Running rough after putting on a K&N cold air intake

ScottS

New Member
I put a K&N cold air intake on my 2017 Tacoma TRD Sport and now it seems to run rough at low speed/RPM, has anyone had similar issues and if so what is the fix?
 
Idk about the tacoma, only that a k&n air filter hasn't any benefit other than allowing more dirt to enter the engine.
I had one on my tundra when I went to dual exhaust, but the oil k&n uses for their filter kept setting off my engine check light. I had to clean the maf sensor several times before it stopped. Engine never ran rough, but it might be something to look into if your maf sensor got fouled.
 
Ok.....so, you replaced the OEM Cold Air Intake with an aftermarket cold air intake. Now, you have trouble.

Just a thought.....perhaps the aftermarket parts are causing the trouble.

FWIW, I installed a K&N system on my long past 6.0L GMC...... I thought it would add 1-2 mpg....in truth, it did nothing. No power increase, no mpg increase. Although, it did lighten my wallet and increase throttle sound.

Then I got curious to look beyond the marketing hype. Reality, the reason those "flow more air" is because the filtration is lower. In other words, it will allow bigger dirt particles to enter the engine. The "power gain" doesn't happen until the engine is pushing redline. Not many daily drivers push to redline. Also, the "market numbers" are from a specific test engine on a dynamometer, which may not be the engine in your truck. These CAI were developed for racing applications. These race engines are frequently disassembled and repaired after each race. Not many daily drivers disassemble their engines each week.

Suggest to remove your K&N, then reinstall the OEM system. Your troubles will likely go with the K&N.
 
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I can attest when we installed those k/n filters on one vehicle back in the day, the car would start begin sputtering, and shutdown. It drove us crazy. The dealer was called about this issue, and we were told this car will only accept the oem filter or very similar. Sure enough, we put a paper element filter back, and this car ran perfect.
Btw, these k/n filters do allow more air to pass, but dirt to, when we did testing vs the paper ones.
 
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