Got some good news and some "not so good" news.

The good news.... K&N honored the warranty on my Xtreme filter lid when it came apart last week. I called them, sent pictures of the broken lid, and they sent out another one...got it Monday via UPS.

Now the "not so good" news....When I got the new lid, the silver clip that holds the lid together (that used to be on the bottom and invisible) IS NOW ON THE TOP AND VERY VISIBLE. (See pic)



When I called K&N and stated they had sent me a defective lid, they told me this is the new way they were manufacturing them....for "safety" reasons. At first I thought..."YEAH, RIGHT..."But this info was confirmed by several supervisors at K&N.

It gets even more weird...K&N said they would make me a filter (with the clip underneath)...but for them to do that, I would have to sign a waiver....

Now, in the scheme of things, this seems to be somewhat trivial, but when you show your Vette at regional and national shows and the judges look for anything to "deduct points, this silver clip stands out like a sore thumb. The filter just looks "unfinished"... and not up to "K&N standards".

Just thought I'd pass this info on... and just venting.

 

That's kinda cool that they are that accommodating. Nice to see them stand behind their products.

The thing is, they are pretty ugly to begin with, so to me, I don't know that I would notice..

Glad my K&N on my V-Rod is hidden...

 

Looks like a good way to set a hood on fire...

 

You should just buy a chrome lid for shows. The K&N lid, while functional, was ugly before the redesign.

 

Why is that?

 

If you have an open top air filter...no matter what manufacture, and you get a backfire through the carburetor, you run the risk of the flame scorching the underside of the hood, or causing any insulation to start burning.

It's kind of like those custom fuel filters made of glass...it can break, pouring gasoline all over a hot engine....and POOF!

While the chances of this aren't high, I would leave open top air filters to hot rods that have no hoods.

 

I have never heard of any problems with regards to fires or damage because of heat from backfires or anything related with a K&N lid.

You coat them in oil and that is probably the reason, I know oil burns but throw a match in a quart of 10W30 and see what happens

 

Nothing to stop a backfire from hitting the hood. A regular air cleaner top will. Look at the flame arrester used on top of the factory L88 carburetion system to keep the hood from being incinerated.

I'd be more worried about a backfire blowing through the cotton material and hitting the fiberglas, rather than the filter itself burning.

 

It's not cotton, I don't know what it's made of but each pleat has wire screen containing it, there are many things to worry about safety wise with our cars, I don't think the K&N top is one of them unless you can find a example of someone who has experienced something like you state ? They must have sold a million of them by now so it shouldn't be too hard to find if there was a problem with it

 

I found this article an interesting read:

"Duck Tape Racing's Volare 360
Duck Tape Racing's 1980 Volare 360
“When we started the car, the engine bay was engulfed in flames,” said racer Michael Beard. “A fuel check valve had been bumped partially open at some point by accident.”

A fire extinguisher doused the blaze quickly. “It’s a good thing we had a K&N Engineering Air Filter,” said Beard. “It prevented the carburetor from sucking in all the CO2 dust. Amazingly, the only thing torched was the distributor wires, which we quickly replaced. Also amazing, the K&N was unhurt, and a simple washing and re-oiling was all it needed to be pressed back into service. After that debacle, I replaced the spark plugs once again and swapped out the carburetor spacer, which I found had warped. It seemed to make a difference and it was off to the track.”
"

 

The match will go out, but the K&N would act like a wick. now add fire however I dought it would ever burst into flames. I do agree its a fugly looking air cleaner cover.

 

That is absolutely terrible. I would go in for counseling and sue K&N for 10 Billion for the mental anquish.

 

I almost bought one for my Vette when I decided to change out the improper after market stack that was on it. I ended up going with an Edelbrock open air instead.. Cost and the fact that I already had Edelbrock chrome valve cover gaskets kinda dictated my purchasing decision...

Now the guy at the auto zone, or whatever the place was called tried to push the K&N.. They have this demo unit that shows how it is better than the traditional, blah, blah... But considering the difference in price $19.99 for the entire unit with the air cleaner vs. $79 just for the filter? The choice was easy...

I know people swear by these things, but on my Bike, I really do not notice the difference.. Oh, and the bike is a performance machine too.. It's a V-Rod, so it's not like there was a huge difference outside of the fact that I can hide that ugly looking filter away from the world!