K&B Air Filter vs. Paper, Paper Wins!

Printable View

09-28-2010, 12:55 PM
xintersecty

K&B Air Filter vs. Paper, Paper Wins!

I put a K&B air filter into my Chevy Aveo about a year ago. I have cleaned it twice since then. My millage went down and I thought it was because of crappy Iowa gas. Well I was wrong about that. I ran across an interesting article regarding oil based filters corrupting the mass air sensor.

The oil film on the air filter is just enough to collect on the very fine wires used to measure the air flow. At then end of every run cycle a very high current is ran through the wires to "burn" off any debre collected on the wires. If the wires are dirty that can change the air flow reading and gas milage.

I replaced my K&B filter with a paper one, my gas milage went from 30 MPG to 34 MPG.

I am a fanantic about measuring my gas milage. I believe it's one the best ways to understand the condition of the car.

Cost of the K&B air filter is around 50 bucks and the cleaning kits around 10. A good paper filter is around 12 bucks. I think it's an even trade on the cost but if the milage goes down, it's a loosing proposition.

Comments? :^o No kidding really!
09-28-2010, 01:24 PM
petrified.rabbit

Re: K&B Air Filter vs. Paper, Paper Wins!

i believe i've said the same thing on here a few times.

did you run a drop in or intake of some kind? what year is your car?
09-28-2010, 02:41 PM
xintersecty

Re: K&B Air Filter vs. Paper, Paper Wins!

Quote:

Originally Posted by petrified.rabbit

i believe i've said the same thing on here a few times.

did you run a drop in or intake of some kind? what year is your car?

I have a special value 2006 with add on AC manual transmission. I made no modifications to the air intake. Just bought a K&B filter and drop right in. I have not seem the previous posts since I am still new on the forum. At least I paid attentioned and measured my milage before and after filter change.
09-28-2010, 03:04 PM
petrified.rabbit

Re: K&B Air Filter vs. Paper, Paper Wins!

A 2006 should not have been affected the way you describe because it has no maf. (the wires you take about). It. Uses a map and iat.
09-28-2010, 04:27 PM
xintersecty

Re: K&B Air Filter vs. Paper, Paper Wins!

Quote:

Originally Posted by petrified.rabbit

A 2006 should not have been affected the way you describe because it has no maf. (the wires you take about). It. Uses a map and iat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_flow_sensor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAP_sensor

Interesting. My conclusion: My air filter was not cleaned properly. I may have to buy an other cleaning kit again and try my K&B air filter when my paper filter is due. :?:
09-28-2010, 05:01 PM
petrified.rabbit

Re: K&B Air Filter vs. Paper, Paper Wins!

Not sure what those link refer to. Wiki is terrible on iPhone

I use the blue unoiled performance filterthat came with my cai from chromeintakes. You can buy a paper performance filter or unoiled filter for just a little more than oem but a whole lot less than k&n but still have the performance.

Over oiled a k&n won't flow for much.
10-10-2010, 04:59 AM
AveoJoe

I got the K&N for my wifes car but will not use the oil the cleaning kit came with.
10-10-2010, 11:36 PM
Shibbs

Quote:

Originally Posted by AveoJoe

I got the K&N for my wifes car but will not use the oil the cleaning kit came with.

Then you'll be better off running with a window screen as your air filter.
10-10-2010, 11:42 PM
oscare003

when u say paper filter. do u mean the stock 1?
10-10-2010, 11:44 PM
Shibbs

Yeah, the stock filter is a poly increasing density filter.

Some aftermarket ones use paper instead and they're pretty much crap.
10-11-2010, 05:22 AM
AveoJoe

oil just attracts more dust and dirt. Every 2k miles I cleaned her oiled k&n filter much dirt came out now not using oil half of the dirt comes out. Its like using oil based tire shine you will always get more dirt then non oil based tire shine.
10-11-2010, 12:13 PM
Shibbs

Quote:

Originally Posted by AveoJoe

oil just attracts more dust and dirt. Every 2k miles I cleaned her oiled k&n filter much dirt came out now not using oil half of the dirt comes out. Its like using oil based tire shine you will always get more dirt then non oil based tire shine.

Yeah, its not attracting/collecting any dirt because its letting the other half thru the filter. Pull the intake tract and look inside. I bet its dusty.

The oiled filters are only supposed to be cleaned once or twice a year because they actually filter better when they're dirty.
10-11-2010, 05:12 PM
AveoJoe

ok lets see what they say. Thank you for your e-mail and utilizing K&N's Tech Support e-mail system. We will respond to your request as quickly as possible. However, due to high volume of emails we receive, a response could take up to a week. If you submitted a question in another language than English or Dutch, it may take an additional week for us to respond.

Thank you for your patience and for visiting our website.

Kind regards,

Your European K&N Technical Support Team
10-11-2010, 05:51 PM
petrified.rabbit

Over oiling the filter is not good either. The performance paper filters is your best option for performance. All performance filter let a slight amount of particulate into the engine but it's not harmful unless they are big enough to not pass through the system. Or are large enough quantity to clog (like blood clots).
10-11-2010, 06:21 PM
AveoJoe

DUDE I just checked it took off the filter cleaned it looked inside the pipe...TOOK it off the amount of dust shocked me. OILED FILTER UNTIL THERE WAS NO WHITE SHOWING. :(
10-11-2010, 11:01 PM
Shibbs

Quote:

Originally Posted by AveoJoe

DUDE I just checked it took off the filter cleaned it looked inside the pipe...TOOK it off the amount of dust shocked me. OILED FILTER UNTIL THERE WAS NO WHITE SHOWING. :(

I'm not the type to say "I told you so."

(but I'm really tempted to.... lol)

But seriously. If you HAVE to have a performance air filter, get the AEM DRYFLOW. Its similar to the stock filter, but basically has a greater surface area, thusly allowing greater/easier airflow.
10-12-2010, 01:07 AM
AveoJoe

AEM Induction Dryflow Synthetic Air Filter 21-201DK this is the one on thats my car.
10-12-2010, 01:12 AM
AveoJoe

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shibbs

I'm not the type to say "I told you so."

(but I'm really tempted to.... lol)

But seriously. If you HAVE to have a performance air filter, get the AEM DRYFLOW. Its similar to the stock filter, but basically has a greater surface area, thusly allowing greater/easier airflow.

and that was on a K&N FILTER I will oil it but will clean it every 3k miles as told by auto parts man at least untill K&N writes back.
10-13-2010, 04:23 AM
AveoJoe

Thank you for using K&N products.
We advise at least every 50 000 to 80 000 kilometers, but of course it is depending on the circumstances. In dusty conditions, you can clean more often, but every 3 000 miles is a short interval. This is what our FAQ page says;

If you have not experienced a decrease in mileage or engine performance, chances are your filter is fine and does not yet need cleaning. To be more specific, the filter does not require cleaning if you can still see the wire screen on the entire air filter regardless of how dirty it may appear. When the screen is no longer visible some place on the filter, it is time to clean it. When used in normal paved road, street or highway conditions, our replacement air filters that fit in the factory air box should require cleaning every 50,000 miles and our large conical filters on an intake system should require cleaning every 100,000 miles. When used in dusty or off-road environments, our filters will require cleaning more often. We recommend that you visually inspect your filter once every 25,000 miles to determine if the screen is still visible.
10-13-2010, 10:42 PM
zaklax13

i use a foam filter and have never had a problem