took mine out the other week and looked worse then that more black grime stuff. kinda scared me was moist black grime.

Any noticeable improvements in the running condition of the car? I plan on resetting my ECU once I replace the air filter. Probably just picking up a K&N.

i think the factory filter/replacements are oiled, so it's not uncommon to see some kind of oily residue on them. It helps catch the particles as they pass through the filter.

i have a dryflow AEM CAI.

that looks awesome

yeah get the KNN drop in and reset your ECU

I bought a K&N and had it in my car for a week.. then I started reading about it and decided to take it out. Now it's just sitting in my trunk. I recommend doing more research before buying it.

what did you read that made you want to get rid of it?

It doesn't filter as well as OEM and there is not really a performance gain. Basically it's not worth the health of your engine.

Same for me. Bought the K&N and never put it in, actually returned it, it's not really worth the money and the OEM is actually better

Well SOB wish I would have known this

i need to check mine soon

There are many reasons not to go the K&N route. The filtration issues along with the potential messing with the air sensor are good reasons not to. I also found with my past car that cleaning the filter is a bit of a pain when you do- you need that filter to dry for hours before re-oiling it so your car is either out of commission or you need to put a paper one in for the interim. Just did not seem worth the hassle when I bought the TL.

but.. but.. but.. the K&N have more airflow and is K&N and like it makes the airbox sound better!

(I almost want to hit myself for this post, but I am laughing at the cliché)

clean as hell dude!

Well damn it lol...

1) The K&N costs $20 more than the stock

2) The stock apparently works better for both performance and engine longevity

I purchased a K&N right after I purchased my TL. I kept if for 3 months and then I went back to a stock filter. I'll stick with stock from now on.

I had K&N on one of my prior cars and will never do that to my engine again. I my car for sure ran better (or at least the butt dyno said it did), but my oil for sure was quite a bit nastier when the K&N was on there. The last year I had it, I got tired of cleaning the K&N so I put my factory filter back in and noticed my oil was not nearly as nasty even after a few thousand miles.

I looked at the OEM filter in the TL and compared it to a few other filters at the parts store and it was easy to decide to always pay the few extra $ for the OEM filter.

WOW i had no idea Stock filter was better than KNN....i switched to AEM CAI within the first few months....

anybody got links to the KNN problems thread ??? wanna learn more....

start here swoosh
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...Bn+drop+filter

This is the one that got heated, closed, and 3 or 4 members banned for a bit.
I think this is one of IHC's more frustrating topics

another
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-performance-parts-modifications-112/engine-air-filter-discussion-809610/

^^^ thanks bro....will go thro them

The OEM filter is surprisingly good. You get 3 stages of filtering that should surpass any aftermarket offering and the rubber seal seems more like silicone or maybe just a high quality of rubber much less likely to crack and leak.

Honda used an average oil filter but a very good air filter so that should say something about the importance of air filtration. Filters are always over sized so it can collect dirt and not restrict performance. The fact that the filter in the OP still has clean areas shows it was not a restriction yet. A close look shows maybe 25% of the surface area with significant dirt. If you were to stretch out the accordion pleats it would be mostly dirt free. Those clean areas would quickly become dirty once it started pulling any kind of vacuum. The air would go to the path of least resistance. Also, being that it's oiled on the bottom, stuff that would normally fall back down to the bottom sticks to the oil.

A K&N will flow more air, no doubt, but if the stock filter already flows way more air than the engine can use, there's nothing to be gained. If it were turbocharged or making significantly more power than stock the K&N might be worth it.