Cold air intakes with oil filters voiding warranty?

[ewill3rd]

I have seen problems with oiled filter elements on a lot of GM cars and light trucks since... well since they have been in use with MAF sensors.
Some are affected by the oil, some alter the airflow in the inlet tube so that the MAF cannot accurately measure the airflow.
It is worse on descreened MAF sensors and on some of our newer sensors that have no screens in them at all.

We can't "copy a tune and send it to GM" the only thing we can do is check the CVN to see if it matches the stock cals.
Not many people even know how to do that but there is a bulletin on how to.

Lots of myths here and a few good facts.

Yes it CAN affect the MAF reading and yes it CAN affect the warranty but at some places this is more of an issue than others.

Apparently I have to go back and start screwing my customers over now based on some of the previous posts...

[CadV]

Originally Posted by ewill3rd

We can't "copy a tune and send it to GM" the only thing we can do is check the CVN to see if it matches the stock cals.
Not many people even know how to do that but there is a bulletin on how to.

As someone who went through the problem I can tell you it is not a myth Everlast13. It straight up feels like your transmission is going out.

ewill3rd thanks for clarifying the copy tune!

So can you guys see how many times a ECU has been programmed, or what alterations previous tunes have had?

I guess is there anything outside of just flashing it back to stock that could get us into trouble? I have heard GM will count the key turns.

Thanks again

[ewill3rd]

I am told just today that if an engine or transmission is required from PQC that we have to take a digital photograph of the CVN numbers and email it to our product quality center for their verification before they will ship a warranty transmission or engine.
Just something to consider when tuning a car under warranty.
That is the closest thing to what was discussed earlier I have heard of.

[jzchen]

K&N's own website used to have information not recommending the cotton filters in forced induction applications, something about sucking the small cotton fibers from the filter. Although I couldn't find it right now, I'm sure it was there, and if anyone else can locate it that would be great. There are some filters made with synthetic materials that you can use... Ironically, even though they themselves said this they are practically the only ones I could find that make a filter for my 1985 Mercedes 300D Turbo Diesel!

[MartyR]

I have used K&N for years and have had no problems. I think if you read their directions and let the newly oiled filter sit and soak on some newspaper, both sides, I do this even on the new ones, you won't have any trouble, takes some time but well worth it.

[Gary Wells]

I personally don't think that it is worth the risk of voiding my warranty for the MAF and / or anything else involved to chance going to the dealers with a K & N on my new '09 CTS-V. I think that in this economy some dealers will choose the path of least resistance, the customer instead of disagreeing with GM. Take your chances and roll the dice. Too much to lose on a gamble.