Engine feel down on power after cleaning Vararam filter?

[tipnitty]

Greetings everyone. I've cleaned the filter of my vararam intake yesterday with Green (Clear) cleaning kit, and now it feels as though my truck is really struggling and my MPGs are decreased a lot. I've followed the instructions carefully, but the truck just does not feel the same. I even cheated and propped the filter up so there is a gap between the filter and intake housing, and got a lot of throttle response and mileage back. Did I ruin the filter? I don't believe I've over oiled the filter by any means.


I've recleaned the filter with the supplied cleaner and is currently drying. What should I do differently?

 

[MADDOG]

Don't oil it heavily. You'll end up getting oil on the sensor in the intake tube.

Go lightly, very lightly, with the oil.

 

[turboguy327]

This is why I always go with an oil-less filter. They don't cause damage and they filter the air.

 

[CherryRam]

Might even want to take a look at that intake temp sensor too just to make sure it doesn't look greasey. I've heard electrical contact cleaner is the best thing to use to clean it if you need to. I'm not sure how much power a dirty IAT might rob but oiled filters are still bad for crudding them up. But like maddog said, be super light on reoiling. The only other thing is that it might not be completely dry?

 

[tipnitty]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm stuck right now. I've read these filters are delivered oiled. Mine had 20k miles with a lot of gravel and dusty conditions. I sprayed enough so not as to not overlap while oiling on this attempt. The truck feels better, but not to what I felt before.


They say the fibers should look white. Mine definitely do not.

 

[CherryRam]

I have yet to clean my vararam filter. But I'm having some sealing issues with mine so I took it out for now. The filter doesn't look or even feel oiled.