I have a 2000 with the 4.6 I just got a new K + N air filter. A guy at work told me I should oil it before it goes on. I got another person telling me I don't have to. I would like to know what is best or neccesary. Thanks.

 

All the K&N's I have bought, come preoiled from the factory , sealed in a plastic bag.

 

If the filter material is reddish, it ahs been oiled. If it is white, it has not been oiled. I believe it is oiled already.

FWIW, to clean the filter and re-oil it after the cleaning, you will need to buy the K&N filter service kit (approx. $15). It comes with the cleaner and oil and it is good for many, many re-oilings.

 

The filters come pre-oiled.

Normally the recommended cleaning interval is around 20K (around town/highway usage), and there are folks that say the elements actually work better when they have some dirt in them.

Get the cleaning kit, and follow the directions. The filter will last forever.

 

if you do alot of offroading they will need to be cleaned after each trip at least i need to clean mine after each offroad trip

 

Thank you everyone. You have all been helpful.

 

Definitely oil it! That's how it traps the dirt. You may notice after a while that your truck will start to 'ping' under acceleration. The oil from the KN filter will coat the filaments and cause the truck to run lean. When this happens, or at every oil change, is to pull out your MAF sensor (the big one in the intake duct) and spray it inside where the little filaments are with carb cleaner or electric parts cleaner. Let it dry and then reinstall.

 

I run mobil 1 10w30 in my F150, and Pennzoil 5w20 in my windstar year round, oil is the least of my probs, both great running vehicles

 

sorry, wasnt paying attn. thought this was an oil thingy lol

 

IMHO, do not oil it any further when it's brand new. K/N doe it from the factory and gives it a warranty. Common sense says they wouldn't under oil it, but even if they did, after I clean my present filter, I oil the crap out of it. Guess what? All the excess drains off. I let it pee the oil out before I reinstall it. Looks the same after I let the thing drain as when I bought it. You decide for yourself, but, again, in my opinion, it isn't necessary.

SL

 

i have had mine in for 3 years never oiled it. causes the MAF to get gunked up and the throttle body to get sticky and more stuff sticks to it. but i clean my filter often

 

Faster150 - You are slowly killing your motor. The reason they flow more air, is becuase the average pore size on the media is larger. They compensate by having an oiled surface, so that small particals are trapped on the oil.

Do yourself and your truck a favor. Lightly oil your air filter.

 

i dont like it being all greasy. but my filter is rarely dirty. and has never caused me any problems.

 

This is exactly why I dont use these filters!

 

mechanic told me that u dont want it to be all oil only oil it if the element is gunky or u drive it in harsh conditions. but under normal city like driving u shouldnt need to oil it every time. cause if u over oil it a film will built up on the sensor wires of the MAF and cause it to read incorrectly