K&N air filter, loose piece of wire found WARNING

A warning about loose metal in K&N air filters.

I just bought a new K&N air filter for my 6 month old LS1 powered Holden Commodore. I opened the K&N box and pulled out the filter still in it's sealed bag, I opened the bag and had a look at the new filter. I found a piece of metal wire on the engine side of the filter! The piece of wire is the same as used in the construction of the filter and about one inch (2.5cm) long!

I would hate to image what this would have done to my engine had I just installed the filter without looking at it!

I sent an email with a photo of the wire to Rocket Industries who import the filters into Australia, and also to K&N in the US.

The response I got from Rocket Industries was;
"There is no way that that piece of wire has come loose from the filter. It is a scrap off cut from the manufacturing process. As long as there are no more loose pieces of wire on the filter then the filter would be 100% serviceable. Though if you "have no confidence in the filter" then send it back to the store you purchased it from and get a refund."

My reaction to this is, ah well it's just a piece of scrap, must be alright then!

The response I got from K&N was;
"Thank you for your interest in K&N products. I apologize for the metal in your filter. While we do have an extensive quality control procedure in place, mistakes can happen."

My reaction to this is, ah well mistakes can happen, guess I'll just rebuild my engine for something to do!

I am, extremely disappointed in their responses, considering what a large company K&N is and their reputation.

Good catch. :notworthy: You probably wouldn't have had an issue with the wire though. The MAF screens would have stopped it. . Not to belittle the problem.

Yes it sucks that your responses were more of a kiss off, than helpful. :thumbdn: K&N's "Shit Happens" response doesn't help either, but they are right. They probably produce thousands of filters a month and it would be impractical if not impossible to thoroughly inspect each and every one. They probably have a quality sampling system. They probably take 5 - 10% of their inventory and inspect as a process sampling and give the old stamp of approval. You were just the unlucky one to get a contaminated filter. I know it sucks but it's how some big business works. . .within an acceptable margin of error!

I know this doesn't help and you probably feel a little violated as your trust in a product has been tarnished. But, you caught it before any harm was done and you put the word out. Thanx to you, we are all a little more aware. :)