Swapped from paper filters to a reusable oiled cotton one on my '04 Tacoma

I ran paper filters for about 3 years and always felt like my engine was a little choked up on hot days. Last fall I finally tried a K&N style reusable filter to see if all the hype was real. After a month, my highway mpg went from 18 to 21 just on my daily 30 mile commute. Throttle response felt snappier too, especially merging onto I-25. The downside is cleaning it every 50k miles is a bit messy with the oil spray. Anyone else notice a real difference swapping intake filters on older trucks?

3 comments

3 Comments

jordan1848d ago

Yeah 50k is way too long between cleanings on a K&N. They say that in the manual but if you actually drive on dirt or gravel roads you're gonna want to clean it way sooner like every 15-20k. I learned that the hard way when my MAF sensor got all oily and threw a code.

evan_anderson8d ago

Read an article on BITOG a while back where a guy tested K&Ns against paper filters and the K&N let through way more fine particles. Makes me wonder if all that extra airflow is even worth it when you gotta clean them so much. I just stick with paper filters now and change em every oil change. Cheaper and I don't have to worry about messing up my MAF sensor. Plus the oil on those things can be a real pain if you overdo it like you said.

emery6031d ago

@jordan184 nailed it with the 15-20k cleaning interval honestly. I ran a K&N for a bit but the extra work to keep it clean just wasn't worth it for me, ended up swapping back to paper filters and never looked back.