Donald, Thank you so much for the very complete answer. I will get on it
immediately (as soon as my wife says I'm done replacing the kitchen floor).
I have noticed some fall off of performance which I have dismissed as
familiarity.
Tony
----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald R McKenna" <donbarbmckenna@earthlink.net>
To: "Anthony Tabacco" <atabacco@california.com>; <ba-autox@autox.team.net>
Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2001 9:16 AM
Subject: Re: unnatural acts
> Tony,
>
> You wrote:
>
> >Among human practices, one that makes me uncomfortable, is the practice
of
> >installing K&N air filters, and leaving them un-maintained. I have almost
> >twenty K on mine and was wondering if it is good practice to at least
knock
> >the dust of it. They advertise no maintenance except re-oiling at long
> >intervals, and in fact state that it will get better with age and the
> >accumulation of junk. You can see why this seems unnatural. Any advice?
> >Tony
> >
>
> If it "works" forever, it will be because you regularly CLEAN and re-oil
it.
> Get some "K&N" brand cleaner, pull your element and follow the cleaning
> instructions.
>
> I've cleaned my several K&N elements more frequently than 20K miles over
the
> years,
>
> A few pointers:
>
> 1. Only plan on cleaning the element at a time when you can let it get
> completely dry before re-oiling.
>
> 2. Completely saturate the element, on both sides, with cleaning solution
> and let is soak-in and loosen the crud for 20-30 minutes.
>
> 3. Rinse the solution (and crud) out of the element with water. Pay
> attention to the cleaning instructions and don't "blast" the element with
a
> high-powered spray. I take a bit of time, with a fine low pressure spray,
to
> rince all the solution and crud off. WARNING: always, initially, spray
> rinsing water from the back side of the element so you don't "drive" the
> crud into the element.
>
> 4. If the element is still dis-colored after the first cleaning (by
> dis-colored, I mean some soiled areas still showing, not the pink tinge
> (from the dye in the oil) that will allways remain to some extent), repeat
> the cleaning process.
>
> 5. Allow the element to COMPLETELY dry, in ambient air, before re-oiling.
> I'm very cautious and do not attempt to accelerate the drying by using an
> oven or hair dryer, for fear of damaging the element. Now, its obvious,
that
> a nice warm, sunny and lightly breezy summer day is the optimum time to
get
> the element dry quickly. However, if you take the time it will dry in any
> weather, at this time of year it may dry quicker, in the absence of sun,
> inside the house.
>
> 6. After the element is dry, lightly, and I really mean LIGHTLY, re-oil
the
> element according to the spraying pattern instructions (on the cleaning
> solution bottle). I only lightly apply oil to the front side when
re-oiling
> but then, I clean my non-street driven element at intervals much more
often
> than 20K miles.
>
> An additional point: Many folks actually feel that a new element, just out
> of the box, has too much oil on it, and they CLEAN and lightly re-oil the
> new element before initially installing it.
>
> Good luck, Don
>
> PS, Wouldn't it be easier to just put in a new paper element? Just
kidding.
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