K&n Or Not?

[suburban2500plowz]

hey guys what do you recccomend i have an opportunity to get a k&N cold air intake for a good price is it worth it? do they cause more problems? i do have 150,000 miles.

[bmp5484]

I think it is worth it IMO but thats just me. Just not real big fan of the open filter design on some. Don't know what series you're looking at though

[RaddHazzard]

They let in dirt unless perfectly oiled and maintained, nothing is better than a new stock paper filter.

[dancar81]

They let in dirt unless perfectly oiled and maintained, nothing is better than a new stock paper filter.

 

I agree. Had them on '01 Yukon and '07 Tahoe, both had dirty throttle body and sensors after ~20k miles with the K&N. Tahoe was actually getting a CEL. Cleaned and replaced with OEM filters, no problems since.

[Shatterz]

Don't waste your money, nothing filters better than a paper type air filter. These OEM air filters flow plenty of air too, most flow enough to support 500-600 hp (think z06 and zr1).

[Kodiak450]

I wouldn't put it on even if it was given to me for free. The oil that goes on these open air filters will mess up your MAF, and the reason it claims to allow more air flow is because it is giving you less filtration protection. You wouldn't pour dust and dirt into your engine, so why would you want to subject your engine to less protection? 2500 HD's come with a very good air filtration system, stick with paper filters.

[jro909]

not worth it, oem filter works great and its easier to chuck it in the garbage then worrying about screwing around trying to clean it...and yes it will allow alot of junk into your truck..

[04JJHD]

I've always had K&N and have had them re-oiled and cleaned a million times. never had a problem with them, and if you look at any comparison k&N does protect from more dirt getting into the motor than a stock one. I will admit they do have new filters out there that you don't have to oil at all that I would try. I have a K&N CAI on my HD and I wish I just got a drop in replacment. It's not that I have problems with it, it just wasn't worth the money. The HD boxes flow really good, and it would just be cheaper to buy a drop in replacment one and you wouldn't be out the money. No cold air intake will produce much more power than the stock setup.

[REV353]

If your running a stock motor it's not worth it. If you waste your money, get a pre filter for it, that will catch more dirt and keep any water off/out of the filter. To much oil wll wreck you MAF.

[Z'06]

If you are after the most HP and torque gains, Black Bear tested several air intakes and two came out on top: AEM Brute Force & K&N, with AEM boasting a slight edge in addition to the fact that you don't have to oil the AEM dry filter. I noticed a SOTP improvement switching from my Volant CAI to the AEM Brute Force.

 

The AEM is well shielded from the engine compartment (and my coated headers keep the engine compartment cooler than the factory uncoated manifolds do anyway), and for additional isolation, I applied reflective foil tape on the heat shielding. One advantage the AEM offers is the removal of the bottom of the air intake, bringing a huge amount of air up from the inner fender in front of the wheel well. I have not had any problems with water, and I live in a climate that gets a lot of rain.

[dogzapper]

I just bought a new 2010 Silverado LTZ -Z-71.

 

Having been around the block a few times, with K&N and others, I'm sticking with stock paper air filters. They work very well and do not cause problems with your MAF. Maybe the factory actually knows a thing or two, after all.

 

Steve

[Chevyguy85]

what about the gm performance cold air intake? dad had the dealer install one on his 2006HD at least 2 years ago. It is now my truck and as far as we know it hasn't caused a problem yet

[Big black truck]

I drilled holes into my airbox and run the stock filter. I bet if black bear did a run without a filter it would have produced the best results. They certainly did not do a full comparison on the filtration of the filters but rather what seemed to flow more.

[gm88]

definatly not worth it, my '99 c-2500 had a K&N (filter, not whole intake kit) in it when i bought it a couple years ago. The oil from the filter messed up my MAF. I cleaned the MAF, helped a little, but didnt do the job, ultimatily i had to replace it. I changed out the K&N filter for a regular fram paper one. I put the K&N in a box in the garage and the oil from it is actually EATING THROUGH THE BOX, just like day old mcd's eats through the bag.

[04JJHD]

There are performance filters that you don't have to oil as someone mentioned before