GM Tech Bulletin over K&N Filters

[OBI WAN]

Info - Automatic Transmission Shift, Engine Driveability Concerns or Service Engine Soon (SES) Light On as a Result of the Use of an Excessively/Over-Oiled Aftermarket, Reusable Air Filter #04-07-30-013A - (Jan 25, 2005)


Automatic Transmission Shift, Engine Driveability Concerns or Service Engine Soon (SES) Light On as a Result of the Use of an Excessively/ Over- Oiled Aftermarket, Reusable Air Filter

2005 and Prior GM Cars and Light Duty Trucks
2005 and Prior Saturn Models
2003-2005 HUMMER H2

This bulletin is being revised to add additional model years and to clarify warranty coverage. Please discard Corporate Bulletin Number 04-07-30-013 (Section 07 -- Transmission/Transaxle).

DO THIS

First, Inspect the vehicle for a reusable aftermarket excessivelyover- oiled air filter

DON'T DO THIS

DO NOT repair MAF sensors under warranty if concerns result from the use of an excessively/over-oiled aftermarket, reusable air filter.

The use of an excessively/over-oiled aftermarket, reusable air filter may result in:

• Service Engine Soon (SES) Light On
• Transmission shift concerns, slipping and damaged clutch(es) or band(s)
• Engine driveability concerns, poor acceleration from a stop, limited engine RPM range

The oil that is used on these air filter elements may be transferred onto the Mass Air Flow (MAF) sensor causing contamination of the sensor. As a result, the Grams per Second (GPS) signal from the MAF may be low and any or all of the concerns listed above may occur.

When servicing a vehicle with any of these concerns, be sure to check for the presence of an aftermarket reusable, excessively/over- oiled air filter. The MAF, GPS reading should be compared to a like vehicle with an OEM air box and filter under the same driving conditions to verify the concern.

The use of an aftermarket reusable air filter DOES NOT void the vehicle's warranty.
If an aftermarket reusable air filter is used, technicians should inspect the MAF sensor element and the air induction hose for contamination of oil prior to making warranty repairs.

Transmission or engine driveability concerns (related to the MAF sensor being contaminated with oil) that are the result of the use of an aftermarket reusable, excessively/over-oiled air filter are not considered to be warrantable repair items.

[ZR1-S10]

So don't over oil! Duh!

[OBI WAN]

Even says Reuseable to which dealers also have told me, whether its a new filter or not, still voids MAF and misfire issues arising from MAF problems!

[Sparky2263]

I lost track of how many MAF's I had to clean the oil off. People were pissed when you tell 'em they gotta dump the filter. Just a matter of the MAF being so close to the filter.

[bvr775]

I really don't like the K&Ns or any oiled cotton for that matter. Under idea conditions they work, but under normale driveing condition a cheap paper filter will flow as good if not better than oiled cotton filters and filter more without side effects. The reason K&Ns flow so well is they a thiner cotton media(THIS IS NOT GOOD). to steal a qoute "You must unlearn what you have learned from other sites." "Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will..."

Cotton only letes air flow one way..strait though..while paper allows air to flow at all angles. In outher words if you have turbulance in your air box(you do) you lose flow with the cotton filter. You've seen the K&N demos were they have the little box with a fan in the bottom and a pingpong ball and a paper filter(puralator) vs a K&N. You supposed to change the paperfilter to a k&N and the ball goes allthe way to top of the display..It's B/S. It's more phycology. Tell a hundred people that something works and setup a cheap display to prove it works under idea conditions and 90 will belive you and tell a hundred more.
make your own but put the filters in at angle and see which one flows better. we had an article in the forums on s10planet about this whole thing but it never made it over.

you really want to know what flows well beside running without a filter...FOAM

[OBI WAN]

Oh I always get a kick outta the K&N display at auto shows! I ask if I can change the filters between to 2 displays to see if a change is evendent.
I havent myself run a K&N in quite some time now. If I had a NON MAF system , sure I'd use one, but since it is a MAF system I just change the filter at $5 once a year!

[indigo s10]

I have used K&N in every vehicle I(and my wife) own. I have never had a problem. The one thing I do though is I let the filter stand in the sun for a few hours after I oil it, then put it in.

[badasS10]

What happens if you just run a filter( like the K&N fipk2) that's supposed to be oiled, and never bother to re-oil it? Does it hurt flow?

[87wildside]

What happens if you just run a filter( like the K&N fipk2) that's supposed to be oiled, and never bother to re-oil it? Does it hurt flow?
Would allow more dirt in if you cleaned it and never re-oiled it.

[Mikz86TA]

Yup the fibers in the cotton is more porus than the paper element. Ive had K&Ns for a long time now on numerous vehicles. Once I over oiled on a carb setup and learned from experiences on how much to use. IMO they actually come oiled too much from K&N. It takes time and finesse to do it right. I do a light run along the outside with the squeeze bottle oil at the peak. I let is sun dry for 15min on a warm day and/or set it in front of a fan for 20min during less ideal climate conditions. Then I go back and apply a run lightly along the valley from the outside. Repeat process and then look it over for a complete uniform coloring. Also I noticed excessive heat in engine bay coupled with over oiling will cause it to thin and escape to the intake. So other than killing the electronic element of a MAF if excessive oil passes, would it cause poor performance to translate to bad milage or rich/lean conditions or anything else?

[Blazer69]

my light comes on for this whether it's lightly oiled or heavily....never had oil in the maf before...i just clean that along with my filter and it work fine....