Air filter questions

Renegade363 · **Posted:** Wed Oct 19, 2005 12:24 pm

I see that a lot of owners have K&N air filters on their Jeeps. I want to know if I should go with the air filter or the air intake from K&N? And have you owners been pleased with the upgrade from your stock filters/air box? Thanks in advance for the info.

Gringo Loco · **Posted:** Wed Oct 19, 2005 1:05 pm

Hi, you might want to repost in the general section because I think you will get a better respose; don't know how many of the regulars look in the newbie section even though they should

L8ters

USAFCOP · **Posted:** Thu Oct 27, 2005 12:11 am

I like the drop in filter, Instead of just tapping out excessive dirt after dusty trailruns, I can just wash the filter and reoil and viola good as new.

At first, I think it helped some with power, but I think it was the combo of the filter and the flowmaster muffler.

I stuck with the drop in because I do go through water, and did not want a straw sucking the water into the motor, the box allows the water to drain through the bottom. I am sure some water can get in still, but it is not just being sucked straight in.

Liberator84 · **Posted:** Thu Oct 27, 2005 4:18 am

I absolutely love my cold air intake with the K&N air filter end. After purchasing and installing it though I feel that the stock air box is better if you the off roading type. When ever I go off roading I have to be careful of what I do so I don't get to much dust and no water in it so I don't harm the engine.

On road the air intake is an awesome choice as for the off road use I would suggest just getting the drop in filter.

~JUD

jpzkj · **Posted:** Thu Nov 17, 2005 8:08 pm

I just buy the stock paper filters 4 and 5 at a time when on sale...no cleaning....just toss the trail filter in the trash and pop a new one in until after the next trail run and repeat.

The stock air box is much less likely to suck water when fording streams and the like.

Good luck

ManicMechanicJoe · **Posted:** Mon Dec 19, 2005 11:25 pm

My K&N drop in filter gets me an extra 20 miles per tank. It isn't much but that is a little over a gallon of gas saved each time I filled up. The filter cost me $38. Gas around here is $2.10 to $2.20 average. so if it saves me $2 per fill up, I fill up 4 times a month, I save $8 a month. I know it doesn't sound like much but after 5 months it has paid for itself. Plus it costs nothing to clean (just a little oil and water). Very cost effective. It may have added power but it's too little to notice. The free gas is noticeable though.

Guyute1210 · **Posted:** Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:03 am

ManicMechanicJoe wrote:

My K&N drop in filter gets me an extra 20 miles per tank. It isn't much but that is a little over a gallon of gas saved each time I filled up. The filter cost me $38. Gas around here is $2.10 to $2.20 average. so if it saves me $2 per fill up, I fill up 4 times a month, I save $8 a month. I know it doesn't sound like much but after 5 months it has paid for itself. Plus it costs nothing to clean (just a little oil and water). Very cost effective. It may have added power but it's too little to notice. The free gas is noticeable though.

I have a drop in and have seen about the same results as Manic did. Although I wish I only had to fill it up once a week, I fill up 3-4x a week whether I drive my usual dd (a kia 4-banger) or the Jeep. Mine paid for itselft in under 2 months.

BiB · **Posted:** Tue Dec 27, 2005 11:22 pm

so as I read it the 8.99 air intakes on e-bay are a no no. Im a newbie to this site as well as owning a jeep so I may be posting here a bit.
Thanks,John
Apex NC

05 4x4 black lib
all stock for now, but not for long

ctemple · **Posted:** Tue Jan 31, 2006 9:39 pm

I'm no expert but I suspect the Liberty's computer-controlled combustion proces has a pre-determined fuel-air ratio optimized to balance horsepower and economy (e.g. heat). Adding a K&N or other high flow filter allows more air into the system...but I'd bet the computer simply compensates by adjusting the fuel rate, ignition timing or something like that to maintain compression ratios, manage burn/duration/heat/exhaust evacuation, etc. In other words little to no change in HP, milage or anything else.

Lots of others are smarter than me on this topic, particularly the tuner crowd who modifies those small 4 cylinder "Japanese vehicle" cars. They worry a lot about modifying lines of code in the on-board computer, which in turn allows the car to process and evacuate all that extra aftermarket air and fuel, turning it into horsepower without melting the pistons (or something equally as bad).

Also, I believe the higher flow rate of a "high flow" filter may come at a price; letting larger particles pass through the fibers and into the engine. I'm not sure how the K&N is "rated" in terms of microns or whatever. I'd be worth investigating.

Guess I'm a stick in the mud or too cautious. My preference is to go with with quality paper filter (cheaper) and replace them frequently. Just my 2 cents.

kickit_in4wheel · **Posted:** Wed Feb 01, 2006 1:02 am

K&N has dyno proven results on most of their filters. They indicate a small, but very real improvement. A high flow air filter means their is less resistance as the engine sucks air in. It's not gonna get too much air from a better filter, and without really changing the computer's code and installing different injectors, it will not put more gas in. Several auto parts shops have a K&N demonstration setup, where a fan blows air through a tunnel, and you can put a K&N filter in it or the average paper filter of the same size. You can feel the difference with your hand. Plus K&Ns are reusable, which is better for the environment (to at least some degree). To each his/her own, but the science behind it is legit.

Rick

ctemple · **Posted:** Sat Feb 04, 2006 1:54 pm

Here's a very interesting air filtration study conducted by a person in Washington state.

The findings aren't scientific but the guy did what he could to derive his results.

I found it to be an informative review of air filtration-ology; but please take it for what it's worth.

I hope posting it doesn't violate the forum rules...

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest1.htm

oldnavy · **Posted:** Sat Feb 18, 2006 1:50 pm

For real deal scientific testing of air filters check out this link. This will also apply to gassers by the way, but it was done on a diesel.

tyrob · **Posted:** Mon Feb 20, 2006 10:45 pm

How often do you recharge your filters? And how exaclty do you do it?

I have a K&N w/ about 7000 on it and prolly need to recharge it soon, just dont know how.

thanks,
TyRob

Guyute1210 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2006 2:17 pm

tyrob wrote:

How often do you recharge your filters? And how exaclty do you do it?

I have a K&N w/ about 7000 on it and prolly need to recharge it soon, just dont know how.

thanks,
TyRob

Depends on how dirty it is. K&N say's 50K miles between cleanings, but I usually clean mine every 20K miles. If i've been out with a lot of dirt and dust flying, then I just clean it when I get home. I wouldn't worry about cleaning it until at least after 10K miles.

Skyjump136 · **Joined:** Tue Jul 05, 2005 6:50 pm **Posts:** 1633

I have 40,000 miles on my K&N drop in filter. I have cleaned it twice.

tyrob · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2006 4:03 pm

HOw hard is it to clean one when the time comes

Skyjump136 · **Joined:** Tue Jul 05, 2005 6:50 pm **Posts:** 1633

Use detergent, rinse, let dry. Pretty simple.

There is a K&N "Re-charge" kit you can pick up at pretty much any auto parts store that has the cleaner and the oil which needs to be reapplied after cleaning.

wendell · **Posted:** Sat Oct 14, 2006 5:55 am

It's true that k&n lets in more air, but recent independant testing as shown they also let in more dirt. I'm not an k&n basher, I've used them for years, but now have switched to AEM. Thier new filters flow well, filter well, and best of all, you don't have to oil them. Them come standard now on all thier intake kits. They don't have an intake for my 04 ranger yet, so I'm running a k&n 77 seres intake with the AEM filter. I want to get the AEM intake for the lib as well.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Sat Oct 14, 2006 4:28 pm

I have the AEM dry flow filter on my AFE cold air intake and it was the best thing I ever did! No more messy oil and it filters better to!

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Thu Oct 19, 2006 7:17 am

Not that I don't like K&N filters (I run one in my Mustang) but I have been on the fence lately about taking it out. All of the recent information on the great wide interweb indicates that the K&N panel filters allow more dust and small particles into your intake / cylinder heads. While small dust isn't a huge deal in it'self the small scratches and build up over time are.

Also - when you clean your filter, do not over-oil it. The intake can suck up the extra oil (just like water) but it'll coat any and all electronics on it's way to the combustion chambers. Oil coated sensors have to be replaced... cleaning them never seems to work.

So like I said... I am on the fence. I spent the money on a panel filter for my car but have been running the mopar paper filter in the Jeep for it's entire exisitance.

Air filter questions

Who is online