Cleaning a KKM filter?

[aldive]

I have not had the pleasure (?) to clean and reoil my KKM filter yet.

Would someone please explain the procedure including the amount of time needed?

Also, how often do you fuys recommend doing this?

Thanks....

 

[Alec]

I reoil mine about every 10-15k miles, and do a full cleaning every 20-30k. It depends on where I've been driving and what **** the filter's been picking up. For the "half" cleaning, I just dust the filter off and wipe it with a dry paintbrush, then reoil it, this takes about 15 minutes. For the full cleaning, I also wash the filter out with a hose and use the cleaning solution. This takes longer, about 3 or 4 hours, because the filter needs to dry. Just buy an S&B or K&N filter cleaning kit and follow the instructions, they're very good. The cleaning kits are all the same.

 

[tbomb]

yup, i agree with alec. ive never cleaned mine either, but it needs it soon (i figure ill clean it once a year or so.) ive been doing a little research on it, and everything alec said, is what i found. i have the S&B filter on my KKM (obviously), but i picked up a K&N cleaning kit at pep boys for about $14.

 

[aldive]

Cleaning a KKM

Today I did a full clean on my KKM filter.

The filter looked new to the eye, but after taping on it with a rubber hammer, I was truly amazed by the amount of “dirt” that fell out on a clean work surface. You could have planted corn. This “dirt” was so fine that it was not gritty at all.

I was impressed with the amount stopped by the filter. Further, after inspecting the MAF, it was as clean as new, with no dirt whatsoever.

I used the K & N Recharger Filte r Care Service Kit ( cost $8.95 at Discount Auto Parts ). Their instructions were followed to the letter. Rather simple chore after all. The drying time is the only long part.

 

[tbomb]

al, how long did it take to clean and re-oil the filter, and then how long did you let it sit to dry? im probably gonna be doing this in a few weeks over my winter break.

 

[aldive]

Originally posted by tbomb
al, how long did it take to clean and re-oil the filter, and then how long did you let it sit to dry? im probably gonna be doing this in a few weeks over my winter break.

To clean takes about 15 minutes. To dry, well thats the tough one, its hard to tell when the filter is dry. I left mine out in the *4 F sun for about 4 hours. The reoiling takes about 10 min.

 

[tbomb]

ok, thanks. when i do mine over winter break itll be about 30 degrees (give or take a few degrees), so im sure my drying time will be a lil longer (more likely, a lot longer), i might just sit the filter in front of a fan indoors.

 

[aldive]

Has anyone experienced very rough idle conditions after cleaning and reoiling their filter?

 

[kps36]

AL, yeah...
But what I found, and it was the first time I cleaned it, was the CEL lit up...I cleaned the MAS, gone..I oiled too much (easy to do)
What I do now is what you do for cleaning, but when I reoil I stuff a wad of Bounty inside the filter to soak up residual. I clean it every oil (syn) change at @5k. The MAS now looks clean, like you said.

 

[aldive]

Thanks for the answer... I had a very rough idle after cleaning.

I was concerned about the amount of oil when applying it. Surly there is a better way...

Ideas??

 

[rpenner54]

When I last cleaned mine I had to scrape it off with a putty knife first to get all the gunk off then I washed it really good with a hose to get all that off and then let it dry. After it dried then I cleaned it with the K&N kit that I had and re-oiled it and let it dry once again. Took a long time but my filter had been out in the open last winter while I was driving around without an inner and outer fender when it was snowing.

 

[tbomb]

Originally posted by aldive
Thanks for the answer... I had a very rough idle after cleaning.

I was concerned about the amount of oil when applying it. Surly there is a better way...

Ideas??

i kinda like kps36's idea of stuffing some paper towels in there. i dont think theres really gonna be a better way to apply it, because however you do it, theres always a posibility of putting on too much - i guess its just something you have to be careful about, good thing it only needs to be done about every 15k

 

[aldive]

Originally posted by tbomb
good thing it only needs to be done about every 15k

Where did you get this mileage number?

 

[tbomb]

im sure its on some paper somewhere, but im at school and all my stuff for my kkm and my k&n cleaning kit is at home. 12-15k is just when youre supossed to do it (of course, this varies, depending on the conditions in which you dirve.) some people do it more often, some people do it less often, i guess its just a matter of preference; i plan on doing mine once a year, i only drive about 10-15k a year right now.

lets see what everyone else thinks.

what do you guys typically use as interval in cleaning your K&N or KKM?

 

[leebo]

I've cleaned mine about once every 5000 since I got mine. Running Moab and the Dunes out west really adds a ton of dirt to the filter. With it being such a simple task I do it with every oil change, which is also at 5000.