bekee

As I was sitting there in the K&N info session, listening to a bald man with a raspy voice throwing me his best pitch on air filters, I thought to myself, "K&N really does care for their customers."

This guy wasn't just some salesman. Heck, he was as nervous as 6th grader giving a book report in front of the class. He stuttered and stammered over his words, as if it were his first presentation. But you know what? The guy knew what he was talking about. Cars are his life. Maybe it was the excitement in his words or the sweat dripping down his face, but I could tell he wasn't faking. He loved his job and loved talking about auto air filters. He even told us his life story-- about growing up working on cars with his dad.

But, back to the debate. People around the country are bringing their cars to dealerships and mechanics with MAF(Mass Air Flow Sensor) problems. The problem-MAF failure. What causes MAF problems? The dealerships claim excess oil from K&N filters is to blame.

The K&N representative, however, gave a compelling argument. If you are not familiar with what a K&N filter looks like, let me explain. It is cone shaped part, basically constructed of a paper filter with wire mesh around it. It attaches to a hose that brings air into the engine; blocking dirt, bugs, and any other hazardous objects that happen to make their way under your hood. The paper, which is the filter, is coated in oil.

Have you ever gotten a really greasy piece of pizza and blotted it with a napkin. If you haven't, I will give you the low down. The napkin absorbs the grease, practically making the paper transparent. Well the paper is similar. The filter absorbs the oil, which coats it for protection, and is invisible. You can't even see it. Mechanics are claiming that the oil from the filter is coming off the paper an affecting the MAF. Even if you were driving 103mph and held a grease covered napkin out the window, the oil wouldn't come off-trust me.

His number two argument. The MAF is fouled by oil right? Well, the MAF is in the engine. Do you know what is constantly cycling through the engine? You got it-- oil. It is much more likely for oil from the engine to get sucked through the intake and foul the MAF.

His final point. Is the filter fouling the MAF or is the MAF flawed? It is just as likely that the MAF comes defective from the factory. Mechanics are telling customers that MAF readings show it is "saturated" with oil from the K&N filter. But I looked at the cone-shaped piece in the man's hands. It was a solid, dry piece. He made a good point. Where would all this "excess" oil come from? Hmmm...

Of the 2,500,000 filters K&N sells a year, they encounter less than 200 dealership problems annually. The representative continued to explain the company's lengthy product testing process. I work for an automotive company, but I'm not that into my car. I'm more of a motorcycle guy. My point being, I was ready to buy a K&N air filter. On top of all the testing, K&N works with customers to make sure dealerships honor their warranties. Solid argument if you ask me

SO, WHAT DO U GUYS THINK????

geoffo

wouldnt use one unless i had a map sensor, stand alone ecu our a fmic and had to use one.

thats my thoughts anywho.

Andy '00

Same old story this past 20+ years.... nothin new there

Took my K&N air fresher off and replaced with standard box and HKS panel filter

daddyscoob

would tend to agree with the answers above. He's hardly likely to say our product can f*** up your MAF sensor is he ????


Whereas many people on here report problems after fitting any type of aftermarket induction kit on later type Imprezza's.

Beeke you've fallen into the trap of believing the crap a salesman tells you. Perhaps he only sweats like f*** when he know's he's lying ?














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petedotuk

I have had my k&n on 4 around 3 mths everything was fine at first but now I am gettin lots of hesitation when acceleratin under load. have been told it is det cause my MAF is FUKED!!

bekee

nah nah guys , let me explain. i got this off the net. i wasnt present during the conversation. it made me think twice bout puttin a k&n filter on my own car tho, even tho i dont have maf, it still doesnt sound good does it?? i just put it up for ur info and for ur opinion before i make my final decision regarding it.........................................

Andy '00

Buy a BIG Vanilla K&N cone fresher, it will make your engine breath heaps better

ulsterscooby

Im pretty sure that the airfilter k&n hks ......... whatever will do no harm to your maf unless it is the oiled type

I had to go for an aftermarket filter cause of the fmic

ive 2 x hks mushrooms and 2 x apexi filters in my shed runing the car on a motor sports development carbon enclosed filter at the mo all seems well

bekee

it says on the "wrong" filter i recieved tho that it was pre oiled..........................i'm thinkin ill stick 2 the standard 1 now................

Brian JC

Bekee

I drove a 1.6 impreza for a number of years and for the last 4 years I run it with an oiled K&N cone filter. I really didn't think about it too much when I bought the filter and did not know much about the pros's and cons, I simply came across the filer and bought it. As it was it gave me no problems at all, sounded really good and I do feel it added a bit performance wise (not hard with a 1.6 as many would say). I have pictures of the engine with it in place but I'm not sure how to post them. However, I'm now driving a turbo and from what I have read on this forum I'm not sure if I would fit an after market filter to this, but was wondering about Blitz etc - are they worth it? Anyway if the K&N performs as well on a 2L sport as my 1.6 you would be well pleased.

Brian

bekee

brian thanks so much for your feedback as regards the filter. im still in two minds about the filter, but if it would give me an extra bit of power and wouldnt harm the engine, id have no qualms at all. it wasnt the cone filter tho, it was just the panel filter................................wonder if this would make a difference........................................ .......

petedotuk

just a panel filter!!! throw it in bekee dont even think about it.

bekee

i cant do anythin without analysing and reanalysing over again...................i know thats not how 2 spell analysing , or is it? looks funny...................

fast bloke

I always ran my scoob with a cone filter. I think it was a K&N 57i, but it is a wee while ago, so don't quote me on that. Doesn't give you any more noticeable power, but you lose a couple of flat spots and it sounds amazing. Scoobysport exhaust was more expensive, but was far and away the best mod I ever made

bekee

does the filter really make a difference 2 the sound? i got a flat spot btween 3,500rpm and 4000 rpm so it would clear that?

fast bloke

A cone filter makes a massive sound difference from the standard air filter. (assuming yours is a turbo? ) Mine used to hesitate, almost like a misfire at about 4500 revs and again at 5200. I only put the filter on for the sound effects, but the hesitation disappeared

fabiostar

bekee i hate to have to tell you this but welcome to the world of the 2l flat spot. .
but....
its not as bad as you think...ish.
loads,and i mean loads of sport owners have been having the same problem since they were ever made.
here goes.. .
first of clean your leads or replace them.fit new plugs then if its still there its knock link time.
bascically what a lot of guys have found is that if you move your knock link wire.its behind your r/h cylinder,remove it and just behind and above it there is another bolt holding on a little bracket.bolt it on there instead.there seems to be a problem in that the sports are having problems with vibration on the knock link sensors and its telling the engine/ecu that it needs to retard the ignition which is really a false reading causing the flat spot you have(and i used to have).9 times outa 10 this cures the problem on sports.dont be worried about the fact the knock link has been moved itl not cause any problems.its not a tuned turbo so you have no worries there ok.while you do this disconnect the battery for 30 mins to allow the ecu to reset itself(the sports have self learning ecus at that age of car).
follow me so far
then go out and rev the beans of it down a (private road of course)
if by chance the problem comes back than its lambda time thats the other popular sport flat spot maker .the lamdas on sports have a habbit of going"off" after about 60-70 thou miles.

hope this sorts it for you it sorted mine and its never been an offical subaru recall but a lot of dealers on the mainland do it to solve the problem.
oh and dont put a cone filter on the sports(phase 2)dont like them as much as a good panel filter.your engine should have ej20-1 stamped on it.if it has ej20-e then the cone filter works fine on them(phase 1).

cheers fabio

bekee

fabio thanks! all the info is much appreciated! just need 2 get my bro 2 read this when hes changin my cam belt cos its all double dutch 2 me..........................daddy always told me 2 pay attention when i was in the garage but did i listen? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO................!