I'm not using a K&N air filter ever again...

On my 1991 Plymouth Sundance RS 2.5 TBI, I bought a K&N air filter from Autozone (they had to special order it) and have been running it for a little while to see how it performed. K&N claims that you get better air flow with them.

Unfortunately, during the time I've been using it, I haven't been having a great experience with it. When I pulled the air box off during a recent oil change to check the air filter, I took the filter out and noticed that I could ACTUALLY see through the little porous holes. Ha..makes me wonder about something. Then..I noticed that there were particles of dirt inside the air filter housing assembly in the center part in the rift by the throttle body. Hmmm.....makes me wonder if the K&N is actually letting dirt through. By Golly I don't want that crap blasted right into my TBI!!! Also, to my dismay, I noticed that there was reddish oil, which appeared to be K&N air filter oil, all over the air filter housing and a little bit on the throttle body and its gasket!!! Ahhhh!!! God knows whether that oil got into my engine or not!

Overall, I'm not very happy at all with this filter that K&N put out! So, I decided to go to NAPA and get a regular air filter and use it instead. I now go to NAPA for parts instead of Autozone because I was told that AutoZone hires people from the street, and Advance Auto doesn't seem much better than AutoZone. Anyway, there doesn't seem to be any difference in performance between the NAPA and the K&N. Overall, the K&N apparently doesn't flow much (if any) better than an ordinary filter.

I'm not using a K&N air filter in my car ever again.

Anyone care to chime in on your experiences with K&N air filters good and bad?

Reply to
Robby2687
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another person knocking the ZONE cuz of a airfilter NOBODY TWISTED YOUR ARM ON BUYING IT live and learn WHA WHA WHA

Reply to
tudysmuck

But. Autozone was the one who ordered it. Now, I have no idea with distributor they ordered it from. Some distributors could have faulty products. You never know. Apparently, the K&N filter I got probably came with too much filter oil (as it got slathered all over my throttle body, filter housing, and gasket). Another thing: Although the filter was the right shape, it seemed to be a little undersized for my air filter housing. I struggled some to get the thing on right because I couldn't get the lid to go down all the way at first!

This is not the only bad experience I had with Autozone. I bought an A/C compressor from them fairly recently (the same one I bought the K&N from), and it was defective. I took it to the shop to have it installed, and the compressor locked up when they finished the installation and the oil/freon charging. The mechanics said the compressor was bad and told me to return it. Another time, an employee was kinda rude to me.

Almost 2 years ago, I got two bad thermostats from Autozone. The first one I got stuck closed and my car overheated. The second I got from there seemed ok at first and then started sticking closed causing my temp gauge to go to Hot at times. Then, it failed in the open position as my temp gauge then wouldn't move past C. I replaced it with a Stant and no problems after that.

Recently, I had to get another alternator belt. Well, the Zone gave me the wrong belt. But. it did fit but in such a way that it turned my water pump in the opposite direction. I tried that belt. Then I went driving and later on a trip. My temp gauge seemed fine at first but the longer I was cruising, the temp rose to 2/3 mark. When I stopped, the gauge went to 3/4 to H. When I got home from the trip, I took that belt off, returned it, and put my old belt back on. I made sure it was more tight. My car runs cool now. The old belt just wasn't tight enough.

Reply to
Robby2687

Dude, what the hell. What's your problem?

He's given us good advice after a bad experience.

Reply to
Masospaghetti

After working at an Advance Auto Parts, which seems to be a small tier above Autozone, I can attest to the poor quality the store has. Not only are the parts bargain-basement stuff but some defective parts that have been returned by a customer make it back onto the shelves.

Reply to
Masospaghetti

Autozone may be a lot of things, but to blame them for a K&N filter that the OP wanted is a bit out of line.

Autozone has some shitdreadful products, especially their remanufactured parts if concensus means anything. But they also have some name brand stuff.

Reply to
<HLS

That's for damn sure! Oh, wait... you said products. I thought you said employees.

Toyota MDT in MO

Reply to
Comboverfish

Ran one for rougly 170,000 miles on a Chrysler 3.5L v6. Still running fine with a total of 230,000 miles on the engine- no oil consumption between changes. Does it prove anything? No. Does a K&N filter as well as paper? Hell no. Would the engine last EVEN longer if I'd used paper? Its going to make 1/4 million miles EASY, and if I keep the car long enough will likely make well over 300,000 miles without opening the engine at all. Who gives a flip at that point? Would I recommend a K&N? Not likely, and then only in certain circumstances. If your car has a really restrictive/undersized air filter, then it *might* be a performance benefit at wide-open throttle and max RPM. Otherwise, just by good Purolator paper filters and be happy.

Reply to
Steve

no problem ass wip the dude ramming the zone so screw you and him last i herd this is free speach so their are my 1% if you got a clue what that means and he could have bought it from JEGS? NAPA? OR WHO EVER BUT HE DECIDED TO GO TO THE ZONE face it the guy wanted xtra power buy adding a after market filter witch you must clean all the time shit he should have did some research before buying it . instead he decide's to bag the zone cuz they sold it to him WHA WHA WHA YOU BOTH DUMB -ASS'S

  1. Masospaghetti Sep 10, 6:05 pm show options

Newsgroups: rec.autos.tech From: Masospaghetti - Find messages by this author Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 21:05:07 -0400 Local: Sat, Sep 10 2005 6:05 pm Subject: Re: I'm not using a K&N air filter ever again... Reply | Reply to Author | Forward | Print | Individual Message | Show original | Report Abuse

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote:

Dude, what the hell. What's your problem?

He's given us good advice after a bad experience.

Reply to
tudysmuck

Thanks for that clever, mispelled, and top-posted reply. My compliments to your kindergarten teacher.

Toyota MDT in MO

P.S. Fisher Price makes a newsreader program? I'll be damned!

Reply to
Comboverfish

You know where they hire people at AutoZone from? The Street! My mechanics think so, too. Advance Auto isn't much better either, but my experiences with them are generally a little more on the positive side. NAPA has been the best, and Carquest ok. Their people are knowledgeable.

After my fairly recent bad A/C Compressor experience from there, No more Autozone for me. I bought an A/C compressor from there to replace mine. God Almighty!!! That thing was defective. The employees misinformed me about everything. I took the compressor to the shop to have it installed. The mechanics told me that a couple of the threads came stripped as they were able to take some metal filings out of the thread holes. They rethreaded them anyway. Then they installed the compressor/oil. After the installation, they charged it with oil/freon, but the thing locked up on them. So, they told me the thing was bad and told me to return it to "the Zone" for a refund.

There's more. I got two bad thermostats, and they gave me the wr> no problem ass wip the dude ramming the zone so screw you and him

Reply to
Robby2687

Wasn't really sure about that. Maybe all of them hire people from the street to some degree.

My mechanics were k> snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote:

Reply to
Robby2687

I now go to NAPA for parts instead of Autozone because I was

NAPA hires people off the street too. Go into one with your hair combed and wear a clean shirt. Ask for an application for employment. Go home and answer the phone when it rings. Decide if you really want to work in an auto parts store.

There is no official certification required to work at NAPA. They just have to like what they see in an interview - just like everywhere else. I worked at a NAPA store when I was still in high school. I was hired when I handed my application to the manager (who I'd never met before)... didn't even have to wait for a phone call.

Cheers, - JJ

Reply to
Keep YerSpam

Free speech is at best entertaining if what you say is incomprehensible.

I don't think you'll ever make it out of the petri dish.

Reply to
Bernd Felsche

You mean he made it that far?

Reply to
Hugo Schmeisser

I went through three Autozone "Duralast" ball joints before demanding my money back and buying a pair of Moogs at O'Reilly (for almost 2X the price). Haven't had a problem since. Aside from that debacle I've had pretty good luck with Autozone parts as I can recall. That may be because I usually end up buying brand name parts from them just because they have the best price and decent warranty support. I do try to avoid going there first for anything but the most basic chemicals, screws, etc, because of exactly what was mentioned - the employees are, with the occasional exception, clueless.

Reply to
Ryan Underwood

Just to be sure, leave his residence (scientific microscope) out in the sun so the focal lens gives him a really good crispy tan...

Toyota MDT in MO

Reply to
Comboverfish

i aint going to disagree and i am not going to agree either because

have a K&N air filter in my car and when i put it in you felt th difference not a big one right enough but it did help

cheers anyway and all of the graphs basicly said that K&N are **** lo but then ill get a different one and see if it is bette

-- mike

Reply to
mike

What makes you think the distributor has anything to do with K&N quality control?

Everybody on the group has told you that the K&N concept, product, engineering, and quality are pretty questionable.

Reply to
<HLS

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