KN Air filters

Hey all, thought I would pass on some info I received today. I was at Island 4x4 picking up some service bits for the disco. I mentioned that I was after a KN air filter. The guys there recommended I don't fit one. Apparently oil coated filters can cause issues with the temp gauges and that then leads to further issues. Following that little gem I decided to go with the regular filter. Thought I would pass that on and also ask if anyone has had issues fitting oil coated air filters?

yeah it made it sound better, with a better throttle response, and works well with remap and big intercooler

Bull****, I've got one in me disco 1 and its happy

Got one in my 90, had it for 5 months and no probs

me too, had it for almost 4 years and no probs.

Very interesting, I have a TD5 disco. Interested to hear other people's comments. Let's see how far this goes.

Has anyone ever had an issue???????

yes - but they have left home now .

DougR said:

Very interesting, I have a TD5 disco. Interested to hear other people's comments. Let's see how far this goes.

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I'm interested to know why your garage thought they messed with the temp, my disco sits at just under 1/2 when warm and its had the filter for about a year now

sounds like bollocks ,but either filter is fine ,its a turbo engine

Dr_evil said:

I'm interested to know why your garage thought they messed with the temp, my disco sits at just under 1/2 when warm and its had the filter for about a year now

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You has a 300tdi, the OP has a td5 which has sensors in the air intake system (I think) which get covered in the oil the K&N is covered with and gives the ECU wrong readings and causes the engine to run rich/lean and thus knacker it.
It could also be that K&N's are re-useable so the garage can't overcharge you for a new filter every year

GRATCH said:

You has a 300tdi, the OP has a td5 which has sensors in the air intake system (I think) which get covered in the oil the K&N is covered with and gives the ECU wrong readings and causes the engine to run rich/lean and thus knacker it.
It could also be that K&N's are re-useable so the garage can't overcharge you for a new filter every year

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you would need to be putting a fair bit of oil on it ,but sharp thinking,perhaps more the latter or ignorance

GRATCH said:

You has a 300tdi, the OP has a td5 which has sensors in the air intake system (I think) which get covered in the oil the K&N is covered with and gives the ECU wrong readings and causes the engine to run rich/lean and thus knacker it.
It could also be that K&N's are re-useable so the garage can't overcharge you for a new filter every year

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i heard the issues of oiling the air flow meter came from people washing kn filter in petrol/thinners rather than using kn cleaner,mine has been in the td5 over 2 years, ive cleaned it once, and never caused me any problems

GRATCH said:

td5 which has sensors in the air intake system (I think) which get covered in the oil the K&N is covered with and gives the ECU wrong readings and causes the engine to run rich/lean and thus knacker it.

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That's pretty much what island 4x4 said, since my last Landy was a 300tdi and this is my first TD5. I took their advice and bought a regular filter. I might contact LR and KN and see what they say as well.

Can anyone tell me what, or how much improvement they got from fitting K N Filter. I have a 2.5 turbo.

I belive the TD5 uses a hot wire AFM (not 100% sure on that though) and if it does then potentialy the oil on the filter could coat the wire, give false readings and then the air/fuel mixyure may be off.

I wopuld expect thought that K'n'N in all their years of making performance filters have already encountered this and as part of their design this shouldn't happen, I imagine over oiling would cause an issue but thats poor maintenance!

It sounds like a case of he has heard a story and now he believes its gospal...

As said by Jongould above a 'performance filter' impovement in induction noise no doubt in that, but as for BHP.
I have a car fitted with a 2Ltr Ford Pinto engine, on a rolling road with a K&N filter fitted it increased my BHP by 2 and thats after I fitted a Piper fast road cam, big valve head, Janspeed exhaust, electronic ignition, Kenlow fan, Webber carb with larger jets etc. That gives me 144BHP at the wheels not bad as it left the factory 96 horses.

So on a bog standard Tdi who knows, zero I would think.

Sports filters on there own do not do much. You also have to improve fuel and exhaust to get any real gains from it.

Why are people fitting these ? Plenty of other things you can do to a TD5 to improve performance

more air more torqe better breathing i have fitted k/n filters to al my cars for the last 5 years mainly because i tow a caravan so what if 2 bhp or 5 mph in my opinion these are great filters that save money in the long run