Re-oiling K&N air filter?

[JMF894]

Hi guys i have just cleaned my K&N air filter and was wondering should i re-oil it?

If yes then what with?

I wondered about oil making its way into the air mass meter and buggering it up. I have heard this can happen on some modern cars.

Thoughts?

Jimbo

[JVaughan]

You can buy the genuine stuff from people like K & N / Pipercross.. personally, I just use WD40 .. Never had any issues now and have been doing it for years. On occasion when I have opened the clamps and looked at the MAF, its never been oily or sticky so I assume the oil is doing its job

[Barreti]

K&N sell a "recharge kit" which includes a cleaner and an oil.

[mrzigazaga]

Barreti said:

K&N sell a "recharge kit" which includes a cleaner and an oil.

So do howlfrauds..For about 20 sobs..You will need to re-oil it mate to stop air born particles like pollen..soot..And road scag getting into it...Ziga

[Trickie Dickie]

A mechanic I used to use was "a V8 Guru" building race engines

and always said just to wash it out to clean it

then oil it back up with standard oil thereafter

HTH
Trickie

[carsy]

I use Wd40 but i am sure any oil will do.

Oil is oil nowt special with K&N`s oil, apart from price.

[JMF894]

I think i have my answer

Thanks chaps

Jimbo

[mrzigazaga]

carsy said:

Any oil will do.Oil is oil.

...Olive oil on your K&N...Motor oil on yor chips..Mind you i know a chip shop that cooks in motor oil......

[rev-erend]

I think wd40 is just too thin and leaves too little oil.

Engine oil sounds better if you cannot find genuine K & N oil as at least it seems the same thinkness and will not evaporate.

Edited by rev-erend on Friday 20th April 13:05

[jmorgan]

I always thought wd40 left a dry residue after a short while. Not like oils in general but sort of dried? We use it on a gear that is external and not wanting to attract too much dust, though it dries it still lubricates.

Of course it may all be cobblers.

[pwd95]

Hi Jim, got an aerosol can of ITG filter oil if you want to borrow it. I'll post it out to you if you can post it back.

[Jack Valiant]

Going to do mine shortly, what is the best way to wash it, soap and water or something else, then oil up when dry?

Chris

[rev-erend]

Parafin is usually best for washing them then blow them dry with an airline before reoiling.

Edited by rev-erend on Friday 20th April 14:14

[mrzigazaga]

Hi Chris..Not sure about using soap..I have a recharger kit for the K&N and it has the solvent to clean and the oil to seal..(Red oil)..I dont need it so you are welcome to have it..It looks like tomorrow morning is ok weather wise and i dont mind a little drive out..If you cant wait then i would go to an Howlfrauds as they do a recharger kit for around 20 quatlubes..Ideally the solvent is sprayed on to and inside the filter and left for around 5-10mins then washed from inside out..Repeated if needed..Then the filter MUST be left to naturally dry which might take all night, You can shake the excess off...Then you apply the oil onto each segment of the filter and allow to dry..Done!!...Let me know mate..Cheers..Ziga

[JMF894]

I washed mine in hot soapy water and it turned the water grey straight away! Rinsed thoroughly in clean water and dried for 48 hrs now.

Jimbo

[adam quantrill]

I wash mine with petrol and detergent then rinse with water.

To dry put it straight on the car, run the engine, it dries pretty quickly, then spray with WD40 while engine still running, it pulls the oil into the pores. Job's a good-un!

[ChimpanLucky]

I simply use warm water and washing-up liquid in a bucket to clean my K&N, it normally takes three fresh buckets of soapy water and a low pressure tap rinse between each to get the filter properly clean.

The filter needs to be perfectly dry before you oil it, but it dries very fast, mine normally air dries in 45 minutes.

Strictly speaking WD40 is not an oil, I wouldn't use it to re-oil a K&N, WD40 tends to evaporate after quite a short period but I guess it could be used as a de-watering agent to speed up the drying?

K&N offer two types of re-oil kits, the oil in a spray can type & the oil in a squeezy bottle type.

The squeezy bottle oil is better in my opinion, you apply very thin lines of oil down the the length of each pleat.

Apply this small thin line of oil to the peak of each pleat only, at first it will seem like there isn't enough oil going in.

However, let the filter stand for 10-15 minutes and the oil will completely bleed into each pleat.

You can see when the oil has fully bled into the clean filter because the K&N oil is red so the filter turns from grey to red, you can then touch in any dry grey areas with a small drop of oil.

Actually I am 100% sure the expensive K&N oil is just regular ATF.

Some years ago I bought a squeezy plastic ketchup bottle from the pound shop for this job just like the ones you see in your local greasy spoon, its got a perfect nozzle to apply the thin lines of oil.

No need to pay out for the K&N oil, I just use the cheapest ATF I can find and you hardly need any to fully recharge a filter.

I estimate cleaning & re-oiling my K&N costs me less than £0.50p every year.

K&N air filters are a fantastic product, they flow well, protect the engine & last a lifetime if you look after them properly.

In the end that makes a K&N fantastic value for money, especially if you use my cheapskate clean & re-oil method

[Rawhide]

I'm sure you can clean them the same way as I do on my KTM enduro bike.

Clean in petrol or paraffin.

Dry out fully

Put in a plastic bag and add one cap ful of filter oil. Its evil stuff but in the bag you just keep squeezing the filter until the oil has spread properly all over the sponge

It's much more sticky and helps particles stick to the sponge.

[Mytheroo]

was just looking for ways to clean/oil my GSR induction kit cone filter with products I already have and came across this thread.

I found the material data safety sheet on the K & N air filter oil

http://www.kandn.com/msds/FilterOilSqueeze.pdf

"================== SECTION 1 - PRODUCT IDENTIFICATION =======================================
Product Name: K & N Air Filter Oil Red Chemical Name: Oil, n.o.s. Common Name: Petroleum Oil Cas #: Mixture

================ SECTION 2 – COMPOSITION / INFORMATION ON INGREDIENTS ================

Common Name / Chemical Name CAS # %
Hydrotreated heavy paraffinic distillate 64742-54-7 <100
Dimethylbenzene 1330-20-7 <1
Methyl lardate 68082-78-0 <2 "


so it is about 98% Hydrotreated heavy paraffinic distillate but apparently this is a vague term:

http://www.chaski.org/homemachinist/viewtopic.php?...

"The term "Distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated heavy paraffinic." can cover a lot of territory. Just compare it to the word steel or bread; many options without giving any specifics. The term probably was a compromise to meet vague MSDS requirements without giving away any trade secrets. "


"When you refine crude oil it goes into a furnace and gets heated to around 580f and then gets shot into a distillation column at normal atmospheric pressure of 12 to 14 psi. Methane, Ethane Propane and Butane go to the top and lighter fractions of gasoline, Pentane and Hexane, are just below. Heavy gasoline (Naptha) , Kerosene and Diesel are next on the way down and then you have your "bottoms".

Those "bottoms" get sent through another furnace and are heated to around 870f when they are shot into a "Vacuum Column" at about 0 psi. Whatever light fractions that didn't separate out in the atmos column go to the top as non condensable gasses and then your diesel category stuff is below that. Under the diesel are a couple of fractions that can best be described as heavy or light vaseline. These are Vacuum Gas Oil, LCO are some names. They are heavily paraffinic petroleum distillates that have many uses in the lubricating sector as well as bunker fuel and of course, in a highly purified state, Vaseline Petroleum Jelly They can also be sent through a "Fluid Catalytic Cracker" and broken up into gasoline blending stocks. The Vacuum column bottoms are processed into asphalt products.

All these process fluids have some degree of sulfur in them that the Feds want removed. After they leave the Crude Unit, they go to Hydo-Treating units where again they are heated and Hydrogen is injected. They pass trough some drums, columns and "Reactors" where the H2 and Sulfur combine to form Hydrogen Sulfide Gas(H2S), a deadly poison. The petroleum product is now free of the Sulfur and should met Federal guidelines. The H2S can go to a different plant to be turned back into Hydrogen and Sulfur or it can be used to make or recondition H2SO4, Sulfuric Acid if such a plant is local.

So what you have is an upper fraction from a Vac column that has had the Sulfur removed but still remains paraffinic and is probably as you guessed...Mineral Spirits which is a Hexane fraction."


Dexron III ATF seems to have similar densities and also mentions "Distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated light" and other similar phrases across multiple MSDS sheets.

[roseytvr]

Wot e said

Great first post mate!!