# Air Intake



## justin13703 (May 2, 2016)

I have that intake. Here’s what I can say about it.

Any intake alone isn’t really going to give you any power increase that you can feel, so don’t buy one expecting to get a bunch of power. What this intake does do, is makes the turbo very audible. It actually surprised me at first. Any time you are under any amount of throttle you can hear it. This is all I wanted out of it, because I’m a car guy and I like to hear stuff like that. In my opinion just the sound alone makes the car more enjoyable to drive. 

I had had an issue before, where it would randomly (every 4 to 6 weeks) throw a lean code, and then disappear a day or two later. One of the recalls must have changed something where it isn’t as touchy with this, as it hasn’t done it now in probably 20,000 miles. 

It does use an oiled filter which normally doesn’t cause any issues but when it gets dirty I’ll be replacing it with a dry flow filter. I just don’t like oiled filters and with the technology out there these days there’s no reason to use an oiled filter in my opinion. But no the one that this intake comes with is not going to hurt anything. Usually the problem comes along when people clean and re oil them, and they use too much oil. The one that comes in the box from k&n will be fine.

All in all I’m happy with it, it seems to be well built and it accomplished my goal of being able to hear the engine more, specifically the turbo. It didn’t affect the drivability of the car, positively or negatively. It drives just the same now as it did before, it just sounds and looks better now.


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## TX CTD (Oct 24, 2014)

Probably the same thread, I remeber something about the diesel intake flowing more air than it needs already and it’s getting it from a cooler place.


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## magnusson (Jun 15, 2014)

Buy it. I have it and it sounds great.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

CAI Mythbusted - https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...=gCi2yo4UqPI&usg=AOvVaw0O5MpqUbwzQGyT_O2JdovB


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## LiveTrash (May 24, 2015)

justin13703 said:


> I have that intake. Here’s what I can say about it.
> 
> Any intake alone isn’t really going to give you any power increase that you can feel, so don’t buy one expecting to get a bunch of power. What this intake does do, is makes the turbo very audible. It actually surprised me at first. Any time you are under any amount of throttle you can hear it. This is all I wanted out of it, because I’m a car guy and I like to hear stuff like that. In my opinion just the sound alone makes the car more enjoyable to drive.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the reply. I watched the video that was linked and it seems to say the intake inside the engine has a decrease in performance from the stock airbox. Did you notice a fuel efficiency increase or decrease? I'm not worried about no increase in performance or efficiency, I just don't want a noticeable decrease. I just mainly want the sound like you do.

I'll probably end up pulling the trigger on one of these. Thanks for the input. A dry filter can be ordered that fits that intake I assume?


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## justin13703 (May 2, 2016)

LiveTrash said:


> Thanks for the reply. I watched the video that was linked and it seems to say the intake inside the engine has a decrease in performance from the stock airbox. Did you notice a fuel efficiency increase or decrease? I'm not worried about no increase in performance or efficiency. I just mainly want the sound like you do.
> 
> I'll probably end up pulling the trigger on one of these. Thanks for the input. A dry filter can be ordered that fits that intake.


Honestly, I didn’t notice any change with power or fuel efficiency. Not to say there wasn’t a difference in fuel efficiency, but there are so many variables that affect that it is hard to get an accurate estimate when you’re only talking about a few mpg in either direction.

Now in theory, cooler air in general can get you higher power, while warmer air in general provides better fuel mileage. The k&n intake will probably be getting you warmer air, it does have a heat shield but it is still under the hood inside the engine bay, vs the stock intake that pulls air from in the front of the car. So when you compare the warmer intake temps and the removal of a whole lot of intake restriction (through all the factory intake tubing and resonators), if anything it is probably netting you near the same power but with a small increase in mileage due to warmer air temp but much less restriction, if that makes sense. 

It all all comes down to, without some very expensive equipment and extensive testing, the power and mileage with and without the intake are going to be close enough that you probably aren’t going to notice a difference. 

The amsoil EAAU3050 is a dryflow filter that will be a direct swap for the k&n intake. As far as the diesels, I believe there are two intakes available, one from k&n and one from aem. I like aem filters much better than k&n filters, but the k&n intake uses a metal intake tube vs plastic with the aem. I wanted metal not only because plastic tends to muffle intake sounds, but also because I just liked the idea that it was metal. After I swap the k&n filter for an amsoil, it’ll be in my opinion the best setup available. But if you want a quieter intake, the aem may be a better choice because of the plastic intake tube.


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## justin13703 (May 2, 2016)

Blasirl said:


> CAI Mythbusted - https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...=gCi2yo4UqPI&usg=AOvVaw0O5MpqUbwzQGyT_O2JdovB


Like I said in my first post, if you think you’re going to get a noticeable power increase from an intake alone, you’re naive. The main reason for intakes these days is sound and looks. Some people (like me) actually want their cars to sound like cars, not objects engineered in an office to be as mind numbingly boring as possible.

Not to mention, not every vehicle performs the same with modifications. It is hard to say that a 2014 diesel Cruze with a k&n intake is going to do the same thing as an old 2.5 inline 6 with a 20 dollar eBay intake.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

I need to know where you buy your inline 6 intakes from, my Clifford was $125.00 in 1983!!!!


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## justin13703 (May 2, 2016)

Blasirl said:


> I need to know where you buy your inline 6 intakes from, my Clifford was $125.00 in 1983!!!!


I’m talking about in that video you posted, at one point it was a cone filter on the end of a piece of dryer vent lol

Also, we can’t forget about the effects of turbulence over sensors involved in fueling like the MAF, I guarantee you that piece of corrugated tubing wasn’t producing the smoothest airflow. Also, blowing air directly into the intake system like they did in that video, can create massively out of whack fueling and terrible performance. I can tell you this from experience lol


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## Snipesy (Dec 7, 2015)

The biggest worry is flooding. But tbh you could _probably_ take a 5 gallon pale and pour it on the intake (don't try this). It's only a problem if water sticks around and surrounds the filters. You'll have more important things to worry about if that happens.


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## justin13703 (May 2, 2016)

Snipesy said:


> The biggest worry is flooding. But tbh you could _probably_ take a 5 gallon pale and pour it on the intake (don't try this). It's only a problem if water sticks around and surrounds the filters. You'll have more important things to worry about if that happens.


Yeah if you’re in deep enough water that it’s up to your hood chances are the car is probably already toast and it would be through the factory intake by then too anyway.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

I am not sure about the increase in mileage with warmer air, but I am sure that with cooler which in turn means denser air, you more than likely will increase the oxygen added to the fuel charge. This in turn will increase performance. Also if you have / make / buy the correct intake setup and pair that with a functional ram air hood, you will increase the charge as well.


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## Snipesy (Dec 7, 2015)

Blasirl said:


> I am not sure about the increase in mileage with warmer air, but I am sure that with cooler which in turn means denser air, you more than likely will increase the oxygen added to the fuel charge. This in turn will increase performance. Also if you have / make / buy the correct intake setup and pair that with a functional ram air hood, you will increase the charge as well.


You need some pretty ridiculous speeds before the ram air effect starts to be worth while. Most people who claim a benefit are just getting the colder air. Which is a minuscule boost in its own right.

The diesel Cruze loves boost. It's heroin to the engine. It has fuel to air ratios in excess of 30-40:1 at times. But exactly what fuel to air ratio means gets pretty complicated when you throw EGR into the mix.


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## LiveTrash (May 24, 2015)

justin13703 said:


> Honestly, I didn’t notice any change with power or fuel efficiency. Not to say there wasn’t a difference in fuel efficiency, but there are so many variables that affect that it is hard to get an accurate estimate when you’re only talking about a few mpg in either direction.
> 
> Now in theory, cooler air in general can get you higher power, while warmer air in general provides better fuel mileage. The k&n intake will probably be getting you warmer air, it does have a heat shield but it is still under the hood inside the engine bay, vs the stock intake that pulls air from in the front of the car. So when you compare the warmer intake temps and the removal of a whole lot of intake restriction (through all the factory intake tubing and resonators), if anything it is probably netting you near the same power but with a small increase in mileage due to warmer air temp but much less restriction, if that makes sense.
> 
> ...


Great info, thank you. I'll be checking around to see which dealers in my area can get it for me. Are there any sensors in the stock intake that need to be put in to the new one? If so, do I need to be very careful with them? On that K&N web page I linked in the original post, I can see the main tube that goes to the turbo, but then there's a small hole on the side of the tube, is that a sensor port?


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## justin13703 (May 2, 2016)

LiveTrash said:


> Great info, thank you. I'll be checking around to see which dealers in my area can get it for me. Are there any sensors in the stock intake that need to be put in to the new one? If so, do I need to be very careful with them? On that K&N web page I linked in the original post, I can see the main tube that goes to the turbo, but then there's a small hole on the side of the tube, is that a sensor port?


The mass airflow sensor goes back into the k&n intake, it’s just a big round sensor that is pretty much the same diameter as the intake tube. The filter goes on one end of it and the tube attaches to the other. That hole in the tube that you see is for the pcv valve. It just pops out of the stock intake and pops into the k&n.

why don’t you just order it from k&n or amazon or something? Probably cheaper than trying to get it at a k&n dealer.


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## LiveTrash (May 24, 2015)

justin13703 said:


> The mass airflow sensor goes back into the k&n intake, it’s just a big round sensor that is pretty much the same diameter as the intake tube. The filter goes on one end of it and the tube attaches to the other. That hole in the tube that you see is for the pcv valve. It just pops out of the stock intake and pops into the k&n.
> 
> why don’t you just order it from k&n or amazon or something? Probably cheaper than trying to get it at a k&n dealer.


Probably would end up being cheaper, I was just thinking about how soon I could get it. It's going to be getting cold quickly and I'd like to be able to work at it before it gets too cold/snowy. Although I suppose a local dealer is highly unlikely to have it for the Diesel Cruze... They'd have to order it in anyway.


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## justin13703 (May 2, 2016)

LiveTrash said:


> Probably would end up being cheaper, I was just thinking about how soon I could get it. It's going to be getting cold quickly and I'd like to be able to work at it before it gets too cold/snowy. Although I suppose a local dealer is highly unlikely to have it for the Diesel Cruze... They'd have to order it in anyway.


Oh ok. Yeah either way it would probably have to be ordered. Who knows though you might get lucky.


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## LiveTrash (May 24, 2015)

justin13703 said:


> Oh ok. Yeah either way it would probably have to be ordered. Who knows though you might get lucky.


Ended up ordering it direct from K&N. It shipped extremely quickly and I was able to put it in today before it started snowing real bad. It sounds amazing! You can really hear the rush of air that the old intake/resonator was cutting down on. I love it.

Please excuse my lack of knowledge, but one thing I noticed is an oily residue on the inlet of the turbo itself and also in the stock intake piping, there is oily residue all inside the stock intake after the PVC valve tube (I think? The rubber hose that connects on to the intake piping). Is that normal? Is that just for turbo lubrication or is something wrong? I can post pictures if necessary. The color of the residue was a very dark brown.


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## justin13703 (May 2, 2016)

LiveTrash said:


> Ended up ordering it direct from K&N. It shipped extremely quickly and I was able to put it in today before it started snowing real bad. It sounds amazing! You can really hear the rush of air that the old intake/resonator was cutting down on. I love it.
> 
> Please excuse my lack of knowledge, but one thing I noticed is an oily residue on the inlet of the turbo itself and also in the stock intake piping, there is oily residue all inside the stock intake after the PVC valve tube (I think? The rubber hose that connects on to the intake piping). Is that normal? Is that just for turbo lubrication or is something wrong? I can post pictures if necessary. The color of the residue was a very dark brown.


It really is crazy how much the factory intake completely eliminates the sound from the turbo. Takes all the fun out of it lol.

And yeah it’s normal to have that oily residue in the intake between the pcv valve and the turbo. I believe it’s from the vapor coming through the pcv system. I doesn’t really have anything to do with lubricating the turbo, but it is normal. It’s usually very dark, if not completely black.


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## LiveTrash (May 24, 2015)

justin13703 said:


> It really is crazy how much the factory intake completely eliminates the sound from the turbo. Takes all the fun out of it lol.
> 
> And yeah it’s normal to have that oily residue in the intake between the pcv valve and the turbo. I believe it’s from the vapor coming through the pcv system. I doesn’t really have anything to do with lubricating the turbo, but it is normal. It’s usually very dark, if not completely black.


Okay, good to know. Did you happen to notice if your engine itself became louder? I didn't notice it become louder at first during the test run, but after putting about 20-30 kms on it I notice it's a bit more "rumbly" and "growly" compared to before. Maybe I'm just imagining it.


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## justin13703 (May 2, 2016)

LiveTrash said:


> Okay, good to know. Did you happen to notice if your engine itself became louder? I didn't notice it become louder at first during the test run, but after putting about 20-30 kms on it I notice it's a bit more "rumbly" and "growly" compared to before. Maybe I'm just imagining it.


Yeah not only does it make the turbo a lot louder it also gives it kind of a throaty rumble from the intake. I noticed it on mine also. It just all around sounds better. It’s crazy the engineering and time spent on factory intake systems that are designed to completely suck any bit of sound from them. Unfortunately for people like us they are definitely effective in that aspect lol


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## LiveTrash (May 24, 2015)

justin13703 said:


> LiveTrash said:
> 
> 
> > Okay, good to know. Did you happen to notice if your engine itself became louder? I didn't notice it become louder at first during the test run, but after putting about 20-30 kms on it I notice it's a bit more "rumbly" and "growly" compared to before. Maybe I'm just imagining it.
> ...


Yeah, it sounds great.

Thanks again for the information and support, it made the installation a little more pain-free (minus the 2 cuts I got on my hands).


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## justin13703 (May 2, 2016)

I know that this is an old thread, but if anyone is interested, the Amsoil EAAU3050 filter has been discontinued. When I called amsoil they said there were a couple left at a few dealers around the country and I got one of the last ones. So if you want one, try to get it now.

AEM still makes a cleanable dryflow filter that will replace the k&n cone filter. The PN is 21-2031D-HK.


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## LiveTrash (May 24, 2015)

Hey, good to know. I forgot all about the other options for filter replacements. I probably should go with a dry filter, and a cleanable one would be nice. The Canadian Amsoil website wouldn't let me order it but I gave the 1800 number a call and they said they may be able to ship me one from their Wisconsin warehouse, they'll get back to me on that. If that doesn't end up being an option, I suppose the AEM will do.


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## LiveTrash (May 24, 2015)

justin13703 said:


> I know that this is an old thread, but if anyone is interested, the Amsoil EAAU3050 filter has been discontinued. When I called amsoil they said there were a couple left at a few dealers around the country and I got one of the last ones. So if you want one, try to get it now.
> 
> AEM still makes a cleanable dryflow filter that will replace the k&n cone filter. The PN is 21-2031D-HK.


Update: Just called Amsoil and they were able to set up a custom ship order and one is on the way. Thanks again for the heads up.


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## LiveTrash (May 24, 2015)

Look what arrived in the mail today!

Its beautiful. Now to find some spare time to make the swap. Thanks again @justin13703 for the heads up about the dwindling stock level of this filter. Managed to get one of the few left before they dried up.


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## kbarzo (Jan 31, 2016)

LiveTrash said:


> Look what arrived in the mail today!
> 
> Its beautiful. Now to find some spare time to make the swap. Thanks again @justin13703 for the heads up about the dwindling stock level of this filter. Managed to get one of the few left before they dried up.
> 
> View attachment 287503


What is the part number for that? Is it a dry filter and cleanable?


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## LiveTrash (May 24, 2015)

kbarzo said:


> What is the part number for that? Is it a dry filter and cleanable?


Part Number: EAAU3050 

And yes, dry filter, no oiling. Fully washable and reusable. Check the website if you live in the US. If it says no stock available, call them and they should be able to set up a custom ship order to send you one like they did with me.


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## kbarzo (Jan 31, 2016)

LiveTrash said:


> Part Number: EAAU3050
> 
> And yes, dry filter, no oiling. Fully washable and reusable. Check the website if you live in the US. If it says no stock available, call them and they should be able to set up a custom ship order to send you one like they did with me.


Cool. Thanks.


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## justin13703 (May 2, 2016)

LiveTrash said:


> Look what arrived in the mail today!
> 
> Its beautiful. Now to find some spare time to make the swap. Thanks again @justin13703 for the heads up about the dwindling stock level of this filter. Managed to get one of the few left before they dried up.
> 
> View attachment 287503


No problem, glad you were able to get ahold of one. The aem filters are good as well. I’ll try to hold on to the amsoil one as long as possible. I like that it’s got the inverted cone in the end, which the aem doesn’t have.


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