Cleaning the

K & N Filter

O

ne of the key advantages of using an aftermarket “foam and oil” replacement panel air filter element is that it’s reusable. In other words, you don’t bin the unit after ever other service but you instead remove the filter, wash it and then replace it. This procedure is very easy to do providing you have a means of getting to all four screws on the airbox – spot my new screwdriver from the original article.

When To Clean The Filter

Checking K & N’s website, they recommend that you check your air filter every 30,000 miles and clean it every 50,00 miles. With a lifetime of twenty five washes I’m happy to clean it every 30,000 miles.

Cleaning It

Before you start to clean the air filter element, make sure that you (or anybody else for that matter) won’t be needing the Ka for a couple of hours, just to be safe. Although the process doesn’t take two hours, you should not drive the car with a waterlogged air filter element.

The first thing that you must do is remove the airbox top. You’ll have already done this to install the unit so there’s not much to say here!

Once you’ve removed the air filter, replace the airbox lid (but don’t seal it up) and shut the bonnet, then leave the Ka.

Make sure nobody goes out to use him or her: driving without an air filter can ingest all sorts of debris, which won’t do the engine any good.

What happens now depends on what you have to clean the kit. We have some dirt remover spray and some oil. Following the instructions, I spray the filter with cleaning fluid. This is then left for ten minutes, so it’s time for a cuppa tea.

After waiting, rinse the air filter element from the top of the filter down. This is because air is moved through the filter from the bottom of the airbox to the top.

You then need to let the filter dry. It’s important to never use compressed air but to let it dry naturally. My instructions suggest half an hour, I usually leave it a little bit longer.

Once you’ve let the air filter dry out, you need to apply some filter oil. This is usually a spray, so apply as much as you need to (check your instructions). The filter shouldn’t be dripping in oil but it must not be dry.

Once you’ve sprayed the oil on to the filter, it’s time to reinstall it into the airbox.