Thread: K&N Air filter issues for Maruti Alto

Am using K&N performance filter in my Alto. Yesterday when i opened the Bonnet to do regular check up, i was little surprised when i observed the air filter. Its a conical shaped filter and at the bottom i noticed that some portion of it (say @2 cms or so) had become very soft (like melting). It had become powder type. The surface of the air filter is mesh type. To be specific, i observed a portion (@2cms or so at the bottom) of this mesh like surface melting.

How did you fit a conical air filter inside alto? I may be wrong but I guess alto's air filter is a standard rectangular paper type can you post a photo of the same?

Alto's standard air filter is a rectangular one. I changed it to K&N performance filter. The conical air filter is first fitted on to an aluminum connector and then attached to the normal air filter position under the bonnet. I do not have the picture now. Will try to post the same tomorrow.

The soft matter may indicate some amount of damage due to moisture or similar. AFAIK, they are dry paper based filters and without a cold air intake. What I feel is that some amount of moisture could have damaged the filter. As the user mansion, it would have been a good idea if you had installed the regular rectangular filter to the car rather than the conical one.

Well initially i was using K&N Stock filter (rectangular one). Recently i.e. @ 3 months back i upgraded from K&N stock filter to K&N Performance filter (Conical shaped) with the main intention of improving performance of the car. It is just the filter that has been installed, no cold air induction kit. I have not felt any issues due to softening of the filter. Recently i even did a long drive of @750 kms without any issues. Just wanted to ensure that it should not lead to a problem in future. Will try to upload the tomorrow. As i said earlier, upper part of the filter is absolutely fine. This softening has been noticed in the bottom part of the filter and that too for a small area (@ 2 cms long)

Filter is located at a place where its more likey to be hot. If you observe the original air box, you will see that the the intake pipe is routed so that it opens very close to the left or right corner. That's because its from there that the coolest air can be drawn in. This particular setup is in fact detrimental to performance/mileage since the already hot air will be less dense which simply means that for a given throttle position the engine will burn richer to gain the corresponding RPM.

The filter is located in a hot area; there is some chance of the plastic parts in it melting or getting deformed. If there are particles upstream (i.e., towards the engine intake) there are chances of these getting sucked into the intake causing unnecessary burnt particles in the engine. This is both bad for the engine and also the oil will blacken faster. As you said that you observed some powder-like deposits, this could be it.

Firstly position of the filter is not appropriate. Secondly regarding users opinion, K&N filter does improve the performance of the engine but not by the Max. Power or torque. It makes the engine revv freely. And the effects of a clogged air filter are less on this filter. I would suggest you to relocate the filter to either the space next to the battery somewhere better.