![cleaning k and n filter cleaning k and n filter](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51GfvHM6-bL._AC_.jpg)
I just follow the manufacturer instructions, pretty simple, here:ĮTA I just reread your post. On that same note, K&N recommends allowing the oil to wick for twenty (20) minutes. If you were to oil them while they were still somewhat damp, the oil would be prevented from fully wicking into all of the filter material, resulting in the white or light red areas that you mentioned. The best way is just to set them aside overnight, but that’s not always an option. It literally took 3.5 hours for both filters to fully dry, including residual condensation inside, while sitting in the heat of the morning sun. I’m in Dallas it’s been roughly 90☏ in the mid to late mornings lately. If you find an even layer of dust inside the intake pipe then it was either dry or under-oiled. If you're getting any oil inside the intake pipes then you failed to let it dry or over-oiled by a massive amount. Then I take another 5-10 minutes to dry the filter in the cardboard box again. Don't need it to be bold red as that's just restricting the breathability of the filter. A faint red is too light, apply another coat if it is. I'll start spraying off the filter then run it over the filter so no excess builds up on either side.
![cleaning k and n filter cleaning k and n filter](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/s7P3OJOmhec/hqdefault.jpg)
When applying oil you don't need to drown it. After drying gently tap the filter sideways against your hand or arm and make sure no excess water is coming out of the paper/mesh. The filter should be almost white if it's properly cleaned instead of black like when it was dirty. Then what i do is take a little box, lay it sideways, put the filter in it with the inlet facing out, direct a fan (nothing powerful) right at It for 15 minutes to dry it out. Do not directly rinse the outside of the filter. When cleaning just spray the outside with a cleaner, properly rinse out by directing water to the inside. Whether that's a problem for you is up to you to decide. Generally speaking though, if you don't change the area at all but are now able to flow more air, that basically means you have less restriction, and with less restriction I would bet you probably actually have less filtering. The paper filter probably has a little overhead and excess flow built in, but maybe not a ton. However, start changing cams and porting heads and swapping exhaust or basically anything that affects air flow through the engine and that equation starts changing. I have no doubt that a stock paper filter flows exactly as much as it needs to flow for a totally unmodified car and that a fiber filter likely offers no real benefit. However, once you start changing things is where the water gets murkier. The engineers developed the whole setup and tested a bunch of different options, I can guarantee that. I remember **** Winkles saying something along the lines of the cloth style filters offered no noticeable difference on a stock engine, but that's just it, a "stock" engine.