Oil analysis- dirty air filter!

[hoveringuy]

I took an oil sample and sent if off to Blackstone recently, oil only had 700 miles on it so I expected it to be clean.

Report shows that my air filter was dirty, relatively high silicone (dirt) and iron.

I have a generic cone filter that I thought was pretty good. Took it off to measure for a new K&N, banged it on the workbench a few times and had a nice pile of grit under it.

The 1% fuel is explained by the fact that it's been really cold, lots of rich cold-starts and short trips.

Needless to say, a new K&N is in the mail. Edit: Also a Honda S2000 air filter. They are OEM paper element cone filters.

Check your cone filters!

[nando]

And clean the damn things. Most of the cone filters I see look like they haven't been cleaned in 10 years. They should be red, not black..

[7pilot]

And clean the damn things. Most of the cone filters I see look like they haven't been cleaned in 10 years. They should be red, not black..

Imo, these so called long life performance filters only encourage user neglect for the majority of the market.I was guilty of such behaviour, but realized that these filters are a pita.
People buy these Long life filters, because they don't want to maintain the car.
Most of them won't buy the cleaning/oiling kit so they just forget about the filter.
I tossed out the K&Ns I had and went back to regular air filter purchases.
Now the oil stays cleaner for longer, the cars all run better and get better mileage.
Another bonus is that there's no chance of over-oiling and the resultant lean running of the car.
My cars now get looked over more often and more thoroughly.

m

[Ceeker]

I beg to differ; there are lots of factors as to why oil gets dirty. Air polution, temperature, driving conditions etc. The claims being made are marginal at best. You want a better breathing filter. You have to be educated as to how to use them. K/N filters are fine. I have never heard of a long life filter. That is just a marketing. Clean your filters or change the disposable ones regularly and your car will work fine. change your filters, oil etc at the required or before service interval and do your tune-ups and like your dad's pre- oil crises car it will due its duty and last a life time. Neglect it - NOT like your dad's tank and eventually you'll pay large.

[nando]

you can't really do anything to an E30 by over-oiling the filter either. the AFM doesn't care. Unless you've done an M50 swap or something. But most of those guys are running open filters that have never been cleaned and have less surface area than the stock paper filter. and I'm running speed density so there's no sensor to get oily either way.