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Review by D. Hong for FRAM PPA4309 Air Hog Panel Filter
Rating:
The fram air hog is suppose to do the job of 20 traditional air filters over its lifetime. The filter is made of high quality cotton fiber and metal screen construction. However, I did not see any noticeable performance difference in my Nissan Pathfinder from using this over traditional filters, but knowing I can reuse it sure helps puts some money back into the wallet. Keep in mind cleaning this air filter is not as simple as wash and dry. You are required to use a Fram Air Filter cleaning kit, which is additional cost. Fram’s website has a $20 rebate towards a air hog filter that expires 12/2008.

According to fram’s website, you must:

Directions for Use:

A. Cleaning -

When cleaning your FRAM® AirHog(tm) filter, NEVER use gasoline, cleaning solvents, steam, caustic solutions or strong detergents. Do NOT use brush or tools to facilitate cleaning. NEVER spray filter with compressed air or high-pressure water. Always use slow flowing, cool water to rinse filter. Failure to follow these safeguards may result in damage to the filter media.

1) Carefully remove the filter from the filter housing. Inspect and clean filter housing prior to re-installing the filter.

2) Tap the filter against a flat surface to remove any loose or caked-on dirt. Take care not to contaminate the clean side of the filter element.

3) Place filter on a flat work surface and spray both sides of the filter liberally with FRAM(tm) AirHog(tm) Air Filter Cleaner. Allow the solution to soak into the filter media for at least 10 minutes.

4) Rinse the filter using cool. low-pressure tap water. Rinse from the clean side.

B. Drying -

Allow filter to completely dry naturally. NEVER use compressed air, heat or open flames. Heat may cause the filter media to shrink. Failure to follow these safeguards may result in damage to the filter media. It is very important that the filter media is dry prior to re-oiling.

C. Oiling -

When oiling use only FRAM® AirHog(tm) Air Filter Oil. NEVER use filter without oil. The oil is needed to remove contaminants. Do NOT over oil filter. Failure to follow these safeguards may result in damage to the vehicle.

1) Before applying FRAM® AirHog(tm) Air Filter Oil, inspect the filter to ensure that it is clean and dry. If necessary, a second cleaning may be required.

2) Sparingly apply filter oil to each pleat. Spray each pleat only once. You will be able to see where the oil has been applied because the filter media color will change to FRAM(tm) orange. Only a light covering of oil should be applied, do NOT saturate the media.

3) Allow the oil to soak into the filter for 20 minutes. If after 20 minutes any white spots remain, lightly re-apply oil in white areas only.

4) Re-install the filter into the clean filter housing/airbox. Ensure that the sealing surfaces are properly seated

In conclusion, this is a high quality product at a reasonable price that I am recommending. It is especially cheap with the current promotion running.

Review by John Brown for FRAM PPA4309 Air Hog Panel Filter
Rating:
This is an excellent filter, but it doesn’t quite fit right. I made sure to check that it was compatible with my vehicle, but when installing it, it was a little bit larger than it should be. This made it difficult to install and get the filter cover back on.

Review by fz600 for FRAM PPA4309 Air Hog Panel Filter
Rating:
Item is as described and fits well, but there is a shortcoming. The gaps in the weave of the material are visible, so it will allow more dirt into the engine initially untill they are plugged. Supposedly the tacky oil in the media attracts the dirt and prevents some of debris from entering, but I’m not 100% sure about that.