K&N Drop In Filter

[GEODAWG]

All,

I just got a new 2019 1500 Limited and like I do with every new truck I get, I put in a K&N air filter. The truck now has 500 miles on it and with the air filter I have noticed a degrade in MPG. I put it in at about 300 miles and I have notices 21 MPH on the highway and about 13 in the city. Prior to the new filter, I was averaging 17-18 and 22-23. I have always seen better gas mileage when using these air filters.

This is probably the 100th thread on this topic on the web but I figured I would start my own now that I actually own my own Ram. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Cortesio]

It’s almost a sure guarantee your foot has orders of magnitude more impact on mileage than an air filter...or pretty much any other modification.


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[Konrad]

Well, I hate to report that I'm experiencing the same. My truck is basically stock Bighorn QC Hemi eTorque. I do not believe in magical fuel economy increases because of the air filters, CAI and such, but I don't expect them to actually decrease the mpg either. However, that's what's happening to me after installation of a drop-in K&N filter, which I bought mainly to eliminate one more thing / service to remember about.
I have a decent frame of reference: 95% of my driving is the same commute every day, always the same fuel / gas station, same traffic. Last few weeks even in the same weather. I drive not exactly like grandma, but with a fairly light foot - lot of coasting, not speeding, no burnouts etc. Since the installation of K&N I'm observing 1-1.5 drop in mpg city and about 2.5(!) highway.

For a while now I've been thinking of getting back to a paper filter to check if it really affects the mpg. I think I'll just order one


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[flynfish]

Let us know how it goes with the paper back in!


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[SD Rebel]

I think modern motors have state of tune where something as little as a drop-in filter can have an effect, and not always positive. If you notice, no aftermarket intake for the DT Ram actually gives hp or torque figures, only airflow increase figures. There is a reason for that. This is excluding the Mopar intake system of course.

Also, I've not had good luck with K&N on certain applications. It's important if you get one, make sure it seats properly in the air box. I've seen in the past on my Jeep and F150 where they didn't fit snug in the housing and actually allowed unfiltered air to bypass the filter pleats.

I don't think the 5 hp you may gain (or even lose) is worth the potential issues. I will admit however that the tight fitting K&N on my SV650S motorcycle has been great. Had it for years, seems to have freed up that motor a bit while filtering great based on the oil analysis I've done on that bike. But we are talking about an oil school type motor and tuning, which I don't think applies as readily with our trucks.

 

[Nails]

Disconnect the battery, drive it some distance. There are still learning curves/adaptations to be remade when removing oem and adding any aftermarket “enhancement”. Hell its still learning itself with that low of mileage. With out mods done to it. Give it some time, it will be all good

 

[GEODAWG]

For a while now I've been thinking of getting back to a paper filter to check if it really affects the mpg. I think I'll just order one

Before I throw in the towel and put the paper filter back in, I may try to disconnect the battery like others have mentioned. Apparently disconnecting the battery will reset the whole thing which may cause the MAF to reset or something. I will report back how that goes. I may also wait until the new truck has 1000 miles on it.

 

[Konrad]

Let us know how it goes with the paper back in!


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Will report back for sure. Generally I concur with what SD Rebel and Nails said. However, I did about 3000 miles with the drop-in on mine, so I'd think the ECU had enough time to "get used to it". It is entirely possible these engines are tuned so fine that such a small change could have affected the overall performance.
Another thing I noticed is that the discrepancy between the Lie-o-meter and hand-calculated MPG has increased after dropping in the K&N. It was always about 0.6-0.8 before, and after its more "optimistic", like 1.5-2.0 over the real numbers.

The Wix will be back in tomorrow

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[Nails]

Did you guys pull the carbon filter also or just r&r air filter?

 

[Konrad]

Did you guys pull the carbon filter also or just r&r air filter?

I left the carbon filter in.


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[GEODAWG]

Did you guys pull the carbon filter also or just r&r air filter?

Just the K&N here.

 

[KRField]

Just my $.02, it could be the difference of summer and winter blend fuel. Not sure of your fill timing. Could this have happened around the same time? I have the K&N drop in with carbon filter removed and noticed a .5-1 mpg increase. Since mid November I have dropped a solid 1.5-2 mpg using same station Shell 89 octane. My filter was done in late March at 34k, and I have put 24k on it.

‘19 Bighorn 4x4 5.7, only other “breathing mod” was Borla muffler when truck had 1.2k on it.


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[Nails]

^^^^ you bring up a good point. Winter blends and just the time it takes for truck to warm to efficient temps in the colder months. Def can effect mileage. Just as you I’ve noticed a slight lose myself

 

[gHiDoRa]

I don't see any different on mine.

 

[GEODAWG]

I disconnected the battery and uConnect went all FUBAR on me so I haven’t been able to test the MPH out yet. This is a good article I am testing out to soft reset uConnect.

How to soft reset 12”UConnect

Does anyone know how to soft reset a 12” UConnect system. Earlier today my system locked up. It would not boot up. I called UConnect. Ut they were unable to figure out how to do so. They transferred me to the Sirius folks who did not know either. They just told me to take it to my local service...

5thgenrams.com

 

[KRField]

I disconnected the battery and uConnect went all FUBAR on me so I haven’t been able to test the MPH out yet. This is a good article I am testing out to soft reset uConnect.

How to soft reset 12”UConnect

Does anyone know how to soft reset a 12” UConnect system. Earlier today my system locked up. It would not boot up. I called UConnect. Ut they were unable to figure out how to do so. They transferred me to the Sirius folks who did not know either. They just told me to take it to my local service...

5thgenrams.com

Try removing the battery sensor connection on the negative terminal first then the negative terminal. I have had success doing this and everything remains when reconnected.


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[GEODAWG]

Try removing the battery sensor connection on the negative terminal first then the negative terminal. I have had success doing this and everything remains when reconnected.


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Thanks! I reset uConnect and about an hour later everything came back to life. I’ll report back on gas mileage tomorrow when I get out to drive it.

 

[GEODAWG]

After disconnecting the battery and then doing a reset of uConnect, I can report back that mileage definitely improved while driving around town. I averaged about 18-19 city and then close to 22-23mph on the highway. I will add that I put a Weathertech tonneau cover on as well which might be helping on the highway. All in all I definitely saw an improvement when I disconnected my battery after installing a drop in K&N. I’d be interested to hear how other folks made out with their new filters.