K&N INTAKE SYSTEM for 4.2 engine

Petnatcar

Original poster
Member
Oct 17, 2017
76
Watertown, NY
Hi Guys,
I installed this K&N System on the engine and noticed an instant improvement in throttle response.

You can also hear the engine "breathing" which some owners may not like but I love it, especially in passing gear.

I had to raise the sides of the plenum in order to seal off extraneous air
and order some extra rubber edge seal from K&N.

The gold reflective foil is used on the Indy Cars to reflect heat.
I found this stuff at Racers Parts Wholesale but there are other less expensive options
 

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Matt

Member
Dec 2, 2011
4,019
The problem with K&N filters is that they let in more dirt than most filters, the "breathing" you're hearing is the intake sucking in more air and dirt. Had you asked here before you bought, you'd have been told to either use a good paper filter or a Green filter.

Any improvements you notice are by seat dyno only...sorry.
 
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Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
The reflective foil is a nice visual touch. Do you monitor your IATs? If so, I'd be interested to know what kind of temperature differences you notice.
 

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
Take off the stock lid and get the same sound without allowing 100X more dirt into your engine via the K/N crapola.
 

I_Shoot_Back

Member
Feb 18, 2018
116
Ponoka
I'm one of the few that really like the k&n intakes,or any other cai for that matter. I also did notice a improvement over stock. Not too worried about all this extra dirt entering either. I drive some gravel roads here and there but mainly highways.
Nice job on the reflective gold stuff,detailed install around the bolts etc,I like it. :smile:
I also had to raise the sides a bit to get a better seal from engine compartment air.
Did you delete the resonator yet? Sounds even better lol And a ECM tune from lime-swap.com to complete the awesomeness.
And for those that say it's killing my engine,I installed my cai about 200.000km ago.
20180818_104530.jpg
 

Petnatcar

Original poster
Member
Oct 17, 2017
76
Watertown, NY
I haven't removed the resonator as I'm not to concerned about how it sounds to everyone else.
I have another car for that purpose in my pic to the left.

Adding the K&N system was the very first thing I did to the truck besides laying down some Weather Tech Floor Mats. It wasn't until I had some mechanical problems that I discovered this site but I'm glad I found it. You guys have a ton of valuable information I can learn from.

I only paid fifteen hundred for the whole truck with 93K on it so I had to blow some dough on a performance part and window dressing. It was worth it to me because I noticed an immediate improvement in throttle response....Boo Yeah!
I also extended the side tab a bit towards the front to help pick up more fresh air.
You can just see it under the AC port.

It's hard to imagine a company as famous as K&N selling crappy parts but I've been happy with their products in the past. I'll spray a little extra oil on it after I clean it.
The important thing to me in the K&N design is the straight through shot from the filter to the intake manifold.
On the OEM kit you have that giant box for the filter then a corrugated bent tube and then the giant air plenum. To me all that does is cause the air to tumble around inside those components instead of getting right to business of feeding the engine.
 

I_Shoot_Back

Member
Feb 18, 2018
116
Ponoka
Resonator delete is for the drivers ear,stomp on it and the combo of intake and exhaust makes you wanna do it way more often :smile:
I HIGHLY recommend getting the ECM tuned by lime-swap.com,he's a member of this forum as well,it will be the best $100 you spend on performance!
These things are stock programmed to be smooth shifting,smooth throttle response but far from sporty,quick reacting. After lime does his magic on it,it sure is lot more fun to drive
.more power.jpg
 
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Chickenhawk

Member
Dec 6, 2011
779
We laughingly refer to cold air intakes (CAI) as "hot air intakes" as it takes hotter engine compartment air, rather than ram air from the factory air-to-air intercooler design. The factory design is actually very clever and blocks almost all the hot air from entering. A CAI sounds louder so it SOUNDS like quicker throttle response, but isn't really. Even if it did increase horsepower by 5%, that is virtually indiscernible to humans, aside from the "seat-of-the-pants" dyno.

On the other hand, we do lots of stuff to our trucks because it: a) looks cool, or b) sounds cool, or c) simply because we can.

If the sound is a bit too much (and it was for me when I tried it years ago) the filter still fits inside the factory airbox without any modification. It gives you about half the increase in intake sound, especially at full throttle, and the straight intake pipe, but also runs cooler air from the factory airbox. I also like the cleaner look with the factory airbox. It looks less "home made" to me.

Others have used the factory airbox cover and cut away the insides, but that defeats the very good factory design that uses cool air above the washer fluid reservoir, to cool air going in to the intake. It is essentially an air-to-air intercooler.

As for filters, I am from the school that says the very slight amount of extra very-fine dust ingested by the engine is easily absorbed and has zero effect on longevity. Lots of people have done panicked tests showing how much extra dust enters the engine or how much less microns or microbes or megamicrorobots K&N filters can filter out, but no one has come out and said what I say, "So what?"

It doesn't hurt anything when it is such a tiny amount going into a great big engine that sucks in a whole LOT of air. Besides, that's what oil is for. The old: cools, cleans, lubricates, protects, from my flying days.

If people never modified their vehicles to suit their taste and just came on this forum to complain or to ask questions about what is wrong with their vehicle and never get answers ... well, we would all be on that OTHER forum, wouldn't we. :smile:
 
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Petnatcar

Original poster
Member
Oct 17, 2017
76
Watertown, NY
We laughingly refer to cold air intakes (CAI) as "hot air intakes" as it takes hotter engine compartment air, rather than ram air from the factory air-to-air intercooler design. The factory design is actually very clever and blocks almost all the hot air from entering. A CAI sounds louder so it SOUNDS like quicker throttle response, but isn't really. Even if it did increase horsepower by 5%, that is virtually indiscernible to humans, aside from the "seat-of-the-pants" dyno.

On the other hand, we do lots of stuff to our trucks because it: a) looks cool, or b) sounds cool, or c) simply because we can.

If the sound is a bit too much (and it was for me when I tried it years ago) the filter still fits inside the factory airbox without any modification. It gives you about half the increase in intake sound, especially at full throttle, and the straight intake pipe, but also runs cooler air from the factory airbox. I also like the cleaner look with the factory airbox. It looks less "home made" to me.

Others have used the factory airbox cover and cut away the insides, but that defeats the very good factory design that uses cool air above the washer fluid reservoir, to cool air going in to the intake. It is essentially an air-to-air intercooler.

As for filters, I am from the school that says the very slight amount of extra very-fine dust ingested by the engine is easily absorbed and has zero effect on longevity. Lots of people have done panicked tests showing how much extra dust enters the engine or how much less microns or microbes or megamicrorobots K&N filters can filter out, but no one has come out and said what I say, "So what?"

It doesn't hurt anything when it is such a tiny amount going into a great big engine that sucks in a whole LOT of air. Besides, that's what oil is for. The old: cools, cleans, lubricates, protects, from my flying days.

If people never modified their vehicles to suit their taste and just came on this forum to complain or to ask questions about what is wrong with their vehicle and never get answers ... well, we would all be on that OTHER forum, wouldn't we. :smile:

I'm from the school of cool air is better for engine performance then hot air,
and damp cool air is even more better.
I'll take my chances with the K&N filter and use a little extra filter oil from now on.
There's always a compromise with any modification
but at least somebodys' tryin' it.
 

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