What’s the consensus on K & N oiled filters for daily driver? I know if you oil it too much it can do damage but other than that is it really that bad for your vehicle?
No personal experience, but in general I think they are good quality for their intended purpose, namely performance. They are generally less restrictive than regular filters, so if combined with exhaust and tuning they can increase power slightly.
The downside is that they are less effective in removing particulates, they do not improve performance on their own in daily driving, and they are $$$.
So for most people, they would just be a waste, and you would be better off with a good quality regular filter.
PS: take a look in the search bar for previous discussions on this topic.
Unless you're trying to shaving milliseconds off your lap time, it's a waste of money
Absolutely zero benefit to a daily driver. Not only that, but it can foul sensors, and testing has shown that they actually let more dirt into your engine than your OEM filter.
I have a K&N air filter in my 2017 Mustang and it was tuned for it. I also have the exhaust modified. @Dad2LM2 is right, it won't really do anything on its own and may turn on your Check Engine Light on. I'm not sure if they have more particulates because of their design. I would think that the intake is straighter, and you would hear more engine noise, but particulates would be similar.
I don’t really know if they are good or not, I just don’t feel like oiling and cleaning them up. Not worth the expense for my purposes.
The previous owner of my 98 4Runner installed a Cold air intake with a K&N filter. I bought it at 95k miles and sold it at 225k running like a top.
To me I would rather have had the regular setup, as it seemed that it made more engine noise with it, otherwise it was fine.
The 3.4 engine in it was weak to begin with, I don't know if it actually increased horsepower or not.
I've seen k&N filters destory mass air flows sensors. I've also seen intake air temp sensors fail along with other sensors in manifold and throttle body.. Over time the oil will accumulate and can cause them to fail. Over the 20 years I've been working on cars i seen this happens 25 to 28 times. They don't have a good filtration mix that with the oil and you get build up through out the manifold and head. Personally I always tell people to get a good performance dry fiber if they are dead set on getting one. They don't last as long but you don't have to worry about build up or oil destroying sensors. Stuff like this usually goes misdiagnosed since age or faulty sensors are usually blamed.
