I bought a K&N Air filter for my car 3 weeks ago, and ever since my gas mileage has dropped to almost dead bottom for an almost new 4-cylinder car. Before I used just a regular Wal-Mart bought air filter and got between 24-28 mpg city and highway. Now I'm receiving 19 mpg tops. I have new oil in the car, and a new oil filter. I put my old air filter back in today and drove 150 miles just to see if there would be any difference, and I got around 26.5 mpg or so from what I estimated. I e-mailed the company, and told them that my acceleration didn't increase, nor did my gas mileage, and was told pretty much that I had to take a chance, that they only test their loaned cars 2 days tops.

Anyway, I paid right at $60 for this crap and can't return it.

Does anyone here think I could sell this on ebay or something for like $20 with the receipt, since the million mile warranty applies to the original owner then they wouldn't know if someone else had the receipt, or should I just throw it in the trash?

2/22/2006 11:02:32 PM

you didn't floor it everywhere to hear your new intake sound, did you?

2/22/2006 11:07:55 PM

were u gunnin it round to feel the increased perf. if so that would kill ur gas mileage.. also it's never a noticeable power gain ona 4 cylinder really unless u free up the intake a lot, and then it's barely noticeable.

2/22/2006 11:08:09 PM

pfff its a 4-cyl. I didn't care about the acceleration and all, I just wanted to really help my gas mileage since my grandpa and 2 of my uncles have them in their Dodge Rams and they get 4-5 mpg extra.

but no I don't floor my car, I learned that when I had my first car, a cavalier and blew the head gasket 10 times

2/22/2006 11:09:19 PM

you can floor toyotas/hondas/some nissans everywhere, everytime

I have no idea about your air filter, but some people say to give the ECU a couple days to get used to the change in airflow, etc

2/22/2006 11:13:43 PM

I figured 3 weeks would have been sufficient.. thats why I put my other filter back in, which is actually funny because its old and dirty but gets better gas mileage. Maybe its a fluke, but I never had problems with my gas mileage until I put the air filter in, and I only have 26,000 miles on my car so its practically new

2/22/2006 11:16:31 PM

has to be your ecu

a dirty paper filter will under no circumstance flow better

2/22/2006 11:37:18 PM

Im not saying its covered in dirt, but it was used for 3000 miles and has a few specks in it - I change every 3000 miles when I change my oil

So this ECU, what can I do about it? Would it be covered under warranty?

2/22/2006 11:41:44 PM

I DRIVE A DODGE STRATUS!!!1

2/22/2006 11:45:02 PM

The ECU is the car computer. There is nothing you can do about it.
Filters are made to be changed at greater than 15,000 miles. You are wasting money if you are putting a new air filter in every time.

2/23/2006 12:04:40 AM

less = less gas usage. try driving everywhere 2-300 rpm less that with the paper. to truly get better mileage, your car must take in more air per revolution, thus needing less rpm to make equal power/speed. so use less right foot and you'll get better mileage

2/23/2006 2:03:09 AM

Quote :

"but no I don't floor my car, I learned that when I had my first car, a cavalier and blew the head gasket 10 times"

2/23/2006 10:08:13 AM

wow, a k&n helps dodge ram mileage by 5mpg???....

2/23/2006 10:45:22 AM

Quote :

"So this ECU, what can I do about it? Would it be covered under warranty?"

HAHAHAHAHA

2/23/2006 11:03:55 AM

i need to get one for my truck then

2/23/2006 11:11:11 AM

read up yo:

http://home.usadatanet.net/~jbplock/ISO5011/SPICER.htm

2/23/2006 3:57:58 PM

I feel stupid for paying $60 for this piece of shit

2/23/2006 7:27:08 PM

i bet you do considering you over paid by at least $20 and are still oblivious to the fact that the filter design is not the problem.....it's your car that's a piece of shit

2/23/2006 7:29:46 PM

then buy me a better one :-)

2/23/2006 7:32:53 PM

there are plenty of cars better than that for cheaper.....how did you end up with an 04 stratus sxt....did you see the commercial with the pizza guys in the bmw and all his friends not working but driving dodge's? did that make you think it was ok to get a dodge car?


edit OMG it's been 2 years and your car is already worth less than 10k.....that should be a big sign......sell it quick and get an import before the value goes down more

[Edited on February 23, 2006 at 7:42 PM. Reason : OMG]

2/23/2006 7:37:34 PM

Did you take the filter out of the plastic bag? Because, that would help...

2/23/2006 7:49:49 PM

I think I would know to take the filter out of the bag, yes, Ive changed all of my air filters before and its placed correctly - just because im a female dont jump on me and think im an idiot, i may not know much about cars but i try my best to learn as much as possible

if i had the money to trade my car, i would, but im in enough debt as it is with this car because i traded a piece of shit in that i owed too much money on, and i had no choice but to get something cheap

if you want to keep talking shit about the car fine, i dont give a shit, if you want to flame and be and asshole, fuck off- i will restate my question :

Does anyone here think I could sell this on ebay or something for like $20 with the receipt, since the million mile warranty applies to the original owner then they wouldn't know if someone else had the receipt, or should I just throw it in the trash?

[Edited on February 23, 2006 at 8:05 PM. Reason : ]

2/23/2006 7:58:04 PM

I still want to know how you blew 10 head gaskets on that cavalier.

2/23/2006 8:12:09 PM

pushing 120 mph on the highway all the time, gunning the car *which i do not do anymore*, trying to race people (which i knew i would be laughed at) - the head gasket was blown when i bought the car and the head was cracked, had to put 3 heads on the car while i had it (2 years) and it had 340,000 miles on it (it was a 95 model and i bought it with 300,000 miles on it because i was broke)

[Edited on February 23, 2006 at 8:15 PM. Reason : ]

2/23/2006 8:14:35 PM

no explanation will tell us anythig except you need a better mechanic. im guessing you did the work yourself?

Quote :

"pushing 120 mph on the highway"

you sure it didnt cut off before 120? positive?

2/23/2006 8:19:12 PM

Quote :

"just because im a female dont jump on me and think im an idiot"

Woah woah woah firecracker.

I wasn't implying that because you're a female that you didn't know shit about cars. Not pulling it out of the bag is a stupid and dumb mistake you can make even if you have a penis.

2/23/2006 8:20:23 PM

Im sure you could sell it for $20 on e-bay.

2/23/2006 8:22:41 PM

wish i knew how to work on a car, but thats not my interest, and the mechanic that worked on my cavy will never touch a car of mine again, figured that out after a while

and optmus the car cut off at 30 half the time, but i did ride at 100-120 plenty of times when the car decided to run, when i shouldnt have on an old car

and occamsrezr no offense taken, im just tired of people cracking on me about cars because im a female - and i dont understand why someone wouldnt take it out of the bag, whats the point of an air filter if air can't even flow through it?

[Edited on February 23, 2006 at 8:33 PM. Reason : ]

2/23/2006 8:27:36 PM

just leave the filter in the car.....doubt you could sell it on ebay and buying another filter would just be wasting more money.

you could try disconnecting the battery for (um i forget how many mins) maybe 10mins to get the ecu to reset and see if that helps

2/23/2006 11:17:26 PM

celica cuts out at 110.

2/23/2006 11:43:08 PM

Not trying to be an ass, but I have serious doubts that a '95 Cavalier could hit 120. Especially one with 300K miles on it. Hell, I'm surprised it made it that far at all, even with the head/head gasket issues.

For cheap cars I still think you can't beat the old stuff. My '82 Malibu cost me $800 to buy and about $700 in repairs over the 2 years I owned it (carburetor, alternator, battery, plug wires). Total investment of $1800 (I also had it repainted), sold it for $350. $1450 over two years plus gas isn't bad at ALL.

2/24/2006 12:23:27 AM

Quote :

"and occamsrezr no offense taken, im just tired of people cracking on me about cars because im a female - and i dont understand why someone wouldnt take it out of the bag, whats the point of an air filter if air can't even flow through it? "

You'd be surprised what some people do... Or not if you read this message board

2/24/2006 6:42:02 PM

ahh.. yeah I guess I see what ya mean

Advance Auto took the filter back today though (lied my ass off).. so all is solved

2/24/2006 7:46:30 PM

that cavalier wasn't doing 120

2/24/2006 7:51:54 PM

Quote :

" Advance Auto took the filter back today though (lied my ass off).. so all is solved"

haha who is that asshole on here thats always telling people to do that shit?

2/24/2006 7:56:19 PM

my wife had a '97 cavalier when i first met her and it would do 120.

2/26/2006 8:44:55 PM

oh. i didn't think they would since i'm accustomed to my pontiacs and since you say it will, then it must be true. that's really interesting. i guess i should start showing the cavalier a little respect on the streets since they can go faster than my bonneville. thanks underPSI for the good looking out. i sure am glad you are around because your vast automotive knowledge has helped me dearly in my quest to become a better mechanic. you are now my new hero. i love ya, bro.





[Edited on February 26, 2006 at 9:43 PM. Reason : forgot the user tags. i have to make him stand out like the pro he is]

2/26/2006 8:52:04 PM

seems like maybe the ECU was overcompensating for the increased airflow and dumping more fuel into the motor, but that seems awefully extreme of a MPG drop for a simple air filter

maybe you installed the MAF or something else in the wrong way (i don't know shit about cavaliers)

[Edited on February 27, 2006 at 3:12 PM. Reason : ]

2/27/2006 3:11:46 PM

lol

im gonna kick your moderator ass brian

2/27/2006 8:31:17 PM