Why would I be worried about high SI levels?

Hi

It greatly illustrates the amount of contamination from the lack of proper filtration in the intake.

High Si indicates accelerated wear. The K&N may have great flow..but at what cost?

On another note...have anyone checked into Baldwin air and oil filters? I just switched...and have noticed a significant difference over the typical Fram type oem filter.

You mean it show the amount of oil contamination from the K&N type filter into your engine, cause correct me if I am wrong but I dont think there are a lot of silicone parts in my engine. I dont think a small amount of SI ever hurt anyone.

Hi

The Si that is of concern in a used oil analysis, is from the out side environment. The concern many people have is that the K&N sacrifices filtering ability to get high flow rates.

Check here : http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/...;f=15;t=000073


And here : http://www.dirtcheapracing.com/tech/airfilter/

Do a search at bob'*. I have a K&N which I no longer use for these very reasons.

If you will read bobs page again you will find that the ones who actually did a thorough test found that K&N are the best at hi-flow filtering and comprable to oem paper filters. With correct maintence they will do there job if not as good then better than a paper filter.

Oh and there isnt a lot of SI in the air. The SI that everyone is refering to on bobs page comes from the air filter itself and its still not a real concern, metals in your engine are a real concern.

Oh ya and SI is often concerned a lot like carbon in many respects...I wouldnt worry bout it.

Also if you actually read the http://www.dirtcheapracing.com/tech/airfilter/ page there is one thing he does not state which seems like he probably abuses, I bet you he washes his filter waay to much, you only have to wash and re-oiling them after like 30k-50k miles. The more you wash them the more you rearrange and destroy the cotton fibers which hold the dirt in and a dirtier air filter is a better filtering air filter. The have a million mile warranty, but in reality it should just be a 10-20 time washing and re-oiling warranty.

lght1,
I really hope you haven't stopped using your K&N because of what you are reading only. Many times, lab testing can't reproduce actual conditions. As I have said in other threads about this, I know from real world experience what K&N filters do. Based on that I will be a K&N user as long as I can buy them.
You are certainly free to form your own opinion and use whatever filter you want, I just hope you and the others on here that are getting concerned with these "lab tests" aren't letting that cloud their judgement of the overall picture.
And no, I don't work for K&N. I just have first hand experience that is not at all like they want you to believe in those tests.

Ya they used K&N in apache helicopters in desert storm and dirty racers often times use them, not to mention large machinery companies that run cats and such.

Hi

I stopped usng it due to the high si..which was not present with paper. That can lead to only one conclusion...which is to question the overall ability to sufficiently filter the air charge.

There is a story out about commercial applications of K&N...and I will post it when I find it again. In short...a company that uses front end loaders did a comparison between re-usuable and disposable through UOA...and immediately rejected the reusable based on the lab findings.

If you look at the many UOA on that site..you find that almost every K&N has elevated si. The high wear factors that also accompany many of these reports suggests dirt getting past the filtering media.

For a little additional airflow...it seems that there is just too much risk for me.

The front end loaders were improperly installing them. I dont remember how I just remember K&N wrote a report about it and how the used them incorrectly. Also, if you are getting high SI levels you are oiling your filter to much. There is not clouds of SI floating around outside and most dirt does not get through the K&N its filtering is superior if not equal to paper.

Go read some of the scientific studies done that have came out in favor of K&N and quit reading peoples largely unsupported opinions. They have been made for what 30 years now and as far as anyone knows they have never caused an engine to cease operation.

Oh and its not "a little additional airflow" its a lot and it makes huge difference in the performance of our vehicles.