Has anyone heard the claim that K&N air filters cause problems with gunking up MAF sensors?

K&N of course says this isn't true. They say they have never found this to be true any any of their testing and they don't see how it would even be possible. Although I've heard many people say they that they think it's happened to them.

K&N Filters require you to re-oil them every so often. Why? The oil must be going somewhere if you have to re oil them right? Where is it going? Into the air intake elbow and past the MAF? Is the oil slowly vaporizing through this area and caking up over time? I can see how it might be possible.

What do y'all think?

 

If you put on too much oil yes, but if you oil the filter correctly you shouldn't have any issues. Theoretically a K&N filter is going to be worse for you car than a paper filter if it flows better. More flow equals more impurities in your air. Does it really matter in the long run, not really if you take care of your car correctly. If you oil the filter correctly the oil should be absorbed fully by the filter element and you shouldn't have any "vaporizing" off onto anything else.

 

You have to re oil the element after you wash it, not as maintenance in itself.

I've never had one personally. Today however I bought a Spectre brand filter which seemed almost identical to the K&N but for half the price. So far I'm pretty impressed.

 

Used the same K & N filters on my TPI set up for over 20 yrs and never had a problem with the Maf sensor. Big mistake people make is not reading the instructions on reoiling and the problems begin. For example: I am still using the same K & N recharger kit I bought seven years ago and I clean the filters only on yearly schedule.

 

Good point.

I guess some people just like their air filters like they like their kentucky fried chicken - greeee-saaay.

I have gone longer than a year without cleaning mine. I don't put many miles on my camaro, and there isn't much dust in louisiana (not like there is somewhere like oklahoma).

But in the instructions, it says to apply oil "liberally." So it doesn't sound like they worry about people using too much of the oil. But I guess some people take it to the extreme?

 

I have come across the "Caking" Problem before, but like the others have said, It comes down to re-oiling properly.

 

i will never use k&n filters. the slightly more flow sacrifices cleaniness of the air, and wear i live, there is a lot dust from gravel roads and farms.

 

I have a K&N in my car because it was a gift. In over two years it has caused no problems, but I personally prefer a throw away paper filter. A few years back, me and some friends did some "testing", for grins & giggles, at a local drag strip to see if different air filters made any significant difference, by looking at top speed at the end of the 1/4. First we ran the 3 cars with whatever was in them to get a reference point. Then we ran them with new Fram paper filters, then with a K&N filter, and finally with no filter. The stock air box was used. Both the Fram and K&N filters showed the same improvement over the dirty filter of about 1/2 MPH, but no significand diference between them. There was another 1/2 MPH improvement when no filter element was used. The cars were a 89 Olds Cutlass with a 2.8, a 91 Mercury Cougar with a 3.8 , and my 94 Z28.

 

I can say by first hand experience that yes it can gunk up the sensor. We're talking over a long time, like a few years, not months. And the filter was never "over oiled". Hitting the sensor with a spray MAF cleaner and watching it change from black back to the original blue color was pretty much an eye opener. Not to mention the engine went from running crappy to running like a top again. But if that's all you have to do once in a while, big deal, clean the sensor. It's not a bad thing to do periodically anyway.

 

My car has no electronically controlled sensors. Don't think that I have to worry about this, LOL!