Warning about K&N Intake

[wantz12]

Originally Posted by TboneZX3

Yes, that is definitely from over-tightening. Thanks for the picture.

Glad to help make a great product better!

[Sonic_HedgeHog]

WTF?!?!?! Popped off AGAIN...

On my way home everything was good and then, loss of power, sluggish... I didn't hit any big bumps that I would have noted as different... Everything was fine this morning when I checked it.

I don't have any cracks...

Anyway...

I'm off for the next two days, I may just make a "Sonic" bracket to fix this stupid issue.

[craigsfocus]

I haven't had fine pop off since that one time. But its only a matter of time until it does it again. I hope K&N comes up with a solution for the problem

[TboneZX3]

Mine has never popped off. I have about 2500 miles on it.

I have not heard anything from Troy since 6/22/12. Correspondence with Steeda began on 6/7/12. My advice at this point is to buy Steeda. K&N has issues with their product, and I'm not sure they're willing to do anything about it at this point.

[dyn085]

Originally Posted by TboneZX3

Mine has never popped off. I have about 2500 miles on it.

I have not heard anything from Troy since 6/22/12. Correspondence with Steeda began on 6/7/12. My advice at this point is to buy Steeda. K&N has issues with their product, and I'm not sure they're willing to do anything about it at this point.

I disagree; I can't imagine a reputable company like K&N not rectifying the situation and continuing to sell products with a persistent issue. I'm sure their engineers/finance people are scrambling to come up with a feasible solution. Unfortunately for those with the problem, it may not occur at the immediate moment.

K&N relies on their brand name and recognition of producing quality products. I have faith in them.

[underbird10]

Hi guys, even though I don't run the K&N setup any longer (it's now on Sonic's car), I've put some thought into this problem and suggest the following.

When installing my filter, I realized that the plastic MAF housing was going to be an issue. It is smooth plastic, and pretty soft, so if you do overtighten the filter clamp, it's going to break, no doubt. Mine didn't crack like the pic above, but it did fold over itself and crush slightly until I realized that I had overtightened it.

Instead of tightening the clamp until you crush the housing, which will ultimately leave the filter loose and allow it to fall off, what we need here is more friction between the filter shell and the MAF housing itself, without having to overtighten the clamp. My thoughts were to get some of that industrial velcro and with a little Super Glue to help hold it, wrap a strip of the hook side around the MAF housing, or the inside of the mouth of the filter. This will create a nice amount of friction between the two pieces that would allow you to run the clamp down snugly, but not overtighten it. If that didn't work, I was considering using a strip of 200 grit sandpaper instead. Same concept, just glue it to the inside of the mouth of the filter, or around the edge of the MAF housing to increase friction.

Just a couple of ideas to help those that may be experiencing the problem.

[TboneZX3]

Originally Posted by dyn085

I disagree; I can't imagine a reputable company like K&N not rectifying the situation and continuing to sell products with a persistent issue. I'm sure their engineers/finance people are scrambling to come up with a feasible solution. Unfortunately for those with the problem, it may not occur at the immediate moment.

K&N relies on their brand name and recognition of producing quality products. I have faith in them.

I hope you're correct. I've not lost faith in them, I've just not been impressed with the level of feedback for the issue at this point.

[TboneZX3]

Originally Posted by underbird10

Instead of tightening the clamp until you crush the housing, which will ultimately leave the filter loose and allow it to fall off, what we need here is more friction between the filter shell and the MAF housing itself, without having to overtighten the clamp. My thoughts were to get some of that industrial velcro and with a little Super Glue to help hold it, wrap a strip of the hook side around the MAF housing, or the inside of the mouth of the filter. This will create a nice amount of friction between the two pieces that would allow you to run the clamp down snugly, but not overtighten it. If that didn't work, I was considering using a strip of 200 grit sandpaper instead. Same concept, just glue it to the inside of the mouth of the filter, or around the edge of the MAF housing to increase friction.

That could possibly work. Thanks for the suggestion.

In my experience, the overtightening can be avoided, and yet still get a good seal and retention with the current setup. Just tighten the filter until friction will not allow you to rotate it by hand, then give the clamp screw another 1/4-1/2 turn. It will seem by the force required to turn the clamp screw that it's not tight enough (and thus why we tend to overtighten I think), but it has worked very well for me.

[wantz12]

Well mine popped off about 3 times when I was home visiting my parents...of course I haven't replaced the MAF filter housing yet, cause the part just came in, so I'm sure the filter keeps falling off due to this.

Sonic, if you make a bracket, let me know. I'm sure others of us are thinking the same thing.

[Sonic_HedgeHog]

In no way have I lost faith or am willing to throw the intake in the trash... It's just becoming bullsh!t. Every time it comes off I put it back on, it's tight to where I can't move it at all by hand, and still it pops off after a few days/week of driving. I looked at the MAF housing last night... No cracks, no bends, no folds...

My concern is being a secondary owner that anything K&N sends out as a fix is something I'm going to have to pay for, or if damage is ever done because of it K&N isn't going to stand by their own corp warranty.

I'm just barely getting out of bed, so I'll let you know if/when I get something figured out today.