I just cleaned and re-oiled my K&N air filter after about 20k miles of use. I followed the instructions in the re-charge kit precisely. I tried my best not to over oil the filter. To my knowledge I don't think I did. I wiped the excess oil off the filter screen, and the top and bottom of the filter with a cotton cloth. And I only oiled the outside of it. My question is, does the red dye in the filter oil fade to a lighter red after it has sit awhile? Or is it supposed to be red like that? How can you tell if it's over-oiled? Thanks for any tips.

 

Looks like a fine job to me. Cant say if it fades because I wash mine, dry it than re-oil it with trans fluid. I made a spray bottle to do this. Pretty much what the kit is. I have had my filter for like 40k miles and clean it every 10K :o or at least try to. Mine fades using the tranny fluid so sure the K&N stuff will too.


Sled... :o

 

I dunno, I always stuck the filter in immediately after re-oiling. I always leaned on the light side of oiling, holding the spray can approx. 6" or so away from the filter and making one pass using bursts of oil.

And FWIW, the truck I ran that K&N in has a bad mass air now. Somedays, you're the dog, somedays, you're the fire hydrant. I guess I might try cleaning the MAF.

 

I've let it sit after re-oiling it for more than a day to let the oil soak in the cotton fibers. I'm pretty sure the manual says to let it sit about (20 minutes minimum) after re-oiling. So I think it'll be fine.

I figure I'll just use this paper filter until this icy weather passes. It's to damn cold to go out and mess around under the hood. That should give the filter more than enough time to absorb the oil.

Seems like I remember the filter was red like that when it was new and I had no problems. Hopefully it won't foul my MAF. Knock on wood three times.

 

It should look red, even if it is lightly (correctly) oiled. I've used K&N filters for years in everything from a motorcycle to my cars/trucks...it doesn't really fade after sitting...

 

Cool thanks. It's still just as red as it was last night after sitting all day in my house. I'm going to put it back in this weekend when I put my BULLY 3" stainless step bars on in the garage. They're almost brand new. Not a scratch on them. I traded a $360 nitro r/c truck w/controller, extra wheels and tires, a hobby field bag, and a full 32oz. can of 20% nitro fuel to my Brother for them.

 

My advice is to not oil it man, with cleaning it just make sure u spray the cleaner as well as run the water through it from the clean side out, just spray it and run water through it till the water runs clear. The oil if you dont already know is just another protective measure. That oil may very well be whats messin with the maf. I never oil any a air filter. I prefer to just clean it then dry it.

 

Oh it was cleaned from the inside out. There was alot of murky brown water coming from it. I just rinsed it until it came out clear. Shook all the excess water out, and let it sit about 2 or 3 hours to dry.

The inside of the filter is still somewhat white, so I don't think any oil is getting past it to the maf. I've never had a problem with it. I was just making sure it looked ok, because this is my first time doing the recharge thing. And I didn't want to over oil it.

I just read on the K&N recharge instructions that after you oil it and let it sit upright at least 20 minutes, if the filter has no puddles of oil at the base it is NOT over-oiled.

Believe me, you want to use oil on your K&N. That's what keeps all the fine dirt out of your engine. Your bearings will thank you for it. I clean my maf about every 3rd oil change, so it's just routine maintenance.

 

Right on man, I may go ahead and try the oil next time I clean it, wont be for a good 6 months though, trucks bout to be drained of all her fluids and parked for a lil bit while I finish up this commitment to uncle sam and the marine corp. Gotta look at the bright side a deploying, not driving her for 6 months will really help me stay under the 75,000 mile warranty I bought.

 

Thanks for your service. And stay safe over there. You Rock! As for cleaning the K&N, You can get a K&N recharge kit at Autozone, Advance Auto, Pep Boys, etc for like 10 bucks. Follow the instructions to a "T" and you should be set for another 20k-30k miles.

You can go to RadioShack and buy a can of "non residual" Electrical Contact Cleaner to clean your "MAFS" (mass air flow sensor) with.

Just undo the airbox and look up in the side of the airbox closest to your throtte body. You'll see two very thin wires side by side. Just spray the heck out of them and be sure to give it 15-20 minutes to let it all dry and evaporate before you reassemble your airbox and start it. Just a few tips for you.