AIr Filter Confusion

[gavio]

Hi Folks, another off the wall question:

When I bought my K&N filter a while back, I got the part number listed for my '83 6.2 van, but when i went to install it, I found that it was about a quarter inch too tall for my housing. Could not help but notice that the old filter I took out (which had been installed by the previous owner's mechanic) had also been too tall and he had sort of crushed it down (distorting it in the process) to make it fit.

Well, I cobbled together a setup with thick closed-cell weatherstrip to close up the gap between the air filter lid and base to make it work and got by. The wingnuts loosen themselves up over time and it's hard to get it tightened up the right amount and I ended up distorting my filter once and now I'm just ready to get it put together right, sooooooo

Can anyone tell me how the air filter on a pickup measures out.....the depth of the element, of the lid, and of the base? Same info for a van, if any of you have access - I know it's a project just to get to it on a van when the engine cover is in place, but if you happen to have it apart already.......

I'd be much obliged 'cuz I'd like to figure out what I can do different to get this to go together corectly. smile.gif

Thanks for any insight.

[BobND]

FWIW, I checked the 2003 WIX filters Master Catalog.

The 1983 6.2 van and pickup have the SAME filter listed... WIX #42096.

The dimensions are: 4.056" HIGH, 13.875" OD, 11.625" ID.

Hope this helps!

[waorth]

I'm running into the same problem, stock air filter though.
Problem seems the inner diameter of the filter element. Overall height is the same.

No solution so far. Have 3 brand new filters lying around (all with matching #s for the 6.2l).

Doing some air pressure cleaning from time to time.

Maybe the lid suffered some imprints over the years.

Really strange. :confused:

Walter

[gavio]

Thanks for checking, Bob. I'm not surprised the part numbers for van and pickup would be the same - if the van had a different number, nobody'd ever have it in stock.........

The possibilities I'm considering are:

1) The van used a shorter air filter housing when new (probably the lid would be shorter, I'd think) and should have a shorter element, but later parts listings consolidated them, dropping the van listing. In this case, maybe the parts from a pickup could be squeezed on there, even in spite of tight clearance under the dash.

2) My van had the housing lid replaced with one too short, but curiously, otherwise identical in appearance to the stock diesel lid - a lotta other GM air filters have pretty similar filter lids so maybe not so far-fetched an idea.......'course you'd have to wonder about the story around THAT, especially considering that the engine was otherwise unmodified when I got it.

3) Something I haven't thought of - no doubt something alltogether bizarre.......

Walter: My problem seems a little different than yours in that I can't seem to find any problems with diameters - the element fits in the correct groove in both the base and the lid.

Any more ideas?

Thanks for the help.