K&N Cold Air Intake : who has had issues with this product ?

All, Was in contact with K&N and they claimed that they'v only had 5 unsatisfied customers out of 268 products sold so far. Can everybody who has had issues related to this product (MAF, CEL, ABS & PSM lights coming on) please chime in ? I'll start : PSM + ABS lights came on within a week. CEL within a month. Car was jerking around. Had to buy new MAF and ditch the K&N.

everyone that has an air filter that uses oil as a medium to attract dust is going to have a problem. i've seen at least a couple dozen MAFs (in our shop) taken out as a result of this same mod.

WOW, that sucks! Did K&N refund your money? Did they offer to help with the cost of the new MAF? (I probably already know the answer to the second question, but I had to ask anyway!)

Apparently, the Evo V box is the one to get. I spoke with a guy from a Grand am racing team and all the 996 cars use it and don't have issues. This isn't a guarantee of course, but it seems to work better than the K&N. There was a group buy for it here and it ended in tears for almost everyone involved I think. New MAFs all round.

I've had a K&N 63-series on my car for a couple of months with no issues. One thing to keep in mind is that the MAF was changed in 2002 on the Carrera to the same one as the 2000+ Boxster. The airflow path in the MAF was revised to eliminate issues with contamination. Since the EVOMS intake also uses a cotton based air filter that must be oiled, I fail to see how it would be any different. As you get responses, you will find the majority of problems are with 99-01' cars.

after reading all the stuff about K&N, i decided to stachs out more money for a EVOMS COLD AIR INTAKE, its been proven for over 4-5 years and has been updated. No Issues

about 500 miles on my k&n. had a cel when i first installed it, but that was di to the maf being installed backwards. no issues since, no codes, no abs, nada. btw----car is 2000 996 w/15000 miles

You're right they did change the airflow path but from what I've seen it doesnt do a lot of good. I see updated MAFs fail regularly.. with and without K&N filters.

I got a CEL code after 80 miles. However, I followed the recomendation of someone on this board and placed aluminium mesh inbetween the intake and the MAF. (If you look at your stock airbox, it too has wire mesh placed directly before the MAF) Problem solved. 500 Miles later and no CEL.

It really amuses me to hear all the pros and cons of installing a K and N ....and all the while the folks who have just left theirs stock have had no CEL problems and didn't fork out almost $300 for the initial purchase, then have to spend additional money chasing down CEL problems or coming up with home remedies to counter the unforseen problems....and ultimately ending up back at stock again. Sort of a great scenic route back to the starting point. Who started that group grope anyway?

I just don't get how the intakes are that much better than just using a BMC filter. I like the idea of 360 degree intakes, but I'm wondering if air starvation has ever really been that much of an issue at anything shy of WOT. But, I will admit to hearing that think SUCK in air when I am driving the car heavy. Thus, since I do drive WOT quite often (it's the reason I love the car), I have considering starting with a new filter and THEN considering if a CAI is a logical next step. However, I think it would be much more clearly warranted if a new exhaust is fitted. Otherwise, it doesn't make sense that you can stuff in more air if you can outharvest it equally as fast.

3500 miles on the K&N and no issues. A little quicker throttle response and the sound is spectacular, for me it was worth the $ spent.

I hear the quicker throttle response sometimes as a justification for various mods, but I'm not sure I buy it. Sort of a non-objective thing that's impossible to prove pro or con, except in your mind. Even if the standard intake WAS a little restrictive, why would a change in intake affect the speed with which the engine responds to thottle inputs. I just don't get it...

Fortunately I'm not an engineer and I can only speak from my somewhat small experience, could it be placebo effect? Definately. Do you think that an intake system coupled with hi-flow headers and mufflers could help flow through the entire system?

It's all about the velocity of the air to the intake. Since the CFM that can pass through the filter is now larger than the CFM that can pass through the throttlebody, an increase in velocity (ram air effect) occurs at the throttlebidy and beyond.

How are you getting a ram air effect? It's hard to get ram air from behind a moving vehicle...perhaps the side intake on turbos might allow for this, but it generally occurs when the volume of air entering the intake is increased as a result of higher speeds due to the moving vehicle. In other words, the air is literally being rammed into the intake as the car slams forward through standing air. In the CAI situation however, it seems as though air is still only being sucked into the intake unless the aerodynamics of the car are such that air coming over the roofline of the car are collecting THROUGH the slits in the rear deck lid....which seems pretty unlikely since it'd add a hell of a lot of drag. No, I think the supposed benefit of the CAI is simply due to the less restrictive filtering element. As for throttle response, that is purely anecdotal here, but what the heck; if it feels better to you, good going. Maybe since there is more air in the snorkle and intake available to the throttle body, the butterfly valve doesn't have to open as wide to facilitate combustion and hence the accelerator feels more responsive since you don't need to press down as much?

What happens to flow of water that is running in a 1 inch water pipe and then reduced down to a 3/4 inch pipe? Wheather it is being sucked through the pipe or pushed through the pipe.

It accelerates in the narrowed section. Didn't somebody post a before and after dyno that showed a pretty big area under the curve improvement in torque? I'd guess that's why folks would be willing to give the intake a whirl.

From my experience CAI's and Ram Air Intakes are not interchangeable terms but in fact two different types of intakes. CAI are supposed to separate the intake from the hot engine bay temperatures. So the supposed seal around the K&N and the EVO allow them to be called CAI's. The standard Conical intakes are just supposed to be less restrictive and the stock intake on the 996 and any other car are basically low level Ram Air. And about being ancedotal, why is it everyone who doesn't have a specific mod gets to claim ancedotal yet they have nothing more than ancedotal remarks against mods? Then even when some one actually takes the time to dyno the mod, it's still not good enough for the anti mod ancedotal crowd.

But the stock airbox is already a sealed air intake and thus separated from the hot engine air.

Exactly, the stock is sealed and has sort of a ram air effect but the K&N and Evo have a less restrictive cotton filter with the supposed sealed and same ram air effect. I've seen on other cars with just a Conical Intake and no sealed box an increase of HP per dyno charts. Of course the gains were only 5-7hp and not 15-20hp on N/A cars.

I have had not one problem since the installation of the K&N. I has been a couple of months and many thousand miles thereafter. Throttle Response is noticeable.

I hear you there, but what I was alluding to was that simply installing a freer flowing flat filter might still do the job. Also, how is there a ram air effect. Ram air comes from moving air being rammed in there. What we have is sucked air. Big difference.

The panel filters are known to only give 1-3hp on most cars and conicals 5-7hp; so why not go for the 5-7hp with a conical, lazy ram air, semi sealed box of an Evo intake that also gives you a loud WOT sound?

Conical filters in general give you a little more horsepower on the track where constant high speeds keep the engine area well ventilated. On the street, they may decrease horsepower due to pulling in hot air from around the engine.

By street you mean stop and go traffic or Highway? Highway driving would seem to be the most ideal for conical since tracks are hotter and you push the car alot harder.

What I am saying is that these "ram" or "cold" intakes are just a waste of your money. There is absolutely no evidence since the dawn of the automobile that these miracle air cleaners and connection ducts provide any performance increase. Yet for over 80 years there have been suckers (sic) that give away their hard earned cash for this stuff. I see Porsche owners of these things swear that "My throttle response is much better!" with these un-silenced wonder air cleaners. But riddle me this: with the exception of early 99 996s, how can one get "better throttle response" with an electronic air valve (the "throttle") that is opened and closed by a computer? More intake noise does not mean the car is more powerful. It mean that it is just noisier. Save your money, or better yet, send me the $300-$400 and I will personally tell you that I think your car is fast!

I am definitely considering the EVO. It's likely to be one my list of projects for the winter, but Gary (OE) makes some very valid points.

I know people who have Dyno'd Tornado's and Electric Superchargers and have no gains on the dyno. I know several who have dyno'd panel filters and have only gained 1-2hp. I know about 20 people who have all sorts of Conical intakes and they've all gained a minimum 7hp and a max of 12hp on a dyno. These were all N/A cars. These are people I actually know, not only that I was at the dyno shop. I've even hosted a dyno event at EIP Motorsports in MD where over 30 cars dyno'd in one day. I've seen the results of intake, ECU's and Exhaust upgrades add hp and TQ on Dyno machines, 1/4 mile tracks and street. BTW, I can't comment on the ole "better throttle response because of an intake" statement other than my LWF gives me better throttle response on my 2000 996. I'm curious to know how do you know intakes don't work? I'd have to assume that changing to a free'r flowing exhaust does nothing either right?

wow, was on the fence but guess im off the mod for now! thanks for the input fellas!

you know I washed my car today...it looks cleaner...faster and louder!! Maybe it is just me.....but it also seemed to handle better!! It is all in your head! Super charge it and then you will feel the difference......when I replaced my regular air intake for a fabspeed..I also thought me P got a little better trottle reponse.....but it got just a little louder...then when I replaced my mufflers the car seemed even faster....OR louder???

Here's an interesting article from ModSearch . Ideally, the notion of a cold air intake makes intuitive sense. I guess the question is whether it actually adds value over the existing Porsche design. At the end of the day, it's not unreasonable to think that Porsche compromised on performance in order to minimize the loudness of the engine and perhaps also to be overly sure that dirt particles did not make it into the engine through the use of a freer flowing engine (and thus preserving the longevity of the engine). However, it seems irriational that a freer flowing system would 'not' result in 'any' power increases. Blown MAFs aside (and frankly, people get these with the stock airbox), I don't think it hurts. Incidentally, the likelihood of hydrolock on the K&N definitely seems a little higher than on the EVO simply because of it's location.

I have had issues with the K&N CAI. So far I have had two CEL as a result of the CAI. Car went about 1000 miles before the first CEL. I spoke to K&N and they told me to disconnect the battery to reset the computer. The CEL light went on again after 500 miles this time. I have yet to call K&N again or do anything at this time due to getting married last weekend. I will probably wait for the next CEL and read the code so I can be sure it relates to the CAI. The battery was disconnected again so I could drive it to the wedding. Will keep the board updated.

What CEL codes would be specifically related to the K&N CAI....??? Anybody know any actual code numbers that one could say is related??