animus_divinus

hey... im looking for some good advice on a set of spark plugs and a new air filter.. im interested in a cleanable/reusable type but im not too interested in shelling out the cash for the K&N brand... advance auto sells one called spectre high flow for $25 thats an OEM replacement.. anyone use these?

if anyone has a better air filter solution, id like to know... im even willing to remove the box and instal a conical or cylindrical air filter if it worked right

sorry, forgot to mention this is for a 96 ZJ with a 4.0L engine

4Doors

For spark plugs, just stick with the cheap Champion truck plugs. Lots of guys have tried fancy plugs on the 4.0 and it often does worse with them. Spectre is basically the same as a K&N, but won't really net you any performance gain over a cheap Fram or Wix. The filtration is worse, so I certainly would not consider one if I lived on a dirt road or around farm land.

razor02097

IMO just stick with the paper filter... you can get them for 6 or 7 dollars and they seem to filter better than the cotton and foam reusable ones. I switched out my K&N for a paper filter recently. So far I have noticed no performance difference and no fuel economy difference.


If you fancy a change then save up for a real FIPK. Keep in mind though.... cleaning a cone filter is a real PITA!!! Granted you don't have to clean them that often... if you are operating in a dusty dirty environment it would be wise to invest in a pre filter. Much easier to clean.


For spark plugs... I have tried autolite, champion, bosch (platinum, and +4), and even E3... The E3's where okay... but definitely not worth spending all that money! The best out of all where the cheap Champion plugs.... believe it or not!

animus_divinus

how would a cone filter even fit on? do i remove the old filter and the box it went in and attach the cone filter to the intake hose?

and i wanted to go reusable so i could just wash it out every so often, im not worried about how well it filters since i dont go offroad and i dont live around any dirt roads

razor02097

There are several ways you can do it. Most common is to pick up the spectre tubes you find at autozone and piece your system together.

I was just saying that for the price of the "performance" drop in filters... it isn't worth it. You have to buy a recharge kit for most of them which costs another 10 bucks... then you have to do the physical act of cleaning it, drying it then applying the oil and letting it dry again. With a paper filter you just take the old out and replace with the new one.

You can get some of the washable ones that are oil-less but I don't know how well they hold up and what not.

basegrinder

And there's the down time while you wait for your K&N to dry after washing it...

candymancan

I bought one of those $80 K&N's awhile back... They suck, let in too much dust. If it werent $80 i would have changed it already but ima just use it for like 6-10k miles and then put a paper one back in.

animus_divinus

could i use the origional tube on the jeep? just remove the box and attach a $20 cone cotton filter to that?

4Doors

Technically, sort of. You would have to add a pipe between the stock intake tube so that the filter would have something to clamp on to. The problem is, although a lot of guys run this way, you're going to suck up a lot of hot air from the engine bay. The stock airbox does a great job at blocking that, as do aftermarket kits with heat shields, but they are so crazy expensive. You could make your own shield though. What cone filter are you looking at for $20? I would keep looking. The cheapest cone filter I would go with would be a Spectre.

gregxgriffin

I used a straight tube, a vacuum tube, a rubber strip from a spectre t bolt clamp as a spacer between the stock tube and the spectre and then of course threw the 21 dollar spectre on the end sounds good not a huge difference a little in power but I am in the process of getting an exhaust too

animus_divinus

well, i went with a cheap paper filter for now.. had to order a replacement PCV valve from NAPA too... NAPA charged me $4.85 taxes included for the new air filter

animus_divinus

by the way... my air filter right next to the tube where air comes in from outside of the vehicle was pitch black.. looked like someone poured oil into it, but it was dirt... was really nasty.. but im glad its done now

candymancan

You see i say the same damn thing to other people... Leaving the filter open in the engine bay like that only sucks in the 200f+ air, and the dust and oil from the engine itself... Yet people still go ahead and say im wrong.. lol..

I really think the stock box is a lot better then those so called cold air intakes... but thats just me.. However i do see how the stock box can be limiting on the amount of air it takes in, because the openeing under the filter where the air comes in at (by the headlight) is like extremely small.. i cant even fit 4 fingers in it... On top of that the openeing is blocked off by some rubber so its even more restrictive.

4Doors

Does the ZJ have a plastic cover that wraps around the front of the intake at the grill? I cut the one off my WJ to make it a straight shot into the air box. I don't know if it helped, but I know it has plenty of air and as unrestricted of a path as I can give it without spending more money. Also, I know the XJ has a cone silencer thing in the airbox right at the place where it connects to the airtube and you can pull that thing out to open it up a bit. I would suspect the ZJ might also since it has basically the same intake, so I'd check that out.

candymancan

It does yea, thats what i was talking about.. The openeing is only like maybe 7 inchs wide and has some rubber or plastic thing covering the entire thing except for a small slit on the side..

I suspect tho that is there for a reason like to keep water out of the intake. Altho im also wondering what would happen if you cut that rubber crap on the radiator fan shroud off. You know how the shroud has those rubber flaps ? I have seen people actually cut the top one off i wonder if that would improve air flow? I've been thinking of remove my old air box and putting in some sorta of cold air intake in its place and then cutting that flap off, and also build a shroud around the cold air intake to block off the engine heat. I dont care about the HP increase as my 5.9 is plenty fast. I just want better gas mileage lol, and i hear you get like 1mpg better with more air flow