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.