Air Filter Brand Make a Difference??

[Pacfanweb]

Just off the top of my head, I'd say that from your list, the Motorcraft and AC/Delco will be the best filters.

What has been said about K&N here is true. They flow more air....when freshly cleaned/oiled. But very soon after catching just a bit of dirt, their airflow advantage goes away, but they still let more dirt get through.

Not worth it.

Factory is generally the best when it comes to air or oil filters.

 

[CraigRT]

I'm a Wix supporter. Both air and Oil. (Fuel also but very infrequent)
I'd go MANN next.

 

[HybridSquirrel]

I don't us k&n's because I heard oil filters were crap for my engine (1zzfe). I use toyota OEM ones, because they are cheaper.

 

[Filter Phantom]

Re: Filter Replacements

Some brand name filter replacements are built to exact specs, but labor is out sourced to countries where labor is cheaper. Obviously, others cut corners with materials. There are some American filter companies which manufacture their own products to exact specs and still manage to be very competitive with their pricing. I know of two companies which have carved out a very nice niche doing this.

 

[Raizinman]

The ISO 5011 standard (formerly SAE J726) defines a precise air filter test using precision measurements under controlled conditions. Temperature & humidity of the test dust and air used in the test are strictly monitored and controlled. To obtain an accurate measure of filter efficiency, it’s very critical to know exactly the amount and size of test dust being fed into the filter during the test. By following the ISO 5011 standards, a filter tested in England can be directly compared to another filter tested in California. The ISO 5011 filter data for each filter is contained in two test reports. Capacity Efficiency and flow restriction.

Without boring you about how the test works, suffice to say they add a controlled amount of dirt to the filter while monitoring its flow capacity. They also monitor the amount of dirt passing through the filter. Various filters were tested being the: AC Delco, Purolator, Baldwin, K&N, and AMSOIL.

Comparing the AC Delco (rated the best from the test results) to the K&N: The AC Delco filter test ran for 60 minutes before reaching its max restriction while the K&N and AMSOIL filters each ran for about 24 minutes before reaching their max restriction. Another interesting bit of information is that the AC Delco accumulated 574 gms of dirt and passed only 0.4 gms. After only 24 minutes the K&N had accumulated 221 gms of dirt but passed 7.0 gms of dirt. Comparing the K&N to the AC Delco the K&N plugged up nearly 3 times faster, passed 18 times more dirt and captured 37% less dirt. The AC Delco filter which passed the smallest amount of dirt and had the highest dirt capacity and efficiency but also had the highest relative restriction to flow. Obviously the better filtering media is also the most restrictive.

 

[razel]

I would not overthink this fellas. An air filter prevents dirt from getting into the engine. You only need to filter enough. That balance is what your typical baseline air filter does extremely well. You end up paying more to restrict flow or increase flow at the cost of letting more dirt through.

The smaller nearly microscopic bits that get through are acceptable and will usually end up in the combustion which means after exploding it will come out your tail pipe, or become carbon and/or will work it's way to your oil where your oil/oil filter will take care of it.

In my experience with different air filters and oil analysis, most of my dirt always came from me cleaning the air filter. I now no longer blow compressed air through the air filter. I now just recommend removing and shaking any blantant debris (smallish rocks, leaves) loose, but honestly I now luckily only change air filter whenever I change oil which is every 10k.

And yes, don't bother with K&N with the hopes of getting more HP. With today's engine computer controlled cars, it will always adjust something somewhere over the course of hundreds of miles to keep you in the 'safe operating zone' cancelling out any realistic HP gains.

I fully understand that performance wise it's best to see an engine primarily as an air pump that just happens to spin a wheel really well. Therefore reducing intake or exhaust limits are 1st nature... however reducing intake restriction is only an issue if you redline your car constantly. More fuel means you need more air. You don't drive your car redline 100% of the time so you aren't consuming that much fuel so you will be fine with the air flow that your typical air filter provides.

TLDNR... Your typical Fram air filters gets it right. Change it, don't blow compressed air to clean. Want HP? Look elsewhere.

 

[skyking]

I own an engine that got "dusted", so the topic is a sore one with me. I did buy it knowing it burns oil. My two cents:
Change them on condition. Use a light and look carefully to see accumulations, and figure out a schedule that meets your conditions. It may be the OEM recommendation, it may be sooner or later.
In my case it needed to be MUCH sooner 😀

 

[Cantus]

Cantus... If you want to post something about this subject then start a new thread this one is 7 years old...

AT Moderator
Bartman39

A K&N filter passes more dirt than a paper filter. That's why it has better airflow. For a street car, I don't think they're worth it.

For a race or street/track car where you've modified the engine and will be performing frequent oil changes (every 1,000-2,000 miles or sooner) the trade-off of less filtration for better flow is a worthwhile one, but for a street car it's just plain not worth it.

ZV

I'm not sure about the entire problem with K & N. I had a 1988 Ford Escort, not exactly considered a longevity vehicle, and before the pot metal heads finally cracked (I neglected to change a timing belt) the car had 320,000 miles on it and it never burned a drop of oil to that point. I used K & N filter from 5000 miles on in that vehicle. IF K & N is so bad at letting dust/dirt/particles in then how in the world did my escort last that long? How did it not die the death of cylinder scratches and begin burning oil long before the head cracked? I'm not trying to be abrasive and I haven't had a lot of time to do research as yet but despite the size of particles that may be caught in a paper vs cloth filter what research has been done to show that it reduces longevity?

I'm simply trying to be honest and get some realistic research.

Many thanks!!

Cantus