after driving around 50k miles I noticed a lack of performace and decided to clean my air filter, being my first time with any reusable air filter I removed it, shook the dirt off and the did the following:

soaked it in a bucket of water + car wash solution and then sprayed water from the clean (inside) out.

I noticed that i never lost any of the red oil tint but it looked some what cleaner so I let it dry, reapplied oil and reinstalled it.

Now I notice that my mpg is the same if not worse, my so my question:

-Did I do any permanent damage?

-Will a K&N filter cleaning kit work instead of the Air Raid cleaning kit? both have the same 2 bottles, my local auto shop has the K&N and Id rather not wait any longer on this.

Thanks in advance.

I have used both K&N and Airaid filters. From my experiences, when I cleaned them they were grey after cleaning them with no red visible. The soap you used may not have cleaned all the old oil out of it, and it may have too much oil in it now. Probably just needs cleaned again with the proper product. I always used the K&N cleaning kit with my Airaid filter because I could find it locally.

Never used AiRaid only K&N. Mine also are grey to white after cleaning. I also don't soak mine. I spray the cleaner, let it soak, then from the inside out I gently spray water through it to clean the oil off. I let it dry naturally then re-oil from the outside in. Never over apply the oil, light coat will work, then let it soak in before re-applying another coat (again on the light side). Good Luck.

I agree with the two statements above..... and I really REALLY agree with 05DC451's avatar!:heh: Gimme about 5 minutes...... okay, points sent.

It sounds like the car soap isn't helping you get rid of the oil, possibly locking it in. Get the K&N stuff, soak the filter with the cleaner, give it some time to react with the oil on the filter and then wash with lots of water(not pressure, you want volume) soaking it wont help when it comes to rinsing it. The oil wont release if the filter is submerged, it needs water running off it to release.
Let it dry, preferably kind of standing so the absorbed water can kind of trickle down rather than saturate. After it is dry, give it a light spray with the oil. This part is crucial.... the cotton element is essentially a wick so you don't need to spray every little crevice, it will naturally saturate and spread on it's own. So go easy on it with the oil. I normally let mine spend a bit of time out doors after oiling so it can spread into the filter. Don't set it anywhere dirty! with fresh oil it will attract a lot of debris.

I went back to the paper filter some time ago, the K&N(not sure if Air Raid is any different) doesn't have the best filtering ability. Good luck, you should be fine.

I switched to an AFE Pro Dry filter. All I have to do is wash it out and let it dry. No oil to worry about.

Thanks for the replies guys!

I bought the K&N cleaning kit,

1st time through I accidentally used the Oil instead of the cleaner on the INSIDE of the filter :mad:so to make up for it I did the cleaning process twice then oiled it very lightly, I hope this helps my mpg because lately its been garbage.

I switched to an AFE Pro Dry filter. All I have to do is wash it out and let it dry. No oil to worry about.

and thats compatible with air raids system? just a plug and play filter?

what are the pros/cons with oil / no oil?

and thats compatible with air raids system? just a plug and play filter?

what are the pros/cons with oil / no oil?

I just have the drop in filter in my stock airbox. I'm sure they have one that would work with your airraid intake. Pros: it saves money over replacing paper filters when they get dirty, and you don't have to worry about over-oiling when you clean it. Cons: I'm sure someone will chime in with a study showing it doesn't filter as well as a stock paper filter. I can't say I've noticed a major difference in HP or MPG, but I purchased it for convenience rather than performance.

It doesn't filter as well as the paper element filter.:nono:
Just playing, I'm not sure about the dry filters, never used one. I thought the air raid CAI is just a smooth tube and a filter that uses the stock airbox. Isn't it? If so, the dry filter will work fine.

It doesn't filter as well as the paper element filter.:nono:
Just playing, I'm not sure about the dry filters, never used one. I thought the air raid CAI is just a smooth tube and a filter that uses the stock airbox. Isn't it? If so, the dry filter will work fine.
Tried to send "chime in" points, but I gotta spread the love.
Airraid has a couple options. The Airraid Jr. kit is just the tube and filter. They also have complete intake kits.