this is just a theory, but wouldn't running a coarse foam in front of the k&n help catch any extra dirt without restricting airflow?

 

That's possible but you'll need a heat-resistant type of foam. Otherwise, you'll be needing to regularly replace the foam (ordianry foam easily disintegrates under constant heat) plus you'll need to clean the engine bay to remove the scattered pcs of foam.

 

i'm planning to do the 3.0 airbox mod to mine and will continue to use the K&N for day-to-day street use.

but i will keep some OEM paper filters on-hand for use offroad to make sure nothing nasty sneaks inside.

 

Yeah,K&Ns probaly would be alright around town but off road I think they let way too much dirt in. Even tho' K&Ns do let by a bit more dust for more power has anybody ever contributed engine failure to one? Maybe you might see another 20,000 miles out of a motor if you avoid a K&N but I doubt I'd ever drive a vehicle that for over 200k anyway. At my current rate of mileage for me to hit 200k on my Runner would take another 10 years (10-11k a year roughly) of daily driving and even if I keep my Runner it'll be just a weekend recreation and winter weather driver.

I have a new Amsoil and a K&N and am about to replace the OEM one and I'm going to clean up the intake piping and try each filter for a few months and just go by a visual inspection to make my desicion since my driving style and the combo of city/highway doesn't change much. The OEM was doing it's job fine and could end up back in place.

 

Have run K&N's up until now but after reading Gadget's and other sources of info am going to run a deck plate and Amsoil with this project. Facts are facts and its cheaper.

 

Not really. I pulled my air box to clean the MAF sensor and noticed a fine layer of dust covering the inside of the entire box and ducting. I've been using K&N and the only thing I can think of is that either a fine coat of oil (or static?) has caused the dust to stick to the interior. I hate to think about how much has gotten through... I suspect the seal on the K&N more than the actual filter itself.

I'm planning on switching to an AMSOIL filter.

Cheers!

 

Seal??? Don't think it is the filter its self??

Clean the filter. Then stand out in your front yard. Hold that K&N up to the Sun and look at all the countless holes you see in it that are WAY bigger then those tiny dust particals that are coating your intake track and have been sand blasting your engine on the installment plan from the inside out. Seal?? That is probably the only good part of the whole bird strainer thing posing as a filter.

Gadget

 

02 4runner w/fipk for 7,000mi took off the filter to check and it looked to have about the same amount of fine dust inside the tube as it did b4 i installed it. i looked for holes AFTER i oiled it and didn't see a spectacular light show through it. 92 22re has had a k&n drop in for 150,000+ mi (235,000 total) w/o probs, actually cleaner throttle body vs. stock.
on my cars & motorcycles and i have used uni, k&n, stock, delco, el cheapos and can't say that i have seen evidence of dirt/dust causing any failure ive had. i will say that i only do <20% driving on dirt roads. i voted, does my opinion matter?

 

I have a 2002 Runner with about 50k miles, and have run a K&N filter for about 10k miles without any problems. A few months ago, while doing a minor tuneup, I inspected the MAF and intake areas and found nothing dirty there. Just as a test, I bought a stock paper filter to see what performance and mileage differences there would be.

No noticeable difference in MPG, although I think the K&N does make the vehicle feel slightly more responsive. After running the paper filter, I did the clean test again and it was the same as the K&N. I mostly run on paved roads with very little dirt/gravel driving. From what I've heard, the K&N doesn't filter as well in off road conditions, so keep that in mind.

 

I guess a visual inspection is better than no inspection relative to determining how much silicon (dirt) is entering your engine via the air filter. If you really want to know how much dirt is entering your engine you'll have to run an oil analysis - that will cost between $12 and $16 per test - I'm assuming you'll want to run one test with your K&N/Amsoil and one with Toyota OEM paper. I've personally done the tests, I personally know of others who have tested their oil and I've read of several oil tests performed on different filtering media and in all and I emphasis ALL cases, the Toyota OEM paper outperformed everything else in vehicles that are actually driven as opposed to “lab tests”. When dirt particles larger than 5 microns enter your engine, damage will start to incur. The damage will be considered within normal use limits until sufficient quantities of dirt enter the engine or the particle size exceeds 20 micron. Now, for those of you that insist you want more “air flow” you will have to do the following to protect your engine. Use a good full flow oil filter that will limit the particle sizes in your oil to sizes no larger than 15 or 16 micron and change your oil frequently, as that should keep the dirt particle quantities in check.

 

I think we need to ad a Tru-Flow filter to the mix. Anyone use one of those? I have been considering going that way.

 

I had the K&N but I think it gummed up my MAF. I had a CEL come on less than 800 mi. after installing it. One trek to a friends house across 5 miles of dirt road and the CEL was on. I am back to the paper filter until I am convinced otherwise.

 

I've had my K&N in for over a year and my MAF sensor is clean as a whistle.

 

Just recently installed one in mine......... product review here

 

Let's all stop referring to the OE Air Filter as a "Paper" one. Does it look like paper? NO. It is a synthetic celullose blend, designed for a certain efficiency and capacity. Maybe you could call a Chevy or a Ford air filter "Paper", but there's nothing in the Toyota OE filter that comes from a tree.

 

Yes the Denso filter is a very nice quality unit, no question there. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using it.

So, where does celullose come from??

Gadget

 

Ahhh, you're right. I suppose the importance is in the fibers. While cellulose does, in fact, come from plant matter, the cellulose fibers used in filtration are interwoven in a very deliberate and precise manner to achieve the correct filtration beta ratio. Whereas paper fibers are randomly pressed together. Cellulose is a component of paper, but is not paper itself.

 

Now is you really want the best filtration available, try the new AMSOIL filter when it comes out for the Toyota trucks. It uses new NANO fiber technology that will filter better then anything else you can get, and it is DRY...

Gadget

 

still no amsoil for the 3vze though, eh? bummer.

 

NANO, eh? How about you get me one and I let my WIX engineers do some testing on it?