oldnavy wrote:
TDI4BY wrote:

guilty, I actually had the check engine light on for a few thousand miles and on a hunch cleaned the MAF, the light went out the next day.....
Do know how much more dirt the K&N filter let in to the engine and actual HP & MPG increase the K&N does for a turbo diesel???? On VW turbo diesels tested with oil samples and on dyno and actual ISO testing with GM Duramax diesel engine they had such bad preformance as to be scary. The oil samples on VW diesels with the K&N filters had such a huge increase in Si (dirt) in the oil samples that was tested, the tester warned of need to change the oil ASAP and to check for major air leaks. Also when tested on a dyno a turbo diesel had only about <1/2 hp increase on a stock VW diesel, only increase was intake noise. If you would like to read the ISO test results it is posted here somewhere on the forum or I can email you a copy. The Duramax would scare anyone with any ability to read the report, and understand the findings. The jest of the report was nothing beats OEM for both cleanleness and airflow in a turbo diesel.
A short quote from the test artice:people spend a lot of money on aftermarket filters based on the word of a salesperson or based on the misleading, incomplete or outright deceiving information printed on boxes and in sales literature. Gentlemen and Ladies, Marketing and the lure of profit is VERY POWERFUL! It is amazing how many people believe that better airflow = more power! Unless you have modifications out the wazoo, a more porous filter will just dirty your oil! Some will say " I have used aftermarket brand X for XXX # years with no problems. The PROBLEM is you spent a chunk of ching on a product that not only DID NOT increase your horsepower, but also let in a lot of dirt while doing it! Now how much is a lot? ANY MORE THAN NECESSARY is TOO MUCH!
I will get down off my soapbox now and return control to the other users.
ok oldnavy, you are a very knowledgable guy but I have to ask you if you have links to these UOA tests with results before and after intsallation of the K&N. Not saying you are wrong, but I would like to see proof that the silica levels are really that much higher with a K&N. Everyone seems to put down K&N and I don't use them. I use the True-flow filter which I just installed recently.
Installing a higher flow filter is not going to yield a noticable hp or torque gain. When I installed a high-flow air intake on my 2004 Volvo S40 1.9 Turbo (gas) my highway fuel economy went from 29mpg to 34-35. This is significant. I did change my oil more often because I had the car chipped so I did it at 5000 instead of the 7500 Volvo recommended. So more air did do good for fuel economy. The fuel economy promptly decreased when I remove the high-flow system. It produced more intake noise, and I sold the car to my mother so I put the factory air box back on.
Here are the independant lab tests for filtering efficiency.
In general, you have to reduce efficiency to increase air flow. The only real question here is if this reduction in efficiency is really that significant. For us (or at least for me), I think we are looking for a little more mpg. So there are a couple of questions that come up when filtering efficiency is reduced.
1) Are reduced OCI nescessary based on the fact that most of us here use the 6250 OCI instead of the 12,500?
2) With proper installation and proper oiling, is there any noticable increase in mpg in our application?
Please do note that I am not claiming K&N or any other filters are better, but I would just like to see some firm results one way or the other, and then I would like to see these results posted in the FAQ so that we can have the data out there and let each person make his/her own informed decision. I still have my factory filter, so I may get a fumoto and do some UOA and other testing with both the filters installed to see what I come up with.
ON THE MAF:
I am pretty sure the MAF sensor is attached to the intake tube just after the air box with two phillips screws and has an arrow on it with the word 'flow' written under it. it is a cartridge type MAF that pulls out. Like others have stated you shouldn't need to clean it, but if you do, be sure to use MAF sensor cleaner and not some other type of clenaer as it may damage the MAF.