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PSA - K&N oil filter Failure


gig

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My K&N oil filter that i had hand tightened, failed at the weld while ridding. Not a drip but pouring out. I was lucky, i was sitting at a traffic light a mile from home and someone pointed it out to me. it was flowing so much i thought it was a radiator hose leaking, so road home carefully watching the temp gauge, when i pulled in realized it was oil and had coated my rear tire.

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Mate that sounds terrible, you could have been killed.!!!

There's a long history of failures of these pieces of shit! As you have shown, you don't need to tighten them using the spot weilded nut to still have them fail. I cant believe K&N haven't been sued over this.

Never ever use these K&N  filters with the spot weilded hex nut.

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I had the same issue with a K&N oil filter. Had bought my VTEC from a dealer a couple of months earlier. I was cruising the autobahn at 100+ mph, going home after spending a week riding the German Harz region with a couple of buddies, when the oil pressure warning light came on. Immediately hit the kill switch and was fortunate enough to be very close to an exit and have enough speed to coast to a byway. Rear tire was covered in oil, so was my left boot and it felt slippery when I kicked out the side stand. Bike was towed back to the dealer and he swapped the engine out of precaution and because he felt bad for me because this was the second time I got stranded with the bike (first time was a blown out stator).

 

I've seen this also happen with HiFlo oil filter with welded on hex nut. Never use these!

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Welding such thin metal causes overheating in that area and pressure cycles eventually cracks it. Proper procedure for joining such thin metal is brazing.

 

It's such a problem that my racing club had banned K&N filters over 5-yrs ago.

 

Trackday providers should do it also. Two years ago, burst K&N in T14 @ Thunderhill caused 5-bike pile-up. Totaled one very nice RSV4. One guy broke both his wrists. Another had serious back injuries requiring surgery.

 

Not uncommon for spewing oil to land on headers and catch fire!! 

&do=download

 

K&N burst and caught on fire @ Buttonwillow Raceway 2-yrs ago.

uc?export=download&id=1OTpD9ZAWUERTsfreN

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These filters have been such a problem for so long -  so many documented failures, that it amazes me that they continue making them.  :huh:

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8 hours ago, Thumbs said:

It amazes me that people still buy them 

I am amazed that shops are still selling them.....

Also, recently I was at cyclegear picking up a few things and I end up talking to a BMW guy about to grab one off the shelf.

Gave him the warning about the filters, told him he could go down by using one. He gave me a scoffed look at said,

"K & N is quality" -- very sad, ok bud, sorry I mentioned it. (Ok, die idiot)

 

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Only goes to prove that marketing works! Sell ice to eskimos, blah, blah, etc. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1448669642/

 

Anyone remember all those "STP Oil Treatment" and "STP Engine Treatment" commercials back in '80s? They tripled their earnings in very short time. But ended up paying millions in false-advertising fines. Granatelli told us whole story at Rotary Luncheon once. Slick-50 too as I recall, $10-million I think. 
 

Nowadays, FTC is in back-pockets of big corporations and we'll probably never see that kind of legal action again. Best bet is probably finding greedy law-firm who'll take on class-action lawsuit on contingency.

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3 hours ago, mello dude said:

I am amazed that shops are still selling them.....

Also, recently I was at cyclegear picking up a few things and I end up talking to a BMW guy about to grab one off the shelf.

Gave him the warning about the filters, told him he could go down by using one. He gave me a scoffed look at said,

"K & N is quality" -- very sad, ok bud, sorry I mentioned it. (Ok, die idiot)

 

 

Maybe riders such as that guy will have a new category in the Darwin Awards - "killed themselves in the most stupid way possible . . . " 

 

 

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4 hours ago, mello dude said:

I am amazed that shops are still selling them.....

Also, recently I was at cyclegear picking up a few things and I end up talking to a BMW guy about to grab one off the shelf.

Gave him the warning about the filters, told him he could go down by using one. He gave me a scoffed look at said,

"K & N is quality" -- very sad, ok bud, sorry I mentioned it. (Ok, die idiot)

 

Hey Mello, perhaps you should have said.

"Don't forget to fully torque up the filter to spec using the nut"!

Then the nut may have smiled back and thanked you! :fing02:

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As an old mechanic never had an oil filter leak, car or bike, until using K&N for the first and last time, haven't used since never will 

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No wonder people could think they can use the nut to tighten the filter.!!!!!

This is what web sites selling these things are telling people. And a heavy duty can!!!

 

Just as well you can saftey wire the hex nut to your bike, yep sure can, that means when the nut blows off the filter at least you won't lose it.

 

"All K&N spin-on filters feature a heavy duty metal can with a nut affixed onto the end. This nut allows easy installation and removal, and is also crossed drilled so racers can safety wire it to their bike."

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