Cat c13-525 Exhaust modifications

[Gerald Farris]

Everyone has their own preference in air cleaners, but from all of the filtration studies that I have read, you could not pay me to run a K&N air filter. They just do not filter well enough for me.

Gerald

[Edward Buker]

The best filter on the market for the least restriction over the life of the filter is the Donaldson Endurance Filter. It uses Nano Fiber technology to hold the dirt particles that tend to block the filter media away from the filter face. It also has the least passing of contaminants through the filter of any commercial filter, that is, it has the highest cleaning efficiency.

These engines have tight tolerances between the cylinder wall, rings, and pistons. Intake of dust particles causes wear and we are talking engines worth $25K. When the engine uses millions of cubic feet of air over the filter life you should understand that small changes in filter efficiency means large changes in contaminants getting into the cylinders. K+N air filters, simply put, are inadequate filtration for a diesel engine application.

We can all relate to this..... do you remember when your old vacuum cleaner had a cloth bag and half the dirt you sucked in blew out the other end. What happened when you went to a vacuum that used a hepa filter? Huge difference in capture rate. Now if you have ever used a shop vac to pick up sheet rock dust or other fine dust? The good pleated hepa type filters plug up very quickly losing suction. The filter is doing its job. The same issue exists in our air filter which is why the Donaldson Endurance filter is a much better filter design. It captures much of the contaminants above the main filter media so it does not plug the main media as fast.

The next time you have to go down a dirt road or a dry dusty campground road, look in the mirror at the back of your RV. Clouds of dust and dirt that are so thick that you cannot see through it is being sucked into the air cleaner. Why would you ever expect a K+N air cleaner, that if you hold up it to the sun and can see through it, to keep that kind of dirt out. The most important problem isn't air restriction it is filter efficiency by far. Listen to Gerald and watch this video from Donaldson. He knows more about engines then most all of us put together...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTnoy49TwQ4

Later Ed

[Lee Welbanks]

Well said Gerald and Ed, K&N puts out loads of hype about how good their filters are but all the tests I have came across prove different, and also Cat says no way.  I have also read test where there is basically no difference between a good air filter and none at all. I usually don't put a lot of trust in the air filter vacuum gauge, by the time that thing hits yellow your filter is usually long past needing replaced.
If your so worried about air flow modify and go with a larger filter not a K & N. With my Patriot Thunder going to the C15 filter is a easy mod all you have to do is mod the mounting a little, but Cat says this filter is plenty large enough. Might be a project for next winter but not high on the do list.