I am about to shock many people here, and would like to shoot the guy, or the guy who set up the machine, that assembled my Blackwing unit. As briefly as possible, here goes: About 3 years ago, I got a Blackwing air filter, as this was the "second coming of Christ" equivalent in the world of air filtration as far as C5's go. I was very pleased with the performance difference. I have a 2000 and the engine was cursed with the "piston slap" issues many of us have had. It didn't use oil, but was noisy if the temps were at 50 degrees or less on the first start of the day. I did notice, however, that when I put the car up for the winter, it started showing a "low oil level" light, which had never happened before. This happened twice. The car was at Wheel to Wheel all last ('05) summer after saving many thousands up for a 427 engine swap. W2W did a hell of a job. It ran, and still does run, very good. I have noticed that when I had the intake off, it had a lot of dust and dirt in it, so I cleaned it up. I thought that maybe W2W had overlooked the fact that the Blackwing had been removed for 4 or 5 moinths and maybe had accumulated some grit inside it as the motor parts were bought and gradually assembled. I wasn't pleased by this oversight (Which it WASN'T!!). How wrong I was!! It wasn't W2W, it was the Blackwing!! The Blackwing is heralded as a 1,000,000 mile warrantied air filter, with a cleaning recommended every 50,000 miles or so. I figured I would buy the Blackwing air filter cleaning kit and have at it for it had never been cleaned yet, and was nearing the 50,000 miles stated previously. As I held the filter in numerous different positions while I cleaned it, I happened to hold it "just right" and as the sun was starting to go down, and VOILA!! The sunlight made an un-expected appearance right through the small end, or nose of the unit!!!! I got that awful feeling in the pit of my gut, you know, like the one that says: You got a lot of dirt in your motor, thanks to shoddy assembly", i.e., a lot of damage!!! Yeah, the filter has a lot of fine sand inside (Again!!) and I have a lot of anger inside me, which no cleaning kit can help rectify!!!! You guys that got Blackwings 2 or 3 years back had better go check YOUR units for a proper seal at BOTH ends. I verified the sad truth when I could stick a toothpick in between the end piece of plastic and the filtering element itself. The toothpick itself went in almost halfway up the taper of the wooden pick, and I could see it easily in almost every fold of the filtering "gauze", or whatever it is they use. On the end where the unit attaches to the MAF sensor, there is a sealing "tar", for lack of a better word, that is readily apparent. Alas, there is no such "sealing tar" at the small end where the 2 grommets mount it to the car. I have over 10 grand in this motor and it is only a year old!!! Now I know why I am using oil, to the tune of 1 quart every 600 miles!!!!! And this is with Total Seal (Now Total Junk, thanks to a **** Blackwing!!)gapless rings!!!!! Anyone else ever heard of this?? Do I have a legal bitch?? I think so, wouldn't you??!! By the way, I bought this unit new, so there is no question of its history. Excuse me while I go puke!

 

Check out Solofast's reply in my thread regarding K&N Filters. He shares some research where he claims that the stock AC/Delco air filter set-up is superior to the cold air systems because the stock set-up does a much better job of limiting the debris that could flow into the engine.
I have a very stock set-up w/no mods and you have invested a ton of money into your engine. I am guessing that you are always looking for an HP edge, but I don't know if there is a trade off happening with the chance for more dirt to get past the filter.

 

You missed my point, I think. What my lengthy post was trying to say was that while the filtering medium is superior to plain paper, it was not assembled correctly. The best filter in the world will do no filtering if it is not TOTALLY sealing out any UNFILTERED air. When I saw daylight coming thru, I took a toothpick and was able to see about 3/8" or more, maybe 1/3 or 3/4" length of it, when I probed the area that the end of the gauze meets the plastic end cap of the filter body . At the wide end, where it meets the MAF sensor, it is obvious that the end cap was coated with some sort of tar, goo, etc. so the screened gauze filtering material and the end cap had a sort of gasket/seal medium to keep out ANY dirt. I believe that they forgot, or the production machine that assembles these things had malfunctioned, or run out of "goop", as there is NO TRACE of ANYTHING ever being applied on the small end of the filter . Every "accordian" type fold or pleat, where it butts up against this end cap, can, and does, in my case anyway, leak. Unless you seal it somehow, as they did a great job on the large end of it. As far as the factory filter goes, my stock unit showed signs of not sealing perfectly either, though far less severe than the Blackwing. I went from Michigan to California and back recently. It was in the last 2 weeks of July when it hit over 120 degrees out west on some days. I used over 2 gallons (YES-GALLONS!!) of Mobil1 on this 7,000 mile trip. It didn't smoke, so I assumed it was "sucking" it thru the PCV valve, as I didn't have an oil seperator installed yet (Jegs sells a nice unit for under $40.00 that I now have installed). This is enough to make a grown man cry!! I spared no expense building this motor, and the air filter (The cursed Blackwing!) was no exception either, as it was over $300.00 3 years ago!!! I intend to call W2W on Monday, and get their .02 on this. I have NEVER seen such a thing before, nor have I heard of anything like this. I have my original receipt and intend to try and call Donaldson (Parent company of Blackwing) on Monday, and if they don't, or won't do more than refund my money, I can, and WILL call my attorney before they can make sure they have their receiver back on the phone base!!!!!!! This is BS with a capital BS!!! W2W gets 2 grand just to R&R the motor (The going rate for a top notch facility, which W2W certainly is). The Darton sleeves are over $250.00 each (X8). Even with a cleanup @.030 overbore and no new sleeves, new forged pistons (Mine have only been in for 10 months!!) new Total Seal gapless rings, etc., by the time you buy gaskets and count labor and parts with removing and re-installing the motor, I would think $5,000.00 in damage would be a fair estimate. NO MATTER WHAT- GUYS!!!!!! If you have a Blackwing on your 'Vette, CHECK IT NOW!! You could be slowly ruining your motor- How Sad!

 

Good lord! I had to get vitamin supplements and a canteen of water to get through the posts! If you consumed two gallons of oil in 7,000, you got bigger problems then a leaky air filter. Unless your air filter intake is by a metal lathe or rock quarry, I would be talking to my engine builder. And by the way, if you would have sucked two gallons of oil in that short of time through the pcv valve directly into the intake, it would have most certainly been smoking. I think it's with almost certainty, that it either leaked out, or made it past the rings and burned. I am assuming you already checked for leaks. While I would be no less frustrated than you are with this situation, I think you are barking up the wrong tree with the air filter.

 

2 gallons? You got bigger problems. Sorry about your filter, but as was said above I think you're barking up the wrong tree. I'd be looking to my engine builder.

 

I feel for your angst here!
I have had my BW for about 5 years and have cleaned it once during that time. When I did it was clean and dry inside. The filter media is thoroughly "potted" at both ends of the housing.
Something like a manufacturer's defect is very rare, but I guess anything is possible.
I'm not sure, but I think the Blackwing and/or it's name, etc may have been bought by SLP from Donaldson. Maybe someone else can correct me here if that's wrong.

 

Wheel to Wheel Powertrain, in Madison Heights Mi., did the building of the motor. While anyone can make a mistake, their record on quality speaks for itself . To say I "daily drive" my C5 would be an enormous understatement! Living in Mi., it was stored in December thru March. W2W finished the motor in the last part of October, 2005. I have nearly 35,000 miles on it(!!) since last October 25, i.e. 11 months, of which 4 months it was stored. So, in about 7 months, I have nearly 35,000 miles on it!!!! My point being- If you are sucking in dirt, a trip out to the desert (Lots O sand!)and 35,000 miles total would certainly not be conducive to long engine life if you are re-distributing the desert sand via an LS1! The **** quality on this unit (Mine, anyway!) would allow for a very slow, but steady, injestion of filth. And 2 gallons (8 quarts) in 7,000 miles, in 120 degree temps, while not normal, is certainly capable of not smoking enough to be visible. I believe that due to this filter being suitable for a septic field file, the dirt my engine has injested over 35,000 miles has literally worn out my rings, not long after they seated, and probably scored my Darton sleeves. It leaks absolutely nothing. Sorry for the long posts, but for you guys who take the time to read it in it's entirety, you may just save YOUR motor by making sure you don't have a faulty unit like mine!!! By the way, I DID spend the extra cash and go for the "Total Seal gapless rings", so I am now at a loss as to what to do. It sucks!!!! I also had brand new AFR 225 heads on it, so the guide seals SHOULD be O.K., as well. HELP!

 

Please see my above post. I believe that due to the quality of this "filter", I have been sanding my cylinder walls and rings steadily for the last 35 thou or so. Maybe I am outta line here, but you would think that for $300.00!!!, one would be assured of a better quality "filter" than this !!!

 

I did read all of your above posts and understand completely what you're saying. All I'm trying to say is that my BW is not defective as yours sounds to be and one of your questions was has "Anyone else heard of this?" This it the first time I have heard of a defective BW.
I, like you would not want to experience this either.

 

DONALDSON originated the BLACKWING air fliters, but sold the rights off to SLP some years ago.

 

This Post is interesting enough to send all BW owners out to check for daylight coming through the sealed nose end of the filter. Let's all hope this is a rare case.
SC5

 

Waiting 40,000 miles to do the 1st cleaning is your fault so expect dirt inside by that length of time and the sun should be seen through filter if its clean.
As to paying $300 for the filter that is your problem also for letting a vendor stick it to you when the real cost was $160.

A bad fit of the airbridge causing filter to move around might also be the cause.
I clean my 6 year old BW once a year and it is still just fine.

 

I hope so, too! Along with some possible help from you guys, like you have been with your suggestions, this is EXACTLY WHY I posted this up. What a PITA!!! If it helps just one person, at least it's done SOMETHING!! I am 52 years old and been around a lot of motor projects in my life, from bikes to cars and boats, etc. So this isn't some yahoo trying to throw a scare into everybody for nothing. You can't imagine how hard I tried to BS myself that "all was well". Then I remembered a 383 IROC project from about 15 years ago. I had the cylinder heads on that project on my kitchen table (Yeah, she divorced me a few years later!!) after work checking out the valve job the local shop did. As I held one head up on end to check out how deep the valves were sunk in each chamber, low and behold, I saw the same proverbial daylight coming thru an intake valve where the valve seat meets the cylinder heads valve seat. I poured some windex down the intake port and washed my kitchen table all at once, a multitasking accomplishment if ever there was one!! Then, as now, I just knew I got, er , pro-created!! This time I found the toothpicks and gently tried running one into the filter "cavity" at the end of the pleated area, between the end of the pleats and the plastic end cap where they mount to the car with the 2 grommets. With a flashlight shining into the filter cavity, I saw wood AND daylight inside....man...I got close to 15 grand of nothing but the best parts in this motor, and maybe all sunk by a junk filter!!!!! No wonder my "filter clean indicator" never popped up, as when it finally did get dirty enough, it took the path of least resistence and just sucked it thru this gap.... unfiltered!!! I called W2W and they want to see it, as they sell a lot of these. They didn't sell this one though. And they may start selling a lot less of them after they see this. It can be fixed, by sealing this void, or gap, with some weather stripping or black silicone or something. But it may be too late in my case, as the horse(s) may be outta the barn by now.

 

If you could find a NEW Blackwing for only $160.00 3 years ago, you are the only guy I have met who could!! As far as this being MY fault.... get real! They tell you it doesn't need cleaning for 50,000 miles in the TPIS catalog, and when I asked to buy the cleaning kit, the guy said this was an unusual request, as they seldom, if ever need cleaning. Unless you build it, manufacturing defects are NOT your fault, no matter what it is you manufacture!!! This poor effort at manufacturing has been there since new. Why else would there be no sealing compound on the end that is leaking? But the compound is on the end that doesn't leak. Coincidence? I think not, and I didn't forget to seal it, because I didn't build it!! I am just trying to guage interest/ warn people of a possible defect on these units, NOT point fingers. I am damn lucky I found it at all. Do you have stock in Blackwing, or what?? SLP maybe? I agree that light should come thru the filter element when clean, especially when there is no filter element at all for the last .060-.080" of the OAL!!. I needed sunglasses for how bright it came thru at that spot! And, arguing purchase price with you on a matter of this importance is not the purpose of my post. Obviously, you are too smart to ever let this sort of thing happen to you. Next time you clean your filter, if I were you, I'd check out the seal at BOTH ends real good. But then, you probably thought of that already, right? If not, it's your fault!

 

FWIW, I've had a blackwing for close to 50K miles and I clean it once a year in the spring, never been a problem. Either the quality went down once SLP started making them (I doubt it) or you just got a bad one, but with the # of blackwings here on the forum, there would be more than 1 negative post if this was a common problem. Also, I think that 50K mile recomendation is for normal conditions, but you should clean it sooner if you live in a dusty area.

 

Good morning! I don't live in a dusty area, but I agree with your cleaning regimen, and will do the same from here on. I don't trust the factory oil life readout on the DIC, either. I think all of us "Vette Nuts" are pretty fussy about all things automotive that most people would never think of. I know my posts are long winded at times. I also believe that there may be more of these defective units out there than we think. My reason being that even I probably got lucky by finding this defect. If it would have been a different time of day where the sun was at a higher angle, or cloudy even, I never would have seen it. In their book, TPIS states that after sprinkling roughly 3 or 4 ounces of fine sand over this unit to do a flow test comparison of flow rate before and after the dirt was applied, the unit worked perfectly and still didn't trigger the "pop-up" indicator and flowed enough air for a 600 hp motor. I didn't trust the "pop-up" totally, and being at the 600 hp level, roughly, I felt that maybe there was something to be gained by a cleaning. I never expected this. I am not considering changing it out, though, as I believe that it is a very good unit, as far as flow goes. I will, however, seal the end up before any more "natural effect finish honing" takes place!! Having access to clear Lexan at work, I am considering making a Vortex Rammer style box that would draw fresh, cooler air from the radiator area. I think it would be a killer set-up. Anyone tried this yet?