K&N air filter

[Wlofton]

Who's running one? Oil or dry? Which is better ?
Give me your thoughts!!

I have a '15 Dodge 2500 CTD just done first oil change at 6850miles.

 

[DavidC]

Welcome to the TDR. Mine is on the shelf, been there for years. I know of no-one here that will recommend the K&N as they do not filter the dust that will ruin your Cummins.

Dave

 

[SnoKing]

Just say no to K&N. Don't do anything under the hood that might void your warranty. SNOKING

 

[Wlofton]

Thanks guys

 

[Cummins12V98]

Stick to FleetGuard/Mopar filters and your truck will thank you.

Geno's Garage is a great place to buy for your RAM/Cummins. Support the people that own this web site.

 

[BLNRAY]

no the other hand,my 03 has 409,000 mi.almost all of those miles were with a K&N filter.

 

[mpaulson]

I did the oiled filter on my last truck and got sick of seeing the dusting on the intake tube going to the turbo. The truck was modified and had a programer on it and if I turned up the programer and laid into the fuel the overhead console would chime and say device air filter. I went back to the stock box and it wouldn't give me this warning and as well I had comfort knowing that I was filtering to Cummins standards. In my honest opinion, don't do it, there's no positive gain to be had at all, just risk.

 

[AnOldBiker]

Just and FYI, my friend has an 05 Ford 250, he used a K&N for several years and had to rebuild his engine. Seems he over oiled his filter and it migrated throught the filter and collected on his turbo. This through his balance off and the turbo blades let loose. This is the only main issue I know of oiled filters. Buyer beware.

 

[SnoKing]

no the other hand,my 03 has 409,000 mi.almost all of those miles were with a K&N filter.

Like the NW, Florida is not a high dust area! When I bought my 2001.5 the dealer sold me the K$N filter. A year or two later Dodge said it was a no no, and I put the paper filter back in. Snoking

 

[JohnCW]

I had a KN on a 1997 F250 7.3 many years ago.

Discontinued using the KN because:
Time cleaning then drying and oiling , major PIA

I never had dusting or oil getting past to the turbo that I could see,
and it was used on Texas ranch under severe heavy dust conditions.
Now Wally World sells them ! Oh the humanity !

 

[Oil Stain]

I've used them for years in gas cars, but not anymore. I definitely would not use them in our turbo trucks.

 

[Larry Willard]

I used K&N on my '96, and AFE on the '01. Never had any dust problems on either. I always checked the intake tube at every oil change with a clean white rag and never found any dirt. On my '08 and '13 I just use the stock Fleetguard filters. The stock filter will flow all the air your engine needs and no need to worry about warranty.

 

[Wlofton]

Thanks friends

 

[Charley67]

I know you have your answer already, but I'll add my 2 cents. I think K & N makes a great filter, and I used them in my 98.5 and 01 with extra holes cut in the bottom of the filter box. I have come to think the engineers knew how to balance his engine with the best stuff. I'm a Fleetguard guy, now.

 

[w6pea]

Who's running one? Oil or dry? Which is better ?
Give me your thoughts!!

I have a '15 Dodge 2500 CTD just done first oil change at 6850miles.

I have a friend that was running a K&N Filter in his Ford 2009 Power Stroke. He kept having problems with a sensor and the Turbo Ford Motor Co. replaced Both items 2 times, under warranty. They kept telling him that the sensor was contaminated with oil. Ford Motor Company told him in their opinion the [FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]turbocharger failure due to dust intrusion.[/FONT]

[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]They told him to remove the K&N Filter. Replace it with the Ford OEM filter. He says that he has and has not had any problems with it since. I do know that he has since followed all OEM lubrication and maintenance schedules, he has well over 125 k on the truck and says it runs just as it did the day he drove it out of the dealership.

I had K&N filters on my F-250 and on my E-450, and [/FONT][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]my wife's B-150 Ram Van. I never noticed any increase in power or mileage. After my friend had problems with his Super Duty Power Stroke, I talked to my mechanic, asked his option, he told me to remove them (the K&N Filters). This man has been in business at the same location since 1970 so I think he knows what he's doing. With what he is saying I would have to say so as far as I am concerned if Ram, GM, Ford thought that the oil bath filters were of any favorable advantage as to performance they would have never quit putting them on vehicles to begin with.
I am waiting for my new 2016 Ram Big Horn CC/4x4 IL-6 Cummins Turbo Diesel to get here.

I know this thread was posted a week or so ago, but I felt I needed to comment. Good Luck with your truck.[/FONT]

 

[Tuesdak]

I have walked once over a K&N on a gas engine. It let enough extra air AND DIRT by that it built up a 1/16" layer of dirt on the idle air control valve. The valve would do a touch so the ECM would know where it was and the 'touch' kept the dirt off the area it touched only. I learned this after it started and stalled over and over. It would rev up, but, couldn't be put in gear as it would not idle. Fixed itself at the dealer and NPF. Later I watched the tach as it was idling at 450 RPM when it was supposed to be 600 RPM.

The ECM was using a table to set the idle air control. The 1/16" of dirt was reducing the airflow, running rich, and stalling the engine at too low of an RPM to run.

After cleaning the idle air control I threw the K&N away and cussed them ever since for dusting the engine as well. Frankly there are better filters out there AND proven ways to make more power without removing the air filter.

I recommend a gravel screen or "Flame arrester" over a K&N as those don't oil up sensors and also don't filter anything just like a K&N. Used on a Boat a K&N just made an oily mess of the carb vs. a clean looking Flame arrester.

 

[Ram4Sam]

Not everyone has bad luck with K&N...........this is Blackstone report from my 2001 truck which had a k&N filter in it over my 15 years and 100,000 miles of ownership, oil tested four times, every 25,000 miles or so. Note the silicon numbers (dirt) are low every time, indicating good air filtration.

Since my hotrodding diesel days are behind me, I have no plans for using one in my new truck. Just thought the haters might like to see this....:-laf

Sam

 

[seafish]

Not everyone has bad luck with K&N...........this is Blackstone report from my 2001 truck which had a k&N filter in it over my 15 years and 100,000 miles of ownership, oil tested four times, every 25,000 miles or so. Note the silicon numbers (dirt) are low every time, indicating good air filtration.

Since my hotrodding diesel days are behind me, I have no plans for using one in my new truck. Just thought the haters might like to see this....:-laf

Sam

Ram4Sam, using a K&N air filter is NOT a matter of luck, but it IS a matter of consistent and proper cleaning and oiling of the K&N filter that makes them either effective or ineffective as an air filter. You obviously know just how to maintain them, but other may or may not now how to do so PROPERLY, and at a certain point in time any owner has to ask themselves if the potential for inconsistency of air filter effectiveness based on inconsistency of filter maintenance is worth the risk to a a $5k motor rather then simply use a plug n' play Cummins approved air filter.

 

[GrantP]

I had a similar low silicon report on the one oil sample I did on my '97. The k&N filter had been in there for about 100k (cleaned once a year or so) when I had the oil tested. Engine never used any oil when I sold it with 200k on it. That said, I'm not running one in my '06 and won't. My wife's Jeep GC with the 4.7 has had a k&n most of it's life and it drinks oil with 142k on it. I don't know that I can blame the filter for that but the k&n hit the trash a couple years ago.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Had oil type filter on 99 Tahoe, took it to mechanic for rough running. First thing he looked for was oil type filter. He cleaned the sensors I changed to paper filter and all has been well since.