I recently re-oiled my K&N Drop-In Filter after 10,000 miles or so. I didn't let it sit overnight like I was supposed to, instead I put it back in after 5 or 6 hours. Most of the excess oil dripped away. However, the car was immediately louder. Is there any reasoning behind this? Do I need to be worried? It was a more aggressive type of loud, but still, it was a noticeable difference. I personally like it a lot more then when I purchased the filter pre-oiled, it was just surprising.

Also, after a few days I noticed a small pool of excess oil at the bottom of the air box. I cleaned it out and didn't check since. Can this oil damage anything in the car? I'm not too literate on the whole air filter systems so I don't know if that oil can drip anywhere. This has been worrying me and I just want to make sure I didn't mess anything up since it was my first time doing that. I love my K&N filter and I definitely don't want to go back to regular air filters.

Thanks in advance.

 

I've never had a K&N filter or any other type of "cleanable" filter....ok, besides the foam one on the lawn mower. So I can't comment on the "sound".

I would be a bit worried about the MAF sensor getting coated and causing bad readings?

 

i have one and have reoiled ... u only need to spray one coat .. perhaps you just sprayed too much ... its best to let it sit overnight after spraying so it dries fully .. i would take it off and use the cleaner again and respray it ...again just one coat throughout and let it dry overnight

 

K&N filters are worth the initial cost in the long run. Isn't the MAF sensor the one on the outside, by that main pipe? I don't recall one being inside the actual airbox. Unless I'm thinking of the wrong sensor. I had an intake system in my car and returned it shortly after installing it, I remember some sort of main sensor being completely separate from the filter and the airbox.

I have the squeeze bottle, not the spray. Apparently you get more bang for your buck with the squeeze bottle at the cost of it being a lot messier. I honestly wouldn't want to do that because it's hard to do one even coat with the squeeze bottle. You get gaps and it doesn't come out looking right. It's a big messy hassle to clean it and re-oil it if it's already oiled in the first place.

I'm just curious about the sound. Why would it sound better after applying (on a limb here) more oil then when I purchased the filter?

 

The "top cover" of the air box, there is a hose going to the engine - about where that top cover "meets" the hose there is an electrical plug - on the hard top cover - that is the MAF (Honda may call it something else?).

It is in the "cover" from the backside (clean) of the filter to the TB. So if the air flow thru the filter picks up some of the "oil" on the backside of the filter and then coats the MAF - well bad readings can/might happen. Not that bad as "most" MAF's can be cleaned with the proper cleaner. Just keep this in mind if issues show up down the raod.

Questions about filters (oil, air, fuel ect) are like questions about oil - IMO, they do nothing but start debates which I do not want to get into.

Again, my only concern/comment is about the MAF.

 

I have the squeeze bottle too. Just spray(or squeeze, which sprays, if you want to be exact) one coat.

I think you're overthinking this sound you're hearing.

 

Aha. I'll be sure to check that out this week and give that MAF sensor a good cleaning. I'd also like to see how the inside of the airbox is holding up, I wonder if there would be a pool of oil there just like last time.

I agree. The thing most people don't take into consideration is that unless there are hard facts in play, most discussion regarding that is all opinion.

Not quite. Sound is sound, fuel economy may be affected by this as well.

 

The only "hard facts" regarding this issue is that Used Oil Analysis (UOA) results from cars with oil/foam air filters typically return with a much-much higher dirt content (mostly silica/sand) in the oil. Said another way, these types of filters do a relatively poor job of filtering.

 

By hard facts I meant statistics (MPG, dyno runs, etc), not anecdotal evidence. As Poorman said, I'm not looking to debate or even discuss the efficacy of the filter, I'm looking for some answers. I'm still wondering why the car sounds louder after re-oiling the filter. Any help would greatly be appreciated.

 

Used Oil Analysis results are hard facts. If you want to have a look-see for yourself, just hop on over to BobIsTheOilGuy-DOT-com; they have a database if literally thousands of UOAs and discussions covering all aspects, including high silicone results from using oil-on-foam air filters.