I put a K&N in my wife's Explorer Sport. I then took a trip from LA to MT. The average MPG was 23. Funny thing, that is the exact same MPG average I got the two years before on the exact same trip. So, did it do any thing? Well, it did make my wallet a whole lot lighter:) Other than that, not a damn thing as far as I can tell. I'll bet if I had the "Tornado" and some Slick 50 in the crankcase I could have done better...whatdaya think? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice and I'm a dumb f*ck.
K&N filters are an excellent buy for your Ford at $47. Here in the UK they are sold as a 'sporty' accessory and pitched at ridiculously high prices. They are much better than original equipment - but watch how much you pay.
"Under this federal statute, a manufacturer, who issues a warranty on your motor vehicle, is prohibited from requiring you to use a particular brand of air filter, oil filter, or other service or maintenance item, unless such item is provided, free of charge, under your warranty or unless the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) waives this prohibition against the manufacturer. K&N is unaware of any exemption or waiver granted by the FTC to any motor vehicle manufacturer, which pertains to air filters or oil filters."
First: If a person really wants performance, don't use any filter. Dragsters don't use any.
Second: If you want to protect your engine, don't keep your foot to the floor.
Third: if you just want to be "KEWL", buy anything and everything that looks good, sounds good and everyone else has.
You have to ask yourself, "Do I want to pay for the short life of the engine, or do I want to look Kewl, or do I want to be the "voice of reason". Hank
Ater me a car heads to the junk yard and not to somebody else to drive for another 10 to 15 years.
I used to work with a guy who bought a new vehicle every two years. People at work used to line up to buy his vehicle when it was known he wanted to sell it. One guy kept a vehicle he sold for 13 years then traded it in for another vehicle to accommodate his growing family.
I believe in keeping a vehicle until its life is exhausted.
Denny B opined in news:l%7ed.4414$ snipped-for-privacy@newscontent-01.sprint.ca:
First off - you dont specify, which leads the reader to assume that'you're talking about the K&N performance filter not the replacement version.
And you SAID you didnt care about HP yet you care about air-flow... WTF does THAT mean?
Combine this with your LATER statements that you're buying them because paper filters are such a waste of money.. your time to clean the filter apparently doesnt count.
How long does the "refreshing" process take? How long to clean a MAF... which seems to me should be done, because the filter is oiled, each 50k as well?
What are your driving conditions? Lotsa dust dust sand gravel in the air? Go ahead... makes sense.
No? why bother.
Your logic is like... if a purolator / wix filter at 3- 5 bucks is good, then a 10 buck mobil 1 should be better... even though I change oil at 3 k! \
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --
Know a furnace A/C guy? Ask him to help and attach his manometer before and after the filter and take it on the road, see what it shows full throttle with both a dirty paper/20,000 miles, a clean paper, and a K&n oiled replacement.
I've done it.... though not with a k&N.
YMMV but that's why I change air filters every 25 K if then, but I knock it on a clean sheet of paper every oil change to see what happens.
May open your eyes a little.
Lesse...I could buy a Kn.. for 50 bucks, spend 2 hours every 50 k cleaning it and the MAF. Thats once a year for me..
Or I could spend 16 bucks for 2 and 1/4 hour vaccing the box per year, cleaning MAF every other year....At that rate, I'll pay back the cost of the K&N about the time I run the car to the scrappers.
No secret. Don't buy a new car every few years. Maintain use in a responsible manner and fix it when it breaks. You will save thousands and not having car payments is a pay raise. Unless you wreck the car, there is no reason to get rid of it.
I,ve had two cars in the last 36 years, a 1968 Nova and a 1981 Ford Fairmont. They have been my daily drivers and I have been the mechanic. Also I am the bodyman and the painter. A few weeks ago I did restoration bodywork and have epoxy primed the vehicle and thats how I will drive it for the Winter.
About six hours ago I picked up my K&N filter which I have installed and so far satisfied with.
From what I state above you should know I don't have a MAF nor do I desire to own a vehicle with one.
Thats fine... I didnt write that last for you, I wrote it for someone who might google the group for pros and cons, I think everyone should make such a decision with all things considered.
Since your engines are both carbed, I dont care... I been driving since 58 and worked on my own cars, off and on since then. If I ever have another car with a carb, it and/or engine will come out to be replaced with full port FI.
I never said ANYTHING about a waste of money. I said I don't like generating un-necessary junk.
Takes about 10 extra minutes to clean and oil while doing an oil change on the vehicle. The intake passages and Maf get cleaned once a year on my vehicles, regardless what filter is used.
Yes, I drive a fair amount on secondary roads which are often gravel surface. I also drive in the winter on highways which are heavilly sanded, as well as salted. That sand often stays around for a good part of the spring. The road shoulders are also gravel, and a lot of that fine sandy crap ends up on the road throughout the summer. It is not out of the ordinary to find a pretty good deposit of sand and grit in the bottom of the air filter housing at service time.
How exactly does using a K&N filter not meet or exceed the OEM specs? If the filter does trap more dirt and debris and let in more air, I fail to understand how it would not meet the requirements, if not in fact exceed the requirements.
You need to read the WHOLE law. They can deny your warranty but must prove why. If you want to take them to court to make them prove it go for. It wouldn't be worth the time or money to me to use that over-priced, greasy, gotta clean it, gotta oil it thing they call a filter :)
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.