TTRicks

even if oil does get on the MAF wire, it should be cleanable. The K&N folks are very aware of this issue. They have twice answered my emails when I have questioned them about this "problem." Sorry, the replies are on a hard drive that I recently replaced.

But basically, they say that people do sometimes over oil the filters, but the MAF wire can be cleaned with a good cleaner if that happens. They feel the real problems is with the TT MAFs going bad and K&N getting blamed for them.

That damn Dan

And cleaning that element is a lot more hassle than just dropping in a new paper one.

It's the design of the stock airbox/MAF housing thats the limiting factor. Not the element.

Dan

That damn Dan

and it does indeed spread an oily residue over the front of the screen, which I left in place specifically to detect this.
I've checked and cleaned the screen three times in 2500 miles and each time the residue is back.
That residue is either oil from the filter or road grime getting through the filter(unlikely). It can't be anything else. It's only on the upstream side of the screen.

The MAF sensor sits right behind that screen and I can't detect anything on it, although I give it a squirt of isopropanol each time too.

Still, the TTDA works so much better that I'll be willing to sacrifice the occasional MAF sensor to the cause.

Dan

violinguy

Losing the stock airbox will most likely decrease the efficiency of the airflow (because of increased air turbulence and undesirable air-pressure effects, mostly). Externally fed intakes can be as good, because they maintain suction between outside and inside like the stock airbox, but YMMV.

Just dropping in a freer flowing filter into the stock airbox *should* help in theory, but I've never noticed a difference in practice, and I'm hypersensitive. The main advantage of those filters is that they're reusable and/or cosmetic, not that they actually add perceptible horsepower.

A fully engineered intake solution (rather than just a cone) is another story, and I'd imagine you could get some performance (or at least good noises) from the right one, provided it served the same basic airflow purpose as the original. Unshielded and marginally-shielded cone filters, on the other hand, totally change (read: worsen) the airflow dynamics and are, in my opinion, not a good idea. The only application for which they make sense to me would be at the track, where speeds (and, thus, airflow into the engine compartment) never fall below a certain minimum.

That's my two cents.

ooyahhh

HP. I guess it depends on how restrictive the stock filter is, but allowing more air in doesn't help if you don't increase exhaust scavenging and velocity. I got the K&N on Eurocode's recommendation that it will reduce vacumn in the intake hose which helps keep it from collapsing.

I've had a CAI on my Miata for 7 years. I've over oiled it twice and it hasn't caused any MAF problems.

audaciousTT

- Seach it...then GET it!!! GREAT mod..w/chip and pipe..WOW!!