Replacing air filter - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

McQuaid · 11-03-2011, 02:24 AM

Hi again

Have ordered myself a new K&N filter, should be here soon so just looking to figure out how big a job it is before i get to replacing, when i search i can onlyu find info on de snorkling and removing entire airbox

Anyone any how to guide on just replacing the filter?

Frodo · 11-03-2011, 04:03 AM

Try this:

Pelican Technical Article: Boxster Air Filter / Pollen Filter Replacement - 986 / 987

Might wanna bookmark this page, the source of the above article. It's a pretty good resource:

Pelican Parts - Porsche Boxster 986 / 987 and Carrera 996 / 987 Technical Articles

McQuaid · 11-03-2011, 06:23 AM

Wow very easy, looks like a great website

Hoping to notice a nice difference with K&N

Focusyn · 11-03-2011, 06:44 AM

I just put one in day before yesterday. It looks complicated in the owner's manual but it's very easy. Also I noticed a big difference in power, though the one I removed was in the car when I bought it six months ago and was one of the dirtiest air filters I've ever seen. I see lots of warnings about oiled filters and MAF sensors getting dunked up and failing. As expensive parts go, that's fairly easy to remove as well once you have the top hatch off. Im making it a habit to remove and clean mine frequently and watch for buildup etc. I never saw any posts about failed sensors where they said they cleaned the sensor on a regular basis. I don't know if that will eliminate problems or not, but just wanted to run it by you. I live just off a 55mph road. Since putting in the K&N I can now fishtail around that corner while accelerating, which I didnt have the power to do previously. Good luck! Anyone running an oiled air filter, please chime in on the MAF sensor issue. Have you had to replace yours? Did you ever clean the one that went bad?

ChairmanRon · 11-03-2011, 10:44 AM

Replacing the air filter is a piece of cake. It's 60 seconds once you get access to the engine compartment.

I bought my 03 986 and immediately replaced the filter -- the dealer who sold it to me didn't bother, and I found the filter to be in pretty bad shape. Dirt and oil on it. No MAF issues though.

Re: K&N impact on HP, a new filter is not an elixir for suddenly adding tons of noticeable HP. Think about it -- would the engineers who design that car really sacrifice HP because of, what, a religious devotion to paper filters? No way. More HP on a sports car directly translates into sales, and no company is going to say "Yeah, we could put that cotton filter in the car and boost HP by 10, but because we just love paper filters, we won't." I'm sure I'll trigger a bunch of posts from some K&N salesman or distributor by posting this, but the notion that you're going to get some huge increase in HP or MPG because of an air filter is fantasy.

Mrmaddbrad · 11-03-2011, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChairmanRon

Re: K&N impact on HP, a new filter is not an elixir for suddenly adding tons of noticeable HP. Think about it -- would the engineers who design that car really sacrifice HP because of, what, a religious devotion to paper filters? No way. More HP on a sports car directly translates into sales, and no company is going to say "Yeah, we could put that cotton filter in the car and boost HP by 10, but because we just love paper filters, we won't." I'm sure I'll trigger a bunch of posts from some K&N salesman or distributor by posting this, but the notion that you're going to get some huge increase in HP or MPG because of an air filter is fantasy.

Haha yes, its true. But you don't realize how much stuff is restricted from a car. Headers? Performance exhaust? Air Filters? All of these make your car LOUDER. The average person that buys a porsche doesn't want it to be loud or really cares how fast it is. They usually want it for the badge on the hood. Also, I'm assuming you don't have coil-overs on your car? Why? Price? Comfort? Oh yes, thats the other reason they don't do all this restricted stuff. Adding extra stuff costs money... And adding, what really makes your car "faster", suspension, causes for a huge loss in comfort.

You must realize how restricted you car is before you say how extra HP is big in their minds. Boxsters were built to get LOTS of average people to buy them. And it worked:P (Although on cars like the Boxster Spyder, or Cayman R, or GT3, they are only slightly restricted)

sd_boxster · 11-03-2011, 09:28 PM

1) The average person doesn't buy a Porsche at all.
2) Chinese headers, a fart can, and an enormous cone filter will contribute much more toward making a car loud than making it fast - there's no 1:1 correlation between dB and HP.
3) "You must realize how restricted you car is before you say how extra HP is big in their minds." Wut?

McQuaid · 11-04-2011, 12:44 AM

I would have thought they didn't put the K&N filters, de cat pipes, sports end cans etc etc due to emission regulations, they would have to make it legal in most countries so a minimum would be set???

ChairmanRon · 11-04-2011, 02:00 PM

The reason to go with a K&N filter isn't the magical mystery "more horsepower." It's that you can go with just one lifetime filter that you can just clean, instead of disposable filters.

ekam · 11-04-2011, 02:11 PM

^One lifetime filter but definitely more than one MAF sensor... lol.

McQuaid · 11-04-2011, 02:58 PM

Well I for one AM LOVING THE SOUND DIFFERENCE IT HAS MADE!!!

healthservices · 11-04-2011, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChairmanRon

The reason to go with a K&N filter isn't the magical mystery "more horsepower." It's that you can go with just one lifetime filter that you can just clean, instead of disposable filters.

I hate cleaning filters

ChairmanRon · 11-04-2011, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ekam

^One lifetime filter but definitely more than one MAF sensor... lol.

That is awesome. It's not a problem, it's a "feature."

ChairmanRon · 11-04-2011, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by McQuaid

Well I for one AM LOVING THE SOUND DIFFERENCE IT HAS MADE!!!

Your air filter changed the sound of the car. Explain this one to me.

thstone · 11-04-2011, 10:04 PM

I've used a K&N filter and a paper filter. I've never noticed any difference in power or engine sound (at least that I can readily detect). I have kind of settled back to using stock paper filters just because cleaning the K&N takes more time than throwing the old paper filter in the trash and taking the new one out of the box.

McQuaid · 11-05-2011, 12:27 AM

With stock paper filter,ni did hit a desirable engine noise until at least 4k revs, before that it was almost and electric sound as it revved, but now, right from the off I'm getting a lovely rumble throughout the range

shlim8 · 11-05-2011, 06:21 AM

When I added a bmc drop in filter, together with the ipd plenum, the intake became alot louder although mine's not desnokled.

I guess the freer flowing bmc filter, with the elimination of the air resonance box on the stock pipe, the larger tb and presumably the smoother flow of air through the plenum, all contributed to create more noise.... and it's a nice noise... Car used to be too "civilized". Now, if I can improve on the exhaust... without causing a headache on my regular 3 hr highway commutes.

In my case, the noise increases significantly after 4k rpm... loud enough to startle my sleeping passenger....

mikefocke · 11-05-2011, 06:43 AM

If you increase the airflow through the same area, you are somehow letting more air through with less restriction/filtration. Less filtration means more dirt in the engine, more wear on those parts that scrape together. Every independent study I've read says oiled filters let more dirt and bigger dirt through by significant amounts. And a person I respect did dyno tests and said the air filter the Boxster comes with is good enough to not cause a lack of performance until the motor puts out more than 350 HP.

Could a neglected filter collect enough dirt that it restricted airflow enough to make a HP difference, sure. But replacing with a clean OEM filter would have freed up the airflow just fine.

DenverSteve · 11-05-2011, 07:21 AM

This is the same speculative commentary seen in every forum on the web. That somehow K&N filters "must" be inferior because of....pick your reason. They've been tested, raced, proven - over and over again. They have never been shown to let in more of anything but air. A proven commodity to allow more airflow to your engine without negative result. Use them or not they're fine.

tuanle16 · 12-31-2011, 12:33 PM

which way does the air flow? got the K&N filter, but want to make sure that i oil the correct side and avoid any further issues with the MAF.