filters better than a K&N, no one would say otherwise.

But i would not say paper filters better than any other filter. Volant teamed up with Donaldson, and came up with the "PowerCore" and that filter media is now stock on some big rigs.

So there are better things out there than your paper filter, but for me, if you do it right you will not have problems. People tend to rush the cleaning of their filters, dont. It must dry all the way, and you have to be careful when you reoil it.

 

[argve]

Will it give you more mileage???? probably not. If it does I doubt you will be able to see it.

The biggest thing the washable filter styles do for you is let you reuse the filter - that in it's self if worth it to me - when it gets dirty I don't need to spend money - all I have to do is take it out - bring it inside to the wife's bath room and fire up the hand held shower and go scrubbing away (no I'm not joking I did this once and Sherri was as mad as an ole wet hen ) Then after it dries just apply some filter oil and enjoy.

what I found was that if you over oiled it then you would see some oil on passages leading up to the turbo/intake, if I seen dirt or dust I knew that it had either dried out or I didn't get it sealed fully last time - typically it wasn't sealed fully because I didn't clamp it straight or something like that - not the filters fault, that was my fault. But I don't worry too much about the thing of "don't use a K&N because they don't filter well enough" The amount of damage that could insue because of a slightly leaking filter is so small that you might in my opinion shorten the life of the motor by a couple of thousand miles... whoop-dee my driving style will kill it faster than that...

I say if you want to have a filter that is washable then put it on, but don't expect mileage increases or power increases that you can actually see or feel.

 

[sassyrel]

I've heard from many old timers about horror stories about them. Lots of logging guys, my grandfather (owner/operator), and many others go into detail about how a K&N flows so well, that it actually lets some dirt through, causing your turbo to pre-maturly wear out. As you dont have a turbo...who knows. I've heard from to many people not to use them, to use them personally. I will just stear clear. Thats just me though. And the Jury is out on weither or not those people are telling the truth, or if the K&N actually caused the problem.[/QUOTE]

mine is the horror.it used NO oil prior to k&n. left it oiled as it CAME from factory. 12,odd miles later, i qt oil to 35 miles!!! ya, you read that right. rings gone!!! remember reading storys of guys not getting the lid down right on the factory turbo idi's???? same thing--fine dust--goodbye rings. K&N's bragging otherwise--flow diff as said by argve--from stock,is less than 1%--read a independent lab results as compared to K&N's bias--afe is a much better filter--and has much better media--

 

[Agnem]

I've run K&N filters in all my rigs, and the Moose Truck has had one almost since day 1, 116,000 miles ago. My blow by is minimal, and oil reports come back with excellent results. Now, that is mostly all street driving, and I don't subject my trucks to hellashish dust bowl conditions. I do believe you will see a few HP, because some people have dyno'ed and posted the differences, but dyno results that are within a few HP are subjective anyway.

If your looking to do a Moose Air setup for an NA, check out the "ghost tube" if you can find it. It's basically an AFE kit for a 5.8L Dodge engine or something like that.. I can't recall exactly. It fits right on and all you have to do is drill the intake hat hole out a little.

 

[1320Cummins]

The media in my 94's K&N filter is all dry rotted and mostly gone with about 75,000 miles.
My Afe is in the mail!

 

[RLDSL]

If you play, you pay. My ats kit came with one and when I went to rebuild the turbo, the impeller wheel was shot from dust. The guy at the turbo shop called me and told ME that I had a K&N air filter! He could tell just by looking at the damage on the wheel! Now THAT's a pretty telling statement. the guy has seen so many turbos trashed by K&N filters that he can recognize the damage patterns and tell the customer what air filter he has without even asking!
Needless to say, that K&N did NOT go back on the truck.
Besides, free flowing non stock air filters have a nasty habit of messing up the balance of your crankcase breather system while they are at it and can contribute to increased oil consumption ( that oil folks see on the turbo impellers isnt from over oiling the filters, it's usually from the breather system belching because the crankcase breather system is no longer operating under the same vacuum that the factory engineers designed it to and it stops working properly)

 

[fields_mj]

If your looking to do a Moose Air setup for an NA, check out the "ghost tube" if you can find it. It's basically an AFE kit for a 5.8L Dodge engine or something like that.. I can't recall exactly. It fits right on and all you have to do is drill the intake hat hole out a little.

What will be the bennifit of this "ghost tube" ? Sounds interesting, but my knowledge on this subject is pretty much nill, if you couldn't already tell. I'm really not looking to accesorize my IDI, just wring a few more mph out of it if possible. I certainly don't want to spend $100 on something that would get replaced when I am finally able to add a turbo.

 

[Agnem]

If you prefer an open element air cleaner, that is the main benefit. Open elements tend to get dirty more evenly, where as elements in a housing get real dirty where the air is first coming in. So I guess there is less restriction with an open element type.

 

[Diesel Max]

Is there a paper type or other type of air filter for a 7.3 Banks Turbo setup ? As far as I can find, K&N is the only manufactuer that makes an air filter for the Banks setup and K&N makes the filter specifically for Banks.

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

Is there a paper type or other type of air filter for a 7.3 Banks Turbo setup ? As far as I can find, K&N is the only manufactuer that makes an air filter for the Banks setup and K&N makes the filter specifically for Banks.

Unfortunately you're stuck with that filter unless you opt for a different style intake hat to free yourself from the stranglehold.

I did.


Ok but along the lines of washable filters killing compressor wheels on turbos, why would they supply a filter for it then if they're not good for them?

It can't be just a simple marketing issue.

 

[Diesel Max]

Unfortunately you're stuck with that filter unless you opt for a different style intake hat to free yourself from the stranglehold.

I did.


Ok but along the lines of washable filters killing compressor wheels on turbos, why would they supply a filter for it then if they're not good for them?

It can't be just a simple marketing issue.

How did you change your set up and to what ???