Hey guys,
I just did a dropped in filter from K&N, rode about 400 miles on it with no problems, and had someone explaining me that its bad for the Cobalt. I was told it effects the air/fuel ratio mix and the oil might mess up the MAF sensor and cut the fuel to 7-8% mpg. Anybody experience that problem or heard of it?

 

Never heard about that, it doesn't filter as well, but 7-8% loss in fuel economy instantly is something that is hard to believe.

 

i agree when i first got it i saw more power and better mpg's but now i think its shot...

 

?? i ran my car for a while with just a drop in. that was on stock tune and tuned. great upgrade if your tuned

 

havent heard such a thing. all i know is, if you OVER oil the filter when your cleaning it, then it could cause issues with the MAF. I have re-oiled mine with no issue as i followed the directions to the dot.

 

hey earl I was just being OCD because I love my car so much. I never said a 7-8% mpg loss though lol. https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/2-0l-lnf-performance-tech-153/seriously-197378/

thats the link to that topic I was telling you about earlier, dont worry about the bottom part of that topic because the guy that posted before that posted a dirty picture.

 

Been running one now for 8000 miles without any issues to report.

 

As was said as long as you dont over oil it your fine.

 

had mine for 3000 miles no problem. I'm over cautious when cleaning and re-oiling mine. I do exactly as the instructions state on the directions with the cleaning kits. ( http://www.knfilters.com/cleaning.htm ) I just use my old stock one that isnt very dirty for about a day so I know everything is completely dry and not over oiled. I honestly didn't notice a single difference from the stock one and the K&N so I think it's kind of a waste personally. Maybe if you have some mods and a bigger cai, but I'm 100% stock other than the filter.

 

You may see some faster spooling and a slight power gain to begin with but then your CPU figures it out and cuts power back to stock. The only real gain you get is a quicker spool. If you get a gms1 or aftermarket tune it's been known to net about 8hp or so. With the factory air box mod up to 12ish. Un modded it's Lmost pointless other than it's cleanable and you never need to buy again.

 

Higher flowing Air Filters usually don't filter small particles as well as the OEM filter would. Wouldn't the computer accommodate for the change in air flow and correct its AFR?

 

I ran the K&N for a short time, then sold it to a friend. Didn't notice much difference in anything besides the blow off was slightly louder. Now that I have GMS1 I wish I could talk myself back into running one, but I just don't want all that extra dirt. You can see right through the damn filter, its letting extra gunk into your turbo and valves that don't clean themselves since its direct injected. I kinda want someone to talk me into it. I like my engine being clean, but I have to wonder if it would matter over time.

My SS/SC had a K&N, and it ran funny at 50k miles, maf went out, there was a ton of gunk on my throttle body, my oil was always the blackest I've ever seen, I blame the K&N.

 

Thanks for your input guys. How often should I clean and oil my filter? TBaltSS just keep your KN in your Cobalt. I plan on keeping mine until I get my Stage 1 first thing next month, and getting that done at Marine Chevrolet. KN is coming out with a CAI in a couple of months from now. So maybe this will be superior over other CAI's without throwing any code out. https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/08-10-ss-turbocharged-general-discussion-152/k-n-intake-ss-tc-198192/

 

For those complaining about the "filtration efficiency" of the K&N filters: of course it filters less particles to be more efficient, but these particles are not gonna do **** to your internal components, including the turbine wheel...
BTW, the success of K&N for so many years tells it all...

 

13k on my K+N drop in. No problems to report.

 

jeezus i read 1/4 of the way through the thread b4 i realized who it was that was postin. whats up earl. K&N wont cause you problems, your perfectly safe dont worry. its such a small insignifacant mod i wouldnt worry about it. Like stated above its just a higher flowing air filter, and everyone is saying it doesnt filter the small particles, but i believe it does, as thats the whole purpose of the oil. Oil traps the small particles and they stick to the oil. Opposed to the dry flow filter which needs more tightly woven material to trap them which restricts the air flowing through it.

Because of the extremely sensitive MAF in our cars, any increase in air flow will skew your fuel trims, cause you to run rich or lean, and will have to be tuned for to compensate for the new air flow. Dont believe the K&N causes that much more increase to even worry about it. The thing that really alters the MAF is the aftermarket intakes with big cone filters and larger diameter piping they slap the MAF into. That really alters the amount of intake air. But remember, paper filters after awhile need to be replaced, where that K&N, when re-oiled will last as long as youll own your car. saves some money. Overall good upgrade, and im lookin to get one myself

 

It will skew the maf slightly, nothing to cry about tho! Was only 3-4% on my car with the snorkel piece still on. Snorkel removed was 7%.

 

yea i figured it would be something so small it wouldnt matter. im thinking my Dejon intake may have caused my O2 sensors to go bad b/c i was tuned, but never tuned for the intake. probobly running pretty lean.

right now im running stock intake without a snorkel, but i think im gonna do the snorkel mod. i just put my dejon back on and i definitly feel a big drivability difference from the stock one. It seems like i need to give it more pedal to accelerate anywhere. like 80% pedal to hit 5psi, where it seems like 60% with stock airbox. Just definitly a weird feeling. seems like im loosing some low end torque as well. I miss the spool badly though, intake makes it seem like im driving a turbo car where the airbox feels like im in my old 2.2 lmao. 2.2 on steroids

 

I lost my front O2, stock intake and maf tuning is on point! Car has stable AFR at any point. Still lost the front O2 Theyre cheap at least! LOL! $60 shipped.

 

LMAO bump

 

There are a billion K&N threads and studies on the internet. Go do some searching. Many people just operate on opinions that they can't really prove. All I find is negative studies mixed in with an occasional person saying, "Naa I ran these for years they are fine."

Too much oil and it will clog and possibly suck it up. It may hurt your performance with just a touch too much oil. Too little oil and it wont filter anything.

http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothrea...postid=1864002

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest1.htm

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...r-engines.html


1. Success does not mean anything really. That is not a logical proof of anything.

2. I have a hard time believing that more particles overtime won't harm your engine. Those particles aren't just burned up and magically sent out. They ill burn and gunk up your valves, pistons ect. For what? a couple horsepower?