Sheez,
You guys really beat a subject....LOL That's what makes me come back for more. Wish I had more time. About 3-4 years ago I dealt with this same subject.
I came across a K&N for my Grand Am on EBay with the charge kit for 25$ after shipping. I couldn't pass it up. I ran it through the summer till it was dirty. I drive 100 miles a day round trip to work. The drive is half sticks and half city. The first cleaning I did by the book. Bumped the filter to dislodge particles, soaked it, rinsed it inside to outside, sprayed new oil on it and let it set over night. The next day I installed it and the MIL came on within 5 min. I connected my AutoTap to it and read the code and hit the internet. Map Sensor failure. Very common in the forums to see that the new oil after a recharge gets sucked up into the MAS usually setting within inches of the filter. No, I didn't over spray. I took it all apart pulled the map sensor out and sprayed it with electrical component cleaner and all was well. The car had around 5000 miles on it back then. I've done two more charges to the filter and the car has 135000.
When I came across another deal I couldn't pass up I owned a 95 Chevy K2500 with a 6.5 liter Turbo Diesel. The rebuilt engine in it had 75 miles on it. I had a problem with it during the 1st summer (PMD had to be replaced and relocated.) While troubleshooting that issue I came across several discussions with regard to K&N.
Here's my 2 cents:
It only takes a little common sense to imagine that the substance used for filtering is always going to filter very well or allow better air flow. That being said it's been proven that paper filters the best (with the worst air flow.) This only leaves 1 option to those who want the best of both worlds. Modify your inlet box so a larger filter may be used or purchase a performance kit for 300-400$ which comes with a larger paper filter. It is clear across the board that K&N's (Gauze) do not filter as well as paper.
The thing was an absolute mess to clean. You sure as heck don't want to have any clothes on you wouldn't be willing to throw out. Your going to spend 15mins. cleaning your hands. And the recharge kits run 10-15$. Last, you never know if your going to be cleaning your MAS after recharging...
Next cleaning for the car I will go back to paper.
The truck stayed paper with modifications to the inlet box suggested by
TheDieselPage.com Forums - Powered by vBulletin
Testing:
Air Filtration Test
Off-Roading:
How well do K&N air filters work? - Tech - Bits n' Pieces, the Offroad Pakistan Blog - 4x4 Offroaders Club Karachi
BTW: Every Diesel forum I frequent list the exhaust upgrade as your first power improvement.
