Fairly new to this deisel fun. (truck tweaks) and I have a few questions regarding air intakes. (my appologies if this is question has already been asked!)

prelude:
My truck came with the AEM Brute Force air intake with the "DRY FLOW" filter, and I noticed the "Air Minder" was pulled right down. I didn't have time to mess around so I bought an exact copy of the AEM filter and bolted it on and took the old filter home to clean. When I got home (10 mile drive) I noticed that again the "Air Minder" was again pulled right down. I was a little dissapointed to realize I just dropped 50$ on a new filter only to find it may be too restrictive to start with?

1). What are you guys and gals running for air filters?

oiled? or oil less?

2). Why do some "air intakes" come with a box around the fitler and others do not?

3). Are there more reliable "AIR MINDERS" out there?

does the filter make that much difference?. K&N vs AEM vs BD vs BANKS vs AFE vs VOLANT........ I'm not comparing pipes, turbos, intake manifolds, I'm talking paper vs gauze vs oil vs oil less!

Thanks for all you replies

Rob

 

My uncle has an 08 and he just put a new filter in his truck and he pulled it out on to the highway and and gave it, then he went back home and the filter minder was pulled right back down!

 

My truck was pulling the filter minder down with the stock filter and then a stock 5.9 filter. I installed an AFE Oiled drop-in replacement filter and the minder has not pulled down at all after several weeks. This is in the stock airbox too. I was gonna get a swiss cheesed airbox for better flow but at this point it seems like a waste of time.....

 

rob160,

Oiled filters do allow more air through but they don't filter the air as well as paper media or Nano type of air filter do. Also oiled air filters have been known to let dirt through and pit the turbo. Also many dealers will give you heck if you use an oiled air filter. BTW I've taken a new Cummins air filter and had the filter minder go in to the red at 3/4 to WOT so you can see they are not the most trusted part on many trucks.

 

Yes, the filter minders are sometimes too sensitive.....

 

And the issues with oiled filters are when they are improperly oiled. A properly oiled filter works very well...

 

just stay with the stock filter and NOT A 5.9 FILTER IN A 6.7!!! That filter minder really is useless. The stock 6.7 filter is oiled, and also, will not void your warranty. there is a good chance you can void a warranty with an aftermarket filter. If there was a filter that can filter better and free more power than the stocker, then cummins would have put that in there.

 

I cannot agree with this. Theres a lot more to this than 'Cummins'. Years of testing, developing and marketing filters and corresponding with folks at Cummins, I have learned that the air box in the dodge was designed to fit the truck, not the engine. As for the 6.7 element, its certainly a large restrictive filter in a small box for this engine.
Theres some bulletins floating around at the big 3 truck manufacturers that suggests that whenever a diesel engine comes into a service department with engine issues and its determined that the sensors are oily...they can and will restrict the warranty on that engine if an oiled filter is found suspect. So if this filter is oiled...then why would they be looking for oiled filters as a way to restrict a warranty? This all came about in January 2007.
When a Cummins engineer confides that Dodge put the box in the truck for that filter, I understand it as a Dodge issue not Cummins. Cummins does not have much to do with the engine in these trucks anymore. The fuel filter is another good example...not may options on where to get it...yet.

Scotty

 

Mechanic at Bridgeway Cummins said they can't even read the computers on the newer engines.

 

That statement is completely false. Have you even seen a filter for a 6.7L? It is a dry filter, my friend. And the idea that "if it could be done better the factory would have done it" is one of the single most ignorant statements I have heard in a long time. It really makes me think, was your post in jest? If so, you might want to throw in a silly little smiley or two just to let everyone know you are joking.

 

LOL!!! My stock filter is not oiled.

Factory stuff is usually good quality stuff but not necessarily the best performing stuff. If it were the case then there would be no need for the aftermarket.
Personally, I don't care for oiled filters too much but I got a great deal on this one and it seems to be working great so it's still on the truck until I come up with something better. I have a BHAF in the garage and I just need to get off my butt and install it. The sensors are different, and larger, than the one on the 5.9 and it will take a bit more work to put it on...

 

Another part I would like to add is that when the folks at the Baldwin Distributor I work for had a look at that big brick of a filter for the 6.7 they mentioned that the paper used in that filter is obsolete and not used by them or others anymore. Dodge must've bought up all the discontinued paper to cut costs. The other comment was that they have not used that kind of paper for years.

Its pretty obvious that Dodge and others want to make the trucks the way it fits their bottom line and their warranty criteria. However, some of what they have done [especially with the 6.7] is more of a rush to get sales then common sense. JMHO

Scotty
Hopefully theres some humor in that previous post as its well...