Has anyone tried the True Flow filter? I am not satisfied with the K&N, but I hate to throw the intake pipe away. Maybe using the True Flow as a replacement filter might work ???

Thanks,

Chris

I recently installed a K&N FIPK on my F-150. I was hoping to improve the gas mileage and overall throttle response. The gas mileage dropped from around 13 mpg to 10 mpg. After a few hundred miles I checked the mileage again and it is still around 10 mpg.

What has been the experience of other FIPK user? Has your gas mileage improved or dropped. On the other hand, what did happen after you installed the kit?

Thank you in advance,

Chris

 

Hello Chrishulgan,

Did you disconnect your battery to reset your computer so it can properly adjust itself to the increased airflow? If not disconnect for about 30 minutes, reconnect it, start it up and let your engine idle for about 5 minutes and your good to go.

 

Will the computer automatically adjust to the air flow over time, I put one in and didn't notice any change in mileage either way form stock, performance may be a little better but also may be in my head??????????

 

Yes, that's the beauty of mass air management. By the way, after a while you will probably notice the engine pinging on mild acceleration. The little wires in the mass air meter get coated with oil from the K&N. What I do every oil change is pull the mass air meter out, hold it so I am looking into the inlet, and spray the wires with a good carb cleaner spray. Let it dry a couple of minutes and reinstall.

 

Im new to this forumn and I am happy with my F150.. The only thing I would like to do is improve my gas milage considering how we r get reamed at the pumps. So is it worth the investment for this filter? What are other cheap mods to get better performance and GAS milage? I have a 05 with a 5.4 Triton.
Thanks,
Chris

 

Thanx skutr I thougth it would I have to look at my 04 5.4 I was thinking with the new airbox that the mass air was ahead of the filter????

 

Chris I can't honetly tell you that it made a bit of difference on my 04 5.4 in mileage it seems that accerleration is a bit better feel by the seat of your pants feel but also kind of doubt that and I am not sure the filtration is as good as OEM however I am not in a dusty climate if I was I would stay OEM!!

 

i have had my K@N FIPK since i got my truck new in 03 picked up about 10 HP and 12 FPTRQ on the dyno compared to stock and i have never had a problem with my MAF sensor use the corct amount of oil and you will not ether, i go offraoding alot and after a dirty dusty trip it will need to be cleaned, i got about a 1/2 MPG improvement with the kit, i think it is worth it, i would check all your conections to make sure you do not have a vacume leak you should not be getting less MPG, good luck

 

whats FPTRQ???

 

FPTRQ = Foot Pounds of Torque but you already knew that as soon as you hit "submit" I used an AirRaid with K&N filter for 4 years. During the first 2 years and several cleanings I saw no change in performance. Then I read about cleaning the MAF and after I did it the truck ran much better so there is a slow deterioration of performance due to oil and dirt collecting on the MAF wires. The next 2 years I cleaned the filter 4 times and the MAF 2 times and got sick of the whole freakin process with no improvement in performance. Sooo I put the stock intake back on with a clean paper filter and hotdamn the little pony puller runs better than ever. I hate it when I get sucked in by the HP hype but I was. The first to go was the JET chip because it caused pinging and ran lean. The truck runs better without it. Second to go was the TB Spacer and sure enough the truck runs the same without it. As the evidence against the AirRaid w/K&N piled up I lost all hope of saving my pride (and $500 on 4 pieces of junk) so it's been gone 6 months now and the truck runs great! Some Montana feed stores used to have a sign to discourage wheeler-dealer types from trying to get good feed at a cheap price. Sortta like trying to get real HP by buying a cheap gadget. It read "You can pay a fair price for good oats or save money buying oats that have already passed thru the horse." Sure wish I had remembered that sign earlier.

 

From a performance or mpg standpoint, absolutely not!

I keep an Excel spreadsheet on my truck's gas mileage and so far have 75 tankfulls charted. 51 tankfulls before installing the FIPK and 24 tankfulls after installation. The mileage stayed right at 15.13mpg city, 17.16 highway, and 9.01 towing our 27' travel trailer.

The ONLY time that my mileage has gone up at all was when the filter got pretty dirty. It went up by MAYBE one-half mpg. It was pretty consistent. I cleaned the filter according to the re-charge kit instructions and my mileage went right back down to original. I have had no problems with the oil getting onto the MAF sensor.

Knowing what I know now I would not buy the FIPK. I would buy the K&N filter ONLY so that I could stop buying paper filters not non-existent mileage or performance increases.

Base your decision on facts not opinions.

Russ

 

I use a K&N filter on my home made intake kit. The reason I use a K&N is two fold. First it is one of the only filters that will fit on the end of my MAF adapter and second I can clean it when it gets dirty from playing off road. The biggest part of any performance gain is not from the filter but from the inlet piping. It is less restrictive . I don’t think anyone made a study of using a plane paper filter with an intake kit. The results would be interesting. The alleged hype about increased performance is one thing that each individual will have to weigh when making a decision about weather to buy a kit/filter or remain stock. I never dynoed my truck to see if it increased the power. Frankly spending over $100.00 to test a home made mod to confirm an improvement seemed like over kill. Besides bigtruck311 tested his and he says it works. The FIPK and others are a performance mod not an economy mod. If you think 12 Ft-lbs is going to get you a large increase in fuel economy then you are wrong. I went from 290 ft-lbs (stock numbers) of torque to 350 ft-lbs and only saw about a 2 mpg increase on the highway.

JMC

 

Yep...disconnected the battery, but not for 30 minutes. I will try. Thanks.

 

Thanks!!!!!

 

Make sure that you turn on and off the key and lights and what ever resiual power items you have after you disconnect the battery. Then after reconnect go out and drive on the street normally then up on the highway normally then back to the street. This way the computer relearns the perimmeters and you should be good to go. One point if you go out and hot dog around the computer will relearn to that and there goes your milage.
As far as cleaning the MAF never use a crb cleaner, it will etch the diod and throw it's reading off the board. Always use a quality electronics cleaner from Radio Shack or where ever. Don,t touch the diod or clean it with a Q-Tip ever/ You use the spray oil because it can be more consistant in coverage than the bottled oil, Thus no chance of over oiling htere.